300 PRC or 338 Lapua for bigger animals?

[WEATHERBY460]

Trying to decide on my next hunting gun. This will be used for either larger buck deer, mule deer, elk, moose, grizzly. I was thinking of either the 338 Lapua with 250 grain bullets or the 300 PRC with 212-220 grain bullets.
Leaning towards a Savage Long Range Hunter. Both have 26" barrels. I just got back from a black bear hunt and used a 450 bushmaster with 240 HV bullets. I was disappointed I did not get a pass thru with that combo. Thats why I'm looking for something with more power. I have a 300 WBY, but it really can only handle bullets up to 190 grains for mag length. Thanks

 

[18Echo]

7mm RM or 300WM with Berger hunting style bullet.

 

[Emerson0311]

300PRC. It is just a better proportioned modernized 300WM, as far as bullet choice and velocity goes. 338LM is like buying a dually pickup when you need an F250.

 

[diggler1833]

Anything that I would use on a moose or grizzly/brown bear, I would not use on a deer due to all the ruined meat.

I'm not sure anything would shrug off your 300 Weatherby shooting a 180gr Barnes bullet. Any all copper monolithic is going to penetrate deep.

 

[b6graham]

Anything that I would use on a moose or grizzly/brown bear, I would not use on a deer due to all the ruined meat.

I'm not sure anything would shrug off your 300 Weatherby shooting a 180gr Barnes bullet. Any all copper monolithic is going to penetrate deep.

good thing you can easily drop a 300PRC from 215-230 weight class to 170-185 then

but i agree. not sure either of these is an upgrade to the 300WBY...especially getting a savage

 

[18Echo]

300PRC. It is just a better proportioned modernized 300WM, as far as bullet choice and velocity goes. 338LM is like buying a dually pickup when you need an F250.

True, but good luck finding factory PRC at an ace hardware or mom & pop shop somewhere in BFE should the need arise.

I have a 300 PRC and an improved version (30 Sherman Magnum), but my hunting rig is a 7mmRM. It will take all the animals he listed and factory ammo can be had anywhere.

 

[Supersubes]

I dont see any reason to get a 300 prc when you have the weatherby. A weatherby with 180’s will kill anything on the planet. If you want pass throughs, choose a sturdy bullet.



338lm shouldn't even he considered.

 

[Bandit320]

All above are very valid points, but if you just WANT a bigger new rifle you should get one. If that’s the case since you already have a 300 Weatherby already, I’d go with the 338.

 

[WEATHERBY460]

I'm guessing a 250 grain 338 Lapua has more KE then even a 220 grain 300 PRC?

 

[wpeach1912]

I’m with the above. If you want full pass through, just use solid copper or bonded bullets out of your Weatherby. You can gain KE by going with 338 lapua or 300 prc, but I don’t think that’s necessary for hunting. If you really want a 338 cal hunting rifle, 338 win mag or 340 weatherby are better suited to hunting than 338 lapua due to ammo availability and rifles chambered in those calibers. Also, in my mind 30 cal+ magnums are overkill on game up to the size of mule deer

 

[DeathBeforeDismount]

You need to step back and learn some stuff before jumping in balls deep. If you don't know what you want or what you are going to hunt how can anyone else help you.

1. The difference between a deer and a Elk/Griz is massive. There are guns that can do both, but they will be a compromise on either end.

2. Why would you be mad a semi auto 45-70 (450BM)did not pass through a Bear? You do realize that pass through = lost energy? Instead, all that energy was dumped into the animal inflicting more damage. This is a good thing.

3. Savage are trash, buy a real rifle.

4. Why are you asking about KE? You can plug any of these into one of the 900 free ballistic calculators to come up with all that information. Or you can multiply weight of the bullet by the velocity and compare it to a different bullet/speed then let us know. This is 2nd grade math. You have been here since 2011 so whats the deal.

There is a reason guys have multiple rifles/setups. Each is a tool with a specific envelope an purpose. Trying to cram all that shit into one gun is going to suck when you use it outside of that envelope.

 

[The D]

Trying to decide on my next hunting gun. This will be used for either larger buck deer, mule deer, elk, moose, grizzly. I was thinking of either the 338 Lapua with 250 grain bullets or the 300 PRC with 212-220 grain bullets.
Leaning towards a Savage Long Range Hunter. Both have 26" barrels. I just got back from a black bear hunt and used a 450 bushmaster with 240 HV bullets. I was disappointed I did not get a pass thru with that combo. Thats why I'm looking for something with more power. I have a 300 WBY, but it really can only handle bullets up to 190 grains for mag length. Thanks

If you want something for smaller game, build a rifle chambered in something smaller. The big game artillery is covered(start reloading and your setups will be even more versatile). Something like 280ai, .260(standard or ai), or 6.5prc are perfectly capable of smaller game(one more time, especially if you reload). And start using proper ammo that expands for more efficient kills instead of wasting energy making a larger hole in the ground.

 

[redneckbmxer24]

If you want one rifle to kill a lot of shit get a 375 H&H. It will put big animals down hard without removing 1/4 of a deer when your shoot them.

And for Christ sakes don’t pick a POS savage to hunt something that might charge or hunt you. Winchester Alaskan or Safari or Sako Kodiak would both be excellent choices.

 

[TM6]

I dont see any reason to get a 300 prc when you have the weatherby. A weatherby with 180’s will kill anything on the planet. If you want pass throughs, choose a sturdy bullet.



338lm shouldn't even he considered.

I'd agree that there is no need to try and upgrade the Weatherby. Load up some Nosler 200-220grn Partitions and go slay some critters. It will have plenty of penetration and stopping power from the muzzle out to 500-600yds and handle most game on the North American Continent with ease.

TM6

 

[DangerRanger]

Anything that I would use on a moose or grizzly/brown bear, I would not use on a deer due to all the ruined meat.

I'm not sure anything would shrug off your 300 Weatherby shooting a 180gr Barnes bullet. Any all copper monolithic is going to penetrate deep.

I hunt whitetail with a 215 hybrid from a prc just like everything else and imo this is way overblown. I shot a buck @ 9 yards the other year and purposelly hit a shoulder and while I had to carve around the actual physical damage there was hardly any bloodshot meat.

215 has become be go to hunting bullet, granted maybe it’s not a grizzly bullet? It’s never come up for me so I’ve never considered. But considering how violent of a bullet it is at that weight it makes me wonder how much bloodshot you’re gonna get from a thicker bonded bullet anyway.

 

[Jayhawkhuntclub]

Anything that I would use on a moose or grizzly/brown bear, I would not use on a deer due to all the ruined meat.

I'm not sure anything would shrug off your 300 Weatherby shooting a 180gr Barnes bullet. Any all copper monolithic is going to penetrate deep.

I've shot numerous whitetail with a 300 WM and some with a 45/70. Never had an issue with ruined meat. Overkill for sure, but generally fine as far as meat goes. Just make a good shot.

 

[RedTimber]

Anything that I would use on a moose or grizzly/brown bear, I would not use on a deer due to all the ruined meat.

I'm not sure anything would shrug off your 300 Weatherby shooting a 180gr Barnes bullet. Any all copper monolithic is going to penetrate deep.

Magnums work better with Small game. High lethality to internal organs through cavetation with very little damage due to passthrough of rounds. Over penetration is a problem, but loss of eatable meat is not.

 

[huntnh]

Look at the ballistics and energy on a 300 Norma or 28 nosler its like Thor’s hammer

 

[502Chevelle]

My cousin took a 375 Ruger to Africa and it worked great on everything he shot, up to and including cape buff. Just wondering if that might be an option.