300 PRC will get you 95% of the performance with 245 bergers out of a Long action using less powder, less recoil, cheaper brass and longer barrel life. Even factory ammo is like half the price.
Not to hijack the thread, but I had this EXACT discussion with some dudes regarding why I wanted a 22ARC bolt gun and I cited these exact points.
I can equal the ballistics from a 26" 223 using 75gr ELD-M, with an 18" ARC and the same 75gr bullets.
Less recoil, less blast, less powder than 6mm options or SA carts, and 8" less length, less weight than my 223, making it lighter, more manoeuvrable and easier to carry. It's a no brainer to me.
I'll tell you another story where i'm the flog, but it was a good lesson (especially for me which is why I keep telling it and prefacing it with i'm the bad guy of this story).... I was at an international arms meet over a decade ago. I ended up talking to a US Army dude and a UK Army dude. Both Snipers. One running the L115 and the other running the M2010. I made a bit of a comment regarding the M2010 and going win mag over the 338 LM like the UK (and cad and aus and NZ and probably most of the rest of the western world) and I said it from a position of assumed knowledge and honestly, I was being an arrogant flog and talking down to the US Army dudes weapon and ammo from a position I hadn't earned and didn't fully understand like a right fuckwit. I can't stress this enough. The way I spoke to these 2 dudes is just an embarrassment and it's one of those core memories that pops up at 3am.... and the UK guy just absolutely rolled me with his response..... I was put in my place so fast you'd swear this dude was a Quartermaster doing a stocktake and he had a shelf dedicated to arrogant flogs.
Basically, there was nothing wrong with 300WM and what Mk248 Mod 1 provided was more than sufficient, even compared to 338LM. He then proceeded to talk about training vs equipment vs engagement range etc etc and what it came down to was that 1 MOA was the standard which means anything beyond 1200y is more ass than class so they aim for those requirements.
So if you hyper optimise what you have, whilst it might not be the best, it might be good enough, and if you try really hard, you might equal the competition or close the gap so much that it's negligible.
There are a MILLION carts out there, don't pick the IT cartridge, pick the one that works for you
