This is about to get fun!

[canny]

My dad has been unhappy with his Remington 700 300 Ultra mag since he took it to a gunsmith and had them add a break and fill the stock. He has been looking at buying a new gun as that's just his thought process.

However, I have convinced him to save his money and we are going to use his 700 action as a donor and build him a one off custom. This is where it gets fun, I get to play and build the rifle I want cause one day I'll have it....lol....those are his words not mine.

Objective: Midweight hunting rifle (want to stay 9 - 9.5 lbs fully rigged) in a big .30 caliber

Caliber options 300 Win Mag, 300 WBY, 30-378 WBY (he really wants one of the WBY calibers). I'm leaning towards the 300 WBY cause I have one already and am set to reload for it. The 30-378 scares me due to barrel life.

Barrel: Carbon Six or Proof Research. With weight a main factor we want something that has a stiff enough barrel to shoot at distance.

Action: Trued 700 LA with factory bottom metal

Trigger: Timney

Stock: McMillian or Manners....we aren't going tactical build as the gun still needs some classic lines.

Scope: He has a Shepherd mounted on the gun right now and we will stick with that scope.

I've listed my wish list, so have fun and tell me what you would build based off what I've listed above.

[MadHatter]

I wouldn't even consider a 30-378 . Just me.
What's he hunting?

[twosixteens]

Just out of curiosity why not 300 Ultra Mag again.

[canny]

Just out of curiosity why not 300 Ultra Mag again.

Cause he is attracted to the Weatherby. It really doesn't matter on the ammo side as we can reload for both calibers. I kinda like the 300 WIN simply due to factory ammo availability and since its the slower of the calibers listed should have a little longer barrel life.

[JakeGraves]

I wouldn't do a 30-378 in a Proof simply because you are spending twice as much on a cartridge that will erode the throat in half the time. If you think in life span per shot, it would be minimal 4x the cost.

[droptine8850]

30 Nosler??

[mrc]

I built a 308 Norma and really liked it, I was getting near 300 WM velocities with my 180 Accubonds. Plus I really liked being able to seat the bullets out further. It was a tack driver and rally easy to shoot.

[RJH1]

If the 30-378 fits the bolt face, do it. Might as well get the baddest there is. If not, then a 300 win mag makes the most reasonable sense, but why be reasonable. But bolt face may be the deciding factor, i dont know what all with work with the RUM bolt face

[sbushee]

Just keep it where it is, have necessary work done on it and save some money.

[Drycreek3189]

Since he's putting a brake on, and filling the stock, it sounds like it kicks too much. Correct me if I'm wrong. I don't know what he hunts, but if it's whitetail deer, he's overgunned with any of the cartridges you've mentioned. To each his own.

[softpoint]

I don't think the .30/378 can be made to work with the 700 action. The cartridge head is much larger. And even if the bolt head could be opened up enough, the action rails might have to be altered to make it feed. Me? I'd stick with .300 Winchester Mag. There isn't anything the other big .30's can do that it can't and it will be easier on the barrel. The .300 Weatherby is good, but it's ballistics are based on rifles that have much longer throats (Weatherby SAMMI chamber specs), and the longer throats don't typically do anything for accuracy.

[trophy8]

Since he's putting a brake on, and filling the stock, it sounds like it kicks too much. Correct me if I'm wrong. I don't know what he hunts, but if it's whitetail deer, he's overgunned with any of the cartridges you've mentioned. To each his own.

Dead is dead

[sendit]

.30 cals mags are some of my favorites. I have most of the popular ones. Powder capacity/velocity have diminishing returns the bigger you go. There is a 50bmg on the far left for comparison. 300 Kong through the 300 WSM. The decision is yours. All of them are not needed for the average shot on a deer in Texas but I think I have the bases covered.

[sir shovelhands]

The 30-378 should scare you because load development is going to abuse your shoulder in a 9 lb rifle.

[Drycreek3189]

Dead is dead

Yep. Deer and shoulder both sounds like......