Rifle expertise - .300 Win Mag

[MarkT]

I'm looking to get a purpose - driven rifle selection - long range big game bolt sporter rifle. (I have some rifles but not one like this description) Specifically wanting to identify a .300 win mag caliber bolt rifle with 5-round internal magazine. (Not .338 Lapua mag, Weatherby mags, etc hard to find and expensive rounds.)  Good to 1,000 yds if I ever have the need.  Probably not for competition as that requires retaining accuracy with a hot and heavy barrel - have that already in .308. I will reload or sometimes just buy ammo in small-town hardware/gun stores so don't want weird calibers - want more range than .30-06 or .308.  Looking for reasonable price (like $1,000 - 1500 range) capable of 2 moa cold or better out of the box; tunable to 1moa. Probably 24" barrel.  Potential upgrades, like bedded or floated barrel if it isn't already, trigger upgrade options if it isn't already excellent.  Likely want a 3-4# trigger, OK with single or 2-stage, I shoot both.  (Double Set triggers are awesome but overkill to me except maybe in something like a Shiloh Sharps .45-110 Long Range rifle.)  Wt not over 8#.  Looking at Remington 700, Winchester 70, Ruger American, Savage etc sporter class rifles; suitable for actual hunts.  Not Accuracy Int'l and other $5,000+ heavy esoteric drag-bag sniper rifles.  Will mount a quality mid-price scope on it like a Nikon or Leupold.

I will likely look for my rifle at the Denver gun show from a private seller once I have a short list of good choices and prices to pay.  I am tired of 4473 NICS govt approval of my 2nd amendment RIGHT.

[solo1]

The choice of the .300 Winchester mag comes as close as any. Belted cartridges have come into disfavor though.  I had a 7mm Mag in a Ruger 77 which worked for me but probably not in the running for elk because some prefer heavier weight bullets beyond 175 gr.. Once again, although I reloaded the 7mm if I were to choose today I would not go belted cartridges.

I'm partial to a Savage because of the accuracy and trigger for a modest price. Can't go wrong tho with any mentioned.  Your 30-06 is a decent cartridge.  Easy to find.  Many like the 6.5 Creedmore but a lighter bullet weight.  Scope choice, try looking at a TRACT. sold direct, excellent optics for the price.

[Jess from VA]

Besides the normal factory bolt guns in 300win Mag, I have no recommendations to make, other than my penchant for scanning my local gun boards for good used firearms (with no FFL paperwork), then if seeing something interesting, going off on the computer to read all the write ups I can find about that particular firearm (up, down or sideways).  Savage, Winchester, Ruger, Remington, FN yada.  Up here, it is not uncommon to find a good basic rifle that has had a match/higer grade bbl added and some other work.  Of course, I am always interested in whether the work was done by harry homeowner (the unskilled, or perhaps the highly skilled, or a reputable smith or gun shop).  Prices will be higher, but not always ridiculously higher.

However, I want to mention that I just read a very interesting article recently (probably in the NRA Am. Rifleman), about recent developments in the 300 Win Mag cartridge itself, in conjunction with US military snipers.  The upshot of which is that that cartridge can now be made to perform almost as good as the 338 Lapua.  I would look for that article and read it, because I think it may shed light on which rifle(s) may be the best choice in conjunction with this new cartridge.

Besides my 30.06s and .308s, the 300 Win Mag is the only other high power rifle cartridge I have ever considered (except maybe a 7mm mag).  But I no longer hunt, and the Eastern US never presents the distance shots the Western US does.  So I never pursued it beyond study.

Here it is:  https://www.americanrifleman.org/articles/2017/5/24/unsung-hero-the-mk-248-mod-1/

I also googled up Best 300 win mag rifles and got a list of articles on the subject.

[T.P.]

HEY MARK

Check this out for information that may help you with your ???

https://www.longrangehunting.com/forums/

T.P.

[MarkT]

I had a fabulous Browning bolt .270 back in my college days but needed money and had to sell it.  Mid price Leupold scope, beautiful deep bluing - made in Japan IIRC.  That rifle was a tack driver.  Was my "western rifle" but life got in the way and it's long gone.  Now to replace it gonna upgrade a bit to .300 win mag.  If I was going for the full monty it would be an AI (or the like, button barrel) .338 Lapua - but I can find other uses for nearly 10G's - just want a good long range sporter with elk, forkhorn, ram and deer capability.

[The emperor has no clothes]

A good friend who was very knowledgeable with hunting rifles always told me he considered the .300 Weatherby Magnum superior to the Winchester. That was always his go to gun. He killed many moose, caribou, Dall Rams with it. I always preferred my .270 pump.  But later as I started hunting Grizzlies I went with a Browning BAR .338. Personally, for what you are wanting it for I think the Ruger 7mm Mag would be your best bet. My favorite gun was a Sako .338 bolt action. But sadly when I went in the Navy I needed the money and asked my Dad to sell it for me. 

[Firefight100]

I too like and have the 7mm Rem Mag in a Weatherby Vanguard.  I read the FBI uses this also as a sniper round in their ranks, among others, I guess.  List price is just north of $1000.
You might look at Weatherby rifles also.

[Jess from VA]

Here's 36 of them for sale in CO, a nice selection from bargain to steep.  (you can narrow a search to closer to where you live)

Several of these guys say they will only sell through FFL, which kind of defeats the major purpose of buying used (except better prices than new).  Up here, some guys say they want to do an FFL sale in their add, but if you have good guy creds and a permit, they don't care.  Of course, an FFL sale guarantees you the gun is legit, and it's not like anyone is likely to ban bolt rifles anytime soon.  Still, when a guy can produce his bill of sale (to look at, if not keep) and/or can otherwise convince me of his bona fides, I'd always rather not do an FFL.  I can't remember the last liquor store knocked over with a bolt rifle (but they do get stolen from time to time).  Even a few lefty bolts.

http://www.armslist.com/classifieds/search?location=colorado&category=rifles&page=1&tag=300-win-mag

[Crackerborn]

Howa makes the Weatherby Vanguard barrel and action and are less expensive. I shoot 300 Win Mag in a Browning A-bolt at 200 yards off sticks and get 2" patterns (Minox ZV scope). I once took an elk in your state of residence with a Browning A-bolt in 7mm Mag with a 185 gr projectile (275 yard shot, almost fish in a barrel). I am currently playing with a 195 gr HPBT bullet in 7mm-08 as a possible elk round out to 400 yards that doesn't bruise you after a few rounds at the range. The youngest child has a Howa 1500 in .308 with a garbage scope and he gets bored shooting the paper out of the bull at 200 yards off the bench. I load 165 gr HPBT Seirra Matchking for him to shoot at the range. 300 yard ranges are the longest that we have around here and they are not common. 7mm is plenty big unless you plan on chasing grizzly, or letting them chase you. Moose with the long bow (25 - 30 yards max) is my next big trip west, prairie dogs every spring on cattle property in NE with the .22-250 doesn't count (100 - 500 yards).

1000 yards needs a calculator for drop, windage,  etc. I believe it is Hornady that offers a free download for one online.

[MarkT]

Thanks for that link Jess.  I'll be checking there for good leads.

Been looking close at the Savage models.  Look like good values.  Also the Tract scopes look good.

Nikon makes a great ballistic computer ap for your phone called Spot On.  Android and Apple.  Favors their scopes but is very useful even with other makes.

[semo97]

1000 yds. that is for the enemy not for food, they say if a shot for food is over 300 yds. most game is only wounded and never  found. I look at it in a hunters point of view. A lot of rifles are way more capable of long distance then the shooter. If your abilities are shooting way out there and getting a clean kill you are one of the few.

[The emperor has no clothes]

1000 yds. that is for the enemy not for food, they say if a shot for food is over 300 yds. most game is only wounded and never  found. I look at it in a hunters point of view. A lot of rifles are way more capable of long distance then the shooter. If your abilities are shooting way out there and getting a clean kill you are one of the few.

Agreed

[0leman]

Mark, I lived and hunted north of you in Wyoming for some 19 years of the 23 that I lived there.  I got 18 elk with a Ruger 7 mm mag shooting 160 gain bolt tailed bullets, hand loaded.  I could off sand at 100 yards keep three shots in less than a minute, 300 yards groups were a bit larger. I had a 4 power scope mounted on the Ruger.   I also got my fair share of antelope and mule deer while there.

Longest shot at an elk was 300 yards, He moved some 40' from where the bullet hit him.  Closest was 40 yards and running, he moved less than 30 yards.   Hey he was running.

Never got a permit for a moose, though did try a bunch.  Not lucky.  But would have used the 7mm for it.  Its bullet placement not size of the bullet. 

I did hunt with several folks who had the 300, they were very satisfied with their rifle.

[MarkT]

They are upping the 600yd range at my gun club to 1,000yds now.  Looking fwd to it.  Don't anticipate ever taking game at such ranges but it's satisfying to put the bullets where you want them that far downrange. They had to put a hold on reactive (exploding) targets lately - fire concerns.  Antelope and bighorn sheep - shots are way out there. Good luck getting a tag for the latter.  Elk, moose, not so far out and tags easier to get.  Don't know on caribou, don't think they are so skittish but their range is way north - don't plan to go their way.  No grizz round here that I know of but they are in Montana & Wyoming. There are folks here who shoot ground hogs / varmints way downrange.  22-250 and 222swifts and the like. Ground hogs are hated by horse and cattle people.  Make holes that break their legs and they have to put them down.  My hunting in recent years has been from a ground blind in the woods, longest possible shot is about 85 yds.  But I won't always hunt there.

[Gavin_Sons]

1000 yds. that is for the enemy not for food, they say if a shot for food is over 300 yds. most game is only wounded and never  found. I look at it in a hunters point of view. A lot of rifles are way more capable of long distance then the shooter. If your abilities are shooting way out there and getting a clean kill you are one of the few.

1000 yards is nothing if you practice and have good optics and know how to adjust for wind. I have a target set up at my parents at 1000 and 1500 yards. 338 lapua mag and 50 bmg have no troubles. 300 win mag is another good round out to 1000. Chris Kyle prefered the 300 win mag up to 1000 yards just because of the less recoil compared to the 338. If you practice you too could be a good shot. I don't lnow many tnat practice past 200 yards. I consider myself a precision shooter. I have killed many deer over 300 yards without even tracking.  And you are right, most guns are way more capable than most people at that range.

[Hooter]

Get a muzzle break put on it. Best thing I've done with that gun other than the trigger mod. Don't remember what the mod is called but the pull is excellent. I had one when I was on the swat team.

[Leathel]

I had a 300 Win Mag, was OK but I re-barreled that to 300RUM.... Case is better built and same head size/bolt and more grunt, running the 208gr Amax it was an effective killing machine for the longer shots, it has a very effective brake so you can spot your own shots...very important for follow up shots if you need to correct for miss reading wind...Wind is easy for a while but 800-100 yards its gets trickier.

 I used to cull goats and mostly used my 243AI up to 500 yards, 400 with that was easy, 500 OK then stepped up to the RUM but if you want to step it out High BC and practice in feild type conditions with tried and trued charts is a must...

My main hunting rifle is a light 7mmSAUM, Short action , effective round, good range with the right load and as quick as a Rem Mag

But then I load my own so cost of good loaded rounds is not an issue 

[MarkT]

Thanks for the tips guys.  Using the armslist I found a Weatherby Vanguard in .300 winmag with little use "about 20 rnds" (it looks it) and a Leupold VX 3.5-10x50 scope (lists at $615) at less than half price only 45 minutes away. I wish the scope had a couple options like mildots, lighted reticle and an elevation turret. Still, nice scope and the price was great - and I'm not taking up sniping with this shooter while it's flat trajectory will work great for my current use.  (Still looking at those Tract scopes.)  Being sold by a cop who got it from his dad's estate when he passed.  Never thought I'd have a Weatherby.  Yeah it's made by Howa of Japan.  I'm thinking they may have made my superb Browning 270 back in the day.  They reportedly built better rifles for Weatherby than the German Sauer company did back in the 60's.  Weatherby gurantees sub-moa accuracy for 3 shot groups - remarkable - and the rifle comes with a target to prove it.  Surprised they get that with a bedded synthetic stock.  I'm having difficulty getting a history from the serial # online.  Reportedly Weatherby will make a report for $50.  BTW ballistics on this round indicate extreme point blank range at about 335yds with zero about 270 (from memory, might be off a little). Depending on load of course.  It has 300fps and 20% more energy than 30-06. I haven't weighed the trigger yet but it feels about 3.5#.  It's adjustable.  Not a small rifle with 24" barrel and I think it weighs nearly 9# empty with scope - but I think it will work just fine for western hunts - on stand or not.

[Jess from VA]

Pretty nice looking rifle.     Not yours, but very close:





Mark, I think the Leupold VX series scopes are top notch (good low light and super clear) (I have a VX R lighted reticle one), but if you want something different, this link is to about the best resource on the internet for shopping, comparing, pricing almost any optics made (and they have very good tech support if you call them).  Except sometimes when I was wanting the stats on any particular scope (wt, length, mount to rifle issues), I had to go to the manufacturer's own website for those details.  

You can always put the scope you got back on the CO Armslist (scope section) and try to sell it, to defray cost of what you want.  Also, the prices on SWFA website are good, but can often be beaten by web searches, but they will price match any cheaper add you can send them.  And it's always better to buy from them (on price match) for reliability of the transaction, than some bargain shop you may have found online.  That's how I bought my VX R.

https://swfa.com/

For an AR, not a hunter.    https://swfa.com/leupold-1-25-4x20-vx-r-30mm-riflescope-6.html 

[MarkT]

Thanks Jess.  Saving the link.  

Just measured the trigger on this Weatherby.  Lymon avg 3#11oz with no creep or backlash I can detect. Didn't try to adjust it - break feels really clean.  I already ordered a Timney for it - may be superfluous.  Some accessories it should have like a sling, Blizzard scope caps, lotsa ammo. No dies / reloading components yet.

Maybe my standards aren't high enough but I'm thinking this is the finest (hunting) rifle I have.  And I've built several top shelf bull barrel competition rifles with premium triggers, expensive Magpul furniture, good scopes (OK Nikons & Leupolds, not 5-figured Steiner, Swarovsky, Newcon, etc) as well as more practical hunters - Henry .45-70, Ruger .44mag., M1A .308, Ruger #1 .30-06, 1895 Mauser 7X57, the shotguns if I ever need to use a slug gun - not to mention all the ARs on the bottom of Lake Michigan.