SHORT BLASTS
Taking Stock
In Your Rifle
The .300 Win Mag’s versatility makes it
one of the most popular magnums in the
hunting world.
There are four choices when it comes
to choosing a stock for your rifle.
Choose wisely.
1. Wood
Most are made from walnut and
when properly sealed and cured
they are strong as a brick shit-
house. And much more aesthet-
ically appealing. The drawback is
they’re heavy.
.300 Win Mag
Popular For A Reason
I
t just might be the most popular mag-
num in the world. Its recoil is man-
ageable, velocity is above par, and the
results of a well-placed bullet speak for
themselves. Situated right in between the
classic .30-06 and the overpowering .300
Remington Ultra Mag, the .300 Winchester
Magnum is an absolute necessity if you are
a western big game hunter. It’s also one of
the most common, easy to find, versatile
rounds that any hunter can carry. All joking
aside, you could probably walk into a gas
station in Idaho and buy a box of .300 Win
Mag ammo and have it shoot out of your ri-
fle with surprisingly good accuracy.
The .300 Win Mag can handle a mul-
titude of projectiles ranging all the from
lightweight 125-grain bullets clear up to
heavy, hard hitting 220 grain Partitions. One
of the most popular, and my favorite, is the
180 grains weight class. My bullet of choice
is the Nosler AccuBond.
I load my Browning X-bolt .300 Win Mag
with a moderately stout load of 7828SSC
and a 180 grain AccuBond. As long as I do
my part as the shooter, this load shoots
sub MOA leaving me with nothing but
confidence from ranges of zero out to 500
yards. With my muzzle velocity just shy of
22
WESTERN HUNTING JOURNAL
3,000 fps, I sight this riffle in 3.3 inches high
at 100, giving me a zeroed at riffle at 300
yards. With a standard duplex on my rifle
scope, I can deliver a 180 grain AccuBond
into the boiler room out to about 500 yards
under most conditions. At 300 yards I hold
exactly where I want to hit and squeeze. At
400 yards, I hold right on the crease of the
animal’s back. This allows my bullet to drop
right into the indented target. At 500 yards,
I put the heavy part of the duplex reticle
right where I want to hit.
Driving a heavy bullet, the .300 Win Mag
is ideally suited for elk-sized game, but can
certainly be effective on moose and bear
and is without a doubt enough gun for deer
and antelope. Though some may call it
overkill for deer and antelope, a well-placed
shot from a .300 Win Mag would without a
doubt yield in a notched tag on either spe-
cies.
There will always be a special place in
my heart for a trusty .30-06, and maybe one
day I’ll join the cult like following that the
.300 Rem Ultra Mag has, but for now I’ll
keep my .300 Win Mag. It’s a reliably steady
workhorse of a caliber that every western
big game hunter should have in his or her
arsenal. ZACH MANSFIELD
2. Laminated Wood
Laminated wood when properly
sealed is a great alternative to
a walnut stock. Not nearly as
attractive though. Tends to be
heavy, but sturdy and reliable.
A nice middle ground for price
shoppers.
3. Composite
Most modern-day composite
stocks are made of reinforced
fiberglass and graphite, or
Kevlar. Also referred to as
synthetic stocks, they are ex-
tremely light, solidly built but
tend to be more expensive.
4. Fiberglass
Light, strong and stable, but
unattractive. Think plastic.
And they have a reputation
for degrading under ultravi-
olet rays and humidity.
A wood stock made from
walnut on Nosler’s Model 48
Heritage.