Magnum Rifle - Is there a sweet spot?

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forty_caliber

forty_caliber

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I've been thinking about acquiring a new rifle in a "magnum" caliber. I'm not anticipating winning an all expense paid African Safari or having sudden polar bear invasion down in Texas. It's just an idea I've been toying with for a while.

I've always wanted a "belted magnum" since a stranger I met at the rifle range in my youth let me fire his .458 Win Mag. Damn near knocked 12 yr old me out of the chair and kicked like a mule...I couldn't get the grin off my face for days. I realize that the time for this technology may have come and gone or at least is passing by. This type of case certainly isn't a requirement.

In any event in my research I keep running into roadblocks of one kind or another that keep me from settling in on the definitive choice.

.375 H&H - cases and dies are hard to find but keep coming back to this one.
.338 Lapua - way to expensive for a pinch-penny miserly man such as myself.
.300 Win Mag - Hmmm... possibly but does it have enough attitude to really shine vs .308
.300 RUM - Horror stories of it being a barrel burner <1000 round life
7mm Rem Magnum - Flat trajectory like a .270 but comparable energy to a 30-06?
Lots of others that give me pause due to availability or just plain lack of knowledge...338 Win Mag, .300 Norma, 416 Rigby.

Lost in the data.

.40
 
I've had a 7mm RM and I still have a 300 Wby. If I was going to do it all over again I would opt for a 300 Win Mag. Ammo is easier to find and less expensive than a 300 Wby.
 
Texas10mm said:
Look at some of the non-belted magnums. The belt serves no purpose.
Click to expand...
.... OP was considering a belted 300 Win. Magnum and a 300 Win. Short Magnum is non belted and although the 300 Win. Mag. has a little more case capacity they are both close enough ballistics wise to be considered "in the same ball park". Which means that either can easily outdo a .308. The 300 WSM is enough gun for 90% of the hunting most folks will ever do up to and including elk. Also has a good reputation for accuracy. But for treatment of a more severe case of "magnumitis" I would prescribe a dosage of something like 300 or 30-378 Weatherby or even 340 Weatherby. A friend has all 3, and I reload for him and they are impressive, although they are pretty expensive for non-reloaders.
 
Try a .416 Remington or Ruger. I'm not fond of the short mags, I saw quite a few of them in the shop for feeding problems, and if I'm using that much gun, it's for something that can hurt me back if I miss or only wound. I'd hate to have a misfeed at that time. (I do freely confess here that I really like Double Rifles, though have never owned one. I have had the good fortune to fire a few.)
My choice when I needed a gun for a moose hunt was a Ruger 77 in .300 WIn. Mag.
 
forty_caliber said:
I've been thinking about acquiring a new rifle in a "magnum" caliber.

.375 H&H - cases and dies are hard to find but keep coming back to this one.
Click to expand...
I landed here. Like new dies are common on ebay, and brass can be had for $.25-.50/pc if you're patient. It's also the grandaddy of all the belted magnums.

I'm also a Capstick fan, so that made it easy.
 
Which one you choose should be based on what you want to do with it. You don't say anything about what you want it to do other than kick you hard, which seems to me an odd reason to want a cartridge, and if that is the only use you have for it, well....... makes me want to just go "Hmmmm......" So what will you do with this magnum? You do understand, I hope, that the word "magnum" is meaningless in the first place.
 
I've owned several 7mm and 300 magnums. After buying a 6.5 CM I sold my last magnum and considered it an upgrade. Here is why I no longer care for a sub 375 magnum. Everything from 26-35 caliber will all kill any game animal in the lower 48 including moose, elk or bear. It is only the really big bear in Alaska where I'd feel more comfortable with something bigger than 26 or 27 caliber. And even then 30-06 is fine. I don't see where anything between 30-06 and 375 magnum is an advantage other than effective range.

If I'm going to Africa and need something bigger than 30-06 it's going to be a 375. And for a variety of reasons the 375 Ruger is the better cartridge. Ammo is cheaper and just as available, plus it is a bit more powerful. But the biggest advantage is the availability of rifles at MUCH better prices. The 375 H&H is so long that it either needs a magnum length action or a long action that is modified to work. Either of those options means a much more expensive rifle.

The key is being honest about your shooting skills. A 308 class cartridge including 7-08, 260, 6.5 CM, etc. will take elk size game out to 400 yards or a bit more. Moving up to 30-06 class cartridges including 270 and 280 will be good for 500 yards on the same size game. You don't really see any advantage with the 7mm and 30 magnums until you start shooting at 600+ yards. I can't shoot well enough to hit game at 600 yards. When I came to the realization that 400 was pushing the envelope for me and 250-300 was more realistic I sold my magnum.

But if I were interested in anything with "magnum" on the headstamp it would be 300 WSM. It comes within 50 fps of 300 WM, but since it burns 10-15 gr less powder recoil is noticeably less. It gives 98.5% of the speed of 300 WM, but with recoil exactly 1/2 way between 30-06 and 300 WM.
 
I like my Weatherby Vanguard in 300 wsm. My current loads are pushing a 180gr round nosed core-lokt at an average of 3010fps. Although I'll admit I'm thinking of switching to a 165gr partition for a little more speed and flatter shooting.
 
brasscollector said:
If I was in the market for something over .30 cal I would opt for the modern day 375 H&H, the 375 Ruger.
Click to expand...

Same here. Mossberg makes a pretty affordable rifle. It does give me pause at the price point though. I don't think i'd want to run heavy, full house loads in a two lug 375 bolt rifle without some serious research.
 
Does it HAVE to be belted?

How "Magnum" does it need to be?

338 Win, 300 Win, & 7mm Rem aren't "different" enough from your standard 30-06 class round to be worth losing the extra round or 2 in the mag.

You're in Texas. I imagine you hunt hogs. From your other postings on here, you reload.

404 Jeffery, 9.3x62, or 9.3x64 would all be my recommendations. After those 3, 7mm STW or 8mm Rem Mag.

@troy fairweather @LoonWulf & @Garandimal what say you gentlemen to this inquiry?
 
The video below is from a ranch not too far from the house where I sometimes hunt. 800lb Hogzilla comes to mind as a need.

Well, I would not buy anything because I saw someone brag about ONE case in an ad for a canned hunt in a place that I "sometimes hunt." There is no NEED for any of the rounds you have mentioned if you want to go hog hunting on that ranch, or any other for that matter. Did you see the hogs running across the road in that video. None were even approaching that size. I spend money to equip myself for real life, not romantic dreams about fantasy situations that I can use to justify some desire.

Now, if you just want to shoot one of those rounds for the fun of it (as you said in the OP because you want to get kicked hard) I guess you should just go ahead and get one. But you really should stop pretending you need one for any rational reason.
 
I like most of the belted magnums, and am ambivalent about the short mags for the most part. In truth there's relatively little difference between them.

I also feel that given the right build a magnum is a noticeable step up from an 06 class cartridge. You get a theoretical 200fps difference between them with comfortable loads....Now a slow mag barrel, and a fast standard, might shave that to 100 or less (my 26" .280ai, will out run the 24" 7mag it replaced).

We're in buying a magnum, just to have a "MAGNUM", it would probably be something along the lines of a .375h&h to one of the big weathrerby rounds.
I'd end up here if I was buying/building a more traditional sporter also.

If I'm buying a magnum to offer some advantage to what I do regularly, it would probably be a .240wby(still 06 class capacity) to 300prc.

Personally I really LIKE the 6.5s and .284s. Right now the only Mag I've got is a BAR in 7mm. I'm going to build a .264 here at some point tho, and more likely than not, when i come across a .375 length action I'll build another 7mm stw.

Personally the cartridge that offered the best performance, for the least recoil that IVE owned was the 7mmSTW.
I was using 162gr Amax at 3200fps, with some head room left. recoil was less than my .300wm shooting 208s at 2900 and trajectory was significantly flatter. Even with the much longer case i was only burning 5 or so gr more powder....if I'm remembering correctly.
When I do THIS one again tho it's getting a much longer barrel and will be a heavier build.

Sneakshot92 said:
Same here. Mossberg makes a pretty affordable rifle. It does give me pause at the price point though. I don't think i'd want to run heavy, full house loads in a two lug 375 bolt rifle without some serious research.
Click to expand...
The .375 Ruger actually has lower bolt thrust than the WSM cartridges, especially with factory loadings which are kept to around .375h&h performance levels. @DocRock has the Patriot in .375 ruger, and a number of guys have Rugers, in the Ruger. My .375 Ruger is on a 3lug Abolt, but that's because I had an open action, and really LIKE the abolts.

I kinda want to build an American in .264wm and another in .416 Ruger to complete my "safari" battery.
 
I don't like sharp recoil, won't be shooting game at over 450ish yards, mostly less, so I chose .458 Winchester Magnum for my "magnum" rifle. Heavy, but slow, recoil is the same. Hits them hard, nothing exotic about it, factory ammo is easy to get if you don't reload, etc.
 
The guns listed in the OP cover a lot of ground, so it's hard to know what exactly he is trying to achieve.

If practicality is of any concern, the .375 H&H is about as big as could be justified for North American hunting, I think. And with today's good bullets, even that is a stretch. I personally would put my faith in a .338 Winchester for even the biggest animals on the continent.

If practicality is a real concern, I would look hard at the .257 Weatherby. In my experience it is one of the easiest big game cartridges to hit with and, with a tough bullet, very effective on game like boar. The only downside is that it does chew through barrels.

And if practicality is of no concern at all, I would just get the .458 Winchester. I went through a Robert Ruark phase and so ended up with a .416 Rigby. I have no earthly use for it, but still thoroughly enjoy it.
 
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375 H&H or it's long action twin, 375 Ruger. Very gentle recoil for a medium bore, components are not hard to find, and can be loaded with common rifle powders like 4895. Loads can be tailored from 30-06 lever, or lower, to full bore dangerous game levels.

I've been toying with the idea of have a Winchester Alaskan rebarreled to 300 H&H. Just cause...
 
375 H&H is a great all around cartridge that isn’t too punishing to shoot. Not sure where OP comes up with components hard to get, cause they are widely available and reloading is pretty straightforward. I haven’t had the chance to try the Ruger 375, but looks promising.
 
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