I as you know I have a Vanguard in 300 Weatherby Magnum, and as I've seen that a partner has a thread to tell us your experiences with the 300 RUM cartridge I have been encouraged to open a similar thread but with the 300 Weatherby Magnum. So I appreciate all the experiences that you might share with me and with others.

Thanks,

Oscar

I have been using one for about 15 years or so, a MarkV Deluxe for white tail deer/feral hog/elk and pronghorn. Just put a new 3x9 Leupold scope on it and getting it ready for a Coues deer hunt in Arizona if I get drawn.

I like the 300 Weatherby.

I have an interesting story about 300 Wthbys. My father bought a 300 Wthby Mark V Fibermark some years ago. I was extremely jealous and wanted one as well, but couldnt afford it at the time. So I bought a Vanguard instead. After a few sessions at the range Dad discovered he did not like the rough texture of the Mark V's composite stock. He offered to trade my wood stocked Vanguard for his Fibermark. I took the deal, but have found I don't care for the composite stock either. I did get the last laugh as I used it to kill my best whitetail to date; an 11pt.


I knew this deer was in the area and thought I had seen him during the pre-season in a batchelor group in a field one evening. When deer season came around, I set Dad up in an area where I thought he was working scrapes. He came by me instead! 180gr from the 300Wthby and he was DRT!

I've had the same problem on my .375 and .458. Rough finish just sandpapered my face raw in only a few shots. I took them to a reliable gunsmith and they sanded the finish slick on the cheek piece and re-painted them for a very reasonable charge. They're fine now and don't look bad either. The cheek piece is slick but the crinkle cut original finish is still on the rest of the stock.

I believe a person could order some stock paint from Brownells and do it themselves without too much trouble.

I own and shoot quite a few different calibers and know there is nothing "magical" in the way of one 30 cal. magnum over another. Or one caliber over any other for that matter. However, the 300 Wby. in a 26in. barrel is one deadly rifle. Everything I have shot with mine died right there. Granted, the 300 Ultra Mag. will do the same thing. After all, a 180gr. bullet at 3200fps. out of any case will do the same thing, the Lazzeroni, or any wildcat. Elgin Gates shot animals with his that I would tackle only with a big bore. But, for medium game, hit in the right place it is like a lightning bolt.

I have two 300 Weatherbys. Took one to Africa and shot everything up to a gemsbock. Great round and accurate. I don't know what all the fuss is about belt vs. no belt.

quote:

Originally posted by eyeman:
I don't know what all the fuss is about belt vs. no belt.

People like to make things up, that's all.

I've never had a problem, have never met anyone who has ever had a problem and have never spoken with anyone who has ever had a problem related to the belt with any belted cartridge.

quote:

Originally posted by Magnum Hunter1:
I own and shoot quite a few different calibers and know there is nothing "magical" in the way of one 30 cal. magnum over another. Or one caliber over any other for that matter. However, the 300 Wby. in a 26in. barrel is one deadly rifle. Everything I have shot with mine died right there. Granted, the 300 Ultra Mag. will do the same thing. After all, a 180gr. bullet at 3200fps. out of any case will do the same thing, the Lazzeroni, or any wildcat. Elgin Gates shot animals with his that I would tackle only with a big bore. But, for medium game, hit in the right place it is like a lightning bolt.

The problem is that the Weatherby Vanguard is 24 inches instead of 26, but perhaps the loss of speed is not too exaggerated and the benefits are not greatly diminished by this circumstance.

Oscar.

Mine is of the MkV Japanese 26" Deluxe variety. Took the high end wood stock off and replaced with a mickey. Shot at two 330-350 elk the first at 405 yards steep downhill, drt with 180 Nosler Partition factory and the second at 75 yards DRT with handload in 168 TTSX. Love the rifle and the round.

quote:

Originally posted by CCMDoc:

quote:

Originally posted by eyeman:
I don't know what all the fuss is about belt vs. no belt.

People like to make things up, that's all.

I've never had a problem, have never met anyone who has ever had a problem and have never spoken with anyone who has ever had a problem related to the belt with any belted cartridge.

+1

I have never owned a belted round though I have nothing against them in principle. It is just that I am obsessed with efficient cartridge cases & analyze the numbers to death....

My understanding is that belted rounds are a problem for reloaders as the case head spaces on the belt and not on the shoulder, thus reducing case life apart from affecting accuracy to some extent (more relevant if one is looking for target quality).

Bah that is an "old wive's tale" that has been circulating since some lazy gunwriter made it up back in the '50s. I have had and do have many belted mags and currently have two P-64 .375H&H, four P-64 .338WM, one sts. Classic .338WM, one Dakota 76 .338WM, one FN sporter .308NM, one P-64 .264WM, one P-64 ,300H&H and one Browning FN-LE .456WM. I have loaded for, shot and packed such rifles all over British Columbia and some of Alberta for over 40 years and have never experienced a problem of any sort.

A good crf rifle, such as a P-64 Mod. 70, chambered in a belted mag with appropriate bullets is about "perfect" for BC hunting and my choice here is the superb .338WM with 250 NPs and ABs, I often wonder why I bother with anything else.

quote:

Originally posted by Nakihunter:
My understanding is that belted rounds are a problem for reloaders as the case head spaces on the belt and not on the shoulder, thus reducing case life apart from affecting accuracy to some extent (more relevant if one is looking for target quality).

Yes, but as a reloader you can adjust your dies for the (reloaded) case to headspace on the shoulder. By doing this, you increase expected case life, and the belt becomes largely irrelevant. Exception: cases with no shoulder (e.g. .458 Win Mag), and POTENTIALLY cases with very long and sloping shoulders (e.g. .300 H&H - at least that seems to have been the reason the belt was originally introduced).

Mind you, if you want to do this, you'll have to keep (fired and reloaded) brass separate for each chamber. It is also an advantage if you have separate dies for each chamber (even if they nominally share caliber), that will save you from having to readjust your dies when loading for another rifle. But both of the above are recommended anyway, belt or no belt.

- mike

One of the alternatives to the belted magnum problem is to get a collet die and size them with this before full length sizing. The belted magnums go out of spec just ahead of the belt and a collet die sizes this area. A full length die can't do this. I've found that you can reload until the primer pocket is too loose to hold a primer with this method. Accurate Inovations is where I purchased my collet die.

On a side note, I hunt every year with a friend that shoots a 300 Webe and every elk he points it at falls over.

Everything that I have shot with my 300 Wby, has died, Since 1973.

Keith

I have had many 300 weatherbys and every so often will sell one thinking I just don't need all that gun...and I always have one before "next fall". They are a joy to load for, and with neck sizing, cases usually make 7 to 10 loadings before the necks split. What I really like is the versatility. 125 grain B-Tips or Sierras for cats and coons and yotes and pigs and such, 130-165 for deers and goats and such, and 165-200s for everything else. Case capacity is perfect for the mid-slow powders and while I use a brake, I don't mind the recoil without it (I like it alot more with it!). I hate the "If you had to pick one" game but if I had to, this would be it.

I had one for a while but I couldn't handle the recoil. Not so much the recoil on my shoulder but the muzzle jump was awful. It's an impressive round and I killed a lot of deer with it but I'll never own another one. It's WAAAAAYYYY more gun than you'll ever need for anything smaller than an elk. For me it was just a phase and now I like guns that don't kick much.

I once let a buddy shoot my Mk V and he made the mistake of getting his eye too close to the scope...he never wanted to touch it again
I have owned a number of them and currently have a Mk V Deluxe and love the round.

Very nice round. I have a pair of them and have used them for everything from coyotes to big bears.

Great cartridge, great rifle--based on 40 plus yrs of personal history.

Speaking to IanD, myself and my father both own similar scope experiences with the 300wby, hold it tight.

The .300 weatherby I used to own was a stone cold moose killer. 180g bullets going like crazy.

A versatile cartridge ever there so I can read. I try to reload the only bad thing is that in Spain we can only get French gunpowder Vecta. We'll see.

Oscar.

After almost 50 years of big game hunting with lesser guns, a few years ago I finally bought a Vanguard in .300 Wby. I replaced the factory stock with AA Fancy walnut from Richards that I hand checkered, did a few other things to inhance accuracy and reduce felt recoil and I now have a rifle that I've dreamed about for 40 years.

I've only hunted with it one year, but four 168 gr TSX bullets dropped a Blackbuck, a Scimiter Horned Oryx, an Aoudad ram, and a Bull Elk within a few yards of where they were standing.

I only wish I had bought it years ago.

I was moving to Alaska over 25 years ago and asked a close friend to be on the look out for a good all around rifle for Alaska. It was a 300 Weatherby he found.

I met him in West Texas, went to a rifle range and shot it off the bench. Bench shooting it was no fun. I stood up and shot the life sized deer silhouette at 300 offhand as fast as I could. Mounted on springs, the target flopped everytime I shot. I shot as fast as I could work the bolt. When I was done, I was shocked at how well it shot and how it knocked the target down with authority.

I have shot Moose, Bison, Dall Sheep,etc. with it. The bottom line is it works well and everything died.

Sure I shoot other calibers. If I had only one and lived in Alaska, it would be my choice and it is.

AKMatt

Ovny, A business associate of mine owns but one bolt action rifle .300-Wby in center fire. One Wby O/U Athena 12 ga shotgun and a .22LR. He has one heck of a trophy room, with a big grizzly, mountain grizzly and a polar bear to boot. He used 220 grn bullets on all of those bears!

He has many wall-hangers, moose, bizon, bull elk and so on. The .300 Wby magnum rifle he has been hunting with for 35 years has done it all for him.

I have used an old Sako chambered for .300 Weatherby and have used it in Africa and North America with absolutely wonderful results. I like it better than my .300 Winchester Magnum but that's only my personal taste. It may be the "perfect round" for North America. It has superb ballistics and I hope mine outlasts my hunting career.

I had a Remington 700 classic in 300 Weatherby. Great cartridge, great rifle, but the same can be said for the 7mm remington mag, 300 wsm, even the old 30-06. I appreciate the differences in the rifles and the cartridge loads (bullets, powders),less so the nominal cartridge designation.

I still have not tried mine (always happens to me like spending money on weapons and then I have not enough for them to use). But I like the touch that has the Vanguard, I see the bolt smooth. I like it. Anyway, thanks for your experiences.

Oscar.

I shot a buck goin away from me with mine with a 165 hornady. Hit him in the rear end. Only shot I had. Came out his throat. Pretty well field dressed him. I think there a little too much for whitetails if you want to eat em.

quote:

I shot a buck goin away from me with mine with a 165 hornady. Hit him in the rear end. Only shot I had. Came out his throat. Pretty well field dressed him. I think there a little too much for whitetails if you want to eat em.

I think the European red deer is somewhat larger than the white line, so maybe the 300 Weatherby is right. The only bad thing is that because of our way to hunt sometimes the shots are at close range and the bullet may not expand, or work as it should.

Oscar.

hola oscar

soy mexicano y he usado muchisimo el 300wby, pero como es foro americano te lo digo en ingles

i use the 300wby 29 years ago on weatherby, remington, and some custom rifles and now i use a blaser and love it

i had taken mule deer, coues deer, whitetail deer, coyote, bobcat, mongolian ibex, alpine ibex, muflon, stone sheep aoudad sheep, desert sheep, and some more animals with the 300wby

my load 165grs nosler ballistic tip and scirocco, 86grs of 7828, fed 215m, and wby case

that load is realy accurate in almost any rifle that i use and i get 3350-3400fps and the mountain animals fells dead in his feeds

so the blaser 300wby is realy my "to-go-gun"

best regard

some pics


By mexicanhunter at 2010-10-23


By mexicanhunter at 2010-03-17


By mexicanhunter at 2009-08-21


By mexicanhunter at 2009-10-23


By mexicanhunter at 2008-07-03


By mexicanhunter at 2008-06-21


By mexicanhunter at 2008-07-03

Just today I made the decision which rifle to switch to for our deer season. Again this year I'm going to the .300 Wby.

I've used a couple different .300 Wby's for ground squirrels through pigs locally to whitetail in Montana, up to Mt. zebra in Namibia and lots of stuff in between.

As several people said there is no "magic" to that caliber, but I've sure been happy with it. Plenty of power and to me it seems like a world less recoil than a .340 Wby.

I have a 300 HH Ackley (which near as I can tell is the same as the Weatherby, except the shoulders don't have a radius) so hope its ok to post in this thread...

Big charges of RL22 with 180gr Accubonds or Barnes bullets work great on paper. I have not taken any game with mine, so can't comment there.

I recently chose to cut and recrown the pacnor barrel from 26" to a more manageable 24". I do expect some velocity loss, but the rifle balances better (to me) now.

Nate