One all-around hunting bullet for .300WM, which to choose?

[wombat13]

I like the idea of really knowing one's rifle/load, like the old saying "beware the man with one gun - he probably knows how to use it." I would like to develop one do-it-all load for my .300WM.

I've started developing loads with 180 gr. Nosler BT, Hornady SST, and SGK, but now I realize that these bullets may not be the best choice for game larger than whitetail deer.

So, if you were going to develop one do-it-all load for a .300WM, which bullet and weight would you choose and why? My criteria in order of importance are:

1. Terminal performance
2. Accuracy
3. Trajectory
4. Cost

TP and accuracy are probably of equal importance to me. I'm not really worried about cost. It may be expensive to develop a load, but after that a quality bullet that performs as required is worth the money.

Thanks.

 

[Captcurt]

I guess that you know you are opening a can of worms here. It is like asking which girl is prettiest? It depends on who is looking and what their preferances are.

I have shot a slew of different bullets over the years ranging from Hornaday Interlock, Nosler BT and Part., Speer (both the hotcore and the grandslam) and a couple of the Barnes bullets. All work relatively well in most cases. If I was inclined to develope a one-load-for-anything I would think very hard about the 180gr Nosler Accubond. I am really impressed with 165gr in my 300WSM. I have taken 6 whitetails with it and 5 were DRT. The other went 20 ft max. The bullet opens up well at all practical velocities, and remains intact. It won't penetrate as deeply as some bullets like the Partition or the Barnes X, but has a larger frontal area. From my experience it holds together better than the Interbond and Ballistic Tip. All in all, it is a good compromise for an all around bullet. Plus it is as accurate as the ballistic tip and nearly as cheap.

 

[jerkface11]

All around bullet for a .30 cal? 150 grain Pro-hunter.

 

[Rokman]

I would probably choose somthing like a 165gr. Accubond or one of the tipped Barnes bullets.

 

[Strongbad]

For the 300WM that I load for (my brothers) I chose the 180 gr. Accubond. It shot well with both RL25 and IMR7828 but just a hair better with 7828. The 180 gr. Accubond is an excellent choice in the 300WM for all around use in North America. It's not the cheapest option, but it's a well constructed bonded bullet with a good BC and in my experience they're darn accurate or atleast easy to get an accurate load for. As for terminal performance, he hunts trophy whitetail in south Texas as well as big deer in Kansas, hogs, varmints etc. with this rifle and per him this is the best combo he's ever used. I load Nosler partitions in one of my 300 H&H's and TSX's in the other. Both of those would be excellent choices as well. However you can't go wrong with the AB's.

 

[wombat13]

Thanks for the replies guys. I expected a variety of suggestions, but three out of four responses in favor of the Accubond indicates that the Accubond is a good bet. This confirms my impression from the Nosler website prior to posting this question. Nosler indicates the AB for a wide variety of game.

There were two responses in favor of a 180 gr. bullet, one for a 165 gr. and one for a 150 gr. I thought the advantage of the .300WM over 30-06 and .308 was the ability to push 180 gr. and larger bullets. Why no suggestions for a 200 gr. bullet? Looking at the Nosler website, the 200 gr. AB has a higher BC than the 180 gr. (.588 vs. .507) and a higher SD (.301 vs. .271). Why choose a 180 gr. over a 200 gr.?

Thanks again.

ETA: I think I may have answered my own question. Nosler offers the AB in 180 gr. and 200 gr. flavors for the .300WM in their Nosler Custom ammo. For all practical purposes they are interchangeable. The 180 gr. shoots a little flatter (1.2 inches less drop at 300 yards, 3.7 inches less drop at 500 yards) but the 200 gr. carries a little more energy down range (120 ft-lbs more at 300 yards and 170 ft-lbs more at 500 yards). Inside of 300 yards there is virtually no difference between the two. Given that the exterior ballistics are so close, I guess it makes sense to go with the 180 gr. which is lower cost and probably lower recoil.

 

[loadedround]

I would recommend the Nosler 180 gr Ballestic Tip for the 300WM. It has been one of the most accurate and reliable bullet I have ever used in this caliber.

 

[scythefwd]

I'm using partitions right now for my .30 cals. If I ever though I was going to do some BIG game hunting (vs. big game hunting, talking coastal brown bears, etc) then I'd probably either keep with the partitions or go with a berger bullet.

 

[rogn]

Strongbads rec of the partition and TSX are as good as you can get. Ive had ABs blow up in a small deer with a 300WSM, and a call to Nosler onfirmed they can. The Barnes 168gr TSX will do anything from small whitetails to eland. The 180gr partition is reliable on the same range of game. The TSX bullets penetrate like much heavier bullets and do incredible damage in passing. Bullets likr the balistic tip will give you DRT, but they can disapoint you in what edible meat they leave. Funny almost all recommendations are Noslers or Barnes!