3oowsm velocities

[Buckblaster]

The claim was that this new cartridge would replace the 300 Win mag because it claimed higher velocity with less powder. That is not what I found to be the case with my handloads.  My best velocity with 180 gr bullets out of my 300wsm is chrono'd at 2900 fps vs friend claims of 3100 fps out of the 300 Win mag. My 165 gr bullets fly at 2990 fps but I'm not sure what the velocities of the 300 Win mag are with those bullets. My 150 gr's fly at 3190 fps and I know my friend's 30.06 shoots those at 3050 fps. The 300wsm appears to fall between the 30.06 and the 300 Win mag in velocity. My velocities were from my Tikka T3 with a 24 3/8" tube. What has been your experience with 300wsm and 300 Win mag velocities?

[Ghost Hunter]

180 gr Nosler Ballistic Tip Spitzer x 77 gr. MagPro = 3022 fps
165 gr Nosler Ballistic Tip Spitzer x 78 gr. Magpro = 3078 fps
125 gr    "         "       "      "      x 80 gr.     "      = 3330 fps
Haven't chrono'd any of my Barnes X loads yet.
The 180 and 165 both give me 5-shot 1" groups at 100yds. But thats with a Savage and left handed , and I'm no marksman.

[bobcat]

I think the 300 WSM is a good cartridge, but there's no way it's going to beat the 300 Win Mag in velocity. It has less powder capacity. You burn less powder you get less velocity. I believe my brother gets around 3200 fps with the 168 Barnes out of his 300 Win Mag. The claims that Winchester made was simply done in order to sell guns. The advantage is in the short action, and the lighter weight rifle.

[bearmanric]

my bear calling gun is a 300wsm. work's for me. very accerate i dont reload using winchester xp3 180 gr. it seem's like all the wsm are about within 200 ft per second. shooting a Tikka t3 stainless smooth. Rick

[Buckblaster]

Ghost Hunter, I assume those velocities are from the 300WSM. Those are better velocities than I got. Maybe my chrono doesn't read accurately or you have a longer barrel. With 80 gr of Magpro, I got 2990 fps out of the 165 gr bullet. With 76.5 gr of Magpro, 2860 fps with 180 gr bullet. I should shoot thru somebody elses chrono sometime and see what there's reads, I guess.

[Ghost Hunter]

Buckblaster
Yup, 300wsm.  Actually got more velocity after dropping the load from 80 gr to 78gr , and adjusting the AOL.  No pressure issues.  Finding that sweet spot is what makes reloading fun.  I'm getting close, but still room to improve  
Been playing with Magpro in the 300wsm since August 2002, imported 8 lb. from Montana when couldn't find any in WA. 

[dbllunger]

I know this is old, but I just saw it.  The 300WSM with reloads kicks the 300WM in FPS.  I will post my velocities and loads.  I can assure you they easily surpass a 300WM.  When you factor in the shorter barrel they really blow it away.  I know one of the top velocity loads was a 165@3400.  3300 was very easy with a 165.  Will have to get the info from the gun room and will post later.

[Intruder]

I think the 300 WSM is a good cartridge, but there's no way it's going to beat the 300 Win Mag in velocity. It has less powder capacity. You burn less powder you get less velocity. I believe my brother gets around 3200 fps with the 168 Barnes out of his 300 Win Mag. The claims that Winchester made was simply done in order to sell guns. The advantage is in the short action, and the lighter weight rifle.

I agree.  The neck and the seating depths just don't allow the powder capacity to achieve the velocities of the win mag.  Efficiency can only take you so far.  My load: 77.5 grn RL 19, Fed mag primer, Barnes 168 tsx; shoots 3375 out of my 300 win mag.  All that being said I do think the 300 WSM is a very good cartridge... and wouldn't hesitate to shoot pretty much anything in N. America or African plains w/ it.

[Intruder]

I know this is old, but I just saw it.  The 300WSM with reloads kicks the 300WM in FPS.  I will post my velocities and loads.  I can assure you they easily surpass a 300WM.  When you factor in the shorter barrel they really blow it away.  I know one of the top velocity loads was a 165@3400.  3300 was very easy with a 165.  Will have to get the info from the gun room and will post later.

WOW.... I didn't notice your post before I sent mine.  Please don't take offense but I just can't see how it can do that based on the case capacities.  I know it is more efficient but when your couple the bullet seating challenges (especially 165s and up) withe the capacity differences it doesn't seem feasible.  I'll admint I've never loaded for a 300 WSM so my perspective is based on 1.  published data and 2. experience of a friend who shoots a short 300 wsm... he's getting results similiar to those published in earlier posts.  But, if you've actually loaded it and chronographed it; well, I guess the proof's in the puddin as they say. 

Here's are some capacity stats (I assume they are correct) on the 2:
In order to check gross capacity of the .300 WSM case I weighed it before and after filling it to the brim with water. The cases I checked weighed an average of 226.5 grains and held 79.7 grains of water. In comparison, Winchester-brand .300 Winchester Magnum cases weighed 245.5 grains and held 89.1 grains of water

[GoldTip]

I have not reloaded for the 300wsm, but have extensively loaded for my 300wm, and I do not believe that the touting of the 300wsm surpassing the 300wm was meant to include handloads.  The 300wsm is a great gun from what I can see for someone who is not a reloader as the factory is using blended powders to achieve the velocities they have shown.  The 300wm really shines when you get it to the reloading bench, whereas the same velocities as factory can be duplicated with the WSM when reloading, but doubtful they can be exceeded, whereas it is not difficult at all to workup a very shootable/huntable load with the 300wm that will exceed factory velocities by as much as 300fps.  

I love the family of WSM calibers, I think they are great, short, light easy handling gun with good factory velocities, and certainly you can probably build a more accurate load by handloading for them, but probably not a much faster load.  I love my 325wsm in a browning stainless stalker, proven a great elk cartridge for me, and should play hell on a Moose next fall in Northern Alberta.  But I will not be looking to gain much velocity with my reloads.

[Bofire]

They are both great cartridges, but the 300 WSM has 7-10% less powder capacity, nuf said.
factory loads chronoed by me in the short mag never exceeded 2900 fps.
Carl

[high country]

it's not all about case capacity....you can get a 180 going 3500 with 20 grains of blue dot.....but pressures are not safe. all in all if pressures are held to equal case capacity wins. there can be upto a couple hundred FPS difference in two identical rifles. the chamber and bore have a lot to do with speed.

[dbllunger]

Ok,  Here is what I came up with in two different 300WSM's.  I was mainly focused on the 165, so I don't have full data on other bullets.  Yes, every gun is different but I will break these down as best I can.  Unless you have a strain gauge no one really knows the pressure on any loads.  Granted the upper end will usually lead to higher pressure.  The only way bullets go faster is with more pressure behind them generally but powders to have an affect on pressure and velocity.
One was a Browning 23" and the other a Savage 24".  Velocity was very close in both guns but powder charges were different.  The Browning showed similar velocity with less powder normally one grain less.  I also only listed the top three powders with the highest accuracy average overall.  If you want to load to book specs then great that is up to you.  I load for max velocity then work them until I find the most accurate.  Sometimes Max is accurate sometimes I have to back off a little.  The 300WM is from a ABolt 26", 700 Sendero 26".  I also loaded for a 700 24" and the velocity was normally around 75fps slower then the longer barrels. All are at what I consider under and at Max pressure in all rifles.  There are other powders and primers but these are the top ones.  Factory ammo I can not speak to as I don't shoot it.  I have some factory stuff chronoed for the 300WM, but nothing for the 300WSM.

All with brand new cases neck sized and CCI250 primers. 

300 WSM 165 Grain
67.0 H414 = 3252
69.0 H414 = 3428
74.0 R19 = 3357
75.0 R19 = 3445
71.0 H4350 = 3307
72.0 H4350 = 3373

300WM 165 Grain

74.0 IMR4350 = 3221
75.0 IMR4350 = 3280
75.0 IMR4831 = 3180
76.0 IMR4831 = 3278
75.0 R19 =3086
76.0 R19 = 3158

[Ghost Hunter]

dbllunger 
 Just out of curiosity, what bullet are you using?  Haven't tried the 4350, might play around with that.  I am satisfied with the performance of the Nosler for deer.  Just haven't been able to recover a bullet yet

[dbllunger]

I shot numerous Nosler PT, Nosler AB, Nosler BT, Hornady IB, Hornady SP, Hornady BTSP, Sierra GK, and Remington CL.  All shot good but the ABolt likes the Nosler AB wide open, and the Savage likes the Partition wide open.  The most accurate was the Nosler BT, but I prefer a better bullet for big game.  If I was only going to hunt deer then it would be the Nosler BT for me hands down.

[shag]

The 300 wsm dose slightly better the 300wm in all of Federals factory loads. 

[Buckblaster]

When I first got my Tikka 300wsm, it was a new caliber and there was very little load data. So I took what published load data there was and using powder burn rate charts, began building my own loads. I pushed mine for high velocities adding one grain at a time expecting bolt pressure before going too far overboard. I did get as high as 3400 fps out of 150 gr bullets with little pressure signs and good accuracy. Then one day, without warning, I blew a primer out the back of the bolt which busted off the bolt shroud. I'm lucky to still have vision in both my eyes. I backed off the pushing the limit for mach-speed velocity. Now there are plenty of recipies available so I stay very close to published loads now. I do however suspect that with the tight tolerances of the Tikka rifles, they might not always show the pressure signs that other rifles do.

[dbllunger]

So what load caused the blow up?  I have punched a lot of primers and never caused any damage.