I will be handloading for Elk and Mule Deer..... it's a two part question???

First: Which caliber ???

Second: The rifle... BAR or Winchester SXR ???

WHY ???

Flip a coin....do you like them short and fat or tall and skinny.

How long has the 300WM been around? Ditto with the 300WSM? IMHO in 10 years the 300WSM will not be around.
Peter.

First ??. 300Win Mag. & RL22 If handloading it will out do the WSM especially in 180gr. and up bullet weights.

Second ??. neither. Go with a good bolt action.
just my opinion.

.300 WM & BAR. They've been doing it for years and been doing it well.

quote:

Originally posted by mmaggi:
.300 WM & BAR. They've been doing it for years and been doing it well.

I'm with this opinion.

I would take the 300 Win Mag if I were going

quote:

Originally posted by DrWatson69:
First ??. 300Win Mag. & RL22 If handloading it will out do the WSM especially in 180gr. and up bullet weights.

Second ??. neither. Go with a good bolt action.
just my opinion.

+1

quote:

Originally posted by mailmanmark:
I will be handloading for Elk and Mule Deer..... it's a two part question???

First: Which caliber ???

Second: The rifle... BAR or Winchester SXR ???

WHY ???

300 Win. Magnum:

Cheap, reliable, proven, popular.

Bar:

Reliable, proven.

Definetly .300 WSM. Definetly BAR.

I would prefer the 300 win mag.
In a BAR,
The 300 WSM is a very good round, but when you go to the bigger bullets the 300 is better, and you buy a 300 magnum for the power.
I don't know if you have handeld the ne winchester auto, and it pains me to say this but that may be the worst freakin rifle I ever handeld. A pitifull thing in my eyes and I predict a very short life.
They may have made improvments on them But the i would greatly prefer the BAR.
They are a sound rifle. Awfully heavy and I would prefer an american made bolt gun but to each there own.
...tj3006

300 WM!! I like my cartridges as I like my women...tall and skinny. For those you you that likw short and fat, knock yourself out.

There isn't enough difference to really make a choice between the two rounds. Everyone here always talks about how 100-200fps isnt a enough difference to matter.....well the WSM and Win Mag are less then that as far as velocity goes. They hold nearly the same amount of powder, but you do get better results with slightly faster powders in the short case.

Get the BAR, best semi-auto there is, period. If your LGS has both the 300mag and 300wsm in a BAR, well, play eeny-meeny-minny-mo and pick one. Same price, damn near same performance.

For those that think the WSM won't be around much longer....you're probably the same ones that said it wouldn't last 10 years....10 years ago lol still here, still going strong.

#1: Neither thrill me but the Win Mag has legs and the mfgs have perfected it. The WSM may or may not see 2020 (if that matters) and feeds like a bump in the sidewalk (which may or may not matter with a selfloader).

#2: The SXR is untried, unproven, and not very pretty. The BAR is a classic and arguably the only attractive, reliable, and accurate big-game selfloader with sporter-styling.

#3 You didn't ask but if I needed a 300 magnum I'd build a custom 300 H&H on a Ruger No.1 with a 28 inch barrel.

Well, first off to the rifle. I can't find a BAR of the older ilk anymore new. The new auto's from Browning and the Win SXR are the same gun, from Browning now called the short or long trac. Shorter cartridges typically do better in the auto's. That has been my experience. I have had both rifles, neither was accurate enough, and I felt both rifles, one a long trac and one a short trac (obviously I suppose) fed great, they feed OK, rarely jammed, but both did on ocassion, and my OLD .270 BAR, NEVER has jammed. Also on both of the 'TRAC' versions, they severely ginked up the mouth of the cases when they were ejected, my old 270 didn't do that either, not a real big deal, just shows me that the newer rifles are not as precise and as high of quality as the older ones.

The WSM is a great cartridge, I have several, all bolt actions though, and mostly SAKO's. They feed perfectly and the WSM has always been very accurate right out of the box with little to no special treatment.

Not so the 300 Win Mag. I have noticed that on same length barrel, the difference in speed is pretty minimal til you get to 200 grainers, which the longer version generates better velocities for me, along the order of 125 fps through my chrono. This is NOT enough for me to defer to the WM, it is a short necked cartridge, and is not made as accurate as easily. I'm not saying it isn't accurate, in fact I feel if you work with your rifle and especially load development you can make most cartridges very accurate, it's just easier IME with the WSM. I like mid for caliber weight bullets, especially like the Accubond and Triple Shock, so the slight difference in the long action with the heavier bullets isn't really a big deal to me, and the shorter action in a Sako holds 4 down just like the long action.

I will strongly advise you to stay away from the Browning/Win automatics for now, If you really want a sporting auto, look at the Benelli, you can clean it from the breach end, and it is available in both calibers I think, but even though I hate recommending off of the post ?, I will support a bolt action for either of these calibers, but Browning if you have to pick one of the two, customer service sucks from both companies, takes a ridiculously long time, but Browning is better/more stable than Win IMO.

Good luck!