Hunting With The .300wsm

Guns Magazine, June, 2001 by Holt Bodinson

This radical new cartridge is a step in the right direction for hunters who want to shoot light, compact rifles without sacrificing magnum power and range.

Short, bolt-action, big game hunting rifles really came into their own with Winchester's release of the .308 family of cartridges in the 1950s. With an overall length of only 2.800", the .308, .243 and .358 had an impact that forever changed the shape of cartridge and hunting rifle design.

The .308 family of compact cases proved to be inherently accurate. The .308 quickly replaced the .30-'06 in big-bore competition and even had a long run as a premier benchrest cartridge. The .243 Win, proved itself equally accurate for precision varmint and light big game hunting. The short, fat cases facilitated loading densities of 95 to 100 percent, resulting in more uniform ignition, less shot-to-shot variations in velocity, and greater accuracy.

The shorter cases in hunting calibers also permitted rifle makers to shorten and lighten their actions and to scale down the overall proportions of their rifles. This resulted in rifles that are compact, light, well-balanced and fast-handling. Indeed, some of the most pleasingly designed and accurate out-of-the-box hunting rifles ever released were the pre-'64 Winchester Model 70 Featherweights, the short-action Remington 600s and 700s and Sako Foresters chambered for the .243 and .308.

In 1963, Winchester surprised the hunting world with another new short-action cartridge, the .284 Winchester. Here was a hot 7mm sporting cartridge with the same overall length of a .308, but with a larger body, sharp 35 degree shoulder and rebated rim. It was a radical design for its day, but it proved you could pack the powder capacity of a .30-'06 into a case with an overall length of 2.8". Yet the .284 is a potent big game cartridge in a short action rifle.

Cartridge Evolution

Looking back over Winchester's 50-year history of short-action cartridge designs, the evolution of the .300 WSM becomes obvious. It's not surprising that Winchester has taken the sharp 35 degree shoulder and rebated rim design of the .284 and combined these features with a larger diameter case body while maintaining an overall cartridge length of 2.8" in the recently introduced .300 WSM.

Anyone who is comfortable with the recoil of the .30-'06 can easily transition to the new .300 WSM and gain magnum performance without feeling they're being punched around. How does the .300 WSM perform in the field? Is it really a midget .300 Win. Magnum?

We recently used the .300 WSM in both the Winchester Model 70 and the Browning A-Bolt while hunting nilgai, a large antelope from India that stands approximately 55" at the shoulder and weighs about 600 lbs. These animals are fast, tenacious, make for a magnificent trophy and are very good eating.

If you don't drop a nilgai with your first shot, you're in for a long chase. The nilgai is one tough animal. Outfitters usually recommend at least a .300 Win. Mag. class cartridge.

Winchester currently offers three very different loadings for the .300 WSM. There are 180 gr. Fail Safe and 180 gr. Power-Point loads rated at 2,970 fps and a 150 gr. Ballistic Silvertip pushing 3,300 fps. According to the factory, WW 760 is the propellant of choice in all loads, so handloaders should be able to equal these velocities. The working pressure for the .300 WSM is right up there at 65,000 psi.

The 180 gr. Fail Safe offers moderate expansion and very deep penetration. It is our choice for nilgai bulls, as the ideal shot is placed through the shoulder to reach the heart and lungs, and penetration is essential. The Fail Safe would be a good bullet choice for moose, brown bear and larger African plains game.

The 180 gr. Power-Point is a more traditional soft point. It offers excellent expansion and penetration. From our observations on nilgai cows, which are smaller and lighter framed than the bulls, the Power-Points created much more internal organ damage than the Fail Safes. It would be an excellent bullet for elk, large bodied deer, bear and most African plains game.

The 150 gr. Ballistic Silvertips offer rapid expansion and less penetration. We did not fire this load at game, but based on previous experience, the Ballistic Silvertips are well suited to sheep, antelope, deer, black bear and lighter African plains game. We would like to see a 150 gr. Nosler Partition at 3,300 fps added to the factory lineup. If not, the Nosler Partition gets our nod as a bullet we would surely want to handload.

Premium Performance

The short-action Winchester Model 70 Featherweight is furnished with a 24" barrel, while the short-action Browning A-Bolts carry 23" tubes. Both rifle lines scale out at about 6.5 lbs. unscoped. The difference in velocity between the 23" and 24" barrels is statistically insignificant.

What was significant is that stated factory velocities at the muzzle were right on the button and three-shot accuracy was sub-MOA. We're talking 1/2" to 3/4" groups at 100 yards with factory rifles firing factory ammunition. Like the short, fat, PPC series of benchrest cases, the .300 WSM proved to be not only efficient, but also wonderfully accurate.