300wm, 7mag or 30-06?

[LHPanther]

Yes, I know, another caliber question. Please read before you chime in. A friend and I are having full custom rifles made by a maker in the gun guild. Is this a once in a lifetime build? No, probably not, but likely won’t own a pile of guns like this so caliber selection is a little more important on this build.
So the question is: do I go with the do all 300wm which is capable of taking all the animals in North America and most of the African game? I consider the .300wm to be over gunned for Texas whitetails (which is what I almost exclusively hunt at this point in my life). Or, should I go with a caliber that’s a little more pleasing to shoot and better suited for whitetails and hogs yet enough gun for larger game?

I’d love for this gun to be “the gun” that I always want to grab for my hunts.

[Aggiehunter08]

300 wm for versatility. No such thing as “over gunned” IMO. That’s how mistakes happen. However, if you’ll only hunt whitetails the rest of your life 30-06 or 7mag. Being honest with yourself answers most peoples questions.

[tward1604]

I'd go 30-06. Loaded right it is plenty effective on anything you'll hunt with it. Anything that you'd want something bigger to hunt with you'll step up to the 375 or above anyway.

Who are you having build your rifle? I've been an associate member of the guild for a decade all of those folks are amazing at what they do.

[sotx]

300 WinMag for the win. You wont regret it.

[LHPanther]

I'd go 30-06. Loaded right it is plenty effective on anything you'll hunt with it. Anything that you'd want something bigger to hunt with you'll step up to the 375 or above anyway.

Who are you having build your rifle? I've been an associate member of the guild for a decade all of those folks are amazing at what they do.

Jeff Tapp

[AndyMane]

300 WM. Hard to beat IMO. However every one of the calibers you listed are more than capable.

[Phillip Fields]

Either of the three would be a good choice. My favorite is the .300WM, it has been my go-to choice since I bought mine in 1977.

[geezer56]

I would go with the 7 mag. About the same recoil as the 06, better trajectory, and trust me, way less recoil than the 300 mag.

[westtexducks]

What style of gun are you building? Lightweight mountain rifle, decently heavy blind gun, or big heavy long range precision rig?

Do you reload is another big thing.

Assuming you reload this is what I would do for each of the 3 styles.

Lightweight mountain build I would run either a .30-06 or 7mm mag but would lean more towards the 7mm mag. Can load down either one for Texas whitetails. Run 150s in the .30-06 in a mild load, or a 160 class in the 7mm mag loaded mild will both have comparable recoil. With a 160 class 7mm bullet will be plenty enough up to elk sized critters and can easily bump up to a good bonded 175 class if going to Alaska for bear or moose. Will get a little better penetration from the 7mm mag since it has better sectional densities.

A blind gun purely for Texas hunting nice wood stock etc... Would probably run a .30-06, makes for a great classic rifle. Recoil wont be terrible and will kill anything and everything and if need to shoot something big later can still shoot a 180 gr pill and be fine.

Long range precision rifle that is going to be heavy I would lean more towards the .300 win mag. Recoil will be mitigated by the weight, and the big magnum shooting heavy stuff is a hoot to shoot at distance. Plus will be a hammer on animals. But not worth the recoil to me for a go to hunting rifle.

[FUB]

300 WM. Put a muzzle brake or shoot with a suppressor to take the recoil down to almost nothing. IMO.

[Daddy D]

Seeing as I'm the "other guy" in this build... I think I vote for the 30-06

I think Tward is right when he says that anything "big" that we would be hunting, we would be stepping up to an Africa type caliber anyways. So 300WM might not be doing us any favors when we are primarily hunting in Texas.

[xman59]

30-06,,, ammo options are better, reduced loads are available, if you hand load you can resize 280 rem 25-06 or 270 win brass to work or if you have one of those you can resize the 06 brass to work,,,,, it will reach farther out than the typical hunter can shoot well,, bullet weights from 100 gr up to at least 220 gr.

if and when ammo production ever stabilizes 30-06 is still the easiest of the 3 to find,,,

if you do reload and decide you want more you can have a little free bore cut into the chamber and push very close to 300 win mag velocity with the same weight bullets

[LHPanther]

What style of gun are you building? Lightweight mountain rifle, decently heavy blind gun, or big heavy long range precision rig?

Do you reload is another big thing.

Assuming you reload this is what I would do for each of the 3 styles.

Lightweight mountain build I would run either a .30-06 or 7mm mag but would lean more towards the 7mm mag. Can load down either one for Texas whitetails. Run 150s in the .30-06 in a mild load, or a 160 class in the 7mm mag loaded mild will both have comparable recoil. With a 160 class 7mm bullet will be plenty enough up to elk sized critters and can easily bump up to a good bonded 175 class if going to Alaska for bear or moose. Will get a little better penetration from the 7mm mag since it has better sectional densities.

A blind gun purely for Texas hunting nice wood stock etc... Would probably run a .30-06, makes for a great classic rifle. Recoil wont be terrible and will kill anything and everything and if need to shoot something big later can still shoot a 180 gr pill and be fine.

Long range precision rifle that is going to be heavy I would lean more towards the .300 win mag. Recoil will be mitigated by the weight, and the big magnum shooting heavy stuff is a hoot to shoot at distance. Plus will be a hammer on animals. But not worth the recoil to me for a go to hunting rifle.

This is where my head is at right now. This gun won’t be a specific “light weight” build, nor will it be a specific “long range” rig. Right down the middle weight wise. The 7mag is a lot more enjoyable to shoot vs the 300wm and the 30-06 is one of the most versatile rounds to load for.....

[RifleBowPistol]

If you don't plan on hunting a elk, grizzlies or moose somewhat regularly, I would go with the 7mm Rem. Mag. Truly any of the three can be used on all large North American big game. The 30-06, might be the most logical. Truly, if you were going after large game, such as moose or grizzlies, a 30-06, with either some 200 gr. to 220 gr. Partitions, would be a good choice. The 06, is truly a very versatile caliber. That caliber makes the most logical sense, but I would still choose a 7mm Rem. Mag. because I have owned many a killed a lot with them. But I would definitely not choose a 7mm Rem. Mag. as a one and only or primary hunting rifle. Because of the damage they can do, even out to pretty long ranges. But when I want to make sure a deer sized animal goes down, with one shot, no matter what the range is. At that point, a 7mm Rem. Mag. is my first choice. I know the 7mm Rem. Mag will kill moose, grizzlies, elk, ECT., but there are definitely better choices, I would say both the 30-06 and the 300 Win. Mag would be better choices, because of the heavier bullets that are available in .308 caliber.

If you were hunting plains game in Africa, any of the three calibers would work, I would be leaning more towards either the 7mm Rem. Mag for hard hitting, flat shoot round, or the 300 Win. Mag for a flatter shooting, harder hitting round. Now days, you have to pick the game animals you are going to shoot, before you go on a trip to Africa, so you know what you are shooting, it's not like years ago, where you went over there and shot whatever you found to shoot, that you wanted to shoot. The point, is you know what the animals on your list, long before you get there. Do your research on them and pick a caliber based off of what you find out about those animals. The two most important things being the size of the animal and the ranges, they are typically taken at.

I could not see me, only having one hunting rifle, too many guns and calibers I like. Typically I find a load I like for a particular gun and usually only load that one load in that gun. But with time, if I discover a new bullet or powder, I will experiment with them, to see how they compare. I started off my 7mm Rem. Mags. with 150 gr. Nosler Solid Base boat tail bullets, then Nosler came up with the Ballistic Tips based off of the Solid Base bullets. I switched to 150 Ballistic Tips. Then eventually tried Reloader 19, picked up noticeable velocity over the powder I had been using and improved accuracy. Then eventually switched to 140 gr. Nosler Ballistic tips. I also tried some other brands of 140 and 145 gr. bullets. But I kept with that range of bullets, I only loaded 140 gr. to 150 gr. bullets for my 7mm Rem. Mags., I shot many thousands of rounds out many 7mm Rem. Mag. rifles over many years. 99% of all of those shots were 140 gr. to 150 gr. bullets. In high school, I did load some 175 gr. bullets for a school project, but that was the one and only time, I ever loaded anything outside my normal bullet weight range. I have done the same with my 22-250s, I have only loaded 55 gr. bullets in that caliber. Then I have only loaded 125 gr. to 130 gr. 30-30 for my Contenders. When I want a caliber or gun for a different hunting situation, I usually buy a gun in a different caliber. I know there is a much wider range of bullet weights that can be used in any given gun, but I have never been big on loading bullets of greatly varying weights for the same caliber. I do plan to do so, with both my 445 Super Mag. and my 458 SOCOM. In the smaller bore stuff, I pick a bullet range, I think is optimum for that particular caliber and stick with that bullet weight range.

The 30-06, is a caliber that many, many people over the years, have used 150 gr. up to 200 gr. out of the same gun, for many years and been very successful doing so. I guess the reason I don't, is having to resight in the gun for each different bullet. But if you like using a wide range of bullet weights and styles out of one, gun, the 30-06, is a good choice of caliber.

[Lone_Wolf]

I'm partial to the 7 Rem Mag. but it's really a toss up between the 7 & 300. Skip the 30-06. You're not over gunned for whitetail, just keep it behind the shoulder. If you like high shoulder shots, or shooting them through the shoulders, you can waste a lot of meat. It's all about shot placement. If you have a sharp shooter, you can shoot'em in the neck. I think the flatter trajectory of the magnums gives them the upper edge, less margin for error on longer shots, unless you like to study ballistic charts and dial in a scope and all that jazz.