Nick's .300WSM and sizeable boar that did not complain about its performance.

.300 Winchester Short Magnum Worthwhile?


Q: Ive been thinking about buying a .30 magnum for all of my deer  and big game hunting, but I’m undecided which one to buy – the   .300 WSM or the .300 Win. Mag. I like what you’ve written about  your Model 70 Winchester in .300 WSM, but you’ve also heaped  praise on the larger .300. Can you tell me what the advantages  and disadvantages of the .300 WSM are? Why you prefer it?
      Edwin Hansford
A:  Let’s get right down to it!  The .300 WSM packs the  velocity  and energy of a standard belted magnum case into a compact little  cartridge that functions through a light, short action, mountain  rifle. And because of the efficiency and design of the short, fat  case it produces magnum velocities in a 610mm barrel with less  powder and recoil. As I’ve found in the last dozen years, the  family of Winchester Short Magnums in .270, 7mm, 300 and .325 put  out in the Model 70 Classic action are sensational performers in  the field. The first was the .300 WSM which has a case length of  only 53.34mm, a maximum overall cartridge length of 72.64mm, a 35  degree shoulder and useful 7.566mmm neck and a head size of  13.59mm. Despite its short length, the cartridge was designed to  offer the same ballistic performance as the .300 win. Mag., and  indeed it does. It didn’t take much work with the .300 WSM   before it became apparent that the short, squat powder column in  the sharp-shouldered case offered ballistic benefits that could  be verified with a chronograph. My rifle  handles all bullet  weights from 150 to 200 grains, but is probably best suited with  a premium grade 180gn bullet which leaves the muzzle at 2970fps  ahead of either 65gn of W-760 or 71gn of Re-22.  My rifle has a  laminated wood stock, wears a 3-9×40 Zeiss Conquest in Leupold  Q/R mounts, and has an all-up weight of 4kgs. It groups sub-MoA  and packs a big punch being the ballistic equal to the.300 WSM.  Other advantages are: less muzzle blast and moderate recoil when  compared to its full-size belted equivalent.

 

 

 


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