What would you do? Remington BDL 300 Win Mag...

I love my Remington 300 Win Mag! I won it from a work promo 29 years ago. Other than a small scratch on the end it looks almost like new...utterly beautiful! And on top of that it is a straight up shooter. So here's the problem...I've got a pretty bad neck. I can shoot it 2-3 times at the range but I'm done after that. So if I ever needed to use it hunting I am very very confident I'd hit whatever I aimed at but I'd like to shoot it more often without worrying about getting the crap kicked out of me..

So now the question....would you just hold on to it and if you ever need it you can always use it? Or would you have a muzzle brake put on it so you can shoot it more often?

I really struggle with altering it in any way. I know it's not worth anything other than it being sentimental but now that I'm older the sentimental does play into it for me so As much as I'd like to put a brake on it so I can shoot it more I just haven't been able to bring myself to do it.

You could always suppress it. Then when you wanted it to look pretty just put a blued thread protector over the threads. That would give you recoil reduction, plus the obvious noise reduction, and it would be easy to remove it.

Bring it to my house in Melissa, I'll buy it from you, I will get a brake put on it for you, then give you a call when you can come buy it back.

It's loud with or without a brake. Cept with a brake it has about half the recoil.

My 300WM is hearing safe with my suppressor and it has literally no felt recoil. My girlfriend was 3 for 3 on the 12" gong at 500 yards when she shot my 300 for the first time. She agreed that it eliminated all of the recoil.

I would get a new gun...but i like toys

I'm not a fan of brakes, but I'd put a brake on the rifle if I were you. It's obvious that you like the rifle, you shoot it well, you have confidence in it and it has some sentimental value.

Brakes really work and a .300 WM is too loud to shoot safely without hearing protection anyway.

I sent my .300 Win mag (a Browning) off to Magna-Port, and it came back still shooting good but with a lot less recoil. Magna-Porting doesn't change the appearance of the gun so much.

I have the exact same gun from that time period. I had a brake put on it years ago, and glad I did. It made a huge difference, really not to bad to shoot now. You do have to be very careful about the ear protection.

You could try a Witt Machine brake. They clamp on to the barrel and supposedly work really well. Since it clamps on, you can always go back to stock.
http://texashuntingforum.com/forum/ubbthreads.php/topics/5632194/Witt_Machine#Post5632194

+1 on the Witt Machine brake. I put one on my 300 wm and the recoil is comparable to a 308, maybe less.

It can be loaded to 308 levels easy enough if you hand load, or have Chad work up some lighter loads.

Lol...thanks Jason! Creative thinking there. I think I'm just going to get'r done!

Thanks guys!

This is what I would do. I wouldn't bastardize a beautiful BDL with a break, but I'm not really a fan of them.

Brake it!! With the threaded protector cap, you can screw it on and it will look almost factory. Look at the Vais Brake, been around a while, very effective and doesn't need to be indexed.

Suppressors are great.......but I think it would look VERY out of place on your BDL, Unless you put it in a McMillan A=5. They are pretty expensive and take forever to do all the BS, just my opinion though.

OR , you could shelve it and buy a 7mm-08

Just shoot Remington Managed Recoil loads most of the time. These replicate .300 Savage ballistics and recoil. In fact, TBH, you don't need more than the .300 Savage for Texas whitetails unless you are shooting over 400 yards.

Suppress it. My WM is great suppressed. My 5' 7" 110lb wife can shoot 20+ rounds with it and is fine.

I'm looking at having to put a brake on my T3 .30-06 due to having shoulder issues. I'll probably just thread it so I can either brake and/or suppress it.

I could just shoot the wife's 7mm-08, but I'm not ready to give up my '06 yet.

I have a custom deluxe m700 bdl. Couldn't put a brake on that rifle, but it's heavy enough that I've been able to comfortably shoot it since I was 12. Maybe put a better recoil pad on it.

I only have two 300 WM, a Ruger # 1 and Ruger M77. For normal shooting I load them down and also use a PAST recoil pad. Never been to Alaska or Africa so haven't found the real need for the full load. Can't see messing up the lines of a classic by adding brake or suppressor when I can work around it with lighter loads and some shoulder protection. JMHO

Totally off topic here, but if you don't need the full power of a 300wm, and load around it and have to wear shoulder protection, and why not sell it and buy something more suited to your needs?

Hi Deerhunter61,....I have the same exact rifle as you. I bought it in 1969 and it is in near mint condition. It does catch a lot of attention, even at a crowded rifle range, because of the noise. If the recoil bothers you, you should try to keep it as original looking as possible and get the barrel ported. My light weight brother was going to Africa so he got a 375 Mag that kicked him around so bad he could not hunt with it. I convinced him to go to a gunsmith and get the barrel ported, he did, and now he claims it recoils about like a 30/30 and is super easy to shoot accurately. No more recoil problems. He swears by barrel porting now.

I did not say I did not need the full power, I said for normal shooting which I consider practice which is what the OP asked about. The OP said he had a bad neck and I was trying to offer him the same option that several others had said about shooting a lighter load for practice plus I use a PAST pad. Notice I have 2 Rugers and do not wish to sell either nor do I wish to alter the lines with ports or suppressors. Also have various other rifles with lighter recoil that I can and do shoot. But some times I enjoy shooting the 300 WMs and after 30-40 rounds my 68yo body starts noticing the jolt. I load them down for the same reason I load 38 special down when I practice with any 357 mags, my wrists have been abused and there is no reason to endure physical punishment to practice when it is a simple matter to lighten the load. I hope it does not offend the macho image but I also like to use the PAST pad when shooting my 45/70. I have a Mustang GT but I don't drive it wide open all the time, but I do like to have the ability to go fast occasionally.

From what I gather the rifle has sentimental value to him. I understand that completely.

That said, I can't stand muzzle brakes. I consider them a bane on society and ruinous to any rifle for hunting purposes (certainly for non-long range hunting).

If it were mine, I would leave it "as is" and shoot it just enough to verify zero and continue to hunt with it. If that became physically untenable, I would retire it and pass it down unaltered some day.

But that's just me.

Limb Saver kick pad.

Im in the same boat, lefty BDL in 300 RUM. Bought it from a guy at work that needed money and im a southpaw so figured why the heck not. Have no need for this thing whatsoever. ..ugh.

Solid advice from NP on a gun with sentimental value. Easy to work up milder loads for it or have Chad do it for you and turn it into a cream puff.