# New rifle: caliber, barrel, model



## TANATA (Oct 31, 2003)

Thinking about new gun for next season. Want it in composite and stainless steel for sure, but can't decide on some other things.

270wsm or 300. Going to be shooting deer with it right away, usually shoot deer within 100 yards when walking but also have the land to shoot them as far away as I want. Want to use it as a long term gun so maybe on elk and bear.

If 300, win mag or wsm. I know the short mags have had some problems ejecting and are more expensive in some spots and harder to find, but find that they are harder hitting and faster at long distances. What mags them shoot better at long distances and almost even out of the barrel with the regular mags.

Length of barrel if wsm. I've noticed most wsm rifles come with shorter barrels and browning mentioned something about them shooting better with a short barrel.

Break on 300 wsm. If I pick the 300 wsm, how much would a break reduce recoil and increase sound. Would it be cheaper to get it done at a gun shop then ordering it from the factory? Would you get any extra speed out of the extra inch or two from a break?

Sorry so long


----------



## TANATA (Oct 31, 2003)

no opinions on this forum, I find that hard to believe. Just want to see what everyone else thinks before I buy one.


----------



## Plainsman (Jul 30, 2003)

TANATA

I don't know if I want to be first. I have the 300 WSM in the Browning stainless stalker. Your right I have some ejection problems. Not extraction, ejection. I however am not certain it is the rifle, it might be that the problem occurs when the empty brass strikes the windage turret of my tactical scope and falls back inside.

I still much prefer my 300 Win mag over my short mag. Last year in Montana though I carried the short mag constantly because my 300 win is a heavy stainless barrel. Now you know why I wanted the short mag. I see you mentioned elk. In that case I would take the 300 over the 270. The 270 will certainly do it, but the 300 will do it better at longer ranges.

The factory loads were not great for accuracy out of my 300 WSM. Federal 180's shot best with about a 1 ¼ inch group at 100 yards. I'm not a big fan of the Hornady SST, but with 70gr of R22 they group about ½ inch. I use them for deer, but I carried 180 Nosler Partition for elk. I was using 68 gr of R19 and getting about ¾ inch at 100 yards. I think when it gets warm next summer I will try some R22 with Nosler Partition, and the Swift Scirocco.

The Browning has a 23 inch barrel and my 180gr bullets are doing approximately 2940 fps. For a light free floated barrel I am happy with the accuracy. It is however very picky about bullets and powder. I shot perhaps 200 rounds with three powders and maybe ten bullet types before I settled on loads.


----------



## TANATA (Oct 31, 2003)

I really don't need the 300 cause I'm not even sure when I'll get to hunt elk, just want to have that range just incase the monster buck jumps up 600 yards away or something, also like having biggest gun in the group. :lol:

Does the 300 win outperform the 270 wsm? What kind of groups could I expect out of both, I know tikka says all their guns shoot 1 inch at 100 out of the box.


----------



## wompus_cat (Dec 10, 2004)

I know, by the book, 300 wsm outperforms the 270 wsm. I think any gun has something wrong with it or the load if it does not group under 1"@100yds


----------



## southdakbearfan (Oct 11, 2004)

The Theory on them being more accurate is this, with the shorter, fatter cases, this allows for more uniform ignition and the shoulder slopes seem to really like the slower burning powder. This allows for less variance between shells and higher accuracy because of it.

One thing to look at is do you need a WSM. Yes they are lighter, shorter and do the same as the parent magnums, but they are also the latest and greates thing, so you may pay a little more for them. There is nothing that a 300 WSM will do that a 300 win mag wont do except for fitting in a short action.

If you are worried about accuracy, I would suggest handloading. Especially for as long of shots as you are talking about.

I have heard the ejection problems are common in the WSM's but may have been corrected by now.


----------



## dlip (May 16, 2004)

I don't know too much about these short magnums, but as far as I'm concerned, the cartridges we had before these came out did the job perfectly. If I were you, I'd stick to the more common, less expensive, easily found cartridges. I think these sm's are going to be out of style within the next 20 years. That is my opinion on it, I'd go with the 270 wsm over the 300 wsm if I did want one though.


----------

