300 WSM

[AZbomb]

I won a Kimber 8400 Montana in a raffle a couple years ago. Its a very nice rifle and is ridiculously light weight. I thought this would be a good elk gun and dialed it in with 180g bullets. A good plan, except that it kicks the livin' snot out of me off the bench. I shoot a .270 that has been the hammer of Thor for 20 years, so I haven't been very motivated to shoot the 300 WSM. It's been sort of the solution without a problem.

 

Here's my new plan:

Barnes 130g TTSX has a pretty good ballistic coefficient, and you can buy/reload loads at 3500fps! So instead of being an elk gun, I'm thinking this could be my Coues gun. A dream to carry in the steep stuff, and only ~21" drop at 500yds with 4" midrange rise. So the benefit being way less drop at longer ranges. I'll live with the bench recoil.

 

Anybody have experience with this lighter weight bullet at range?

 

Thoughts?

 

Thanks

[azgutpile]

I haven't tried the 130 grain TTSX out of mine; however, the 168 grain are the best shooting bullet that I've found, 3/4" at 100 yards. The only problem is that I don't like the way the Barnes expand, both of the deer that I shot had dime sized exit holes and ran forever.

 

When mounting your scope, make sure you set your scope as far forward as possible. The front of the rifle seems to flip up making the the scope hit my eye.

 

On a side note, the guys at Kimber were the ones that told me to try the 168 TTSX bullets in addition they told me to try the 168 grain Accubonds. Also, the tips on the Accubonds, Ballistic Tip and Swift Scirocco all deform in my magazine.

 

[AZbomb]

Were the deer shot at close range or long range? I'm wondering if they were at very hi velocity and the petals tore off, or very long range and the bullets failed to expand much at all?

[jeffro]

Have you thought about putting a brake on the rifle. It would kick like a 243.

 

Anybody have experience with this lighter weight bullet at range? What range.

 

Light bullets and range dont work. The 155 sierra is about the lightest bullet you see people shooting at range(800+) with decent results.

 

 

[azgutpile]

The deer I shot were 320yds and 475 yds and buddy of mine shot his deer at 200 yards and we both had the same results. they are great bullets if you need guaranteed penetration, but for our small little coues I feel that energy of the bullet is spent on the ground behind the deer. Also, i don't think the petals broke off, these bullets seem pretty tough; for example, i weighed some of the bullets that I shot into a gravel bank and they were perfectly mushroomed, like the barnes pictures and weighed 167 grains.

 

Another approach you could take is to load up some of the higher b.c. bullets like Jeffro said, but load them down to 30-06 velocitys.

 

 

[Chef]

What about the Bergers?

Although you may have issues with the mag.

[AZbomb]

Have you thought about putting a brake on the rifle. It would kick like a 243.

 

Anybody have experience with this lighter weight bullet at range? What range.

 

Light bullets and range dont work. The 155 sierra is about the lightest bullet you see people shooting at range(800+) with decent results.

 

I guess what I was trying to say is that I don't need to put up with more recoil if all it does is the kill the animal more dead. But if I can get much flatter range at long distances (I guess I think 500 yds is long) then I would put up with it. So I don't care to add a brake, but if i can get something out of the 130's at 500yds, I'd go with it.

 

Thanks

[AZbomb]

The deer I shot were 320yds and 475 yds and buddy of mine shot his deer at 200 yards and we both had the same results. they are great bullets if you need guaranteed penetration, but for our small little coues I feel that energy of the bullet is spent on the ground behind the deer. Also, i don't think the petals broke off, these bullets seem pretty tough; for example, i weighed some of the bullets that I shot into a gravel bank and they were perfectly mushroomed, like the barnes pictures and weighed 167 grains.

 

Another approach you could take is to load up some of the higher b.c. bullets like Jeffro said, but load them down to 30-06 velocitys.

 

What grain weight were those 3 deer shot with?

[firstcoueswas80]

My kimber 300 wsm with 168 ttsx knocked the snot out if everything it hit in africa!

[azgutpile]

The deer I shot were 320yds and 475 yds and buddy of mine shot his deer at 200 yards and we both had the same results. they are great bullets if you need guaranteed penetration, but for our small little coues I feel that energy of the bullet is spent on the ground behind the deer. Also, i don't think the petals broke off, these bullets seem pretty tough; for example, i weighed some of the bullets that I shot into a gravel bank and they were perfectly mushroomed, like the barnes pictures and weighed 167 grains.

 

Another approach you could take is to load up some of the higher b.c. bullets like Jeffro said, but load them down to 30-06 velocitys.

 

What grain weight were those 3 deer shot with?

 

168 grain TTSX

[roninflag]

add a muzzle break. vais. i love mine and my mags shoot awesome

[AZbomb]

add a muzzle break. vais. i love mine and my mags shoot awesome

I have to admit I have a bias against these. A couple years ago I was on the range and the guy about 4 benches down had one and I thought it was the most obnoxious thing I'd ever heard. Several have suggested these.

Did you add yours aftermarket, have gunsmith do it?

[jeffro]

The Vais brakes work very well. How ever they have holes on the bottom that blow dust and rocks all over the place, including on the shooter. If you plan on shooting over loose dirt/rocks I would get a side ported brake. The side ported brakes are also more effective due to the larger surfaces for the gases to work with.

[AZbomb]

The Vais brakes work very well. How ever they have holes on the bottom that blow dust and rocks all over the place, including on the shooter. If you plan on shooting over loose dirt/rocks I would get a side ported brake. The side ported brakes are also more effective due to the larger surfaces for the gases to work with.

That's a really good thought. I would've never thought of the dirt/dust implications. I usually am prone or over a day pack.

Thanks

[roninflag]

add a muzzle break. vais. i love mine and my mags shoot awesome

I have to admit I have a bias against these. A couple years ago I was on the range and the guy about 4 benches down had one and I thought it was the most obnoxious thing I'd ever heard. Several have suggested these.

Did you add yours aftermarket, have gunsmith do it?

i had my gunsmith add them. on my7mm and my 300wm . i like it. my brother shootsa 300 rsaum out of titanium. does not have a brake. witha gun that light you know when it goes off