300 win mag 165gr vs 180gr PT

[LD375]

Thinking of trying these 2 bullets for black bear and moose this fall, I'm leaning towards the 165gr nosler Partition for up to and including moose, any opinions would be great.
I think the 165gr is a perfect blend having the speed of the 150gr and knock down power of the 180gr.

Thanks for any feedback,
Lou

 

[DrMike]

A 165 grain PT at 300 Win Mag velocities will perform very well, Lou. If you can put the bullet where it belongs, any black bear and/or moose will be coming home with you.

 

[Guy Miner]

Long ago, my buddies and I had problems with the early 165 gr Ballistic Tip bullets at .300 mag velocity. About 3100 - 3200 fps muzzle velocity. Very explosive. Lots of damage, not much penetration. I was trying them, instead of 180 gr Partitions for the same reasons stated above.

We learned.

And Nosler greatly improved the Ballistic Tip.

Still, somehow, the 180 and 200 gr bullets have always seemed "better" to me from various .300 mag rifles. Bring the velocity down a couple of hundred fps, great accuracy, outstanding bullet performance... I dunno. Personal preference. To me, the point of the magnum wasn't getting ultra high velocity, it was the ability to toss a heavy bullet, like a 180, 200 or even a 220 grainer, at good speed.

Funny though, from my .30-06, I'm a real fan of the 165's... Sigh.

Guy

 

[LD375]

When I had my 30/06 I also shot the 165gr bullets, worked real well, man now there's so many choices, at the moment I'm shooting the 180gr swift scirocco out of my 300 win mag, I have plenty of them, maybe I should just stick with them instead of the Partition? I'm kinda stumped on this :? I haven't tried the Partition yet, but the sciroccos really shoot well from my Tikka.

Lou

 

[SJB358]

With the way your rifle shoots Swifts your not gaining a thing with the 165's Lou. The 180's are going to spank the 165's across the board.

 

[Atkinson]

I like 180s in my 30-06 at 2700 plus and the 200 gr. Nosler in my 300 Win. mag at 3000 FPS is about as awesome a killer of any game animal from deer on up..

I use the 150 and 165 in my 308 Savage mod. 99F...

In my experience I have only observed the 165 and 150s used in the 300 Win. mag and about the only thing I could swear to is the tremendous amount of blood shot meat...Just my two bits and to each his own.

 

[LD375]

With the way your rifle shoots Swifts your not gaining a thing with the 165's Lou. The 180's are going to spank the 165's across the board.

Thanks Scotty ..yeah sometimes I get the itch to experiment my brother ..I never even tried the partitions, (although I love them), I still have about 90 or so loaded sciroccos , after todays final range session, my load for the 300 win mag well be the swift scirocco and the 260gr nosler AccuBond for my 375 H&H pal, Nuf said, HA! :wink: ..Yah, I get these crazy Ideas sometimes to tinker around, sometime they work, but sometimes not :roll:

Lou :wink:

 

[preacher]

The 180-200 gr bullets in the 300 Winmag will walk all over any 165...and bloodshot less meat in the process. My favorite bullet in the 300 Winmag is the Barnes 180 XBT ( the now available TSX is even better!) The 200 Nosler Partition is just a "Harvey Wall banger" thumper on elk.

 

[JD338]

Lou,

Although the 165 gr PT would work well in the 300 Win Mag, the 180 gr weights are better.
If you want to play with the PT, look no further than the 200 gr PT. It will take care of anything you would hunt with the 300 Win Mag.

JD338

 

[SJB358]

Lou,

Although the 165 gr PT would work well in the 300 Win Mag, the 180 gr weights are better.
If you want to play with the PT, look no further than the 200 gr PT. It will take care of anything you would hunt with the 300 Win Mag.

JD338

I'm digging the 200 PTs in Brandon's Weatherby. I can't see it not crushing everything he points it at.

 

[OU812]

I don't have much to add to what has already been said> If it were me and I had a 300 win mag again I would use 180s and/or 200s. The 165 would work just fine but like others have mentioned I too have seen some serious meat loss due to being blood shot with the lighter faster traveling bullets. Just my .02 worth.

 

[Anonymous]

I've played with various bullets in the .300s... I've pretty much settled on the 180s as the best choice. 150s shoot good, but at 3300 they'll tear up a lot of vittles. 200s and 220s won't give me anything well built 180s do.

 

[Darkhorse]

I hunted with my .300 as my goto rifle 15 years. Just because it felt so good in my hands and it was just soooo accurate.
Here in Ga. we can kill 12 deer a year and my .300 has taken a large share. I've also taken bull elk with this rifle.
Based on my results for deer sized game I would stick with the 165 Nosler PT or AccuBond. You need to control your expansion but still have a bullet that will expand on soft targets. I have used 165 gr. bullets in the past that were so tough they sometimes blew right through a doe like she hadn't even been hit resulting in long tracking for recovery. I would not even consider using a 150 gr. of any type in the .300 Win. for hunting. You just have to choose your bullets well.

I would use the 180 grain or heavier on anything larger than deer. I personally like the 180's for their flat shooting performance on elk out there on the edge of yonder. It just seems to me the 180 grain is the perfect bullet weight for long shots with retained velocity. I've never hunted moose so I can't speak for the heavier bullet weights. But I'm sure they are real hammers in the .300 Win.
The .300 really comes into it's own on bullets from 165 gr. on up.