.300 WSM - a sweet spot?

Justabirdwatcher said:
I had the good fortune of finding not one but two brand new, never fired, 20+ year old stainless flat back Savage rifles chambered in .300 WSM during a Christmas week of scouring gun shops in central TX. I was looking for a "thumper" to use on elk and moose, and I couldn't believe how fortunate I was to find those two rifles. I love the old CRF flat back Savages, and to find one in stainless in that chambering was some of the best luck I've ever had gun shopping. Better yet, I got it for a song, because I knew exactly how long it had been in that shop. Bolt is buttery smooth and the trigger adjusted to 3 lbs. exactly with no creep or overtravel.
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Congratulations-Sounds like you hit the 'sweet rifle' jackpot! Do you plan on shooting one and keeping the other one in the safe, or shoot both to try to find the best shooting one?
 
Justabirdwatcher said:
With a full load behind 168's, I'm good for 4-5 shots off the bench (in a t-shirt) and then I have to set it aside for a bit. Granted, this is a 7 lb. 4 oz. rifle, all-in, without a brake or suppressor. When I send the barrel off to get it spiral fluted this winter, it should come in well under 7 lbs. all-in and that will really get my attention. LOL But I had an '06 Tikka with a factory recoil pad (puck!) that seemed to kick just as hard with 165's. I really can't tell much difference between this .300 WSM and any '06 I ever had.
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Same, I don't notice my Kimber 300 WSM at all.
 
Justabirdwatcher said:
With a full load behind 168's, I'm good for 4-5 shots off the bench (in a t-shirt) and then I have to set it aside for a bit. Granted, this is a 7 lb. 4 oz. rifle, all-in, without a brake or suppressor. When I send the barrel off to get it spiral fluted this winter, it should come in well under 7 lbs. all-in and that will really get my attention. LOL But I had an '06 Tikka with a factory recoil pad (puck!) that seemed to kick just as hard with 165's. I really can't tell much difference between this .300 WSM and any '06 I ever had.
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My mod 70 has a decent recoil pad and i have no trouble firing up to ten shots without any problem, thats with 200 gr projectiles, i have the trigger down to 1lb.
 
My Tikka was a hard kicker when I first got it. Switching to a Limbsaver pad made a huge difference. I’ve since switched out the entire stock to a B&C which seems to absorb the recoil much better than the cheap factory stock.
 
kiwi hunter said:
My mod 70 has a decent recoil pad and i have no trouble firing up to ten shots without any problem, thats with 200 gr projectiles, i have the trigger down to 1lb.
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Your mod 70 is at least a lb. (or two) heavier than my Savage, and I have an old school hard rubber pad on my stock, so that accounts for some of it. I will find a better recoil pad eventually, but it's great as it is.
 
Wildabeest said:
My Tikka was a hard kicker when I first got it. Switching to a Limbsaver pad made a huge difference. I’ve since switched out the entire stock to a B&C which seems to absorb the recoil much better than the cheap factory stock.
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I really respect and admire Tikkas, but their factory stocks SUKC. Worst factory recoil pad on any recent rifle, noisy and they punish you. I swear the '06 Tikka I had kicked worse than my Savage .300 WSM at the same weight.
 
Laelkhunter said:
Congratulations-Sounds like you hit the 'sweet rifle' jackpot! Do you plan on shooting one and keeping the other one in the safe, or shoot both to try to find the best shooting one?
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I should have bought both, but I was 2k miles from home and didn't want to pay to have them both shipped @ $100/ea. So I only bought one.
 
Justabirdwatcher said:
After shooting it a while, and owning a number of lightweight '06's over the years, if a person can handle an '06, they can handle a .300 WSM IMO, and the latter is superior in every way but ammo availability.
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I Like to shoot those Remington 150 gr. Core Lokt. They've worked well for me.
 
Justabirdwatcher said:
I really respect and admire Tikkas, but their factory stocks SUKC. Worst factory recoil pad on any recent rifle, noisy and they punish you. I swear the '06 Tikka I had kicked worse than my Savage .300 WSM at the same weight.
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I had a Tikka in a 300 Win Mag and that thing bucked! It kicked harder than my friends 300 RUM and my brother's 338 Win Mag. With or without the brake it sounded the same. I sold it about a month after. They're great rifles though.
 
I put a muzzlebreak on my 300 Winchester and it kicks around the same as a 243! I can shoot several boxes of shells without a sore shoulder. Just make sure to wear ear protection!
 
I have multiple rifles but the one I always grab from the safe is a .300 wsm. I dislike the the muzzle break, but it makes the kick irrelevant. Bang flop stick for sure.
 
brockel said:
One of these days I’ll put an 18” 300wsm together for a pack rifle
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Take a look at Tenacity Arms. Get one in 7mm PRC or .300 PRC. Make sure to add a Scytge Ti suppressor. Light, no recoil ehatsoever and a nice light trigger. Mine is getting 18/32" groups
 

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