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07-28-2006, 10:09 PM
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They pretty well do what Winchester says they will. They are a step up from the 30-06 but in reality fall a bit short of the 300 Win Mag in performance. I have been loading for mine now for a couple of months and have to say I am quite impressed. A 168 grain bullet speeds along at ~ 3150 fps - about 200 - 250 fps faster than an '06 - while a 180 easily does 2950-3000 fps, again a 250 fps advantage over maximum handloads for the 30-06. The thing is that it is not the speed that is important but rather the package the cartridge comes wrapped in. The Short Mags ONLY advantage over the "standard" magnums - and the 30-06 for that matter - is that they can be bought in fairly light - short action rifles. Imagine a trim little 308 sized rifle with the reach of a 300 mag. The not-so-good part is that these light rifles bite on both ends. Contrary to advertising hype you can't get something for nothing and magnum velocities produce magnum recoil, especially in a light rifle. Also, due to the fat case, magazine capacity is reduced and instead of the standard 4 or 5 rounds most short mags hold only 2 or 3 cartridges. The much vaunted accuracy is also mostly smoke and mirrors and while I have found them to be accurate in truth they are no more accurate than most rifles built in the last 5 -10 years. (Modern manufacturing methods now allow for rifles with tolerances only previously found on custom guns.) 
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07-28-2006, 11:43 PM
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07-30-2006, 03:29 PM
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I bought a Ruger 77 last year in 300WSM as I was going elk hunting in grizzly country and wanted a quicker 2nd shot than I could get with my Ruger No.1 7mm Mag. To break the gun in I bought a cheap box of Winchester Power Points at Can. Tire and was surprised when I covered the first 5 shots with a quarter at 100yds. This was with about a 15lb. trigger pull!!! Then tried some Federal Premiums at three times the price loaded with Nosler Partitions and was blessed with a shot gun pattern! At this point I decided to buy some dies and reload my own and could only get the Hornady Interbonds to repeat my earlier performance. Dropped an elk virtually in his tracks at 80 yds. - clipped rib going in, through the heart with lung damage as well and left about a 2 '' exit hole.
The fat, short magnum case caused a variety of little,irritating reloading problems such as regular Casegard storage case not fitting, case body too large to use Lee Autoprime, needed to upgrade my neck chamfering tool to fit over the case, powder funnel wouldn't fit down over the case mouth without jamming it over. As Cariboo says this round bites at both ends and is not one I like to put a lot of rounds through. I'm loading it down this year for deer ( 62.0 gr. IMR 4831 with 180 grain Hornady Interbonds) but it still bites! The nice thing is I can load it up again next time I'm in griz country and still have great accuracy, a short bolt throw and a lighter off the shelf rifle than the long case magnums.
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07-30-2006, 04:10 PM
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Ain't that the truth! LoL I had to cut 1/2" off the end of a RCBS funnel to get it to fit over the case mouth. I had to order new MTM cartridge boxes for the short-fat rounds. My Forster bullet puller is usless with the short mags as with it - unlike the RCBS unit - the case body has to go ~1/2" into the body of the puller.   
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07-31-2006, 01:25 PM
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300wsm
I bought a 300WSM in a Model 70 FW last year and found the same results with the less expensive factory rounds as opposed to the premiums... I loaded mine with 180gr Interbonds and IMR 4350 with very good results both at the range and on game... I don't find the recoil all that bad actually...
I like the rifle but just can't help going back to the 30-06WSM.... my .308 
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07-31-2006, 02:15 PM
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While the Winchester M-70 is my favorite rifle of all time I will be the first to admit they are heavy. Even the so-called "Featherweights" are heavier than they had to be.
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08-01-2006, 10:10 PM
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Well i went to Russells in Calgary on monday(3 1/2 hour drive) and bought a winchester mod.70 in the featherweight stainless in the 300 wsm and put a leupold vx-III 3.5-10x40 nice looking rifle and shoots great,and also bought one for my son in a browning A-bolt,but like Cariboo says its got a bite at both ends
Thanks for the info. guys Trapper p.s if you guys read the the big buck mag.you'll see my son in the july issue under the tunnel vison buck on page 70
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08-02-2006, 08:50 AM
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 LoL It does take a bit of the bite out of the A-Bolt.
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08-02-2006, 02:22 PM
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I just bought the Tikka T-3 lite in 300wsm and had a limbsaver pad put on for 50 bucks, we went out shooting and my browning A-bolt 30-06 had more bite than the 300 did. The limbsaver pad is a good investment.
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