Remington 700 .300 Winchester Magnum

[Hanshi]

I killed a lot of deer with heavy caliber as well as a wide variety of guns, both handguns and rifles.  The generous Ga. deer limit made it possible.  But in the long run my journey lead toward smaller & lighter calibers.  My two .250 Sav rifles probably filled up a couple of dump trucks.  I even killed a few with my .22 Hornet.  Of course now, for a long time, it's been strictly muzzleloaders and by far the most using flintlocks.

 

[Idaholewis1]

But in the long run my journey lead toward smaller & lighter calibers. 

 Hanshi,  This EXACTLY the Case with me these Days. I MUCH MUCH Prefer the Smaller, Lighter Recoiling Cartridges.

The ONLY reason i ended up with the .300 Win Mag i started this thread over is the fact that i HATED the little 6.5 Creedmoor i had, I had HORRIBLE Luck with that Rifle, it wasn’t the Cartridge, it was the Rifle itself. And since i already own a 7MM-08 and a .308 I just didn’t need The little 6.5 Creedmoor. I decided that owning 1 Bigger Magnum Rifle wasn’t a Bad thing, When the opportunity arose to Trade the little Creedmoor for the .300 Win Mag i Jumped on it. But Truth is, I really didn’t need this .300 Magnum, My Little 7-08 and .308 Win will do ANYTHING i need and Then Some. BUT, The Horsepower Behind these 165s and 180s Pushed out of a .300 Winchester Magnum is a Fairly impressive thing. If Elk were the ONLY thing on the Menu, This .300 is the best Rifle i own for that particular Task. I have a B (Rifle) Elk Tag this Year, Rifle Deer and Elk Season Open the Same Day here, I will be Carrying this New .300 Magnum in hopes of a Bull Elk the first few days of the Season, ANY Bull Elk will Do  :Red tup:

 

[Hanshi]

Idaholewis, The largest caliber I own is my 45/70 and the most "powerful" is a Rem 700 classic in .350 Rem mag.  The Marlin I've owned since the 1970s and the .350 was ordered in 1984.  I'll never buy another rifle and probably not another muzzleloader.  I have everything I use and even more than I need.  All those other rifles were loads of fun and I enjoyed them immensely.  Virtually all my shooting is done with .50, .45, .36 (and a 20 ga smoothbore) flintlocks.  But I do enjoy exercising my cartridge guns occasionally.  Basically, I just simply LIKE GUNS.  I have favorites and some I would never care to own.  Thankfully I just where I need to be.

 

[Idaholewis1]

Idaholewis, The largest caliber I own is my 45/70 and the most "powerful" is a Rem 700 classic in .350 Rem mag.  The Marlin I've owned since the 1970s and the .350 was ordered in 1984.  I'll never buy another rifle and probably not another muzzleloader.  I have everything I use and even more than I need.  All those other rifles were loads of fun and I enjoyed them immensely.  Virtually all my shooting is done with .50, .45, .36 (and a 20 ga smoothbore) flintlocks.  But I do enjoy exercising my cartridge guns occasionally.  Basically, I just simply LIKE GUNS.  I have favorites and some I would never care to own.  Thankfully I just where I need to be.

Hanshi,  I have finally come to the Realization that i have WAY more Rifles than I can ever use in my Lifetime, even if I could go back to a Kid i stil Couldn’t use all of them.

I am a SUCKER for Old TC Renegades and Hawkens, They are Both my Favorite Rifles, The Renegade is a WORKHORSE Rifle. My reasoning for the TC’s is that i build off of them With Green Mountain Barrels, Ad Peep sight Setups etc. And they just Feel good to me, and are DURABLE. I know, and understand these Old TC Rifles better than anything else. I prefer the Robust over Finesse.

 The last 2 I bought were BRAND NEW Unfired, Both Renegades, a .50 and a .54, OLD Pre Warning Guns. I went completely through them, Cleaned and Re-Oiled everything, Even Polished the Bores, They literally look like Mirrors. I contemplated Shooting them? But then thought Why? I have 12-15 others that i do Shoot. Why not leave these 2 Brand New Unfired and See what happens Down the Rd with Value?

I rarely sell a Gun, But i have REALLY contemplated letting a Few of these that i NEVER shoot Go. Maybe one day? Even Parts, i HATE to let a Part go, I Shoot these Hawken’s and Renegades a LOT! If anything breaks i can Fix it :Red tup:

I will say that i am getting a Grasp on my Collecting Problem  I have finally QUIT Looking, and When i do see a Nice Rifle for Sale anymore i am ok with ignoring it, and happy to someone else get it

 Now if i can just get a Grasp on Having Custom Bullet Molds Made, this is another Problem  I LOVE to Tinker with this Stuff!!! The way i see it, I’m not harming anyone, At least I’m not sitting in a Tavern Throwing my Money Away. I enjoy my Guns, Bullet Casting, etc. Pretty much DAILY :Red tup:

As for my Few Centerfires, i like them a BUNCH as well, But I don’t shoot them very much, Everything is so expensive to Shoot the Centerfires, at least on a Regular Basis

 

[Hanshi]

Cost is the main reason I've virtually always reloaded (and cast for handguns) for all calibers I've owned.  Only on a few occasions have I bought factory ammo; except .22 rimfire and and a couple of very rarely fired calibers.

I'm not a "collector" in the sense that  I'd hold onto something without shooting/using it.  There have been times when my stable held many more than I now have; many more.  To help finance our move to Maine I sold 8 guns.  Most of them were "treasures" that I did use a lot but could do without.  What is left is all I need for anything I'll ever do.  So not many in the stable but I shoot BP 96% of the time and hunt exclusively with muzzleloaders.  I've traded or sold nearly 200 modern guns over the past 45 years; some I wish I'd never let go.  My passion is longrifles and comprise 2/3 (6) of what I have.  I dearly love my (few) centerfires and treasure them.  I'm very anxious to get united again with all my loaded ammo & brass; and my powder, (black and smokeless) of course.  I just don't know when that will be, right off hand.

I own dozens of bullet/ball molds but only one is custom.  I had duplicate reloading tools and gave them to my friend before we moved - press, bullet sizer, powder measure, etc.  He is the one caring for and boarding all my "stuff".  Oh, and I'll mention that my 45/70 handload, which has accounted for oodles of deer, gives 1800 fps with a Speer 400 grain sp.  In the .350 I've mostly hunted and exclusively reloaded a 200 grain bullet.  It travels at 2700 fps which is a mild load.  Haven't loaded the 250 grain and will have to check the energy tables to actually determine which caliber/load is my "most powerful".  But with a .50 and a .45 flintlock both of known deer capabilities with prb, I'm all set.  The .62 smoothbore has earned its keep as well.

 

[Buck Conner1]

.
Between my (3) large Ruger Collections and my father's collections of original antiques we had over 400 firearms from the 1600's to 2000.  Living in norhtern Colorado I had to clean a gun a day - 7 days a week. After a dozen years my hands started having issues with the cleaning fluids eating my nails. I started selling off guns that I had no interest in finally getting down to late 1700's to early 1800's for a collection and several GRRW muzzleloading guns for shooters. Sold most everything for some real good money. Within 10 years spent most of the funds collected on who know's what and now wish like you guys I had all the guns back. Hindsight is wonderful .... 

 

[Okie Hog]

Idaholewis, that's some great shooting with the .300 Win Mag. The .300 WM is a good "reach and touch something" rifle.

i own two .300 WM rifles; a Ruger model 77 and a Mathieu. Mathieu made the left handed Weatherby rifles before the MK V came out. Recoil can be heavy with hot 180 grain handloads. At my age i don't need a detached retina.

i sometimes use the .300 WM and 150 grain bullets for popping hogs from stands at wheat fields.

 

[Buck Conner1]

i own two .300 WM rifles; a Ruger model 77 and a Mathieu.   Mathieu made  the left handed Weatherby rifles  before the MK  V came out.   Recoil  can be heavy with hot 180 grain handloads.   At my age i don't need a detached retina.  

When still employed at Cabela's in the Gun Library we had a customer from CA that had me watching for any Weatherby rifle (left handed) for him. In 5 years I found him 24 guns which he purchased and since then he has purchased that many more from what I am told. We figured he owns probably one of the larger Weatherby (left hand) collections around with well over 250 guns purchased from us and other stores.

The owner "Willy" was asked "how do does your wife deal with your habit of Weatherbys"?  He laughed and said "When a gun comes in I take an empty padded rifle case to the car, (which I make sure she see's it), when asked what I'm doing I tell her I need to sight-in the rifle. Then I go to the local gun shop where you guy's sent the newest Weatherby, pick it up and go home, coast is clear".

That's a great way to get new toys in the house without catching baloney for weeks.

He has (5) of Cabela's largest gun safes of which one is his wife's for her treasures, like her diamond rings, etc. She only has access to her safe, none of Willy's.