150 gr vs 180 gr 300 Win Mag

J

johnm1

New member
I'm second guessing my decision to use the 150 gr bullet in a borrowed 300 Win Mag instead of the 180 gr. My original thought was that it would provide a flatter trajectory and lower recoil. Well it turns out I only gain 2/10" @ 300 yard so that really isn't an advantage and that was the primary reason for selecting the 150 gr. I should have done some more research. The recoil is less but at the cost of 200 ft lbs @ 200 yards and 250 ft lbs @ 300 yards. 200 lb mule deer is the target. Here are the rough numbers:

150 gr - 3539 @ muzzle, 2884 @ 100, 2324 @ 200, 1891 @ 300

180 gr - 3503 @ muzzle, 2983 @ 100, 2528 @ 200, 2129 @ 300

A 300 yard shot is possible and despite my aging eyes within reason.

Is the 150 a bad choice?

I have time to change and not using the box of 150's I posses is not a big deal.

I haven't made the final decision on bullet type yet. I have been practicing with the cheaper (can't call any ammo cheap anymore) Winchester. The designer stuff is just too expensive to practice with. I have heard that the Partitions work well but have also heard that the high tech stuff sometimes works well only in a narrow range of velocities. My shot could be anywhere between 30 and 300 yards so all around performance is important even if it means more of a compromise.

I would appreciate any opinions on factory cartridges, either standard or high performance.
 
i use 180gr Nosler Accubond in my .300 win mag, they work really well deer sized game. The Partition are a good bullet but quite expensive. I have used core lokt bullets too and they work quite well. I generally use 180gr and 200gr with my magnum.

If you want a little reduced recoil then go for the 150gr. In all honestly the deer on the other end is not going to know whether it has been hit with a 150gr or a 180gr projectile.

The most important thing is shot placement, 150 or 180 will just work as good as each other in the boiler room.

Factory loads, Remington Corelokt 180gr have produced good results.
 
Ammo

If you are happy with the way the 150's are shooting, then i would stay with them. Especially if the ammo is less expensive.

Personally I prefer the 200 grain Siera Game King in my 300 WM. But for deer the 180 or 200 is not necessary. I just like the 200's. And man does that 200 put game on their a**. Tom.
 
Be sure you have the right bullet in 150 grain .300 WinMag.

I've have some bullets in 150 grain blow up upon hitting the game. The game was dead but cleaning was surely a mess.
 
Byron

Am i right to say that all bullet brands dont offer .300wm, i know of a couple that do like Woodleigh. I dont think the 180gr Accubond do that i loaded, they only offer .308. I know that is diameter of .300 as well but im curious to know who offers in .300wm. I wouldnt mind chasing it up here in Australia
 
i hunt with a 308 and get better results from 180grn. a good hunting buddy of mine has a 300wm. he changed from 150 to 180grn recently and got a good improvement. i like the 180grns better killing ability and less meat damage. however if i understand your post corectly you get 3500f/s on a 180grn, that is plenty.on that speed i will even consider 200grn.
 
I think he was talking about energy transfer not fps. I was not having a crack at you i own a .300win mag and the most i get is 3080fps with a 180gr with 76gr of RE-19 behind it. That is a half grain over max stated in my manual. I am still in safe pressure but there is no way of 3500fps.

The .300 weatherby is good for about 3200fps
The .300 rem ultra mag is good for about 3300fps
the .30-378 weaterby is good for about 3450fps, thats with 113gr AR-2225 pushing it out.

Hope that clears it up:)
 
o.k that sounds better. over here 180grn and 200grn are more popular on the 300magnums. i am having a 300 H&H custom build and all the 300 guys advice me to go for at least 180grn. i even got better groups when a switched to 180grn on my 308. i know in the us speed enjoys a lot of attention but over here we will compromise, so that we can use larger bullets.
 
You didn't make a wrong choice, but I wouldn't aim for any serious bone with a 150. Stick to the rib cage to avoid a potential blow up with your bullet. I have a friend who hunted with a 150 grain out of a .300 Win Mag for pronghorn, he did a high shoulder shot that hit the spine. After all was said and done all he had left to eat was the hindquarters. Pretty much destroyed both front shoulders and most of the back strap, that Rem Core-lokt fragmented everywhere. He now sticks to the 180 grain bullet for all of his hunting needs.
 
Thanks all for your input. I think I will go back to the 180's. The numbers I originally quoted were energy numbers.
 
I just shot a doe - 150lbs - with my .300 win mag with a 150 gr bullet. I went for a heart shot and hit a bit high and to the right and the bullet went through both sides. The exit hole was 3" and broke the ribs.

Indy.
 
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