I am having trouble finding what the difference is on the case of a 300 win mag vs the 300 prc. From what I can tell the cases are almost identical and the 300 win mag the bullet is generally seated deeper to fit saumi specs and has more freebore. If you had an action with extended coal couldn’t you just load your rounds a little longer and get almost the same ballistics out of the 300 win mag? Also don’t the eldm and eldx bullets generally shoot better out of rifles with more freebore? So why would Hornady develop the 300 prc with less?
- Thread starter Aah5197
- Start date
There’s quite a bit of difference in the two cases. The resulting case capacity though is near identical. All bets are off when you’re talking customs, so of course you can simply throat out a 300 WinMag in a package that has enough mag length. The PRC allows regular Joe Blow to go out and buy a rifle, buy very reasonably priced match ammo, and shoot for a mile or better.
Regarding the ELD, they’re not different than any other bullet, and are typically jumped the same as you jump any other bullet.
Oh, and belted cases are stupid.
Regarding the ELD, they’re not different than any other bullet, and are typically jumped the same as you jump any other bullet.
Oh, and belted cases are stupid.
Last edited:
The 300 PRC has a country mile of freebore compared to virtually everything else in its class. .232 to be exact. A 300 norma has .215 for example. Hornady was trying the get the bullet out the powder capacity.
My understanding the win mag has more case capacity. The prc case is shorter allowing you to load a longer bullet and keep it under the magazine lenght.
load that same COAL with a 230 hybrid and let me know how that goes
A belt, and what do men wear?
I love people that are not capable of reloading a case that is belted. Its stupid!!!! Funny mine still shoot little tiny holes. Must be operator error.
and if you can get better performance from an improved case design
I would think the PRC has a bit more effective case capacity. The PRC case has a larger diameter from base to shoulder by a fair amount. The WM case is a bit longer but a short neck so the bullet has to be seated pretty deep. With both seated to the same COAL, the capacity difference would probably be moot.
Main difference owning one is the PRC is Plug-n-Play while the WM would benefit from a custom throat to be able to really use the heavy match bullets.
and the shorter more efficient case is faster and setup from the get go for heavy bullets with better positioning in the case
Who said they’re not capable of loading belted cartridges? It was a gimmick to start with. I’d rather omit the belt, place the case wall at the same diameter and gain capacity...just like the 30 Nosler and 300 PRC.
the difference was the belt ( or beltless design). The 300 prc is "supposed" to hold 15 more grains of powder. I have not shot or reloaded for it, so I dont know for sure. I know that the Hornady rounds don't shoot for shit in my Tikka and I'll be chasing this for a while.
I can tell you with certainty it isn’t 15 gr bigger. More like 2 grains tops.
So is the beltless design the draw?
Not really
A sorted out chamber for modern bullets is and factory rifles with that chamber.
No custom chamber needed like most 300WM factory rifles could use for modern High BC bullets.
Every element of the case is a better design. Reasonably priced match and hunting ammo, and major manufacturers making rifles for it. It’s not a game changer, just an evolution. Think 6.5 creedmoor to 260 Remington.
I’ll see myself out before Steel head drops his master race meme....
Well cartridge length was an issue with AICS and AR10 mags and 6.5 CM definitely had an advantage with the shorter case.
Now with long AI mags and generous OAL custom actions the glory of 260 shines again.
I looked up saami spec on each and found the max coal for 300 win mag to be 3.34 but I know at least for my 300 win mag it’s 3.57 seated .02 off the lands. So basically comparing this chambering to a 300 prc that was at saami spec I’m wondering if there Is much difference. They both shoot a .308 bullet and if your 300 win mag has the throat to not have to seat the bullets as deep then is there really a huge advantage to the prc
what would loading a 230 hybrid change? Wouldn’t the twist rate be the deciding factor on how well a heavier bullet shot. If it was a 1:8 twist with that coal would it still shoot poorly?
so really with a custom throat in 300 win mag you should be able to load a very comparable round and get similar ballistics and velocities from same size bullets? I guess I’m just not seeing the crazy advantage to 300 prc if that’s the case. If you google 300 prc there are so many reviews saying it’s better than Norma and win mag and bridges the gap with lapua. I’m sure there are a bunch of threads on this I’m getting off topic and more interested in how a win mag case differs and you answered that. Thanks!
I'm saying load a 230 to a factory winmag saami spec and see how pushed into the case it is
yes a custom throat 300WM can almost be a 300PRC.
whats the difference between a 243 and a 6Creed? twist rate and one is shorter to take advantage of better bullet placement in relation to shoulder/neck. it's meant for heavy for caliber match bullets. just like the 300PRC. it's meant to be a long range target round shooting 230 class bullets, not a hunting gun shooting 180-200 class in the standard reamer and twist rates
can a 300PRC approach a 300NM? yes. absolutely. reloaded 300PRC can beat every factory 300NM load. reload the 300NM and it gets an edge up again. but it also needs a lapua bolt face and costs how much more for what, 50-100 fps? could you make the same argument about 300PRC for that 50-100fps? yes but it uses the same actions/boltfaces as the WM.
if you have dies and 500 pieces of good WM brass, get a custom throat and be happy. if you're getting into it, 300PRC just makes more sense
With the factory barrel on my 700p, you could not touch the lands and keep a 208 a max in the case. COAL for the new barrel is 3.62 and it is .02 to .03 off the lands. That is with whatever reamer Criterion uses on their 300wm barrels. If I was going to buy one, I would probably choose the one without the belt, but I will probably never change just because of the belt.
I can tell you that 300 PRC case capacity is just over 96 grains with ADG brass, it's been awhile since I've measured a 300 wm case but I believe capacity is around 92 grains? Depending on manufacturer.
Having owned both I really like the PRC.
The biggest problem with a belt is that the first shot on virgin brass headspaces off the belt instead of the shoulder, and you can get a lot of case growth.
I've measured more than .010 shoulder movement on the first firing, I started measuring after getting case head seperation.
I'm about to go with a 30 Sherman mag, which is a 40 degree improved PRC.
Should be a good gain over a 300 wm
Having owned both I really like the PRC.
The biggest problem with a belt is that the first shot on virgin brass headspaces off the belt instead of the shoulder, and you can get a lot of case growth.
I've measured more than .010 shoulder movement on the first firing, I started measuring after getting case head seperation.
I'm about to go with a 30 Sherman mag, which is a 40 degree improved PRC.
Should be a good gain over a 300 wm
I like your thought process here as the 243 vs 6CM is a valid assessment. While the 243 actually has more capacity is just isn't set up for the heavier bullets in most rifles. Mag length also becomes a big issue here due to chamber dimensions and bullet seating affecting the actual case capacity.
The main advantage the 300 PRC has over the 300 WM doesn't actually have much to do with case capacity, its about the overall setup and use of the rifle. The PRC fits mag length without having to seat the bullets so deep into the case (factory reamer dimensions) in comparison to the 300 WM. It was designed for the long range game.
Where I disagree is in comparison to the 300NM. I think the real world advantage of the 300NM over the 300PRC is more like 150-200 fps. The problem with comparison is also the actual setup (action, brass, etc.). I have seen lots of gents here quoting 230gr bullets at 3100 fps from a Norma and with 24" barrels no less. To be fair you have to take factory numbers against factory numbers loaded to equal pressures in a controlled environment. To me much of the claimed velocities are anecdotal - whether they are over pressure or just more than I am willing to push my equipment, the end result is the same in my opinion.
Is that their "match" chamber? They offer two options
The case neck is pretty short on the .300WM and doesn't lend itself to seating bullets far out. The PRC is designed for ELR shooting and therefore better capable of this. The .308 Norma Mag has a longer neck and is a better designed case and is thought to be a better cartridge than the .300WM but was a PR disaster suffering an even worse fate than the .260 Rem over the 6.5 Creedmoor. Now that it is well understood that shorter powder columns burn more efficiently than long ones cartridges like the .300 WSSM have come out and nearly making the .300WM obsolete as an ELR cartridge which needs an even longer action than a standard Magnum length to be able to do what the PRC can do. The .300 Norma Magnum is even better designed than it's predecessor and the reason why the US military looks like they might be phasing out .300WM in it's favour. I've got a .300WM but am going to get it rechambered in .308 Norma mag because I have the reamers and dies to do it and think I'll be able to get better accuracy out of it with longer bullets and because I like to be a bit different.
I don't know, They didn't mention having two options, they just said we have these two barrels on the shelf, and listed the options. I took one of them rather than waiting for exactly what i wanted.
Don't forget the 300 Norma requires a Lapua bolt face. YMMV, but I wouldn't run a Norma or Lapua on a 1.350" diameter action, personally. I'm not saying you can't. I just don't like the idea, namely barrel wall thickness on the tennon.
Hi there, no, ima going the .308 NM route not the .300NM route. A lot softer on the wallet!
yes, i have loaded and shot hornady 230g a-tips set at 3.60. i could probably go out to 3.70 before hitting.
Before hitting what?
the end of the mag
Belted cases aren't stupid.
They're just an answer to a problem we haven't had in a hundred and twenty years or so.
("Actually the first belted case came out in 1908, so that would be less than a 120 years there Nahmy.")
They're just an answer to a problem we haven't had in a hundred and twenty years or so.
("Actually the first belted case came out in 1908, so that would be less than a 120 years there Nahmy.")
300wm feeds smooth as butter from the magazine. It’s a more reliable cartridge due to the shape.
More reliable in terms of feeding?
lands. sorry i assumed it was obvious lol
Similar threads
Reloading Equipment WTS-6.5 PRC, 300 Win Mag, 300 PRC brass
Accessories 7mm-300 win mag barrels