300 WBY Mag

[JEBar]

this is posted in response to PM's requesting info about a caliber that doesn't have a mega following .... over time I've mentioned that until recently, if I was asked the age old question about only having 1 rifle, I'd answer without any hesitation whatsoever that it would be our Remington 700 BDL chambered for 300 WBY Mag .... the reason was simple, there isn't any animal on this continent that I couldn't hunt with it and do so at ranges that extend hundreds of yards beyond ones I'm capable of shooting .... back in my late teens I began black bear hunting in the mountains of Western NC .... realistically, most shot opportunities were within 25 yards and the longest possible shot I can remember was less than 50 yards .... for that hunting I tried a couple of different rifles, first a 44 Mag Ruger and then a BLR 308 .... both did well but I ended up selling the 44 and keeping the 308 .... if I had it to do over, I'd keep both .... after moving to east central NC I joined a deer hunting club down east where some of our fields were literally over a square mile .... we hunted those fields sitting in Texas type tower stands .... my search for a flat shooting, long range rifle ended with the rifle shown below .... out of the box, the kick from 84.5 gr of IMR7828 pushing a 180 gr Nosler bullet was simply more than I could handle .... faced with a decision between finding a new rifle or drastically reducing the 300's recoil, I went into research mode .... several upgrades later, which collectively doubled the price of the rifle, her recoil has been tamed .... its 180 gr Noslers leave the barrel at over 3,100 fps packing 4,000 ft lbs of energy and at 200 yards are still traveling faster than the same bullet leaves the muzzle of our 30-06 .... at 200 yards it still delivers over 2,800 ft lbs of energy .... with its trajectory mentioned above and shown below, I've never had to worry about how much to hold over a target .... for me, that's a major plus which most certainly simplifies where to place the crosshairs


Range > Drop
(yd) >> (in)
0 >>> -1.5
25 >>> -0.5
50 >>> 0.3
75 >>> 0.9
100 >> 1.2
125 >> 1.3
150 >> 1.1
175 >> 0.7
200 >> ZERO
225 >> -1
250 >> -2.2
275 >> -3.8
300 >> -5.6

[North Country Gal]

That is one mean cartridge, but when you need it, you need it. Great story. Thanks for sharing.

[JEBar]

mean it is ... what is often overlooked is it versatility .... I haven't looked lately because decades ago we settled on using 180 gr bullets .... back then 110 to 220 gr bullets were readily available .... I've never tried but I'd bet a hot loaded 110 gr bullet could really do a job on varmints at distances I can only imagine .... on the other end of the scale, a 220 gr deep penetrating bullet could hammer any big bodied game animal native to North America .... for age and health, reasons my hunting days are pretty much over so I no longer have a need for this rifle .... that said, it ain't for sale and is one I plan to pass on down the line

[JEBar]

our almost 30 year quest to reduce the felt recoil of our 300 WBY while increasing its already very good accuracy/consistency is at an end .... OK, I learned a long time ago to never say never so end may be the wrong term .... the process began the day it was taken out of its box at small, independent gun shop that ordered it for me .... the owner is a long time friend whose knowledge of firearms I admire .... he strongly suggested that it be sent to Mag-na-Port so we boxed it up sent it .... the ports they installed are shown below .... they have proven their worth every time a round has been fired .... next in the process was having another friend who is skilled in working with rifle stocks to install a 4" Mercury Recoil Suppressor in the stock and to replace the OEM recoil pad with the most efficient one I could find at the time .... the installing of good Nikon scope ended the first set of upgrades .... over the next few years better/stronger scopes have been added .... she proved to be an excellent hunter and the mods effective to the point that my wife was able to fire it from a seated bench rest .... once I stopped hunting over large (a square mile or more) and returned to hunting woods and smaller fields, my need to hunt with it declined and it found its way to the back of our gun vault .... over the last few years my desire to complete the upgrades nagged at the back of my mind and finally (more out of want than need) we decided the time had come .... we brought it with us to Texas in Jan 2021 for a friend who is the best gunsmith I've ever known to replace the trigger assembly and glass bed the stock .... today, we picked up from him and are delighted with the results .... the trigger pull is like none I've ever felt .... the target he secured to the top of the ammo box shown below clearly attest to its accuracy .... the lines on the target are 1/2" apart .... the hole on the right was fired from a bench at 100 yards .... based on it he adjusted the scope and then fired the three rounds grouped on the left .... when we get home I hope to complete the sight-in with it zeroed at 300 yards .... I don't know that I'll ever get to hunt with it again but its really good to know she's ready

[220]

Nice like you if I was limited to only one gun it would be the only weatherby chambering I have.
Mine would be the 240, I'm not hunting dangerous game but need something that can cover everything from 2lb varmints at 400y to deer approaching 1000lbs. My 240 just does it all well.
100gr leave the muzzle at a similar speed to the 180s from your 300 not surprisingly the trajectory is almost identical. It certainly doesnt have the power of the 300 but with over 1500ft/lbs at 200 and 1000ft/lbs to past 450 energy is very similar to a 308win.
What turns it into the ultimate one gun for me is the ability to launch 55gr at well over 4000fps. As a varmint round it is as good as a swift or 204, slightly more recoil but not enough to worry you even with a big session.

I dont know if I got lucky or if other rifles will do it as well but with mine sighted in for the 55gr to keep the trajectory to +/- 1.5" to 300 it puts the 100gr load within 1.5" of point of aim at 200. It makes it entirely possible to go from shooting varmints at 400y to taking a shot at a 1000lb deer at 200y next shot with out the need to do anything but drop the appropriate round in the chamber.

[JEBar]

thanks for the info on your 240 .... its a caliber I know very little about .... the lightest bullet I've seen for our 300 is 110 gr .... I have no clue if it would fly true or tend to tumble .... our rifle has proven to really like 180 gr Nosler Ballistic Tip and Accubond bullets .... the reality is, at close ranges it is way too much for the smaller whitetail deer we have in our home area .... on heavy body big game, it excels at all ranges

[220]

I have been using the 100gr partitions, really happy with them. Accuracy is outstanding with 3 shot groups as small as 0.3moa performance on game I cant fault. I have taken nearly a dozen sambar deer the smallest of which would easily top 500lbs and have only recovered 2 projectiles. Both of them were under the skin on the offside shoulder.
55gr shoot reasonably well in mine with 5 shot groups averaging 0.75moa.
Before purchasing the 240 I was sold on getting a 257wby, have a fair bit of experience with the 25/06 and thought the 257wby would be more of a good thing. Glad I went the 240 in the end, performance on medium game is everything I could want and the ability to use 55gr makes it a true varminter.

Have a friend that has just about put together a full collection of rifles in all the weatherby calibers even has a 224wby.
It is a very cool looking little round, doesnt match a 22/250 but the little belted case just looks sexy.

[JEBar]

Have a friend that has just about put together a full collection of rifles in all the weatherby calibers even has a 224wby.

now that's impressive ....

[220]

Not sure if he has a 6.5rpm and dont know if the 220 rocket build he was talking about went ahead.
With covid and everything else we didnt have our annual camping/varminting get together so didnt get to see what he has added.