Ok, it seems like the wife has been pregenant for 3 years and with limited time to hunt, I've purchased more firearms than I need. Currently I have a 7mm-08 BDL, which I like because it balances well for me. I'm about 5'7". Someome bedded the action and it's not perfect, but I like it as a hunter and the stock is very nice.

I have a 30-06 Ithaca LSA65 Deluxe that just might become my favorite handling gun. Great stock design that fits me about as well as any factory gun could. Haven't fired it yet.

I also have two 7mm Rem Mags, one is an older Remington BDL - very clean and nice wood/blue, but again, haven't fired it. And one 7mm Sako AV Deluxe - this one was new old stock when I bought it and the subtle features of the stock have really grown on me, plus it kicks less then a 270, though it is a tad heavy. Only fired this one at 50 yards, but I topped it with a Bushnell Elite 4200 and don't think I could ever let her go.

So my question is this. Obviously I'm well over due for a trip to the range. Could be this weekend. But I found a nice 300 Winchester Mag for sale and was wondering what the 300 could do that my 7mms couldn't. I hunt mostly deer, but could see myself entering into black bear here in PA and possibly an elk hunt. I know the 7mm will handle all of those, as will the 06', but would the 300 handle the bear or the elk so much better that I should consider it? My biggest fear is that I won't practice with it as much as say the 06'.

The .300 WM provides a definite increase in horsepower over the 7 Rem. It also gives the option of using some real bone-crunching projectiles in the 180-200 grain range. Does it warrant you buying one if you've got a 7 Rem already. Nope. Not to hunt deer, black bear or maybe elk.

That said.......I've got two .300 WM's and love them to death. My "go-to" load throws a 180 gr. Grand Slam at 3050 fps and will knock the snot out of about anything you have any business shooting at. As for reduced range time........I find the recoil to be not at all unpleasant. But it's definitely more expensive to shoot than some other guns.

Thanks Strut. I find my shoulder will tolerate only the deluxe stocks of factory guns. I have always wanted to have a custom gun built, though I wouldn't spend the big bucks I read about here. Maybe $1,500 or so. Custom in the sense that it fits me well, etc. Maybe it makes sense to make that gun the 300.

Although, I have little doubt that a Deluxe Sako AV or AIII will fill the bill. I just wish their barrels weren't so heavy. The L61R variants don't fit me as well as the Deluxe. I did find a Weatherby Vanguard VGX that could worth a look.

Joseywales........

FWIW... My .300's are a Model 70 and a Ruger Mark II s/s. Both working man's rifles (i.e. "cheap"). Both are "pushers" rather than "punchers". The Model 70 is the better of the two. I've also got a Model 70 in 7 STW (which can have a lively recoil impulse) and it is not objectionable either. All three have the factory issue recoil pad.

Josey, there are good arguements for both sides of the 7mm vs 300 WM, most of which are mostly meaningles in the feild. The 300 shoots heavier bullets and the 7mm is more ballistically efficient, and so forth. If you have to have a totally logical and practical reason to own any gun more than your 30-06 you won't. My advice is that if you can afford the 300 it's a nice gun and you want it, buy it. This is a hobby so enjoy yourself................DJ


..........But then again there is one reason that a 300 is better than a 7mm. Precut cleaning patches fit 30cals perfectly and are always either to tight or too loose in a 7mm......

quote:

Precut cleaning patches fit 30cals perfectly and are always either to tight or too loose in a 7mm......

That, in itself, is reason enough to upgrade.

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I hunt mostly deer, but could see myself entering into black bear here in PA and possibly an elk hunt. I know the 7mm will handle all of those, as will the 06', but would the 300 handle the bear or the elk so much better that I should consider it?

Go hunt on of your 7mm's its almost too late in the year to get a rifle ranged out for a elk hunt, so a 30 mag is probably next years gun anyway. The 7mm Rem with 175 bullets is great medicine. Hunt them if you got them.

I second schromf's advice, load some 175gr Partitions and put those 7mm RMs to work!

I wouldn't trade one off for the other. The .300 will hit harder but on both ends. The 7mag will bring it on elk size game w/ good 160-175gr bullets. If you just want a .300mag, then get one, but I would probably step up to a .338wm instead.

Thanks everyone for your input.

djpaintles, I couldn't agree more. This is for fun!

Hmm...buying a gun to match my cleaning patches. Now that's rationalization!

I think for now, I'll work the 7mm. I don't know there's a need for both the 7mm and the 300 and I need to find out just how well that Sako will "carry" in the field. I know this, if I go to a 300 or 338 (which I had tossed about as well, thanks fredj338), I am going to go with a Sako or Tikka Deluxe style stock, short of having a custom gun made anyway.

I've been buying guns preparing to take to the field more, now that the girls are sleeping through the night. And last year, I concentrated mostly of getting my 13 year old son set up. I need more time at the range to see what my level of tolerance for recoil really is. I've had bouts of tendonitis in the shoulders and elbows, but if I get to the range more I'll become comfortable.

There is something about that Tikka stock that just seems to cut the recoil. Maybe it just fits me better than anything else I have, but the guys at the range agree.

If you handload, the 300 win makes sense as it does very well with reduced loads and you can go from 308 on up with whatever recoil level you want for the task at hand. Reduced to 7 mag recoil levels, it will still have more power if you use the right powders.

Well being I have a .300WM and love it and never liked the 7mm. Rem mag I would say sell both of the 7mms and get a custom .300, or a nice factory rifle and top with a top of the line scope. But I would get a .300WSM if I were getting one nowadays. If I didn't have so much into customizing my .300WM I would get myself a WSM.

I had a mod 70 in 300 wm and was dumb to sell it. This cartridge really shines with 200-220 grain bullets. If you reload you are set. A nos semi spits in 220 grain or a Hornady in a 220 rn are poison for black bears and moose at reasonable ranges(no Elk here). Carlos Hathcock (USMC)won matches with this round so it can be very accurate with the right loads in a good rifle. Recoil with stiff loads pushing a 220 are stern but not too over the top and penetration is awesome. If you can handle a 30-06 with 180's or a 7RM with 175's a 300 Win should not be too much of a stretch for you. I shot a handfull of Deer with the big 300 too much power for me for deer but it was a decisive bang flop on all of em.
I dont think an Elk would know the difference between the 7mm and the 300 or would Mr Bear. There is a very good reason though to get that rifle you don't have one.

I would hate to choose between my 3006 and my 300 H&H, but the 300 with 200 gr. Noslers is about the most awesome killer I can imagine on deer and elk..guess I'd pick the 300 if I were you, but only if you can shoot it well and the recoil is no problem....

I doubt that you would ever have a circumstance wherein the 30-06 would fail on deer or elk unless you misplaced the shot, and then the 300 wouldn't help you either....shot placement is all important.

By the 300 just for the hell of it then take the 7mm hunting.

You can get odds on this but I think that the 7mm's compare very well with .30's. Just use a bullet with similar SD and dead is dead.

I've had my .300 wm since I was 10, bought it with my own money, and I've receiced a lot of flak for it.

But the way I rationalized the ,300 from starting out to want a .270 was a guy that hunted in Alaska all of his life and then moved to the 48 as an Elk guide.

He had 5 rifles: .270, 7mm RM, 30/06, 300 wm, and a .338 wm.

And before I bought my rifle he said one thing to me while he stood in his trophy room with all of his self earned tropies.

- "Even though they are all great calibers the .270's and 7mm's have too many 'ifs' attached to them, the 30/06 is a great caliber but the .300 brings trajectory and power to the table with no 'ifs'. And the .338 is a wonderful gun too but you can't see much of a difference from the .300 until 250's are being thrown at something Elk sized and bigger."

If you can shoot it accurately, the .300 is just as close to a perfectly great rilfe as you can get. But I'll warn you, if you get it, you'll be hooked for life.

Use your 30.06 for deer and get the 300 or 338 for bigger game. I find the 338 recoil a little distasteful without a muzzlebreak so I installed a Vais on mine and it has the recoil of a 270 now and without much noise increase as the other muzzlebreaks. I'm taking my 338WM and 300WM to Colorado this year elk hunting and probably won't decide which to use until the morning of the hunt. They're both sub MOA and I feel more than comfortable with either on elk.

I think the 7mm is a better compromise between recoil and power. At close range they both have more than enough power to shoot an elk or bear. The 300 will have more, but it's overkill at short range. At long range they tend to even out. 7mm bullets have a higher BC than most .308's. At long range the 7mm closes the energy gap because it's more efficient.

On a side note the 7mm Rem Mag is loaded to a lower maximum pressure than the 300 is. If you want a little more oomph than standard, load it hotter. Use the standard advice (work up slowly, watch for pressure signs and check cases head expansion etcc...) for load developement and don't go nuts and you can get a lot more out of your 7mm. You could also have it rechambered for 7MM STW ;-)