300 PRC vs 300 Win Magazine

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If you wish to ignite a spirited dialog, ask hunters and shooters for his or her tackle the 300 PRC vs 300 Win Magazine. You’ll shortly encounter opinions tougher than granite bedrock and as tough to navigate and unpack. Stage-headed evaluation is briefly provide when evaluating the deserves and disadvantages of those .30-caliber magnums.

By no means thoughts which is “higher” — this isn’t a clickbait article, and such a conclusion could be silly. Each are glorious, neither is ideal, and relying on what you’re aiming for, both or each might be the suitable reply.

We’ll begin with a fast overview of every cartridge, delve a bit into their attention-grabbing (and overlapping) histories, after which discuss their sensible efficiency within the subject, each on sport and in long-range capturing purposes.

300 Win Magazine Specs

• Bullet Diameter: .308 inches
• Total Size: 3.340 inches
• Case Size: 2.620 inches (commonplace lengthy motion)
• Case Head: .532 inches (makes use of commonplace .540 in. magnum bolt face)
• Shoulder Angle: 25 levels
• Twist: 1:10
• Leade: .3150 inches (.007 inches over bullet diameter)
• Muzzle Velocity: 2875 to 3300 fps
• Bullet Weights: 150 to 220 grains
• SAAMI Max Stress: 64,000 psi
• 12 months Launched: 1963
• Mother or father Case: .375 H&H Magnum

300 PRC Specs

• Bullet Diameter: .308 inches
• Total Size: 3.7 inches
• Case Size: 2.580 inches (commonplace lengthy motion)
• Case Head: .532 inches (makes use of commonplace .540 in. magnum bolt face)
• Shoulder Angle: 30 levels
• Twist: 1:8.5
• Leade: .3088 inches (.0008 inches over bullet diameter)
• Muzzle Velocity: 2900 to 3000 fps
• Bullet Weights: 190 to 250 grains
• SAAMI Max Stress: 65,000 psi
• 12 months Launched: 2018
• Mother or father Case: .375 Ruger

300 Win Magazine Historical past

The 300 Win Magazine has been America’s favourite magnum for many years now. It debuted when John F. Kennedy was president and The Seashore Boys’ Surfin’ U.S.A. owned the airwaves, and it didn’t take lengthy for Winchester’s latest belted magnum to catch on.

Like the opposite magnums in Winchester’s catalog— the 264 Win Magazine, 338 Win Magazine and 458 Win Magazine had been all launched in 1958 — it was based mostly on the immortal 375 H&H Magnum and employed the identical raised belt for headspacing.

It landed in a ballistic candy spot, providing extra oomph than the .30/06 whereas not being as punishing to shoot as Roy Weatherby’s 300 Weatherby Magnum. It might feed from a standard-length motion and was first chambered in Winchester’s Mannequin 70.

As extra sportsmen within the post-war growth had been in a position to head West and journey internationally to hunt, they gravitated to this spherical when elk, moose, and bear had been within the offing.

With the bullets of the time — and lengthy earlier than the appearance of laser rangefinders—the 300 Win Magazine supplied a beneficiant point-blank zero and terrific terminal ballistics that cemented its fame amongst massive sport hunters.

The army ultimately took a shine to the 300 Win Magazine as properly. I am going into element on its adoption as a sniper spherical on this story on the finest long-range calibers, however it’s price noting how the cartridge managed to evolve and stay related even because the army developed extra stringent necessities for long-range efficiency.

After a pair missteps within the late Nineteen Eighties and early Nineties when the precise bullets used both didn’t adjust to the foundations of battle or failed to fulfill the army’s requirements, the 300 Win Magazine hit its stride.

The profitable ammunition, designated A191 (Mk 248 Mod 0) used a 190-grain Sierra Matchking bullet and was thought-about efficient to 1,200 yards, although within the subject it was correct properly past that.

One cause for the spherical’s accuracy at prolonged distances (Navy SEAL sniper Chris Kyle used the spherical to kill an enemy combatant in Afghanistan at 1,600 yards) had been modifications to the reamers used to chamber rifles.

As initially designed in 1963, the 300 Win Magazine headspaces off the belt and has a major quantity of slop on the shoulder, neither of which is conducive to good accuracy. To beat this design limitation, reamers had been modified to tighten up the chamber, headspace the cartridge off the shoulder slightly than the belt, and lengthen the throat in order that heavier bullets might be used.

Throughout the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq the army wished a spherical that might be shot precisely at even higher distances, setting the edge at 1,500 meters. Different cartridges had been thought-about throughout this course of, however the 300 Win Magazine as soon as once more acquired the nod, due to Jeff Hoffman at Black Hills Ammunition who loaded it with 220-grain projectiles at 2800 fps.

This spherical produced much less recoil than a 338 Lapua Magnum (which was additionally within the operating), had downrange efficiency that was almost equal, and was way more cost-effective.

The 300 Win Magazine with this spherical was formally adopted in 2010 and has remained in service since.

300 PRC Historical past

There are two methods to take a look at the historical past of the 300 Win Magazine over the past 30 years. Both it’s the final survivor, repeatedly besting different potential rivals. Or the design flaws inherent to the cartridge had been patched up in a band-aid like vogue to maintain it slogging alongside, regardless of demonstrably higher choices. There’s fact to each assertions.

The 300 PRC is probably the most direct challenger to the 300 Win Magazine’s dominance. Whereas there are different potent .30-caliber magnums of latest classic — the 300 Norma Magnum, 300 Remington Extremely Magnum, and 30 Nosler — from the standpoint of design and efficiency a robust argument will be made that the 300 PRC leads the pack.

The 300 PRC relies off the 375 Ruger — a criminally underrated cartridge in my view — and was initially generally known as the 30-375 Ruger. Joe Thielen, an engineer at Hornady, drew up the preliminary design and used it for 1,000-yard benchrest capturing.

I used to be an early adopter, too, and have a heavy-barreled bolt motion from the previous Montana Rifle Firm (when it was nonetheless based mostly in Montana) in 30-375 Ruger that I shot prairie canines with at excessive distances. In actual fact, the primary brass I had lacked any sort of headstamp, and I reloaded it with dies marked “300 HSM,” which I assume stood for Hornady Tremendous Magnum.

The 300 PRC was formally accepted by SAMMI in June 2018. One factor that prompted Hornady to commercialize the wildcat was the necessity for a greater sniper spherical for the army.

In 2009, the U.S. Particular Operations Command (SOCOM) turned to the gun business to develop a multi-caliber sniper rifle system with some demanding (to the purpose of being unrealistic) accuracy specs.

Hornady introduced the 300 PRC as the perfect .30-caliber magnum, although finally the Military chosen the 300 Norma Magnum, together with the 338 Lapua Magnum and 308 Win, for the challenge.

Although the Military handed on the 300 PRC, just some years later the Navy’s Particular Warfare fighters gave it the nod. They had been searching for a spherical that had a 50 % hit chance on a man-sized goal at 2,000 yards and after testing picked the 300 PRC in favor of the 300 Norma Magnum and others.

Design Behind the 300 PRC

The 300 PRC embodies all the perfect practices that ballistics engineers use to get peak efficiency from immediately’s most correct cartridges. The rules they make use of fall underneath the umbrella of Trendy Cartridge Design.

Broadly talking, the objective of Trendy Cartridge Design is to shoot heavy-for-caliber bullets with excessive BCs from cartridges and chambers with tight tolerances that promote accuracy. Options that outline MCD rounds embrace:

• Quicker twist charges to stabilize excessive BC match bullets
• Brass with steep shoulders and minimal case taper for higher inherent accuracy
• Chambers with tight throats barely bigger than the bullet diameter
• Sufficient neck size to correctly assist the bullets
• The power to run lengthy bullets with out having the bottom of the bullet protrude into the powder chamber

Specs Evaluating 300 PRC vs 300 Win Magazine

This chart offers a really feel for the totally different design philosophies behind the 300 Win Magazine, which was constructed to drive lighter bullets as quick as doable, and the 300 PRC. It additionally exhibits the totally different expectations when it comes to specs and tolerances.

One factor that jumps out when evaluating the cartridges side-by-side is that though the 300 PRC is longer than the 300 Win Magazine the shoulder on the 300 PRC is positioned a lot nearer to the case head. That is so the 300 PRC can run bullets as giant because the 250-grain A-Tip in an environment friendly method. When loading these lengthy bullets (220 grains and up) within the 300 Win Magazine a considerable portion of the bullet extends under the juncture of the case neck and shoulder which isn’t nice for accuracy.

When that happens, the bullet eats into the cartridge’s powder capability, lowering muzzle velocity whereas boosting strain. Worse, the bottom of the bullet will be pushed to the facet (and even bent) when the cartridge ignites, inflicting the bullet to enter the rifling at an angle. Within the case of the 300 Win Magazine the issue is exacerbated due to the quantity of slop within the throat—.007 inches versus the cosy .0008 inches within the 300 PRC.

In mathematical phrases, the throat on the 300 PRC is 159 % tighter than the 300 Win Magazine whereas the allowable slop tolerance on the shoulder is 104 % tighter.

All it is a results of the intentional design of the 300 PRC to create the last word .30-caliber magnum for excessive long-range capturing. The 300 Win Magazine was born of one other period, the place the objective was to drive the everyday bullets of the time (180 grains and fewer) as quick as doable to attain a flat trajectory.

300 PRC vs 300 Win Magazine trajectory

The information on this desk is from rifles I’ve shot. With the 300 PRC, a number of the information comes from my Accuracy Worldwide AXSR with a 30-inch barrel that I favor in ELR competitors. Granted, that provides it an edge over the 26-inch barrels used within the 300 Win Magazine information. Although there may be additionally 26-inch barrel information for the 300 PRC, to supply some apples-to-apples numbers.

The purpose right here isn’t a lot how the 300 Win Magazine struggles at excessive distances in comparison with the 300 PRC — although that’s the case, which explains army snipers are shifting away from the 300 Win Magazine.

A much bigger takeaway is how at 400 yards and even 800 yards, the cartridges are pretty related, even when utilizing radically totally different bullets. Because of this for searching at any cheap distance, there’s no must really feel handicapped by the 300 Win Magazine. The spherical’s many many years of success on massive sport is testomony to that, however these numbers assist the conclusion.

Nonetheless, if hitting targets at excessive ranges is your objective, the 300 PRC outclasses the 300 Win Magazine. Not solely is the trajectory and wind drift extra favorable, however the inherent accuracy of the 300 PRC in comparison with the 300 Win Magazine is decisive.

300 PRC vs 300 Win Magazine In The Subject

I’ve hunted with each rounds through the years, and even took animals with considered one of every this final fall. I killed a 6×6 bull elk in Colorado with a 300 Win Magazine capturing a 178-grain ELD-X bullet at 3012 fps. The rifle I used was fairly correct with that Hornady ammunition and a single shot at simply over 600 yards downed the bull.

The ELD-X bullet carried out simply as designed, retaining 75 % of its weight whereas forming an ideal mushroom that I recovered underneath the cover on the off facet of the elk.

Within the 300 PRC, I shot Barnes’ 208-grain LRX bullet within the new Browning X-Bolt 2. It additionally did its job on the mule deer I killed at 400 yards.

From the standpoint of searching at these distances I don’t suppose there’s a significant distinction between the rounds.

On the competitors facet, it’s a special story. I choose to roll with the 300 PRC in ELR matches, leveraging that spherical for all it’s price. The Nightforce ELR Metal Problem is without doubt one of the most demanding long-range capturing occasions on the market, and the 300 PRC actually shines underneath these circumstances.

I delve into the weeds about my preparation for that match on this story, however the headline is that after a number of load improvement I used to be in a position to craft ammunition that shot within the .5s (simply over ½ MOA) with SDs round 9 to 10 fps, which served me properly. That was with Hornady 230-grain A-Ideas over 77.5 grains of H1000 with ADG brass and Federal 210M primers. That combo drove these bullets at 2940 fps, which was my goal muzzle velocity. (It is without doubt one of the hundreds listed within the trajectory chart above.)

Whereas the 300 Win Magazine has been utilized in competitors — it was a preferred 1,000-yard spherical again within the Nineteen Sixties up by 2000 — it isn’t a go-to spherical for a lot of long-range rivals, although you’ll nonetheless see it on the firing line (in extremely modified chambers) even immediately. 

Handloading the 300 PRC vs 300 Win Magazine

For shooters who wish to handload, the 300 PRC has an edge over the 300 Win Magazine. As anybody who has handloaded belted magnum cartridges is aware of, that belt creates a pair points. One is that it may be harder to correctly measurement all the case and, secondly, you get fewer firings from brass with belts earlier than they fail. The 300 PRC is extra forgiving that manner.

After I develop hundreds for competitors or searching I exploit Hornady’s 4DOF app, in addition to Utilized Ballistics. (I just like the redundancy.) One small benefit the 300 PRC has right here is that Hornady has extra radar-generated drag profiles of their finest match bullets of their 4DOF app. A few of these bullets will be shot within the 300 Win Magazine, however probably the most attention-grabbing bullets—the 225-grain ELD-M, 230-grain A-Tip, and 250-grain A-Tip—are actually solely suited to the 300 PRC.

300 Win Magazine Execs and Cons

Execs

• Confirmed monitor document on massive sport world wide
• Wonderful choice of manufacturing facility ammunition and bullet weights
• Usually correct at long-range searching distances

Cons

• Not in a position to make the most of immediately’s finest bullets with out modifications to chamber and twist charge
• Not as succesful at excessive ranges because the 300 PRC

300 PRC Execs and Cons

Execs

• Designed to ship most accuracy for excessive long-range capturing
• Optimized to work with the perfect long-range bullets
• Extraordinarily succesful on massive sport

Cons

• Choice and availability of manufacturing facility ammunition is comparatively restricted in comparison with 300 Win Magazine

Steadily Requested Questions

Closing Ideas on the 300 PRC vs 300 Win Magazine

For the devoted big-game hunter who isn’t into long-range capturing, I’d have a tough time arguing in opposition to the 300 Win Magazine. It’s a nice spherical with an incredible heritage. And should you’re the sort of shooter who’s keen to make some modifications to your rifle, you will get a customized chamber and twist charge that makes up for most of the shortcomings within the 300 Win Magazine’s old-school design.

From the technical standpoint, the 300 PRC is the superior cartridge for excessive long-range work, and if you wish to rock the most recent and best it’s the technique to go. It has a greater choice of match bullets for ELR capturing and brings extra to the social gathering for the handloader.

Finally, there’s no proper or fallacious reply right here. Perhaps it is so simple as previous versus new. For the traditionalist, the 300 Win Magazine continues to be the king of the .30-caliber magnums. For the tech-savvy hunter and shooter, there’s no denying that the 300 PRC, and different cartridges constructed upon the identical design philosophy, is the longer term.  

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