Thinking about condensing the gun selection!!

[Thebear_78]

I was looking into the gun safe the other day and was thinking I could probably condense my rifle selection down. I currently have a lightweight 375 H&H, 9.3x62 scout, and marlin guide gun that retain a fixed position in my gunsafe. The expendables are a browning 338 RUM, a mauser 98 30'06, a bushmaster AR15, and Rem 600 in 222. I figured the 222 will do anything I might ever need the AR for so I will probably keep it. I always liked those dog leg bolts on the 600 anyway.

My plan was to replace the 338 RUM and the 30/06 with a Kimber montana in 300 WSM and top it with a 2.5-8 VXIII. The RUM had been my long range rifle and while very accurate and easy to shoot at long range it is rather hard to feed now that I don't have a place to reload at my house. The sporterized 98 was my hiking rifle for sheep,goats, and blacktails because it weights just at 7lbs with a 2-7 leupold.

My question is do you guys think this is too much of a compramize to try to fill both niches with the same rifle. Does the 300 WSM carry enough muscle for shots out to 400+ yards on big game up to moose but mainly carabou. Is the lightweight kimber going to be accurate enough for this kind of range. I know it will work great for long treks and steep hikes due to its low weight.

I figured the 300 wsm was the most versatile and would do 99% of what any of the others would do. I'm not sold on the 325 WSM yet, it will take a while before I consider it, have to see how well it does.

Any info or experiences with the kimber montana and or the 300 wsm?

 

[Duster]

Remington 600

Remington 600

I have a couple holes in my Remington 600 Collection if you consider selling the .222 I would be very interested. The Kimber Montanas are first rate shooters in my opinion, you won't go wrong there. I am currently waiting on a .325 Kimber to arrive I purchased from GunBrokers. Good Luck

 

[Matt]

What's the make and model of that lightweight 375 H&H that you have? I'm in the market for one.

 

[Thebear_78]

My lightweight 375 is on a wincheser stainless classic. Bobbed the barrel to 20" and had a complete lightweight done with ultra light kevlar stock. Had all the work done at extreme rifle works in palmer. Turned out 6lbs 4oz naked and just over 7lbs with leupold 1.5-5 illuminated. This one isn't going to be sold.

 

[reuben_j_cogburn]

Palmer Smith

Palmer Smith

Does "extreme rifle works" do everyday stuff as well? I will be needing a "go to" smith (like a good vet you know)...... and prefer to work with just one....

I'm also thinning the herd in order to fund more appropriate arms..... never thought the day would come...... sigh......


reuben....

 

[Matt]

My lightweight 375 is on a wincheser stainless classic. Bobbed the barrel to 20" and had a complete lightweight done with ultra light kevlar stock. Had all the work done at extreme rifle works in palmer. Turned out 6lbs 4oz naked and just over 7lbs with leupold 1.5-5 illuminated. This one isn't going to be sold.

I sent you a pm.

 

[elmerkeithclone]

I am also planning on thinning the herd shortly. I am looking to retire next year after 30 years in the comunications industry. I will be 49 years old and will become my own boss, calling my own shots.....will go hunting when ever I dern well please! For once I will schedule my work around my hunting!

I will never get the herd dwindled down to 4 rifles but I will soon have what I concider my favorite 4 rifle battery ( centerfire that is). It will consist of a Ruger 77 (tang safety) 223, Ruger 77mkII 270 win. ultra light all weather, another old tang safety 77 in 338 win mag and my most recent project which is on its way home from Kimber( man that was fast....what service!!)which is....you guessed it a Ruger 77 in 458 win mag with 20 in barrel 1-18 twist. Its also the all weather version.

In my opinion you could substitute each and every gun in my battery with a different caliber of the same class thus coming up with 4 different rifles than mine and still have a perfect 4 gun battery. The options and opinions are endless.

If I were to have only one gun it would be a 30-06 in Ruger all weather. Feed it the right ammo and it will kill anything on this continent. In reply to the author of this threads question. What ever the 30-06 will do the 300 WSM will do a little better. The 300WSM would be a great compliment to your 375HH.

 

[Thebear_78]

Thinning the the herd

Thinning the the herd

I ran across a winchester classic stainless 300 win mag today at a local gun shop. It came with a 3-9x40 Burris Fullfield scope and was equiped with the boss. Walked away with everything for just over 7 bills. It was in pretty decent shape, no rust and the bore looked nice and clean. I picked up some 180gr federal classics to try it out with. 100 yard groups were hovering around the 1.25 range. It needs two things, a better synthetic stock, and a better scope. THe burris was pretty clear and seemed to hold zero ok, but the clicks were anything but consistant or repeatable. I'll probalby put the 3-12 black daimond on it or possibly a leupold VxII on it.

In the end the classic 300 win mag won out because its what all my buddies use and we can swap ammo.
Thanks for all the opinions.

 

[Thebear_78]

Here is a pic

 

[Matt]

You going to keep that boss on it or cut it off?

 

[Thebear_78]

I'm going to keep it, I already got the boss CR piece for it so it won't be ported. I have a boss on a .243 and it actually does work to tune a load to your rifle. Now I just have to find the recomended "sweet spots" for the winchester.

 

[Matt]

Do you remember the name and make of the stock that is on your 375 H&H? I want to get the same one for mine. Did Extreme Gun Works hook you up with that?

 

[Thebear_78]

They specialize in stock work matt

 

[lester]

I'...Now I just have to find the recomended "sweet spots" for the winchester.

Bear_78,

If you really want to find the "sweet spot" for your new rifle, don't bother too much shooting out your new barrel to find the "perfect" load just yet. In all seriousness, you need to look at a different scope mount system. The "std" series of scope mount and rings that ALL the scopemakers mfr is junk. If you are sold on the dovetail design, at least go to Dual Dovetail mounts.

The weakness of the std setup is the rear pillar not being anchored and that it is adjustable for windage.

I would move to a heavy Weaver style or Picatinny slot base. Be sure you are getting steel, not aluminum. The Badger Ordnance scope rings are the finest I have ever owned or seen. They simply hold like iron and are rugged. Leupold also make a Weaver knock-off ring and a QRW and PRW Weaver slotted ring. I would avoid the QRW (quick release). I had one of the QRW's break on me. The lever failed.

I would also invest in an inch-pound torque wrench and get religous about setting stock torsion screws and all tighteners on your scope system with it. Also, a scope collimator enables you to tighten your scope and maintain your full range of reticle adjustment, ie; it's easy to see when you've overtorqued one screw on a ring because it moves the crosshair on the collimator grid.

You might also want to have your trigger adjusted.

If you intend to shoot fullpower loads in your new 300 winmag, I would look first to the hardware. A 300 magnum will errode its chamber in about 1000 firings. It would be tough to finally find that "perfect load" and then have to rebarrel and start all over.

A new scope mount system might be all you need to get your rifle grouping sub-moa. You could even bed the cheap plastic stock yourself and for a few bucks see some stellar results.

If you have a set of reloading dies and a kinnetic bullet puller, you might try moving the bullet further out the neck on factory ammo and see if that helps your groups. You likely have some room to spare in your magazine for longer OAL cartridges. You might seat your bullet just off the lands a few thousandths as a starting point.

Just thinking out loud here. Nice new rifle! Best of luck.

 

[Thebear_78]

winchester

winchester

I don't know if I will invest in a better stock like the a mcmillan or have one done by the guys who did my lightwieght 375 but until then I dropped it into a hogue overmolded stock. It is a little heavier but has a much better feel than the winchester stock and is pillar bedded. It needed some work in the forend to stiffen it up a little but some epoxy and piece of aluminum stiffened that right up. I put a leupold VXII 3-9x40 with the new long range reticle on it.

I called winchester and got a list of the recomended "sweet spots" for the 300 win mag w/boss. There is quite a difference between bullet weight and boss settings.

After setting it to the "sweet spot". I shot it with 180gr accubond, 180gr classic federal , and 180gr Fusion ammo. THe accubonds nad fusion shot to the same point of impact with very similar groups, right around 1-1 1/4 groups. The Classics printed right at 1.5 or so and shot a little left and low. After a little tuning I got the accubonds shooting 3/4-1" groups consistantly while the fusion opened up just a little bit to 1 1/4-1 1/2. I figure I'll leave it be for now. This is pretty acceptable big game performance.

 

[Matt]

How do you like that Leupold 1.5-5 illuminated scope on your 375 H&H? And what distance did you sight your rifle in at with that scope? 50 yards?

 

[bearheart]

I ran across a winchester classic stainless 300 win mag today at a local gun shop. It came with a 3-9x40 Burris Fullfield scope and was equiped with the boss. Walked away with everything for just over 7 bills. It was in pretty decent shape, no rust and the bore looked nice and clean. I picked up some 180gr federal classics to try it out with. 100 yard groups were hovering around the 1.25 range. It needs two things, a better synthetic stock, and a better scope. THe burris was pretty clear and seemed to hold zero ok, but the clicks were anything but consistant or repeatable. I'll probalby put the 3-12 black daimond on it or possibly a leupold VxII on it.

In the end the classic 300 win mag won out because its what all my buddies use and we can swap ammo.
Thanks for all the opinions.

I have same rifle in 338Mag. Stock feels and looks likeyou know what,BUT...the rifle shoots great 1" to 1.5" with all factory stuff, Remington CoreLokt frequently does into 3 and 4 shot cloverleaf. Was thinking about a new stock but can't see the logic of changing what works?Your thoughts on the matter.

 

[Thebear_78]

I am extremely impressed with this scope. I have it sighted 2.5" high at 100 yards right now. That puts it dead on at about 225 yards and just 7" low at 300. At 5x it is plenty precise for shots out past 300 yards. I don't think I could have come up with a better scope for this rifle, light, compact, super clear, durable, and quick target aquisition while still being precise for longer shots. The flip up peep is zeroed for 100 yards.

As to stocks, I will be getting a better stock for this rifle one of these days. The cheap plastic stocks just aren't very durable and will all the falling I have been known to do wouldn't last a year. I used a hogue overmolded stock for a while this year but it just added to much weight, was extremely durable though, survived a tumble down a mountain that would have broken most stocks. Maybe with my tax return this year I'll get it done in a nice kevlar stock like most of my other rifles.

 

[Matt]

Have you thought about getting a McMillan stock? I got one on the way for my new 375 H&H.

 

[Float Pilot]

shootin irons

shootin irons

I wonder if your M-98 -06' would make a good rebarrel project to a 35 Whelen???

I agree about the Houge rubberized stocks. I put one on a M-70 Win 30-06 and it really took a beating with no ill effects. Plus they are very easy to hang onto when your'e all wet and cold......
The only other stock I liked more was an old MPI fiberglass stock on a M-70, 358 Norma Mag that I had built by Duncan Hunter back when he used to live near Palmer (20 years ago). He covered it with the same texture stuff they use in lining car trunks.



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