Been seeing alot of .300 caliber rifles lately. I am not too familiar with this caliber. I guess it is technically a larger caliber than say a 30.06? Also, I believe there is a WSM and something else?? What animals would be good to use this on and is it too much to have as your "general" rifle?

If you've got any experience and/or knowledge of this caliber, please share. Thanks!

There are LOTS of cartridges that use the "300" moniker. All are 30 caliber (ie, bullet diameter is the same as the 30/06) and most, but not all have more powder capacity than the '06 which means they have the capability to launch similiar bullets at higher velocities.

Whether or not they would be good for your "general" rifle would depend on what you plan to use it for. IMO, for Texas deer hunting, the 300 magnums are more than you need. If you are an elk hunter, they are probably appropriate.

Some of the "300" cartridges incude:

300 Savage (smaller than an '06)

the following all have more capacity than the '06:
300 WSM (Winchester Short Magnum)
300 RSAUM (Remington Short Action Ultra Mag)
300 Winchester Magnum
300 H&H Magnum
300 Weatherby Magnum
300 RUM (Remington Ultra Mag)

if you have further questions, I'm sure your vast-an-unpaid consulting team at THF will be glad to help

A 30.06 is the same caliber and no, i dont think a .300 is too much for deer. I am a big fan of the Weatherby .300 mag because with that one rifle, i can hunt every game animal in North America and not have to worry about buying a different gun for Elk or Mule Deer etc. The .300 Weatherby Mag is such a versatile caliber, i would recommend it. You can get 150 grain bullets to 200 grain, ballastic tip (not recommended) to Nosler Soft points. . .and i have owned one for about 10 years and never had any complaints.

I shot a Win. Mag for years. In my Remy, even with a heavy laminated stock, it was a punisher. And to make it worse, it would only group good with 200 gr ammo. It didn't put deer down any quicker than the 30.06 than I shoot now.

If you are only whitetail hunting my opinion is it is too much gun. If you will also use it for hunting elk or larger game it is probably okay.

If you don't practice with it regularily it will be too much gun for YOU.

When I was guiding, I promise you that about 90% of the gutshot deer we had to try to find were shot with a 300 win mag. People tend to become afraid of them.

The rest of the deer we had to try to find were usually 7 mags, 338's etc and about 2 oe 3% just crummy marksmanship for whatever reason.

My dad shoots a .300 and he just uses the lightest bullet he can find, which i believe is the 165 gr. But he has the capability to go with a heavier bullet if we go for mule deer or elk. I dont believe it is too much for deer. I have a 7mm and both of ours are browning with the BOSS so no kick.
Deerfeeder, sounds like your clients need to learn to shoot better! lol

I have shot a 300 win mag for 10 years or so. Is it too much for deer? Define "too much". If you can handle it why not shoot it. I drive a Dodge cummins and really dont need a diesel for what little I pull anymore, but I sure do like it. Last deer I shot with it was at 310 yards and dropped like a ton of bricks, but then again my 10 year dropped his deer, this last year in his tracks with a 243. Point is, no right or wrong answers, shoot what you want. It is all about bullet placement.

fetchup, most of them can shoot to a degree, but they to a large extent have bought into the idea that a cannon makes up for bad shot placement.

I wasn't kidding about them being aftraid of the recoil and I've had one guy with a boss system and his is on an .06 and he doesn't really need it. So, go figure.

if u want a 300 get it!!! i personally think its to much, but people think my .270 is too much... this is one of the most controversial topics in deer hunting... "what Caliber to use" I think just about any gun will drop any deer, my grandpa killed a nice 10 point many many years ago with a .22, dropped inits tracks witha lung and heart shot... i dont think ive ever seen a "whole bunch of meat wasted" due to larger calibers either, each gun makes a hole thats a few inches wide, going from .243-.300 will only change that hole by a minuscule amount. JMO

I have a .300 Win Mag that I bought to go elk hunting, but I take it alot when hunting whitetails. I really enjoy shooting it and I don't think the recoil is bad at all, in fact I have a very light .25/06 that is much harder on the shoulder.

Guys, whoa, wait a minute. I didn't say every guy that came out with a 300 win mag gut shot a deer. What I said was 90% of the gut shot deer we had were caused by 300 mags.

I didn't say that there weren't people around who couldn't shoot a 300 win mag well either.

What I tried to say originally and probably didn't get out real well, was that imo, you don't need a 300 wim mag to do a whitetail. If you are going to have multiple uses for it then fine, but for a one or two gun man, 300 win mag wouldn't be the first thing I'd recommend for deer hunting.

Better?

I agree with ya deerfeeder, lots of people who cant shoot do think that by getting a bigger caliber they will make up for bad shot placement. I used to sell guns for a gun shop here in clute and i had guys tell me all the time that they want a big caliber so when they make a bad shot it will still kill the deer...famous reply from my boss was..why dont you just practice and learn to shoot your gun?

no reason in being scared of the kick..I started shooting a Rem 700 cdl 300wm at the age of 13, shoot the 180gr winchester ballistic silver tips in it and it has always performed well. Also have a 300wm in a browning stainless stalker w/ boss system, now it's loud as heck, but I've shot 243s that kick worse than it does.... and have another browning in the 300wsm on order only b/c they didn't offer it in the 300wm. I just feel it is one of the best calibers for long range shooting and doubling as a good brush gun.

I have .300 wsm. I don't think you can go wrong with one. However, as others have said, bullet placement is everything no matter the gun. Mine is a Savage with the accu-trigger and I could not be happier with it. The only problem is the other guns get jealous if I don't take them out once in a while.

You can always tell the off-season when everbody gets worked up about calibers. Oh wait, that's a year round thing.

In my opinion, any gun is too much if you can't hit the target due to recoil. Being a recoil sissy, I prefer not to shoot anything over a .270 but that's my personal preference. I've shot heavier calibers and was less effective because I'd flinch. If you don't flinch, you'll hit the target regardless of caliber (assuming your equip is set up and you've practiced).

I killed 2 deer with my AR last year so I know the little calibers work. I've killed deer with a .338WMag so I know the big calibers work. If you go to the range for a day and don't have fun, you're over-gunned.

Shot placement is everything.

Big gun = big mess, little gun = less of a mess.

If you plan on eating the meat, don't mess up with the .300 or it's hamburger time.

Jughead

Most people are seeing the cost of ammo to what is used to cost and now they are getting rid of the stuff that like to eat the high dollar ammo. That is what i did, i got out of a 300 win mag to go into a 270 win. 1/3 the cost for ammo. And it will still kill whatever i want to shoot in texas or colorado, not that i've been there but it's the only other place i'd like to hunt.

Last time I checked,there was only one degree of dead.Shoot what you can handle accurately.Like the others have said,shot placement kills animals not calibers.If you can handle a .300 wm then by all means use it.

Well said 1Tex. Nothing really cares what kills them.

Korby, you can shoot mine if you have the need to.

Man I sure hope the 300 aint too much for deer because I have a safe full of them!

no such thing as to much gun i shoot prairie dogs with my 300 win mag

Take a look at the 270 WSM. Check the ballistics out at www.remington.com

Go to products, then ammunition, and click on ballistics. At the bottom of the page you can select three different calibers and compare.

It is more about shot placement and bullet integrity than a big gun, IMHO.

I agree with pretty much what everyone else has to say.

I carried a M77 Mark2 300 win mag for a while and I loved it. Of course, like others have suggested, I shot it a lot.

My advise is to use ONE gun, shoot it often, know what to expect every time you pull the trigger. Most people close their eyes right before they pull the trigger on big calibers like that and thats the MAIN problem.

I started off shooting 30-06's and 300 win mags and to be honest, it has made me a better shot with other calibers like a 22-250 or 257 roberts, 243's, because shooting those big 30 cals has made me comfortable with recoil in general.