pro's and con's for 300weatherby

[ghost stalker]

just found a winchester model 70xtr in 300wby for under 400$can and was wondering what ppl thought of the caliber.
i'm on the market for a real shoulder cannon for elk and big moose. my 280rem is not going to cut it so i want a bullet that is gonna do some damage. i love short a blood trail ya know!
i may be pushing the envelope on elk with 3,4 or even 450yd shots so kenetic energy and accuracy is a must. was tinkering with the ultra-mags, but they aren't overly available, i don't yet hav reloading gear and factory ammo carries a heafty price tag.

the fellas here alway have lots of opinions and i'm sure you'll want to talk up or down this caliber so thanks in advance.

[M.T. Pockets]

Sounds like a good buy to me.

I don't have one but have hunted with others that do and I'm impressed. It carries a lot of energy waaaay out there. If there is a better elk cartridge out there - it wouldn't be better by much. I like the way it carries a 200 grain .30 cal. bullet as flat as it does.

Ammunition is more expensive than say a .300 Win. Mag (my current elk rifle) or even .300 RUM.

Other than that, it kicks and barks like any .300 magnum is going to. It's going to have a long, heavy action and long tube just like any other large, hungry .300 magnum.

If you don't mind what it does on your end, it's devastating on the other. Makes me wish I had one, but my next elk rifle would be a .300 RUM. Unless I could buy a .300 Wby for $400 Canadian.

[skeet]

I have one of the early Weatherby rifles in that caliber..lent to a friend in Alaska for quite a few years. He uses it to shoot his yearly moose and I don't think he uses too many rounds of ammo to do it either. He also said it does a bear in pretty well. They are a belch fire magnum...but ya have to pay to play...with the big dogs I guess!! BUY IT!!! Now before it gets away!:D :D

[gd357]

for that price, buy it. It's a good flat-shooting rifle, and it'll kill any moose or elk on the planet. The only downsides are ammo cost, and recoil. You're looking for a big gun, so recoil isn't the issue. If you can, reload. Ammo isn't cheap if you're buying factory rounds for a Weatherby chamering.

gd357

[Andy L]

Dittos. Nothing at all wrong with that caliber. Flat, fast and lots of energy for a looooong ways.

I love my 300 Win Mag. Great shooter too. But, that was the berries when I bought it. If I were going to buy one today, 30cal Mag, I would probably get the RUM. If your gonna take the punishment and want the big boomer rifle, might as well get the biggest, fastest and fattest. But for that money, its well worth it and will do any job you want done....

Like MT said, worst problem is the cost of ammo. Would be nice if you reloaded. I havent bought Weatherby ammo since the mid 80s, but then, 7mm Mag was $2 a shot. No telling what it is now...

Looked in the catalog, depending on what you want to shoot out of it, 35-50 bucks a box of 20. About the same.....

Good Luck
Andy

[buckhunter]

I have a friend that uses one for everything from 85lb deer to 1200 lb Moose. His thoughts are "Why should I have to follow something that should be laying right there". It will do just about anything you ask of it except massage you shoulder after sighting it in. If you can handle the recoil then go for it.

[muledeer]

One thing about Weatherby, especially if you own more than one, is how to reload. Huge savings in ammo. My first Weatherby got me into reloading and now reload everything.
About the 300 Weatherby. I reload 180 gr Nosler Partitions for Elk. Could go heavier but 180 gr does the trick and flat shooting.
Recoil? Yes! but have you ever heard your shot or felt the kick when shooting at game? I don't. I have break on my 300 helps with recoil therefore I can recover quicker for a follow-up shot if necessary. Use ear protection at the range but nothing in the field.
muledeer.

[Brithunter]

Hi All,

I am puzzled as to why the .280 is not MAN enough for Elk?


As for the Weatherby, well sorry but all the Weatherby's I have seen I have been less than Impressed with:( saw a 460 Wby mag at te ranges at Bisley sure it barked but didn't seem to hitting where it was aimed:rolleyes: a couple I know have the Vanguards in .223 and one is OK the other puntires primers all the time on any ammo:rolleyes:

My Hunting Buddies younger brother has a Synthetic stocked Mkv in 30-378 which is totally inconsistant, it's been back the the factory and it's still as bad. I was offered a .273 Wby mag but I know the guy who owned it is an idiot, looked to see what condition it was in, outside looke fairly new then looked down the bore. God only knows what e had done the bore had scratches and marks in in. Even i can't think it left te factory like that.

So one out of five was s good one, not good:(

[TheeBadOne]

Sounds like a pretty good deal $$$. I'd jump on it.

[M.T. Pockets]

Brithunter, nothing wrong with a .280 for hunting elk with the right bullets and right conditions. With that said, a .30 cal. magnum in the right hands is a superior elk round. Also, if you can shoot a .280 well there is no reason you can't shoot a .30 cal. magnum well with some practice. Under ideal conditions there might not be much difference, but in actual field conditions where a bullet must travel 300 - 400 yards to reach the animal - or more likely it must break a shoulder before entering the heart/lung area, the extra energy of a .30 cal magnum does make it a more effective and efficient elk round.

I'm sure many, many elk are killed each year with a .280 and I would hunt with one, but would prefer a .30 magnum. If you're hunting hard for 6 days in prime elk country you may only get one opportunity and if it should be a 400 yard standing broadside shot or a quartering shot in the timber, a .30 cal. magnum with premium bullets is going to give the hunter an advantage.

I think a .280 is a contender for the best all around deer rifle there is. A bull elk is about 4 times bigger than an average deer and a step up in power is going to be to the hunter's advantage.

[toxic111]

GS, I wasn't around for you to call up and ask me on that one.. the price is right, however as everyone else has stated (well at least the posts I read) the .300Weth ammo is a lot more than the .300 win

For Example from the 2003 Wholesale Catalog (only one I had handy)

.300Win Mag 180g Core-Lokt Rem Ammo: $27.99/20

.300Weath Mag 180g Core-Lokt Rem Ammo: $57.99/20

.338 Win Mag 225g Core-Lokt Rem Ammo: $39.99/20

So unless you reload go with the .300Winny, or the .338 (and I know the one I told you about is under $400)

Give me a call on the cell and I can tell ya more..

[Wolvie]

I could have bought a 300 weatherby 2 mos ago for $250.00 ,.......
But you might not guess where,.then again some of you might,..knowing where I shop at alot,.....
It`s the same place i got my .270 Savage.
Wally World!!!!

I didn`t find a Smokey & The Bandit Movie pak ,.but if I would have I would have got it,.....

Later All
SAFE HUNTIN~

[toxic111]

Wolvie.. around here I haven't seen a single gun in Wally World.. just paint ball and BB.. they do sell ammo here though.. and my local one is now selling .17HMR!! was happy about that..

[Wolvie]

Man that really ,...(Not to offend anyone),.....but that SUX!!!!!!

I get most of my good deals on guns at Wally World.

hope something works out for ya Toxic.......

Later All
SAFE HUNTIN~

[Brithunter]

Hi M.T. Pockets,

I have nothing against the Magnums, in fact I still have a few boxes of Lapua Factory 300 Win Mag cartridges loaded with the 200 Grn Maga Bullet. I traded the 300WM a Ruger No1 when I did a deal for 3 DWM Boer Mausers including the Special Sporting Rifle or Plezier rifle. I still have an open space for a 30 cal rifle on my licene so to door is still open.

However for a time I will be playing with the 7.92 Mauser and the .303 Improved. I was reading Ackley's Vol 1 and I found a very similar cartridge to my Improved one and Ackley claims that using IMR 4320 with a 180 Grn bullet you can achieve 3030fps with this 303 improved. I find that hard to believe, but Ackley knew what he was doing so......... the trouble is we cannot get IMR powders here but i will play with what I can get and see how it performs. So at the top of the gun related shopping list is a Chronograph;) If I can get repsctable velocities and the accuracy to go wiht it i may just try a few of the Speer .303 200grn Grand Slams I picked up years ago. Wish i had found soem more now they might just come in handy, they are only boxed in 50's:(

[Jack]

Brithunter, Ackley indeed did know what he was doing, but.....
Many of the loads listed in his book are loads given to him by others. All those loads were worked up before the days of commonly available chronographs and pressure testing machinery. And with powders from 40 years ago, or more.
I have found a number of loads in Ackley's book to be past 'hot' and well into 'downright scary'.
And I suspect the velocities listed for some cartridges are whatever the wildcatter guessed they were.
Proceed with caution.

[Blktail]

If you are going to use a bruiser, you had better keep your wits about you. Drop your guard for one shot and you will be nursing a broken nose, a railroad of stitches around your eye or worse. We saw a fellow with all that and more up north. He did have his moose, but he will have a more lasting reminder than the meat.:D

Good Luck!

[ghost stalker]

oh yeh!
first centerfire was a 338. had never used a centerfire nevermind a mag. read all the mag's and seen the video's. sat down at the bench, chamberd a round, firm yet gentle grip, squeezed the trigger, and now i have a lil crecent moon on the inside of my right eye. i new that the 280 now enough thing would come up so here it is. 280 not enough to take down an elk? what an idiot! right? well i've got a budd who's mom has killed a bunch of elk with a well placed 243. well with my hunting styles and the hands i seem to be dealt, time for a well placed shot are fewer than running shots. i've been lucky to find out that i am quite good at these shots on deer, but i had 2 opritunities at elk this year and they both ended up with me following a blood trail for half the night and the better part of the morning to no avail.both were solid shoulder shots. evidence of this was 3 clear hoof prints in the snow with one hoof dragging. yet not enough blood or hitting power to enter the chest cavity or bust the other shoulder.by the way both bulls were small rag horns not more than 4-500lbs. also had passed on a few long shots when i wasn't sure they'ed drop.
more is better as long as you can deal with the recoil. i believe i can so.

[M.T. Pockets]

So then ghost stalker, have you bought that rifle yet ?