.300 Win Mag vs 300 Weatherby Mag

I’d go with the .300 Wby as a fellow handloader you know you can taylor a load to fit your needs. As far as recoil I was shooting my dads .300 Wby when I was a kid. That was over 30 years ago but I still have his Mark V .270 and his .300 Wby Mags. Both are from the 70’s and I still like to shoot the .300 over the .270. I’ve also shot the.300 win mag out of my cousins newer Wby with facory ammo. I didn’t see much difference between the two.

I am not sure if you have picked up your new rifle yet. but i thought i would chime in. I have only ever hunted with 1 rifle . 300wby mag i inherited when i was 13yrs old from my uncle who was a marine sniper he served 4 tours in vietnam and was far more firearms savy than i for obvious reasons. so with that being said at the ripe old age of 13yrs old the rifle took a bit to get used to as it kicked like a mule. in my teens all the guys i knew ran around with there 30-30’s 308’s 7mm mags and 30-06 when we would go out to the range either my buddies or there dads wanted to step up and get behind the 300wby and i would tell them to hold onto it tight because she would knock your head off and the famous last words where always i have been shooting since i was 12yrs old and proudly my rifle has sent 9 people i know to the hospital to get stitches in there foreheads . so with that being said

i am now 39yrs old i still hunt with my 300wby mag Mark V. I also load every round for in in my single stage rcbs press. i dont think i have fired a factory round in it in the last 15yrs. i shoot anywhere from a 165gr to 210gr rounds depending on what i am hunting. It will be the only rifle i will ever use for hunting . It has never failed me always 1 shot 1 kill. most of my kills where at 400yrds or less. after all these years the original Leopold scope finally gave out (the seals broke) so i am sporting a new Leopold scope. I truly think that no matter what rifle you get with practice you can become comfortable with anything. so what i look for is what performs best and just put a lot of rounds down range.

I may be wrong but I thought the 375 was minimum in Africa? If your looking for a thunper look at the 30/378, now that rifle is impressive, I call it Kong!

Interesting blog and opinions. I myself have owned a 1978 Japan made .270 Mag Mark V, a 2010 .30-378 Accumark and just recently purchased 1968 W. German .300 Mag Mark V.

I can confirm the Germans were meticulous on their details. The 68 .300 MV had to be pried out of the stock (Never have seen a rifle that fit so tight to a stock). In comparison to the 1978 .270 MV, the .270 action is unbelieveably loose compared to the 1968 rifle.

Now that I’m done with that tangent, I hunted with a .30-378 spitting out my reloads (178grn Amax on top of 108grns of Retumbo) at 3475fps. Of course this rifle had a brake and did move shooters off the tables next to me but it still yeilded around 35 foot pounds of recoil with the brake. So, comparing that to my 24″ .300 which is alot lighter than the Accumark, I would estimate my recoil at around 30 foot pounds or closely similar to the 30-378.

I have never had a problem w/ this type of recoil. I’ve delegated my .270 Mark V to my 16 year old son who unfortunately cycles the bolt a little to fast while hunting (indicates he’s not aiming). The specs for the the .270 is around 24 foot pounds for a load of 150 grn BTHP and 72 grns of IMR7828 at 3400 fps.

If you can afford a Weatherby, then buy one. If not, buy the other rifle.

Regards,
David

Greetings TFG,
I hunted Alaska with the .300 win mag. I also reloaded this caliber among others and suggest caution, as damage to the neck of the case is a consideration. I used Hornady 220 grn round nose bullets with complete success on brown bear, moose, and caribou. I never hunted with .300 Weatherby, however my Client’s from Germany did. One of my Client’s dropped a nice old bull with his Weatherby from a distance of 400 yards. One of the best shots on a moose I have ever seen. His gun was very fancy. In my opinion way to pretty to carry in the AK bush. Gold trigger and inlay, along with a wood stock did not seem to be the best choice for the AK bush. In my experience that difference in performance between the calibers is negligible.
Good hunting,
Salute,
akg

One issue I have not seen mentioned is trigger lock time on Weatherby’s vs. other brands of rifles. Weatherby rifles used to have slow lock times.

Years ago it was determined that when the lock time of a Weatherby rifle was compared to the old Remington 720 and the two triggers were pulled so they “broke” simultaneously, the bullet from the Remington 720 had hit the target at 100 yards before the bullet had left the barrel of the Weatherby rifle.

This may only have application and importance in the target shooting world, but something to think about.

Buffalo FishHead

I know I’m a late comer to this topic but it is very interesting to me as I shoot both rounds and have done so for over 30 years.
I’ll save space and not repeat what has already been said but just to provide an understanding of why actual recoil is more substantial in a 300 Weatherby than a 300 Win. Mag. Here are the four factors that affect recoil. (without getting into stock fit and any additions to mitigate recoil such as muzzle brakes and different recoil pads, stock fit, shape of cartridges, i.e; “efficient” VS “high intensity” etc…)
Raw recoil is calculated by having the following elements:
1) weight of powder charge, (not its burning rate)
2) weight of bullet.
3) speed of bullet.
4) weight of firearm.

The more powder, the faster the bullet the heavier the recoil. The lighter the rifle, the heavier the recoil.

As for the German hunter who had an ornate high end Weatherby in Alaska, in Germany, hunting is generally not a sport accessible to all. Firearms used are more often than not expensive. (Upwards of 20k and more). A great piece of wood is considered part of the firearm and regardless of weather conditions, it is used and isn’t a safe queen even with the most expensive rifles in the 100K range, ornate to the gills. It’s a different mindset. Although synthetic stocks are getting more popular in Europe, good wood is still prized and shown and utilized in the field.
In the U.S we tend to view a firearm as a tool, which it is, but not as a fine piece of jewelry capable of taking a brown bear. For us, generally that is…The uglier the bear, the uglier the rifle, because we like it that way. Differing viewpoints, no one is right or wrong.

An old topic, but still worthy of comment. I bought a .300 Wby Mark V Sporter (on sale) back in, oh, the mid ‘80s. It’s pretty much been my go to CONUS big game rifle since then. (I say CONUS, as I also have a .375 H&H and .416 Rigby for hunting on the Dark Continent.) I’ve taken everything from blacktails and antelope to moose with it. Personally I think recoil is all in the mind. If you want pain, try a 7-pound Beretta Onyx 12 gauge 3-1/2” mag O/U. After a morning in a duck blind you can go home and admire your square foot of black & blue, but while filling your limit of ducks and geese the recoil is irrelevant.

Anyway, here’s a little hunting anecdote for you. A few years back my partner and I went moose hunting in British Columbia. I brought my old .300 Wby and my partner brought a brand-spanking new Sako .300 Win Mag. I was the first to bag a moose. 330 yards, high in the lungs with a 200-grain Partition and close enough to the spine for the hydrostatic shock to temporarily paralyze him. Dropped like a sack of potatoes, kicked a couple times and was DRT. A couple days later my partner got his moose. First shot at 300 yards was a complete miss. Second gut-shot the beast and it ran off about 50 yards and stood there staring at him. Third shot was in the shoulder and brought him down. After a 300-yard hike we found the moose still alive, and my partner administered a coup de grâce. So, one shot vs. four shots. What does that mean? Absolutely nothing beyond the fact that one of us may be able to shoot a bit better than the other.

And that’s really the bottom line. Have I rifle that is a) suitable to the game and range you’ll be hunting, b) that you’re comfortable and confident with, and c) one that you will practice with… a lot. (And if you’re at all troubled with recoil maybe you should be looking at .243s.)