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300 win mag


Cory
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The kick from almost any rifle is insignificant to those of us who grew up using shotguns for deer.  The hardest kicking gun I own, and also the one I have killed the most deer with, is a 16 gage Ithaca deerslayer featherlight.  I have shot a neighbor's Ruger #1, in 458 Win Min magnum caliber, and it felt tame in comparison.   The reason that 16 gage slug gun kicks so hard, is it is built nearly as light as the 20 gage model, but fires loads nearly as heavy as the 12.  That adds up to a punishing combination on the shoulder.   For all my range work with that gun, I use a recoil pad, filled with  silly-putty type material, between the gun and my shoulder.   That takes all the "bite" out of it.  I have never noticed the kick on a deer and have taken dozens with it including my first and my two largest racked bucks.  The light weight makes it a real pleasure to carry and it is ridiculously dependable.  For shots under 75 yards, there is nothing I would rather use and I still hunt with it when that is all I expect.  The bottom line here, is that if you can handle the kick of a shotgun slug gun, the 300 Win mag should be no problem what so ever.  Personally, I would never consider using one for deer in NY because of the limited advantage in ballistics compared to a 30/06 or .270, and the far greater cost and limited availability of the ammo.   

 

 

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ask yourself... do I need an 800yrd gun? if 500 plus yard shots are common.. it's an excellent round.. if you are like most of us in NY most shots are under 150 yrds, big slow moving bullets work very well. my goto is a ruger carbine in 44 mag. I also carry an h&r in 45/70.... deer don't walk away.

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ask yourself... do I need an 800yrd gun? if 500 plus yard shots are common.. it's an excellent round.. if you are like most of us in NY most shots are under 150 yrds, big slow moving bullets work very well. my goto is a ruger carbine in 44 mag. I also carry an h&r in 45/70.... deer don't walk away.

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To answer your question yes absolutely I do need an 800 yard gun...my new Mark V ultra lightweight 300wby mag is easily a 1200 yard gun. And I need it because my desires command it. Plus its an incredible piece of American gun manufacturing that will only increase or hold its value as time goes on

You Can't Beat My Meat!

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Lol ...... Killed, cleaned, and cooked all with just one squeeze of the trigger. Just kidding. I don't know anything about a 300 Win Mag. Never shot one and probably never will. But from what I have read, they do have a rep for being a bit on the "mean" side.

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  • 2 weeks later...

What he said...

 

 

I bet if you gut shoot with that magnum, the deer will still run away.

 

 

While I hate to admit making a poor shot. I have an issue leading a moving deer properly and have gut shot a few.( with my 300 win ) None went over 10 yds,..

I am an advocate of shooting light bullets (for the cartridge). 125gr handloads in the 308 and 150gr in  the 300. . Rarely have I gotten a pass through, but the deer received 100% of the energy and rarely ran off in need of tracking..

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While I hate to admit making a poor shot. I have an issue leading a moving deer properly and have gut shot a few.( with my 300 win ) None went over 10 yds,..

I am an advocate of shooting light bullets (for the cartridge). 125gr handloads in the 308 and 150gr in the 300. . Rarely have I gotten a pass through, but the deer received 100% of the energy and rarely ran off in need of tracking..

Out of curiosity what's your reasons for advocating the light bullets?

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I have no problem with that as long as I don't have to dress/process your deer..

I personally prefer a nice half dollar sized exit hole. The deer seldom travel over 100 yards, leave a good blood trail, and my job of processing my venison is not nearly as messy.

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While I hate to admit making a poor shot. I have an issue leading a moving deer properly and have gut shot a few.( with my 300 win ) None went over 10 yds,..

I am an advocate of shooting light bullets (for the cartridge). 125gr handloads in the 308 and 150gr in the 300. . Rarely have I gotten a pass through, but the deer received 100% of the energy and rarely ran off in need of tracking..

You really don't want terminal ballistics to not have an exit, especially on game you want to recover.

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Out of curiosity what's your reasons for advocating the light bullets?

 

In my experience, it seems to hit them harder. In my thoughts, it seems like a lot of energy is being wasted with a bullet passing through a deer and continuing to travel into the ground,etc....I have heard of, and witnessed once, where a tracking job split and led to 2 dead deer with one bullet. I think the perfect set-up would have the bullet falling out the other side ,lol, giving one a little easier tracking job if needed..I have always shot this set-up and have had no reason to change it so far..

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In my experience, it seems to hit them harder. In my thoughts, it seems like a lot of energy is being wasted with a bullet passing through a deer and continuing to travel into the ground,etc....I have heard of, and witnessed once, where a tracking job split and led to 2 dead deer with one bullet. I think the perfect set-up would have the bullet falling out the other side ,lol, giving one a little easier tracking job if needed..I have always shot this set-up and have had no reason to change it so far..

To each's own, me I'm a heavy for cal guy as I like 2 holes and I hunt big woods and never have broad side shots.

2 years ago I shot a 185lb 7 point in the Adirondacks with my 35 whelen he was quartering at me when I shot him and it knocked him down but he got back to his feet and ran 30yds down hill. While I was following his blood trail I found a perfectly expanded 225gn barnes bullet in his tracks the bullets must have stopped in his hide on the exit hole and worked its way out while running. That bullet went through a lot of animal to exit out of his back "ham."

Edited by Buckmaster7600
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Whatever works for you, my friend...

These two schools of thought have existed for a long time...The "expend all the energy on the target" group verses the "exit hole" group...

Just another interesting subject for us to discuss on forums like this..

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You are exactly right. To each his own.. When I bough my 300, a close friend who had hunted with the same caliber for 20+ years swore by his 165 gr loads with a tough bullet that always passed through. He thought I was foolish for shooting anything less. I thought he was foolish for shooting anything more than 150 gr..lol..

 

I have shot many deer with my set-up and they always hit the ground in sight ,doesn't matter if they are quartering towards ,away ,or straight at me,.. Cannot honestly think of one right now that actually didn't hit the ground practically on the spot with the 300(definitely overkill). When I used the 308 with 125gr loads they would occasionally run 30 yds..
 

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"Of course, he's an excellent rifle shot, dumb as a stump and as recoil proof as a tractor tire."

 

Pygmy,

I snorted my beer when I read this .......

 

Ha..ha..ha....lol             Have we met? :taunt:

 

 

 

Edit...Now I see we are talking about someone else...

Edited by ncountry
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"Of course, he's an excellent rifle shot, dumb as a stump and as recoil proof as a tractor tire."

 

Pygmy,

I snorted my beer when I read this .......

And I forgot to mention, he's UGLY too !!

Despite all that, he's without a doubt the best hunting partner I have ever hunted with, and I have been with him in some pretty dicey situations in Alaska, northern Canada and the Rocky Mountains as well as plenty of time here in the hills of western NY and north central PA.

In the spirit of this thread, he uses stoutly constructed 180 grain grain bullets in his .300 Win for all of his hunting, including whitetails. I happen to know that because I LOAD his ammo for him.

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I use my Dad's .300 Win Mag, as it was his baby. I know it would put a smile on his face to know that it was still getting out for some exercise and knocking deer down. Do I need a .300 Mag, no... but I do like the short blood trails and memories of my Dad hunting with it every fall. To avoid wasting any meat, I just don't tuck the shot too tight behind the shoulder. The deer still react like they've been hit by a bolt of lightening!  B)

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