.300 Win Mag vs. .30-06 Springfield

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Shooter2675

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I am looking for a new bolt action hunting and target rifle. I am going to buy a Savage 116 stainless in either .300 win mag or .30-06, but can't decide which caliber to get. I reload, so the ammo cost should not be too big of a problem. Most of my target shooting would be 300 yards and under, and I would be hunting mainly white tail with an occasional black bear hunt (although those are rarely successful, I have heard). In the future I am wanting to go hunting for elk, but that is not in the near future. I am open to ideas, and one thing to note is that I am not sensitive when it comes to recoil, heavy recoil does bother me.

Thank you,

John
 
If elk would be the biggest game.....the '06 is the best choice.

If you might someday go for old griz or brown bear--get the .300 and be ready.
 
Thank you for the quick replies. My main source of brass would be once fired brass I get from shooting ammo I buy from a gun store, and for PPU ammo, .300 win mag is only $3-4 more than .30-06. I agree with what you said about Loading the .300 WM down vs .30-06 loading up. However, I think brass life would be an issue with the .300 WM. What would the brass life be for each round, assuming middle of the road loads and no annealing?

Thanks,

John
 
300 win mag

I think that's what I would do. I reload for several calibers and have old Winchester mod 70's in 270, 30-06 and 300 H&H and now I usually grab the H&H. I use 200 gr. projectiles zeroed at 200 yards.

I've hunted and killed everything you anticipate for over 50 years with a 270 so the 06 would be fine. The H&H can't quite keep up with the 300 win mag but with the 200gr. loads I use it just flat poleaxes whatever it hits. Even deer, the meat damage isn't bad as long as the bullet has had a hundred yards to slow up a bit.
 
What would the brass life be for each round, assuming middle of the road loads and no annealing?
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That's a hard thing to predict, but the 30-06 is going to be the most practical choice for what you've described
 
As I recall, the .300 Winchester, like others of the newer mags (7mm for example) has a kind of a short case neck.

I'd say the '06 is best for reloading.
 
A 30-06 can use a Featherweight profile 22" barrel and be a light handy rifle.

A 300 magnum ends up with a 24" or even longer barrel and weighs more.

The 30-06 Springfield is the most famous cartridge in world history and most popular. Ammo and brass can be found everywhere.

I have had both cartridges and others for lifetime and have even hunted in NW PA for two seasons and got a buck both times.
 
The best choice is a toss-up between 30-'06 Springfield, or 270 Winchester. They are both the best. If your pocket is deep enough, consider the Winchester model 70 Alaskan in 30-'06.
 
I ended up with a .300 Win Mag barrel when I bought a Thompson Encore that I saw listed on one site. It came with two barrels and I figured that I could sell them and buy barrels in calibers that I actually wanted. One of the barrels sold easily, but the .300 Win Mag did not sell, so I broke down and bought dies for it. It was difficult finding brass for it though. It seemed that every place was sold out at that time. Eventually, I stumbled across a shooting range just outside of Salt Lake City on the way to Park City and the guy who ran the place had a few bags of once-fired .300 Win Mag brass. So, now I've got probably 50 pieces of brass -- good enough for a single-shot rifle, I guess.

I would have much preferred a .308 / 7.62x51 barrel though since the brass is a lot easier to find. I don't need the long range that the .300 Win Mag gives me considering how thick the brush is around here. If I want a hard hitting rifle round, I have a .45-70 (in a Marlin 1895GS and as an additional barrel for the Encore).
 
Ok, so far I have seen that the general consensus is: .30-06 is more availlable ammo and brass, but not as good for longer ranges, and the .300 win mag is better longer ranges but worse for ammo availability and brass cost. Having to do with the cost of brass and ammo and the availability of each, I will say that I can find .300 WM ammo in every gun store near be, not nearly as plentiful as the .30-06, but it is there. My main source of brass would be ammo I buy from a gun store, shoot it, then collect the brass. That method definetly benefits the .30-06, as the .30-06 is almost $3-4 cheaper per box of 20 than the .300 win mag. What I am eager to know is the brass life, because if the .30-06 is double the life of a .300 win mag, I am probabaly going to go with the .30-06, but if the difference is one or two loadings, I may have to rethink my situation a little more.

On a side note, does anyone know of any ranges longer than 300 yards in Western PA, preferably no longer than an hour drive from Pittsburgh. If there was something up north of pittsburgh, that would be great.

Thank you,

John
 
You don't need a .300 WinMag to shoot to 300yds for any hoved game in NA. In reality you don't even need a 30'06 but it's a darn good choice. Shooting to 300 or under, I'd opt for a .308. SA, compact rifles and a ton of options to choose from. Ammo is as plentiful as the '06.
 
Ok, so far I have seen that the general consensus is: .30-06 is more availlable ammo and brass, but not as good for longer ranges, and the .300 win mag is better longer ranges but worse for ammo availability and brass cost. Having to do with the cost of brass and ammo and the availability of each, I will say that I can find .300 WM ammo in every gun store near be, not nearly as plentiful as the .30-06, but it is there. My main source of brass would be ammo I buy from a gun store, shoot it, then collect the brass. That method definetly benefits the .30-06, as the .30-06 is almost $3-4 cheaper per box of 20 than the .300 win mag. What I am eager to know is the brass life, because if the .30-06 is double the life of a .300 win mag, I am probabaly going to go with the .30-06, but if the difference is one or two loadings, I may have to rethink my situation a little more.

On a side note, does anyone know of any ranges longer than 300 yards in Western PA, preferably no longer than an hour drive from Pittsburgh. If there was something up north of pittsburgh, that would be great.

Thank you,

John
__________________
"Better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to speak and to remove all doubt." - Abraham Lincoln
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I've reloaded my 300 wm cases 3 times so far and noticed no issues so far. I think the main weakness of the 300 wm is in the web area above the rim--that's where you need to watch for signs of brass flow and case weakening. 75 +/- grs of powder is a hefty explosion going off inside a firearm, needless to say a failure could have potentially dire consequences.

Over on the savage shooters forum there are some Pennsylvania shooters that hang out there regularly. I've seen at least a few threads where they talk about long range hunting in the state--apparently they shoot across from one ridge to the next. One of the hunters says, if I recall correctly, he takes white tail at around 1000 yds with his 260 rem--in one case dropped one at 1200 as I recall. I mention this not to start a long range ethics firefight--I'm just saying that apparently there is a hunt club in PA that does do long range hunting. Here in Maine I rarely get a clear shot of 100 ft. : )
 
Like I have said before, I am not going to get a .308 winchester. What advantages does it have over the .30-06? And, it is a short action, I want to get a long action for the future ability to swap calibers if needed. I think the .30-06 is what I am leaning towards, but how much cheaper than .300 WM will it be to reload? What is the problem with a .300 WM? I do not mind the cost of ammo that much, as long as it isn't 30-40% more to reload .300 WM than .30-06.

Thank you,

John
 
Ok, so far I have seen that the general consensus is: .30-06 is more availlable ammo and brass, but not as good for longer ranges, and the .300 win mag is better longer ranges but worse for ammo availability and brass cost. Having to do with the cost of brass and ammo and the availability of each, I will say that I can find .300 WM ammo in every gun store near be, not nearly as plentiful as the .30-06, but it is there. My main source of brass would be ammo I buy from a gun store, shoot it, then collect the brass. That method definetly benefits the .30-06, as the .30-06 is almost $3-4 cheaper per box of 20 than the .300 win mag. What I am eager to know is the brass life, because if the .30-06 is double the life of a .300 win mag, I am probabaly going to go with the .30-06, but if the difference is one or two loadings, I may have to rethink my situation a little more.
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You forgot the guy (Savage 99) who gifted you this key little fact that nobody else mentioned.

A 30-06 can use a Featherweight profile 22" barrel and be a light handy rifle.

A 300 magnum ends up with a 24" or even longer barrel and weighs more.
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So........do you want to lug an unnecessarily long and heavy gun that will cost more to buy, cost more to shoot, award you with more muzzle blast and recoil and give you only two or three hundred feet per second more?

I MIGHT if I were gonna hunt the biggest of the bears or hit Africa.

Beware the magnum allure........like marrying the prettiest girl in town.....it may turn out to be a complicated, painful and expensive mating.

;)
 
The Verminator,

The gun I am looking at in .300 win mag is only 0.25 pounds heavier than the same gun in .30-06. Not too big of a deal, especially since I only go hunting several times a year whereas I got the range almost once a week.

Thank you,

John
 
Target shooting to 300 yards the '06 will suit you fine.

There is nothing that can be hunting in this country that the '06 cant take care of.

The '06 will easily take care of elk at 400-500 yards (I use a 270 for elk).

Even reloading the '06 is going to be much cheaper.

But the main difference is the recoil, the 06 has mild recoil meaning a person (I don't care how big and tough one is) is going to shoot better.

Plus you can get by with a lighter rifle using the 30-06. That's going to mean a lot when hunting.

I've shot a lot of 300 WM at 1000 yard matches. It will get to you.
 
Thank you for all your help. How much cheaper is going to be to related? At most 7 cents more for powder, then 10-15 cents more for brass. If I stretched the numbers, that is 25 cents more per shot. I started doing the comparison as if the numbers were very close, but now that I have thought about it, the .30-06 is much cheaper. That is a major consideration. But I am still wondering about the brass life of both rounds? I understand everyone will have varying opinions, but in general, what could I expect with medium power target rounds? I would likely be full length sizing, and would use one of Innovative Technologies special belted round die.

Thank you,

John
 
I own several 30-06's and like them.
I used a 300WinMag overseas and tho I like the cartridge, it brings back memories I try to forget.

My choice would be a 300WSM, IF I were buying a rifle for your application. A lightweight rifle like a Tikka would make for easy carry while hunting.
 
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