130 grain 300 magnum load

[Bofire]

Just got myAmerican Hunter, there is a story about a caribou hunt. He use a 130 grain Barnes bullet loaded by Federal in the Premium line. The "first bullet hit the caribou bull a little high. It took out 6 inchs of spine and turned the top of the lungs to jelly" The second round, really unneeded hit  a frontal shot the bulle was just under the hide on the his butt, nearly 100% weight retention.

3500 fps  2.48 high at 100, 3.2 high at 200,  300 yard zero and 7.93 low at 400 and still carries 1747 lbs. he got .3 inch and .5 inch groups prior to the hunt out of his 26 inch Kimber.

That is amazing. I am gonna try some might be a great deer load, prong horn.
Carl

[270Shooter]

They make 110 gr tipped triple shock that I would like to try in the .270.

[Bofire]

Says here they load it to 3400fps in this load. in the 270/ 3500 in the 270 wsm. the 110 bullet.
Carl

[haugenna]

Just got myAmerican Hunter, there is a story about a caribou hunt. He use a 130 grain Barnes bullet loaded by Federal in the Premium line. The "first bullet hit the caribou bull a little high. It took out 6 inchs of spine and turned the top of the lungs to jelly" The second round, really unneeded hit  a frontal shot the bulle was just under the hide on the his butt, nearly 100% weight retention.

Sounds a little exxagerated.  A bullet passing all the way through a caribou and ending at the butt with 100% weight retention tells me one thing.  The bullet did not open up. It pencil holed all the way through the animal.  Not good performance.  That is about 5 feet of penetration.
 

[coachcw]

I was looking at the 130's for my 30-378 . after seeing only 2 inches diff at 500 yards I'll stick with the 180 x's they hit like thors hammer.

[Bob33]

There have been numerous reports of hunters using a very fast Barnes solid like this .30 caliber 130 grain.  They do as reported: retain weight, and penetrate like crazy. 

You're into Chevy/Ford territory after that.  Some will report "bullet failure" where the bullet failed to completely expand, or tumbled, or lost a petal, etc.  That is offset by the 99 other hunters who rave about the bullet.

If you like the ballistics of the fast bullet, by all means try it out.  As has been noted, at very long distances the ballistic coefficient of the heavier bullets allows them to close the ballistic gap somewhat.

If you put a .30 caliber 130 grain Barnes TSX or TTSX bullet into the vitals of most any North American big game animal, it will be game over very soon.  Bullet placement is the most important variable.

[Intruder]

There have been numerous reports of hunters using a very fast Barnes solid like this .30 caliber 130 grain.  They do as reported: retain weight, and penetrate like crazy. 

You're into Chevy/Ford territory after that.  Some will report "bullet failure" where the bullet failed to completely expand, or tumbled, or lost a petal, etc.  That is offset by the 99 other hunters who rave about the bullet.

If you like the ballistics of the fast bullet, by all means try it out.  As has been noted, at very long distances the ballistic coefficient of the heavier bullets allows them to close the ballistic gap somewhat.

If you put a .30 caliber 130 grain Barnes TSX or TTSX bullet into the vitals of most any North American big game animal, it will be game over very soon.  Bullet placement is the most important variable.

Well said. 

I think the notion of shooting a light bullet for the cal is a little gimicky.  If you want to shot a light bullet drop down a cal.  Shoot a 140 out of a 7 mag.   I personally wouldn't go any less than 150 out of a 30.

[bobcat]

I think the notion of shooting a light bullet for the cal is a little gimicky.  If you want to shot a light bullet drop down a cal.  Shoot a 140 out of a 7 mag.   I personally wouldn't go any less than 150 out of a 30.

 

150 grain is the absolute lightest I would go in a 300 mag. It's going to shoot just as flat as that 130 grain and buck the wind better. Better yet, for me a "light" bullet in a 300 mag would be a 165. The trajectory isn't going to  be significantly different than the lighter bullets, and with the higher BC it will do much better in the wind. The only legitimate reason to go lighter than 165 would be for the reduction in recoil.  

[Bofire]

 :)Back to my opening post, I mentioned it might make the 300 mag into a cool antelope or maybe deer gun. I still think it might, antelope 130 grain 3500 fps? In my opinion the 180 grain and the 300 win mag are a match made in heaven for all practical hunting use, but this still sounds fun.
Carl

[bobcat]

You're right, it woud be fun to try a 130 grain bullet out of a 300 magnum. I know my brother wants to use a 200 grain bullet in his 300 Win. Mag. for antelope. He uses 168 grain for everything else. 

[Elk-aholic]

I agree with bobcat, really don't see a need to go under 150gr bullet in a 300 Win Mag the extra velocity you're gaining is trivial at that point and the faster you push that bullet down the tube it's just going to be harder on your barrel. If you're looking for velocities of 3400fps or more you might have to switch your caliber to a 300 RUM or some sort of ultra flat cartridge like the 257 Weatherby Mag to obtain those high Muzzle velocities.