Magnum rifle Stereotypes

3

.300 Weatherby Mag

New member
Anyone ever been stereotyped for shooting a magnum rifle??

Reason I ask, is that I have... In a casual conversion with a couple of shooters, someone asked about what I would take on an elk hunt.. My reply was I would take my .300 Weatherby Magnum... To which one of the guys responded with "do you shoot that magnum to make up for a lack of marksmanship?" There was no sarcasm in the response, the guy was serious... I find it hard to believe that people can make assumptions without seeing a person shoot, but this isn't the first time I've had someone make a comment like this...
 
People like that are usually busting your chops or talking out their rear end. I've had people tell me 44 mag us overkill for a deer hunting sidearm. My 7 rem mag rifle that i'm carrying isn't overkill but my 44 mag is. How do you justify that. 139 grain vs 240 grain bullets?
 
Stereotypes, and...

the real thing. I have a friend who will use nothing less than a .300 Wby, for little whitetail deer! He's a fairly good shot, not a super-marksman, but insists that he needs that 3000+ fps to put down little 150# animals. He hunts in woodlands, where the average shot is well under 100yd, and a 150yd shot is unheard-of, so he certainly doesn't need the flat trajectory.

My friend is a scientist, but belief is stronger than knowledge. I think he'd shoot better with a rifle that recoils less, but guess how much my opinion has changed his preferred cartridge.

He won't reload, either, but complains about the cost of his ammo.

Other than that he's a nice guy.
 
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I took my .416 Remington Mag. on a bison hunt down in the Texarkana, Texas area a couple years back. When I pulled it out of the case to sight in at the ranch, the guide saw the size of the shells and said, "Don't you flinch with that thing!"

I don't know why he'd think I'd bring a rifle I couldn't shoot on an expensive hunt, but I guess some people do. After I put two shots touching down range at 100 yds off a single sandbag on a wobbly homemade table, I looked at him and he sheepishly said, "We're good."
 
Some of the best shots I have ever known shot magnum rifles. Also some of the worst shots I have ever known. I say shoot what you shoot well. If you have trouble with a 300 Weatherby, move down to something more manageable. If there is no problem, go ahead and shoot it.

That said, I do believe there are some personal dynamics going on in choosing a rifle. A person who does not shoot well may buy a more powerful rifle in the mistaken belief that a marginal shot with a magnum is somehow more deadly than that same marginal shot with a standard cartridge (a flubbed shot is a flubbed shot, regardless of the rifle). A person with little experience may believe that a magnum cartridge is necessary to kill "tough game" and buy accordingly (I am sure I don't need to elaborate the point that Lewis and Clark killed many grizzlies and elk with BP rifles). And finally, a person with little or incorrect information may just like the way the cartridge looks or how the name sounds (I like it, it's a Mmmmmmaaag- nummmm!).
 
A magnum will teach a fellow about good recoil pads. My second son shoots a 7mm magnum and loves the rifle and the cartridge, although the installation of a good pad sure helps him sit at the bench longer.

For myself, the .30-06 is the cat's meow. If it's too big to shoot with the -06, then I'll leave it till later.

But, yeah, I've heard all those magnum stereotypes. One really good friend of mine shoots a .330 Win Mag, just because he likes it. His sons rib him about it incessantly. "Dad, when you touch that thing off, all the leaves fall out of the trees."
 
I think, like most stereotypes, it's one rooted in some truth.

Certainly not always, but you don't have to patrol this forum long to see things like "Should I trade my 270 for a 300 WinMag to compensate for bad shots". Some guys say it outright, some you can read between the lines.

Personally, I know far more people who CAN'T shoot high recoil guns but THINK they can, than I do guys that actually can. Watching people fire a 12ga and getting a "CLICK!" instead of a "BOOM!!" is very often enlightening.

All in all, my initial assumption is along the lines of the stereotype, but I don't say it out loud unless I know, and I certainly like being proven wrong.
 
300 Weatherby Mag:

I have never been stereotyped as a magnum shooter but I have been asked why I shoot a 404 Jeffery and a 375 H&H magnum. My standard reply is to keep the elephants out of the watermellon patch.

Semper Fi.

Gunneery sergeant
Clifford L. Hughes
USMC Retired
 
peetzakilla said:
Personally, I know far more people who CAN'T shoot high recoil guns but THINK they can, than I do guys that actually can. Watching people fire a 12ga and getting a "CLICK!" instead of a "BOOM!!" is very often enlightening.
Click to expand...

+1

BTW, I have switched to 1 oz and even 7/8 oz loads in my 12 gauge because I can shoot better scores that way.
I have also become a fan of sensible calibers in rifles, shooting a rifle that simulates a car wreck every time you pull the trigger stops being fun after a while.
 
I have never really been a fan of the magnum calibers. I hunt in the inland northwest where the biggest animal we have is moose, and ranges on animals rarely get over 200 yards (more commonly in the 25-75 yard range, no matter what the guys at the local sporting counters tell you). I personally hunt with a .308 or 30-06, this will drop anything that I may be shooting at within those ranges.

With no BIG animals, and very very few extended ranges, you lose the advantages of magnums for the most part, and in many cases they are overkill. But yet MANY MANY hunters here insist on using magnums, and I think its mostly due to the "more power is better" mindset.
 
People like that drive me crazy and the older I get I find it harder and harder not to tell them exactly what I think. You got asked your opinion and if someone does not agree they don't need to make a snide remark. You probably did the right thing to just let it go but like I said, the older I get the harder that is!
 
I suppose people think they need the latest magnum to kill 150 pound whitetails at 75 yards for much the same reason everyone seems to think it takes a 1200 to 1800 cc motorcycle that weighs up to 800 pounds to go for a 55-60 mph ride with their buddys to a breakfast spot somewhere.
I think ego is involved.
That's one reason why I have allowed my motorcycle magazine subscriptions to lapse. Reading them only made me think I couldn't live without the latest stupid-big or stupid-powerful motorcycle.
 
I used to hunt deer with a 7mag. I shot the rifle a lot and it was capable of dropping a deer at a very long range. I used it because I liked the rifle and shot it well not because it was bigger. The trajectory of my handloads was almost identical to those of my 22/250 which I hunted coyotes with so I didn't have to consider different drop or windage between the two.
I quit using the 7mag on deer when my shoulders and back started bothering me and I went to a lighter recoiling caliber. I still use a 300 Win mag or 7mag for elk since I don't do much shooting on those trips.
 
I love my 7mm rem mag. I'm working on some 150 grn loads as we speak for the rifle, and it will be just as accurate as the ONE!:rolleyes:
 
I love my magnum guns as well I recently purchased a 300 ultra mag that I highly enjoy. Its my bean field gun for south Carolina. I will use this on whitetails along with a few other magnums I own.
 
I used my .300 Win Mag for whitetail for 15 years (150 gr coreloks). No meat damaged since I put them in the boiler but it makes a mess cleaning them. They don't go 10 yards at most and no one has ever tagged my deer.

Now these aren't little southern 150 lb. whitetails, these are big Wisconsin bucks that weigh around 200 lbs. or more after field dressing. This year I'll use my new .270 Win because that is about the perfect deer cartridge (130 gr) but I don't see any problem with using a magnum on whitetail if you can only own one rifle and it has to work on elk and everything else in North America.
 
I had a MAJ who was an avid hunter tell me that "You might be able to get out to 400 yards with your 308" as he explained why he hunted with a 300 Ultra Mag.

Not that we haven't been shooting 308's at 1K for decades now. The 300 RUM is fine, definitely has more energy, but his sporter weight barrel wasn't made for long range hunting if you get my drift.

Jimro
 
Those type of comments usually come from guys that cant shoot. The reason the scoff at you using a mag rifle is they cant handle the recoil. They shoot maybe a box of ammo a year at best and think because they cant handle something as mild as a 7mag or 300 mag that nobody else can. If your capable and there not then they must be a wimp and that cant be so. I shoot between 20 and 50 deer a year doing crop damage shooting and about all of it is with a mag of some sorts. No doubt i could get by with something like a 2506 or 270 but out past 300 yards where most of our shooting is the mags just put down deer better in my experience and any difference in meat damage is small and is more a matter of bullet placement then it is caliber. Personaly i woudnt think of going on an elk hunt with anything smaller then a 7mag and the nod would no doubt go to one of my 300 mags. Why not. I can shoot them just as well as a 243. Come normal deer season you will see me in the woods with something like a 250 sav or 257 roberts as its rare to get a shot over a 100 yards then. As a matter of fact most of my normal hunting is with handguns but when game gets big or ranges get long i pull the proper tool for the job out of the safe. Next time someone makes a comment like that to you ask them if they handload and how many rounds a year they put out of there gun. Then ask them if theyd care to put a 100 bucks on the table for a little shooting match. Id bet another 100 right here and now that they walk away with there head between there legs.
 
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