300 WSM or 7mm Magnum

[Cooyon]

I need help! I am in the process of getting rid of my Remington 30-06 for a 300 WSM or 7mm. I do know that the 300 WSM is a 30-06 beefed up, and a 30-06 is a 308 beefed up. I like the 30 caliber rifles, however whats your opinion compared to a 7mm mag?

The reason is for long shots at deer and elk, I would like to shoot up to 500 yds with accuracy, for the love of GOD my Remington 30-06 will not group at 100 never the less 500. Bob Hart was going to make it over for me but I decided to upgrade to a larger caliber. Should I go with the 300 WSM or 7mm? and why? I will be topping the rifle with a NF NXS 3.5x15x50. (it wasn't the scope on the 06 that caused it to not group)

Thanks in advance..

 

[rgrmike]

In your situation your caliber (30-06) has nothing to do with how well your rifle is grouping. There's a lot of variables that go into making a rifle more accurate. All of the calibers mentioned will serve you well for 500yd shots. Send your action to a reputable smith, blue print the action, throw on a quality barrel and put it in whatever chassis or stock you prefer. You'll get exactly what you want and it will shoot if you do your part! I don't think there's any reason to "upgrade" to a larger caliber. 30-06 is a great cartridge, will kill anything in the lower 48 easily and has better barrel life than the 300WSM and 7 Rem Mag.

 

[Icallem]

I'm not going to tell you that you should fix the 30-06, but I will tell you given your set of facts, that is what I would do. You have a long action with a 308 bolt face. The easy build in the 30 cal range is the 30-06.

I had an extra 308 in the safe and thought I would have a 300wsm built. Turns out, by the time you buy a PT&G mag bolt and pay for the work, you are near the cost of a custom action. So, I bought a Tac 30 with the mag bolt face and as per the gunsmiths call yesterday, he will test fire it next week.

The reason I went with the 30 cal versus the 7mm is that I have so much 30 cal stuff around. Had I checked on the availability of brass for the 300wsm, I might have rethought this idea!

Again this is not to talk you out of your idea, just some other things to think about.

 

[Justinray]

The -06 should serve your needs well, fix the problem, not the solution. No need to hock the gun...

 

[valkyries]

The old 30-06 is still one of the best hunting cartridges out there and more than capable of taking deer and elk. Out of respect for the animals we hunt, I believe it's always best to get as close as you can to your quarry and make the cleanest kill possible(this also tests your skills as a hunter). That said, if I had to choose between the 28 and 30 caliber magnums... I would take the 7mm. Slightly flatter shooting, high b.c., bucks the wind a little better and kicks a bit less. Either would be a fine choice for the "occasional" shot past 500 yards though.

 

[O_W]

i was in the same decision point as you a few weeks back. I was torn between 300WSM and 7SAUM. I decided to go 7mm because of the better bullet options for 'most' shooting. I changed over from a 300WM to get into a short action gun. Everything in the lower 48 can be killed with a 7mm easily at 500 yrds.

 

[thebolt]

I have a couple 300WSM and several 7MM RM rifles. I enjoy both but have primary experience with the 7MM, which is my primary hunting round. I've bagged a tremendous number of elk with the 7MM and it has done very well for me.

Use a good bullet and either cartridge will serve you until the end of time.

 

[HodgdonExtreme]

A 30-06 will kill just dandy @ 500 yards (with the caveat of good shot placement, of course), so there is no need to trade up to a bigger/badder cartridge.

If you did want to swap, however, I'd consider a 280 or 280AI. It would require no action modifications and would give a substantial long range performance boost.

 

[45.308]

Here is my advice or opinion, what ever it matters. I hunt for food not take shots to live in glory. Longest shot hunting is around 425, average shot for hunting around 275.

Animals do not care what the head stamp is only that the bullet is placed into the kill zone. Contrary to popular belief, horsepower does not make up for a miss, a miss is a miss.

Every animal is different. Some will tip over easy some will not give it up. Again, horsepower will not change the animals fight for or lack there of to walk.

I want the lightest rifle I can carry and shoot, the less tired I am, the less hard breathing I am, no pounding headache, no lungs burning, the better I can place the shot.

Of those two, 7mag. I have never hunted with a 300wsm but I have 300mag and 7mag and in my opinion and experience, 7mag fly's better, drive just as maybe even deeper and produces a better or worse wound channel, depending on your perspective.

I would look at a Tikka T3 SL in 7mag, get a brake installed.

My recommendation for hunting, Tikka T3 SS in 308. Why? Light, accurate, good trigger, nice action, 308 is easy recoil, can buy less expensive ammo for time on the trigger to hone my fundamentals, again less recoil for more time honing my skills, can use high end loads for hunting, will tip over any game animal in N America if the bullet hits the magic button.

Rumors say the SL has been ordered in 7.08 this years production run, if so, I would consider over the mags.

The new Tikka T3 Compacts are suppose to hit the US shores in late July which means more like Aug or even Sept and I have a 308 on order as my new hunting rig.

Good luck

 

[KYpatriot]

Keep the 06, build a new 7 mag, now you have both! See how easy was that?

 

[redneckbmxer24]

For 500 yard shots on deer and elk the magnums won't do a thing that a 30-06 or even a 308 will do. If it were me I'd rebarrel in 30-06, the current configuration is obviously the problem, not the caliber. You've probably already got at least brass for the 30-06 and if you load you're probably set up with dies, and some powder and bullets.

If you're hell bent on changing calibers I'd still rebarrel your action but in 284 win or 280 rem.

 

[DirtyDave]

Are you talking about ditching the 06 rifle completely or converting it to another caliber? It will be more work to convert it to a Magnum or WSM than to keep it an '06 or something based off the '06 case.

I have a Model 70, 30-06 that does not shoot that well anymore and I am looking to convert it to a 280 Remington. (280 Rem is basically an 06 case with a 7mm Bullet).
There are some really good bullets in 7mm available in 150-180gr that will have a higher BC than a .30 cal bullet of the same weight.

 

[Niles Coyote]

For 500 yard shots on deer and elk the magnums won't do a thing that a 30-06 or even a 308 will do. If it were me I'd rebarrel in 30-06, the current configuration is obviously the problem, not the caliber. You've probably already got at least brass for the 30-06 and if you load you're probably set up with dies, and some powder and bullets.

If you're hell bent on changing calibers I'd still rebarrel your action but in 284 win or 280 rem.

^this^

In case you want to see what Ive been doing with my 06
http://www.snipershide.com/shooting.../241394-remington-700-long-range-30-06-a.html