field report on 20" 300 win mag

[baltz526]

i spent 8 days packing this cut down vangard with carbilite stock for blacktail and 18 days for elk. 26 days in the field has sold me on SHORT rifles. in prehunt sight in the rifle shot 3 300 yrd groups at 2" or less. with 180gr nosler Etips and h1000, 2890fps. (i used 1000yd 190gr smk match data for load developement) the rifle killed a mature blacktail but the operator missed a bull elk (penitration on the 14" juniper limb was complete) packing this compact rifle was simple a joy, balanced on the shoulder strap (a bear claw) as if it was not there. i'm now contemplating a reduction of safe stock to aquire a 20" 260 rem. then becoming the dreaded 2 rifle guy. the goal will be a simular balance, scopes, ballistics. so i can point and shoot to the same impact points with both rifles out to 500yds. i may rebarrel a 308/243 or buy new for the rifle. right now the scope is the low part of my package. i have been using 2.5x10x44 and the new scopes will be very close to this spec

 

[baltz526]

 

[Big Squeeze]

i spent 8 days packing this cut down vangard with carbilite stock for blacktail and 18 days for elk. 26 days in the field has sold me on SHORT rifles. in prehunt sight in the rifle shot 3 300 yrd groups at 2" or less. with 180gr nosler Etips and h1000, 2890fps. (i used 1000yd 190gr smk match data for load developement) the rifle killed a mature blacktail but the operator missed a bull elk (penitration on the 14" juniper limb was complete) packing this compact rifle was simple a joy, balanced on the shoulder strap (a bear claw) as if it was not there. i'm now contemplating a reduction of safe stock to aquire a 20" 260 rem. then becoming the dreaded 2 rifle guy. the goal will be a simular balance, scopes, ballistics. so i can point and shoot to the same impact points with both rifles out to 500yds. i may rebarrel a 308/243 or buy new for the rifle. right now the scope is the low part of my package. i have been using 2.5x10x44 and the new scopes will be very close to this spec

.........................Baltz......A very interesting observation you have there!! Couldn`t agree more!

Sold my nearly 10 lb w/scope 300 Win Vanguard nearly two years ago and got a new 300 WSM Ruger Frontier w/16.5" barrel. I dumped nearly 2.5 lbs. I know exactly what your talking about. Compacts make a huge and much better difference over long hunts.

Followed the Frontier with a matte 20" .375 Ruger Alaskan. Same concept!

They are it! I`m a dreaded two rifle guy too!!........ :lol: :lol: :lol: :lol:

 

[JD338]

I bet she has quite the muzzle blast.

Good report,, thanks for posting.

JD338

 

[nomosendero]

Nothing wrong with that if it meets your goal. I have a 26" tube Sendero
laminated stock & with RL25 I get 3,125FPS with a 180. It just depends on what we want. When I want to carry something lighter (not much now) I have a Win70 featherwt. in 30-06AI that will get 2,850 & change & it is light indeed.

Congrats on a good rifle concept & a good hunt.

 

[baltz526]

muzzle blast is not noticed. length is the key to the balance. put a very light stock on a long barrel rifle and it wants to spin on your shoulder. barrel heavy. the 300 has a magnum conture barrel, it is still not a light rifle. but it has very good balance. it left the factory about 9lbs, now i'm guessing it is about 7 1/2lbs loaded with scope. maybe a touch more. i lost about 30ft per second, per inch of barrel cut off. a very good trade, in my opinion. i have a 22" barreled remington 700 308 in the safe. right now it pushes a 150gr AccuBond at 2775fps. i hate to mess with it, being a 1965 in original condition. but i might sell it to start the next project

 

[FOTIS]

What was your load and velocity?

 

[baltz526]

from memory: ww brass, cci 250 primer, 80 gr h1000, oal 3.480" 180 gr Etip. cronographed at 12' 2890fps average. lee crimp die set for light crimp. this load is a compressed load with my long bullet seating depth. with a standard chamber like the ruger i have this load will not fit. reduce charge to start. my guess with a standard throated/magazine rifle a max load will be near 76gr due to the long Etip bullet

 

[Guy Miner]

Good velocity from the short barrel.

I don't know that it's really much better than a warm-loaded .30-06, but hey - it apparently worked just fine for you!

Hodgdon lists a 180 grain load at 2798 fps (close enough to 2800 fps for me) for the .30-06 using H4350 powder. I don't know the barrel length they used though - likely 24" - my own .30-06 has only a 21" barrel and doesn't produce such brisk velocity. Perhaps I'll load 'er up to max one of these days just for the heck of it!

BTW - I like a reasonably light, handy rifle myself. I surely do notice the muzzle blast from those shorter-barreled rifles though - and the muzzle flash in low light can be lots of fun!

Regards, Guy

 

[Big Squeeze]

It is interesting that with my compact 16.5" barreled 300 WSM, there is little to no muzzle flash, as told by others at the range, with any of my reloads, at maximum or otherwise.

So far for max loads, I have used up to 60.5 gr. IMR 4007, 66.2 gr. IMR 4350 with 180 grainers and 69 gr Rel 19 with a 200 grainer, with no muzzle flash.

Maybe the more modern day production powders these days burn better and are more efficient in the shorter barrels.

 

[baltz526]

having owned and reloaded for the 30-06, what i found is if i pushed the limit on pressure to the extreme i could drive a 200gr Partition to 2630fps a 165gr ballistic tip at 2900fps and a 150gr ballistic tip at 3020fps. i could never get a 180gr into the 2800fps range. even in a 24" barrel. cut that 30-06 to 20" and i would expect the 180gr Etip with it's powder limiting length to get 2600fps at a max load. with a deep throat and single shot or long magazine rifle, i can see getting a higher velocity. but the 30-06 case holds 20gr less powder than a 300 win mag case. physics says the 300 has the advantage, no matter what the barrel length. here is a test we could do. fill your case with h4350 stuff a 125gr ballistic tip in it, i'll do the same in my 300. i'll bet they stay pretty consistant at the 300fps advantage to the 300

 

[Big Squeeze]

I personally don`t use the 125`s in my 300 wsm.

Here are 3 sample chrony results of many from my 16.5" barrel.

3118 fps with a 150 gr. SST
2925 fps with a 180 gr. SST
2778 fps with a 200 Nosler A/B

I can get higher and have done so, but these were better for accuracy.

 

[Guy Miner]

Interesting. I've got several different .30's on hand right now, a chronograph and a good selection of bullets, from 125 - 210 grains. I will assemble and test some loads, just for velocity - and publish those when I can. On hand are:

.308 Win 20" Browning BLR
.308 Win 24" Rem 700
.30-06 21" 1917
.300 WSM 24" Model 70

Of course I have some data on hand already - but I don't know that anything was loaded for max velocity. I'd request that anyone sharing their load/velocity info stick to published loads, rather than exceeding them.

Guy