300 win mag deer round

[skuntor]

I've whacked a couple deer this year shooting federal blue box ammo in 180 grain. I had bought a moose tag and was hunting in moose country so I wanted to be armed and dangerous for that as well. I was thinking of switching it up to 150 grain to reduce collateral damage to the meat when I go for another whitetail. Is this logical thinking? Then thought I read somewhere that the increased velocity of the 150 grain can cause more damage?
Any real world experience with this? I know a bad shot in the steaks is a bad shot no matter what it's hit with. I just notice more bone fragments on rib/heart lung shots vs a deer I shot with .300 savage last year. Only shot a few so don't really have too much to compare to.
I have a savage 99 in .300 sav that I've been letting my buddy use on these hunts or else that would be my go to deer gun.

[.300WSMImpact!]

anything other than a mag is good for deer,

I used 185, 180, 165, 150 all in my 300 mag, all caused blood shock, so I switched guns to a 270, all my meat has been fine since

[skuntor]

So you switched to 270 because the .300WSMImpact! was too much.

So I should make buddy use the mag and I'll handle my 300sav maybe...

[BearSupreme]

Use a high penetrating round for less meat damage, more energy will be expelled on the ground instead of in the animal (and your meat). Anything barnes wont damage your meat as much as a lead core bullet. The heavier the bullet the more it will penetrate and if it goes through it will do less damage then a lighter round

[monasheemountainman]

Use the ttsx and don't hit the shoulder and you will be fine. Behind the shoulder the ttsx or tsx stays in one piece and won't fragment. If you hit him in the shoulder it will make a mess no matter what you shoot him with

[Big Hoss]

I have shot my last 3 deer with my 300 win mag with federal premium 180 gr nosler partition with minor meat loss.

[skuntor]

Sounds like I have to buck up and spend a little more.
Thanks guys!

[M.Dean]

I'll be the first one to say it, "Shot Placement" is the secret to not wasting meat compared to "Poor Shot Placement"! If you can shoot a animal through the rib cage, just behind the front shoulder so it's a in and out the other side without hitting the opposite shoulder shot, you may have to trim a few ounces of meat when hanging the animal. I've taken many, many Deer with 180 grain bullets from my 300 Mag's, and if shot properly there's very little blood shot meat, but hit it wrong and your going to waste either one or both front shoulders. Lots and lots of guys will disagree with me, but I still say if you hit a small animal like a Deer in the front shoulders, your going to have wasted meat, no matter what bullet your using.

[tomahawk]

I'll be the first one to say it, "Shot Placement" is the secret to not wasting meat compared to "Poor Shot Placement"! If you can shoot a animal through the rib cage, just behind the front shoulder so it's a in and out the other side without hitting the opposite shoulder shot, you may have to trim a few ounces of meat when hanging the animal. I've taken many, many Deer with 180 grain bullets from my 300 Mag's, and if shot properly there's very little blood shot meat, but hit it wrong and your going to waste either one or both front shoulders. Lots and lots of guys will disagree with me, but I still say if you hit a small animal like a Deer in the front shoulders, your going to have wasted meat, no matter what bullet your using.

Bingo!! Place the shot so it doesn't do so much damage, head shot gives you no damage at all to the edible meat.

[adriaticum]

I believe there are reduced load 300 wing bang cartridges to be found in 150 grain .

[monasheemountainman]

I believe there are reduced load 300 wing bang cartridges to be found in 150 grain .
Ya for pussiesss hahaha

[hare_assassin]

Ya for pussiesss hahaha

Or for those with a 300 wm who are looking for a factory load more suited to medium game.

Ha. Ha. Ha.

[604redneck]

Less meat damage with heavier slow bullet I use 180 partitions and killed a 4x3 and it didnt do much for meat damage I may go to a 200 partition

[monasheemountainman]

Or for those with a 300 wm who are looking for a factory load more suited to medium game.

Ha. Ha. Ha.

shoot it in the shoulder with a 223 and it's gonna wreck meat that's why your shot placement is key... Pusssy loads will still wreck meat. He he he

[ohno]

300 mag, all caused blood shock,
I've had this on two deer I've shot. The first was a text book heart/lung shot. The bullet didn't touch the front shoulders, but both had significant blood shot. The second was a bit higher and on an angle. The bullet took out one rib on the way in and 4 on the way out. It also shredded 1/2 the liver. One shoulder had blood shot, but mostly salvageable.

[Jagermeister]

Like M.Dean said, shot placement is key. Head shots are best, kills two birds with one bullet. Kills the deer, saves the time cutting the antlers off the skull.

There are few calibers that can accommodate a change in bullet weight and maintain decent point of aim given that the other criteria remains the same. The 30 calibers do not quailify. Changing bullet weights will change your "zero". So whether it is a 300 Sav or a 308 Norma or any other 30 cal offering, it is best to stick to one bullet weight and one only. This way you can be sure of your accuracy.
Now some may argue that you can change bullet weight and maintain "zero" and you can. But you would have to be a reloader and vary the powder charges to accommodate each bullet you want to use. A lot of work and expense.
My advice is stick with the 180 grain for all situations and make sure that you are proficient in hitting your point of aim.

[adriaticum]

Like M.Dean said, shot placement is key. Head shots are best, kills two birds with one bullet. Kills the deer, saves the time cutting the antlers off the skull.

There are few calibers that can accommodate a change in bullet weight and maintain decent point of aim given that the other criteria remains the same. The 30 calibers do not quailify. Changing bullet weights will change your "zero". So whether it is a 300 Sav or a 308 Norma or any other 30 cal offering, it is best to stick to one bullet weight and one only. This way you can be sure of your accuracy.
Now some may argue that you can change bullet weight and maintain "zero" and you can. But you would have to be a reloader and vary the powder charges to accommodate each bullet you want to use. A lot of work and expense.
My advice is stick with the 180 grain for all situations and make sure that you are proficient in hitting your point of aim.

I believe changing bullet weight on any caliber will nullify your zero and you will have to zero it.

[Fisher-Dude]

Best bullet I ever used in my 300 WM for minimal meat loss in deer was a 180 grain CoreLokt Ultra Bonded. Even my butcher commented that he was surprised how little meat damage there was on a mule deer I brought in.

I wouldn't go smaller and faster with a 150 gr. See my post about my 280 Ackley with smaller, faster bullets. Stay with the 180s.


http://www.remington.com/~/media/Images/Ammunition/Centerfire/cloktultra_mushrooms.ashx?w=570&h=135&as=1

[REDGREEN]

Stay with the 180's. I found the 150's too violent at 300 speeds. I prefer the 190's and 200 grain. Minimal difference in trajectory and less tissue destruction.

[Gilmore]

Au contraire... I shoot Gatehouse loaded TTSX 150 gr out of my 300wmag and love them. Used to shoot 180's all the time, he talked me into trying the 150's and I'll never go back for deer and sheep. Made a poorly placed shot on a mulie last year that would have decimated an entire quarter with 180gr lead core bullet. Instead it dropped it in its tracks and I lost less than 5 pounds of meat. Not to mention the flattest shooting round I have ever shot.

[vortex hunter]

Ya for pussiesss hahaha

LOL so true

[monasheemountainman]

Au contraire... I shoot Gatehouse loaded TTSX 150 gr out of my 300wmag and love them. Used to shoot 180's all the time, he talked me into trying the 150's and I'll never go back for deer and sheep. Made a poorly placed shot on a mulie last year that would have decimated an entire quarter with 180gr lead core bullet. Instead it dropped it in its tracks and I lost less than 5 pounds of meat. Not to mention the flattest shooting round I have ever shot.
Right but that's because it's an all copper bullet that retains 100% of it's weight and doesn't fragment, not because it's lighter.

[Gilmore]

Obviously. But if you read the last sentence of my post the 150 is also the flattest shooting round I have ever fired out of my .300 and is why I prefer the 150 over the 180 for deer especially in the wide open spaces of Reg 3. The OP asked for real world experience about bullet performance and meat damge with a 150gr out of a .300 and that's about as real as it gets.

[untilthelastbeat]

180gr barnes ttsx for everything. Deer moose bears all dropped in thier tracks. Put it in the boiler room and your meet will be fine

[358jess]

Head shots are terrible advise. Miss by a couple inches (which never happens because all hunters are military trained snipers with perfect rests to shoot from) and you have an animal with a wound through non vital tissues which will run off and you'll never find. Coyote food.

[Jagermeister]

Head shots are terrible advise. Miss by a couple inches (which never happens because all hunters are military trained snipers with perfect rests to shoot from) and you have an animal with a wound through non vital tissues which will run off and you'll never find. Coyote food.
Sounds like the voice of experience.

[Brez]

I've whacked a couple deer this year shooting federal blue box ammo in 180 grain. I had bought a moose tag and was hunting in moose country so I wanted to be armed and dangerous for that as well. I was thinking of switching it up to 150 grain to reduce collateral damage to the meat when I go for another whitetail. Is this logical thinking? Then thought I read somewhere that the increased velocity of the 150 grain can cause more damage?
Any real world experience with this? I know a bad shot in the steaks is a bad shot no matter what it's hit with. I just notice more bone fragments on rib/heart lung shots vs a deer I shot with .300 savage last year. Only shot a few so don't really have too much to compare to.
I have a savage 99 in .300 sav that I've been letting my buddy use on these hunts or else that would be my go to deer gun.
If they are all broadside, heart/lung shots, then it's just luck and you hit bone with the WM and not with the Savage. Either way it should not matter as meat loss is minimal and point is mute, unless you want to eat the lungs and heart. Dead is dead. Since you are hunting moose, you are using a well-constructed bullet and all is good - it will blow through most shots on deer and drop them, even though you may lose some meat on a less-than-ideal shot.
There is not perfect caliber or bullet for every shot. As I said, dead is dead, and that's all that we can expect or hope for. Good luck, you have a couple of excellent rifles to hunt with

[Fisher-Dude]

Head shots are terrible advise. Miss by a couple inches (which never happens because all hunters are military trained snipers with perfect rests to shoot from) and you have an animal with a wound through non vital tissues which will run off and you'll never find. Coyote food.


Agreed. Helped process one that the CO put down, poor little bugger had no lower jaw as it was blown off by a wannabe head-shooter. His stomach was a shriveled up tube. Very sad to see an animal in that condition and imagine the distress he had suffered before being put down.

And to top it all off, it had wandered into residential areas for all to see, including impressionable non-hunters. Bad scene and a bad name for the hunting community.

[Junorr500]

165 gr federal fusions. Good value for money. Hit like a 180 and carry like a 150.

[Blainer]

I'll be the first one to say it, "Shot Placement" is the secret to not wasting meat compared to "Poor Shot Placement"! If you can shoot a animal through the rib cage, just behind the front shoulder so it's a in and out the other side without hitting the opposite shoulder shot, you may have to trim a few ounces of meat when hanging the animal. I've taken many, many Deer with 180 grain bullets from my 300 Mag's, and if shot properly there's very little blood shot meat, but hit it wrong and your going to waste either one or both front shoulders. Lots and lots of guys will disagree with me, but I still say if you hit a small animal like a Deer in the front shoulders, your going to have wasted meat, no matter what bullet your using.Thankyou. The voice of reason

[GoatGuy]

Shoot behind front shoulder if you want to minimize damage and use good bullets. Personally more of a fan of shoulder shots to pin em down and hit vitals. Rather have 5 lbs of meat for garbage than 200 lbs wondering around in the bush.

Surprised people are pumping bullets that are known and are built to fragment and will inevitably result in major blood shot and lead scattered throughout the carcass. Some sort of strange world we live in when people are pumping NPs and CLs for minimizing blood shot. You hit bone, at an angle, or shoulder and you will have devastation - it is that simple.

Skinned out deer number 15 for the season early this morning, all different kinds of bullets. This one was out of a .308, with FDs core-lokts - not surprised the far front shoulder is a complete mess. Not complaining, just not surprised as that is what that bullet is built to do.

I have one answer - TTSX.

[358jess]

Sounds like the voice of experience.

Yeah, not my animal but was there when a bull moose took a 180 grain tsx point blank from a 300wm under the eyeball just to swing his head back and blink in defiance.

[Fisher-Dude]

Skinned out deer number 15 for the season early this morning,


Any more and you'd say so. :roll:

[GoatGuy]

Any more and you'd say so. :roll:

There are only a couple outcomes when people talk about bullets that are supposed to shed a pile of lead in an animal and say there's little to no bloodshot.

1) They didn't hit much bone
2) They hit it in the guts
3) They hit bone and the bullet failed

Those are really the only possible outcomes. People shouldn't be surprised with an exploder type bullet and bloodshot meat - that is what they are designed to do. People shouldn't promote an exploder as a 'no bloodshot meat' bullet either because they had it happen on one or two animals.

If you want a non-exploder bullet, buy one.

Lastly, but most importantly, be happy you recovered your animal, even if it cost you a shoulder.

[dana]

The Barnes TSX in 180 or 200 has worked well for me in my 300 win. I don't want to rework my zero mid season after hunting grizz or moose. I aim for shoulder. The bone damage is indeed amazing but I actually have found very little for blood shot, and the bone fragments are pretty easy to work around. The animal is anchored on the spot which I perfer. I laughed one year when a member of this site gave me hell for a shoulder shot on a little whitetail buck. Do you know how much meat is actually in a dinky dog deer's shoulder? 1 family sized roast. HaHaHa

[srupp]

Hmmmm not a fan of headshots...ever.
And when your slightly off that lung shot...say using a .338 with tsx 225 gr barnes...that off shoulder will be toast..trust me..lol..
Cheers
Steven

[Gateholio]

Au contraire... I shoot Gatehouse loaded TTSX 150 gr out of my 300wmag and love them. Used to shoot 180's all the time, he talked me into trying the 150's and I'll never go back for deer and sheep. Made a poorly placed shot on a mulie last year that would have decimated an entire quarter with 180gr lead core bullet. Instead it dropped it in its tracks and I lost less than 5 pounds of meat. Not to mention the flattest shooting round I have ever shot.

Fisher Dude wouldn't believe it! :)

[Hillbros_96]

Is there any there bullet for the 300wm other then a 180gr Barnes? I have shot well over 30 deer, 3 elk and 1 moose with them. All died and depending on where I hit them had a direct correlation on how much meat was damaged.

[Fisher-Dude]

Fisher Dude wouldn't believe it! :)

I believe nothing from those green thumbs in Spudsville, BC.

[Gilmore]

Fisher Dude wouldn't believe it! :)


I believe nothing from those green thumbs in Spudsville, BC.


If FD sitting in his underwear with his tinfoil hat on poking away at his keyboard with one knarled pointy finger doesn't believe it you can bet the farm on the fact that it is the gods honest truth!!