.300 Weatherby Magnum

.300 Weatherby Magnum

Roy Weatherby already had experience with other custom cartridges such as his own .270 Weatherby Magnum when he created the .300 Wby. Like most of his other magnum cartridges, this is based on a blown-out .300 H&H Magnum case, using the signature Weatherby double-radius shoulder. In 1944, Roy Weatherby designed and introduced the 300 Weatherby Magnum, which, until the 1962 introduction of the 340 Weatherby Magnum, was the last member of his cartridge line to be based upon the original H&H belted case. The 300 Weatherby uses the full-length case and will only work properly in long-action rifles. Until quite recently, it featured the largest commercial 30-caliber case and, given at least a 26-inch barrel, performance is quite impressive. Skilled hunters have successfully used this chambering on practically every species, worldwide, and it is a favorite among an entire class of famous hunters who took to the game fields shortly after WWII, when Weatherby could finally offer commercially chambered rifles and superior factory ammunition, as loaded by Norma.

Performance
Weatherby claims that this is the most powerful .30 caliber magnum rifle commercially available, but the recently introduced .300 RUM is now more powerful. Of course there are quite a few very large .30 caliber wildcats around, not to mention Weatherby's own .30-378 Weatherby Magnum.

One must note however when comparing the .300 RUM and the .300 Weatherby Magnum the difference in factory loadings. Performance data is often listed on the side of the ammunition box for those who wish to do an in-store comparison. On average the Weatherby cartridge is listed with higher performance. This is because from the factory Weatherby loads its rounds with a greater powder charge than does Remington. This is because Remington generally sells rounds below the cartridges maximum performance envelope so that its recoil will be more forgiving to shooters. In order to take advantage of the greater case capacity of the non-belted Remington round one must handload it to a greater powder charge. The 300 Weatherby generally outperforms any short magnum 30-caliber by a significant margin. Therefore, for the practiced and skilled marksman, it will add, perhaps, 50 to 100 yards of useful range in any given application. Moreover, perhaps surprisingly, partly due to superior quality of Norma cases, the 300 Weatherby case has been used as the basis for an entire genre of full-length wildcats, for both hunting and long-range target shooting. While newer, generally shorter, developments threaten the continued popularity of this number, it is still a fine choice for the hunter who can handle the recoil, muzzle blast and long bolt stroke required in a gun so chambered.

The .300 Wby is in common use by big game hunters all over the world.


Monish

300 WBY is a killing machine!!! One of my older buds (now in his early 80's), hunted Africa,North America, South America, Asia, and Europe with nothing but a 300 wby. I think he even took a elephant or 2 with it in the 60's or early 70's. He also had a 404, and a H&H 500/465 that he used some of the bigger stuff.

Ed

I agree with Ed. It is a killing machine, if you only have one rifle you could not pick a better one rifle for north america! I dont have one any more because like most of the rest of you I have safe full of rifles for different things but if I could only have one rifle it would be hard to beat the .300 wby.

my 300 has been on many trips to alaska and has proven itself over and over again.

I did have troubleshooting ptarmigan in the head though for camp meat. tough but it can be accomlished and they are great to eat.

Tomorrow they order my Weatherby Vanguard in the caliber 300 Weatherby. Jeje, already I will put some photo.

Oscar.

Originally Posted by Double D

I agree with Ed. It is a killing machine, if you only have one rifle you could not pick a better one rifle for north america! I dont have one any more because like most of the rest of you I have safe full of rifles for different things but if I could only have one rifle it would be hard to beat the .300 wby.

My sentimiments exactly. If I HAD to only own one rifle that is what it would be.

I recently took my .300 Weatherby to Namibia. I couldn't be happier with the performance. I took 12 animals and 9 were one shot kills with most dropping in their tracks out to 380 yards. The 3 that took follow ups were my fault. The cartridge proved itself (again) for me. Highly recommend the .300 Weatherby.

CK

I've posted on a couple of other Threads of how much I like my new .300 Weatherby Vanguard. It is truely a killing machine. My only regret with it is that I didn't buy it 30 years ago. I am very anxious to take it to Africa and/or New Zeland, and hopefully it has the names of quite a few more Montana elk.

I've read a lot of threads where people say they won't shoot a .300 Wby or that they sold their .300 Wby because of the recoil. I too don't like excessive recoil, but I like to shoot, and I shoot a lot. I go to our local range at least once a week, all year long. I mostly shoot shotguns (like 5,000 rouonds per year), but I shoot my rifles and pistols at least once a month.

I currently have three magnum rifles and to reduce the felt recoil in my two hardest kicking rifles and my competition shotguns, I have done several things to take the pain out of shooting them.

All have stocks that were either made to fit me or altered to fit me. All have Limbsaver recoil pads, all are fitted with mercury or mechanical in stock recoil reducers, and all have either ported barrels or have been fitted with KDF muzzle brakes.

A couple of weeks ago, I was testing some new loads for my .300 Wby and for my 7 mm Rem mag. The .300 Wby has been altered as I described above, and the 7 mm RM has only been altered with a Limbsaver pad and the stock lengthened to better fit me.

To allow the barrels to cool between shots, I was alternating shots between my .300 Wby, my 7 mm RM, and my .22-250. With the recoil reducing alterations that I described above, the felt recoil of my .300 Wby was noticably less than the felt recoil of my 7 mm Rem mag.

The 85-88 gr charge of powder burning in my .300 Wby is LOUD with or withour a muzzle brake. I always wear ear protection when shooting, even when hunting.

I wouldn't be at all surprised your 300 Weatherby kicks less felt recoil than your unaltered 7mm Rem Mag. The KDF muzzle brake is very effective! With a good recoil pad and mercury reducer it should be in the 270 Win range or less.

It has virtually the same ballistics as a 300 RUM in a variety of Factory rifles past and present that are top notch.......mine is a Cherry German mark V that will rattle a filling loose....in fact gotta get another molar repaired on my right side AGAIN......love shooting a Magnum....gonna make sure my dentist gets his kids thru college....consider a 257 Wby if you are gonna just hunt the lower 48........super flat/accurate and awesomely hard hitting....read the artricle in Petersons(?) about the most lethal bullet caliber.....30-nope......284-nope......270-nope.....243-nope....257(wby and 06)-----YES....by a long shot.....accuracy rules......when combined with speed...well.....................

King Corona ,

HMMMM ! brilliantly stated ... The Weatherby 300 Mag is YEAH Yeah ! caliber

Monish