Dear Sirs,
I'm new in this forum.
In the next days I want to buy a Mallicher Pro Hunter in 300 WM to use for deer hunting in europe. Now the question is: I want to reload the nice caliber, but wich bullet give me the best results without to destroi a lot of meat??? I have some basis idea to use a medium weight bullet (165g), this produce a good velocity and flat traiectory.
Thank you and sorry for my bad english
Faina

How big are your deer?

If you're shooting animals that weigh less than 100 kilograms, I'd use 150 or 165 grain Nosler Ballistic Tips, and go for the lungs. I've shot numerous whitetail deer in the 50 to 80K range with 150 BTs in a .300WM and they've all died quickly. If they're larger or on the upper end of the 100K range, I'd probably use Nosler Partitions or Barnes TSX. Any decent bullet will handle what we call deer size animals. Killing and meat destruction has more to do with shot placement than the bullet on this sized animal. Right now I'm hunting my .300s with a factory load, Federal Premium 165 grain Nosler Solid Base bullets.....NOT because I think they're the best, but because I got a good price on a bunch of them and I don't have much spare time to reload. They are reasonably accurate in my very accurate everyday .300. Less than 1MOA. Ballistic tips shoot better in my gun, but there is not enough difference to be concerned with in the field.

The .300WM is a great cartridge, I'm sure you will enjoy using it.

Benvenuto Faina! I personally prefer heavier bullets for the 300 WM; my minimum is 180 gr. but I like 200 gr. bullets too. I've recently stalked a red deer (stag) in Poland, using Nosler 180 gr. Partition PP. that gave excellent results. As a general rule, heavier bullets are slower and less velocity usually means less meat damage. You can't be wrong with Noslers, especially Partitons and Accubonds or Norma Oryx, for instance. For an important and expensive red stag hunt, a first quality bullet is mandatory.

Wildboar:

If by deer, he means Red Deer, which are related to our elk just a bit smaller, then I agree completely on using a heavier premium bullet. 180gr Nosler Partitions would work well.

Good hunting.

I've shot a good many deer with 180-grain bullets in both the Win Mag and the WSM. I use Trophy Bonded Bear Claws (but any good premium bullet will do), which produced clean pass-throughs with little meat damage. The reason I use these is I like to stick to one bullet and load for everything with any particular rifle. So my Win Mag may be used for whitetail deer this week, and 800-kilo moose the next without changing the load.

To avoid meat damage, stay away from Ballistic Tips, Sierras, Hornady or any basic cup-and-core bullet. Premium bullets will give you clean pass-throughs and blood trails.

Just my opinion.

Welcome Faina
please excuse my curiosity, but as Range Officer in Codogno Shooting Range for over 20 years I saw a lot of people take in consideration magnum calibers as first / only caliber thinking to do all the european deers without problems ... but by my opinion, some time it is true and at the same time it is not true.
Now the questions:
which is your experience in big game hunting?
Have you a good experience with rifle shooting and hunting or, instead, are you a beginner?
What about your reloading experiences?
What made you decide for 300 WM (nothing to say about the brand, it is good!)?
Do you think that you will hunt mainly in Italy or all over the EU?
Have you to close the business in few days or not?

I can say that usually high velocity is not friend of little meat damage.

With your answers I'll give a honest opinion and a friendly help.

Excuse me, Faina, also in italian, if you prefer.

outstanding rifle choice.

Thanks all for you opinion,
I'm not a beginner. I use from circa 10 years rifles to hunt and to fun, I reload with much sotisfaction and good results. Normaly I use my Remington BDL cal 30'06 loadet with Sierra 150 Pro hunter, this is a realy allround combination rifle-caliber. Sometimes I hunt with a very accurate 6.5 x 55 SM, but the best rifle in my collection is a Farè T1000 cal 338 Lapua Mag. Great gun + great caliber = much fun!!!
In every case, I shot only ammo that I load by myself: rifle, shotgun, handgun.
Like I say, normaly I use 30'06 cal to hunt, now I'm looking for a caliber that shot flatter. I have two 7mm Rem Mag, some times ago, now I would like to check a 300 Mag with reasonable recoil. In this case I think the 300 Win Mag is a good chiose.
At first time I want to load this with Sierra 150 Pro hunter that give me much results in 30'06 cal, but the 300 have much more speed... and I don't want to destroi the beast. 180g is a very nice bullet for this caliber, but is not very flat and I don't need so much penetration to kill a red deer (max 200 Kg).
So think 165g is the best choise to shot flat and kill clean
Nosler Accubond, Sierra HP Gameking, Swift Scirocco, ecc one of this

Ok Faina,
now it is easier to give you an answer.

But first of all, please excuse me, but I already saw a lot of people disappointed a little time later the purchase of the rifle at the first approach to big game hunting and rifle shooting.

My opinion should suggest a bigger and slower cailber, because I prefer a close approach, 9,3x62 is my choice, but for sure .300 WM is very good. As suggested by Wildboar a range from 165grs to 200grs premium bullet should give to you a lot of satisfactions.

However you can manage the choice of the rifle for your hunting on these basis: open areas and light bush choose the .300 WM and 165grs-180grs bullets, close areas with dense bush use the old good 30-06 with 200grs-220grs bullets.

I would say that Steve is right.

However, I will also say that it's all good and that you should hunt with what you want.

If you want that .300 Win Mag, then buy it and use 180 grain premium bullet.

Hi Steve, I have shot almost every type of animal (in Europe) with my Remington 30'06 and don't find necessary using more than 185g Lapua Mega bullets. If I find necessary to load a 220g bullet in a 30'06, I buy a 45-70 Governament.
But the question here is wich type of bullet for the 300 Win Mag on long range red deer hunting.
Saluti
Faina

In that case, 165-grain Nosler Partition will do everything you want it to. In my opinion, 150-grain bullets are too light for Win. Mag. velocities.

Well, I like Partition by Nosler, in Africa in my 9.3x62 they worked very well. They loosed about 30grs on 286.
H-Mantel by RWS is another one that I like very much.
I did not have occasion to use Swift but I know that they are good.

For Gatogordo:

quote:

If by deer, he means Red Deer, which are related to our elk just a bit smaller,

this not always true.
An Italian red deer is probably smaller, a Sardinian, defined Red Deer dwarf, of course it is smaller, but starting frome the Danubian going to the East where Siberian Red Deer live the dimensions grow, and there is not so much difference with elk.

Faina

For a great bullet that does not seem to damage or bloodshot a lot of meat try some Trophy Bonded Bearclaws.

My wife and I have used them a lot in the 308.

She even took zebra and wildebest in Zim with them in 165gr weight.

Even when shooting small game like bobcat up close the skin was not "blown up" on the exit side.

I have used the 200gr Trophy Bonded Bearclaw in my 300 Win Mag for 2 elk and for a couple of red fox.

It gives great expansion, but because it is a bonded bullet it does not fragment, sending our secondary projectiles, so it messes up less meat.

Faina

If you want flat shooting, minimal meat damage and excellent accuracy try Lutz Moeller KJG 123gn copper bullets. Average velocity is 1100m/s so at +5cm 100m you will be -5 at 300m.As the metakl is so much harder and the tip fragment in a predicatble pattern you dont need heavy 180gn+ bullets
A lot of African big game has been taken with them in 6mm upwards so all European deer etc will be fine. Reloading receipes are on the site
http://www.lima-wiederladetechnik.de/7,62-mm/300-WM-KJG.htm

I had to head shoot a fallow with this 123gn KJG 308 bullet and retrieved the bullet which had buries itself 20 cm into the clay. Weight retension was 78%
The reduction in SD after fragmentation was 23%. Using some 150 gn retrieved lead bullets the reduction in SD was 85%. This calculation shows how the KJG can penetrate extremly deeply for a light for caliber bullet.



Mark