If you’re needing the KE and momentum at 400 yards that the .300 Win Mag gives you, then heck yeah, it’s a bad little cartridge. And that is why the goal of this article is not to pick one cartridge as the best; there are plenty of articles and forums out there endlessly debating the topic. at a muzzle velocity of 3,150 fps, the.300 Win. Overall both are great cartridges from Winchester. So if you have a deer some 200 yards away from you and you are using the 300 … Both cartridges are excellent for use on medium to large sized game. Because all of this data is computer generated, the trends in this article hold up to data generated in the field. Both can have recoil energy of over 20ft.lb which can easily influence the shot of an inexperienced shooter. And again, it’s due to the higher bullet weights you can find more often with the .300 WM cartridge and you get more force behind the rounds localized to the same area the .308 Win rounds are exposed to with less force behind them. At 400 yards, the 180-grain Accubond is still packing 2,344 ft-lbs energy. While the short-action 308 Win. Up to the 100-yard mark, where the shots were zeroed in, all of these rounds for both cartridges show minimal adjustments that would need to be made when taking a shot. The barrel life of the 308 is more durable than that of the 300. But I still can’t find an article to answer my question. As far as price goes, the .308 is going to be a much cheaper round than the .300 Win Mag. Still, with some of the information, we have already discussed, we can make some assumptions about the accuracy of these cartridges. With two decades of chasing all manner of upland game, hooved mammals, strutting gobblers, and any small game that can fit in his Dutch oven, he hopes to offer new ideas and viewpoints on hunting and firearm concepts and traditions. Let’s see if that holds up when we look at a wider selection of rounds. And these are just averages, while the .300 WM rounds overall, have the higher numbers, there are .308 rounds that remain supersonic out to 1,100+ yards though the number of options for this performance is much more limited than compared to the .300WM. The bullet energy is the highest of the selected .308 rounds with 1,300ft.lbs of energy at the 500-yard mark. So, who should be using these cartridges? “But it said 308 Win Mag on the internet, and I’m looking for that!”. Save everything but the largest and most dangerous game, the .308 can and has taken cleanly what the .300 Win Mag can. The .308 Win had a few rounds that broke the 1,100 yard mark but the .300 Win Mag had a clear advantage with several factory loads breaking the 1,300 and even 1,400 yard mark. As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. The.300 Win Mag can shoot the higher B/C bullets that.308 has to offer (200+ grains), but at the cost of substantially heavier recoil. So, let’s take a look at the short-range trajectory and see if there is any difference (bullet drop) between our .300 Win Mag and .308 rounds (Graph 6). Let’s take a look at the numbers from the larger data set and see if this difference in kinetic energy persists. Of course, you’re not shooting averages out at the range, but at this distance, there is very little overlap between rounds of the two cartridges. Such ballistic coefficient becomes important when you are hunting in adverse weather conditions. Although the 300 is new when compared to many other cartridges from the Winchester production line, it is very much accepted among hunters essentially for its velocity, the range of options it gives you when hunting and other features. We will not say which is superior. Both the 300 Win Mag and the 308 both come from Winchester as said hence sharing some technical similarities.eval(ez_write_tag([[300,250],'gunnewsdaily_com-box-3','ezslot_2',116,'0','0'])); The 300 and the 308 have the same bullet diameter of 0.308”. This is an extremely popular cartridge for long-range shooters including those chasing big game. What this means for penetration is that both offer great penetration potential given their SDs and velocities. Both the 300 Win Mag and the 308 Win Mag have their respective strengths. Even though the difference is small, there is a trend towards the .300 Win Mag rounds having a flatter trajectory than the .308 Win even if it is only around an inch of difference on average. As the bullets move out to the 200-yard mark, there is still not a whole lot of difference between the two cartridges. And of course, the amount of recoil generated can vary from round to round for each cartridge. From this section, it seems that you have the potential for more penetration with the .300 Win Mag. With these averages, we do not see a very significant difference in the rate of lost velocity between these two cartridges. For range and competition shooters, the trajectory and ballistic coefficients are going to be one of the deciding factors. Again, our goal in doing this is not to determine which cartridge is better but in what situations each cartridge might be better suited. The author analyzed six .30 caliber magnum cartridges (.300 H&H Magnum, .300 Winchester Magnum, .300 Weatherby, .300 Remington Ultra Mag., .30 Nosler, and .30-378 Weatherby) for trajectory, effective range, and recoil with modern ballistic software available free online from shooterscalculator.com. Now, if you want the terminal performance of the .300 Win Mag, you’re just going to have to put out a few more bills. We have listed retail prices for these rounds, but be aware that these prices are subject to change based on availability and demand. Once we get out to the 600 and 700-yard range, there is a clear distinction in the groupings of the two cartridges with the .300 Win Mag showing an average of 20 inches less bullet drop than the .308 Win rounds. The .300 Win Mag Nosler Trophy Grade AccuBond Long Range 190gr round stands out to use from a hunting perspective. Most weights are within the 150-200 grain range, but there are several lighter and heavier rounds available. So if you have a deer some 200 yards away from you and you are using the 300 with a bullet of 165 grain, you would need a correction of somewhere around 38.5”. Of course, with a lot of medium sized game and even some larger game, the .308 Win still had rounds that carried enough energy not to deter you from using them in such scenarios. The larger weight bullets and casing provide a cartridge that can give excellent range for most hunting scenarios and provide more than enough stopping power for medium to large size game. Especially with both being used in long range applications. Since 1963 the .300 Winchester Magnum has been a great choice for those looking for a bump up in performance from the .30-06 Springfield and .308 Winchester. So, the.300 Win Mag is much more powerful, has a much flatter trajectory, and has significantly more recoil than the.308. It is famous for its uncommon compatibility with the 30-cal bullet. The higher the momentum, the more penetration the round should have. So far we have extensively looked at the comparative strengths and weaknesses of the 300 against the 308. Below, you will find the numbers for our full data set as well as how the two compare when fired from the same weight rifle. It’s the reason we are including all three, rather than falling into the arguments you will often find, trying to determine which category on its own is the best indicator for stopping power. For longer range, as we saw the higher penetrative power and improved trajectory, velocity give the 300 the advantage. I just bought a Mauser M18 308. While there is a significant difference between several of the .300 Win Mag and .308 rounds at the 400-500 yard mark, there is some middle ground where the two cartridges have rounds similar in trajectory. Because these are computer generated numbers, they may not be the exact numbers you would get from firing these rounds through your platform. I am wanting to start shooting in long range matches. Because of this, we will stick to the measurable ft.lb force generated. adds considerably more punch and recoil. What we are going to look at for recoil is the actual force that is generated by igniting the powder within the cartridge. At the range, the .300 Win Mag has an average of 66 inches of bullet drop while the .308 Win rounds have an average drop of 86 inches. Mag. It’s still carrying over 1000ft.lb of energy at the 500-yard mark. If we were to look at the averages of these rounds, we would see a little over 200ft.sec difference between the .300 WM vs .308 and this difference increases slightly as the rounds move downrange. When selecting rounds generally, hunters prefer that with a flat trajectory. When just looking at the .300 Win Mag rounds, the lighter bullets show a higher muzzle velocity and higher velocity downrange than the heavier bullets. From around 180 yard mark, the .300 Win Mag begins to show a flatter trajectory than the .308 Win. Mag: Ballistics, Cost, and Accuracy I've been a fan of .308/7.62 for a long time and have owned several rifles in that caliber, the most accurate of which was a Remington 700 ADL. Both the 308 and 300 have good kicks as the 300 and the 308 can boast of a force at least 20ft.lbs. This is where the similarities end. You can buy a 300 Winchester Magnum. Stuff like this is what misleads people, especially newbies looking for some information to help them out with something that they want to get into. Of course, we are only looking at five rounds for each cartridge, and with a wider sample size, we might see a more pronounced higher velocity for the .300 Win Mag. As we mentioned in the introduction of these cartridges, you might see rounds on the internet touting much hotter velocities than these factory loads. With that, let’s actually take a look at the average muzzle velocities of the two cartridges when we bring in more rounds. You might find a few more options for the .308 at retail stores, but it also depends on what area you are in. I don’t know everything about guns, but I know for damn sure that 308 Win Mag is not a thing. The logical bottom end for the .300 Winchester ranges between 130 and 150 grains, depending on bullet construction; the 7mm Rem. I am literally dealing with a customer in my gun shop right now, who thinks his 308 Win is a magnum an requires Long Action magazines, because of this article. Pretty basic comparison that that might get a noobie satisfied, but does not even come close to adequately providing backing for the wide spread of capabilities that the 300winmag exhibits over the 308. While both the .308 and .300 Win Mag have excellent stopping power, the trajectory of the bullets may sway you one way or the other depending on the distance of shots you think you will be taking. Opinions on what I should get for a hunting long rifle. We are still measuring bullet drop in inches, but in this case, the test firearms are zeroed in at 200 yards (Graph 7). By throwing the same 180-grain Accubond bullet as the.308 Win. Soon after, the military adopted the cartridge and modified it to produce the 7.62×51 NATO round to replace the .30-06 chambered rifles in Vietnam. If we look at this energy for our ten rounds for comparison of the .300 Win Mag vs .308 (Graph 8), we see that the .300 Win Mag has the edge over the .308 in bullet energy. hauls at 150 yards. Sniper Country is reader-supported. Penetration is especially important when hunting for game with tough and thick bone and tissue where a shallow wound is not going to bring it down. Though they are different, when looking at the .300 Win Mag vs the .308 Winchester, we see two effective cartridges that when used in the right scenario, will be successful hunt after hunt. We could measure groupings of shots at various yards, but that still is affected by who is doing the shooting more than anything else and that same data can vary from day to day depending on environmental conditions as well. And because the .300 Win Mag is one of the more popular choices for long range hunting and general shooting purposes, we are going to examine bullet drop out to 700 yards. You go with what you want and what makes you the most effective hunter or marksman. We may earn a commission when you purchase through one of our links. It’s this type of difference that drives us crazy when someone points to it and says it’s the better cartridge. The powder loads most likely differ between the rounds as well although that data is not given and we took the liberties of using the same powder loads for each round of the same cartridge based on load data from Nosler. This information, along with the sectional density data, definitely tell a story with the .300 Win Mag rounds bringing more penetration potential to the field. It is based on the .375 H&H Magnum, which has been blown out, shortened, and necked down to accept a … The .308 was introduced by Winchester in 1952 where it gained an immediate following in the hunting community. The 300 and the 308 will appeal differently to different hunters. Re: .260 vs .300 Win Mag - Bolt Action Rifle 260 is a very flat shooting cartridge that's capable of 1,400 yard shots in a properly equipped rifle but that's on the higher end of it's practical capabilities. The high BCs along with the much flatter shooting .300 Win Mag at 500+ yards is probably going to be sought after for range and competition shooters. I've wanted a .300 Win Mag a few times, but have yet to buy one. The.300 Win. We see that the .300 Win Mag has a higher BC than the .308 rounds on average. The 300 Win Mag is produced by Winchester, coming into use around 1963. A .308 loaded … I have a.300 Win Mag and it's an excellent elk rifle, up to and including long range shots pushing the limits of most hunters' ability. So, let’s first take a look at the origins of these cartridges and how their design specifications match up. Gravitational force and wind will have less effect on a bullet, Disclaimer Policy And FTC Affiliate Disclosure |, Disclaimer Policy And FTC Affiliate Disclosure. And as we go through these various categories, keep in mind that they all play off of one another and all influence the performance and profile of each round. While the .300 Win Mag rounds have heavier weighted bullets, only slightly, we don’t see slower bullet velocities compared to the .308 because of the higher powder loads that can be used. But before we go into measuring them, let us know little more about both cartridges. We look and compare each individually for the sake of simplicity, but all factor into the performance of the bullet and the cartridge as a whole. Before we wrap up the .300 Win Mag vs .308 comparisons, we want to take the ten rounds we have looked at and pick a few of our favorites for certain shooting/hunting scenarios. We also see a difference of 2 inches between the flattest .300 Win Mag and the steepest dropping .308 Win round. From the muzzle, the .300 Win Mag rounds have an average bullet energy of 3,600ft.lb while the .308 Win has an average bullet energy of 2,720ft.lb. This concept is one of the reasons a lot of long range marksman concern themselves with how long bullets will remain in supersonic flight, which we will also examine at the end of this section. Even so, it offers the highest velocities and the flattest trajectory than any other round with less than 100 inches of bullet drop at 700 yards. Even with today’s optics understanding the trajectory of the round you are using is critical to success. Originally from Tacoma, Washington. If you’re shooting at extreme distances, the long range trajectory of the .300 WM rounds seems to give you a distinct advantage. 308 vs 300 Win Mag How Many Clays Will They Shoot Through? The 308 was produced by the same Winchester around 1952. Mag. Best Concealed Carry Insurance [Comparison Chart]. There is some overlap between rounds of each cartridge from the muzzle to 200 yards but from that mark out to 500 yards we see a visible grouping of the two rounds with the .300 Win Mag rounds showing higher velocities. Everything that we know so far about these rounds line up with what we just observed in the short range trajectory. Mag. From the muzzle out to 500 yards, there is a distinct difference between the velocities of these cartridges. Now that we have reacquainted ourselves with these two cartridges basically, it is worth pointing out that both cartridges have similarities they share. In fact, there are two .300 Win Mag rounds that break the .6 mark, which is an excellent ballistic coefficient for factory loaded rounds for any cartridge types. Sure the 338 is just a tiny bit wider and the bullet is just a tiny bit bigger, but does that really make a lot of difference?” If you were to ask a deer shot at typical distances of 100-200 meters, the answer would be a definitive NO. Since 2001, we have provided the latest in gun rights news, tech reviews and product information. Both of these use the same diameter bullet, but we will see by looking at performance specs that these two cartridges do not behave similarly regardless of using the same caliber bullet. I've owned and reloaded 7mm Rem Mag, 308, 300 Win Mag, 300 Weatherby, and 338 Win Mag. Theoretically, a higher ballistic coefficient is going to mean a bullet where fewer adjustments are needed for proper shot placement. Looking further, the 300 Mag has a higher recoil than the 308, as the force generated by the 300 beats that the 300 Win Mag on an average by about 6 ft.lbs. As a new hunter, the 300 based on this recoil factor may not be the best for you to start hunting. Although rounds of the 300 Win Mag have heavier bullets, the powder load the 300 Win Mag uses compensates for any possible loss of speed. Whether or not this amount of difference is going to impact you and your shot we can’t know. For the rifle weight, which influences the amount of recoil energy generated, is different for these two cartridges and we did so to give a more realistic idea of how they compare in real world applications. While some rounds between the two cartridges are fairly similar at this range, there are several .300 WM rounds that have a much flatter trajectory, some with over 7 inches of difference. Let’s now take all of this information and try to use it to draw some conclusions as to which cartridge might be beneficial for certain scenarios. Not in the same class, but the author doesn’t seem to get that. Though it doesn’t have the flat trajectory or the BC of our .300 WM selection, a 300-yard shot is no problem in the right hands, and 400 yards is even manageable. The neck diameter of the two casings are slightly different with the .300 WM being a couple of hundredths of an inch smaller than the .308 Win. Instead of throwing ourselves into a circular argument, we are going to look at the performance specs of these two cartridges so that we can have a better understanding of in which situation these cartridges will excel. In HP matches 88 to 120 rounds a day is normal, Silhouette 40, … Mag. The penetrative power of a bullet becomes more important when the hunter is hunting games with very tough bones and resilient tissues. We will present the averages for all of these rounds at the end of each section. More specifically, the type of game that is hunted there. In this article, we are going to look at two cartridges of the same bullet diameter that have very distinct differences in their performance. This is the reason that we have chosen bullet energy and penetration potential through the sectional density as the components for stopping power between the .300 Win Mag vs .308. This amount of recoil is considered enough to cause flinching for a lot of shooters which is going to greatly influence your accuracy. We just want to reiterate what it is we are doing here which is not to try and determine which cartridge is “better” but instead determine in which situations one cartridge might be more advantageous. That’s more recoil than … This is a highly popular cartridge and is widely available with numerous options for bullet weights and designs which further increases its versatility in the field. The maximum pressure of the 308 is 62,000psi while the maximum pressure of the 300 comes at 64,000psi. Rifles chambered for the .300 Win Mag are often somewhere within this 7 to 9lb range and the variance in recoil energy is really something that has to be considered with this cartridge when thinking of toting it around in the field. About Us | Write For Us | Advertise| Terms and Conditions | Privacy Policy | Disclaimer Policy And FTC Affiliate Disclosure |. By doing this for the .300 Win Mag vs .308, you can get a clear picture of how the trajectories of these two cartridges compare (Graph 5). It is definitely something we will look back on when we discuss the applications of these cartridges. This difference continues out to the 700-yard mark where the .300 Win Mag shows an average bullet drop of 101 inches and the .308 Win rounds show an average bullet drop of 126.5 inches. We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites. Highly recommended to always stop by and see a competent gunsmith with chamber gauges to ensure that your headspacing is right, and that you are using the right ammo, especially with an older gun. The sectional density is derived from a calculation that is the bullet’s weight divided by its diameter and then squared. With the .300 Win Mag, there are many more options for factory loads having BCs in the 0.5 to even the 0.6+ range. We do see some overlap in bullet velocities when looking at the .300 Win Mag vs .308. spits the same bullets as the.30-06, but 300 fps faster. This trend continues with the difference between bullet drop increasing as they move downrange. Calculations were corrected to standard temperature (59F/15C) and pressure … As we have mentioned before, shot placement is equally important when hunting. When we look at the graph, we see two distinct sets of rounds moving down range. It's parent case is based off the mighty .375 H&H (9.5x72mm) bullet and this was created by cleverly cutting the cartridge down 5mm and necking down the massive 9.5mm cartridge neck to accept the 7.62mm bullet. They have a parabolic trajectory, and as they move downrange, the bullet loses altitude. The .300 Win Mag rounds have an average of 80.0lb/f.s while the .300 Win Mag has an average of 77.12lb/f.s. The .308 rounds still all carry 1,000ft.lb or a little less at the 500 mark as well, which is still impressive, but should come into the discussion when we get into applications of these two cartridges. It is well connected to the stopping power. This gives the 300 several advantages: About 450 fps more muzzle velocity; About 900 foot-pounds more muzzle energy; Flatter trajectory (6” at 300 … This round offers a decent ballistic coefficient though not as high as some of the other, but it is also one of the least expensive .300 WM we have examined. No such thing as a .308 Winchester Magnum. This round has a great BC for .308 rounds, and when paired with the velocity and long-range trajectory, you have an excellent round for precision shooting. Proofread your articles, make sure you have 100% CORRECT info, and tell your peers to do as well. Still, it’s best to take a look at the numbers between our larger data set and see if they also support what we have seen. For shots taken within 300 yards, we think experience with the cartridge has more to do with accuracy than the ballistic performance of either cartridge given there are less than two inches between the averages of these cartridges at these ranges.