Need to rebarrel - which caliber? 300 Win Mag or 300 WSM

[264WinMag]

Hello People,

My 264's barrel is shot out and I need to start looking for a new barrel. he gun smith said he likes the 264 Win Mag but proposed that I get a more mainstream caliber. He proposed the 300 Win Mag or 300 WSM.

I have the 264 Win Mag in a Sako Finnbear therefore the action is fine to take either caliber. I did consider the 7mm Rem Mag seeing that it is also a belted magnum, but I want something with longer legs.

I currently have a 308 Winchester and 303 B. The 308 is currently my only rifle with a scope. The 3038 has a 26 inch barrel and shoots very nice groups.

I do plains hunting and bush hunting. I am a bit of a speed freak when it comes to loading, which explains why the barrel is shot out.

I will appreciate if people can give their two scents which caliber I should opt for. 300 Win Mag, 300 WSM or any other caliber that will work with the magnum action.

[Ds J]

I did consider the 7mm Rem Mag seeing that it is also a belted magnum, but I want something with longer legs.

What do you mean with "longer legs"? Very few of the regular / common rifles shoot as flat as the 7mm Rem Mag.

If you want something faster you would need to go into serious wildcat territory; I am out of my depth but you could look at something like the 7mm WSM.

[driepootx]

The 7mm RM does not do well with Somchem Propellants and is only 100-150fps faster than the 7x64 with S385.

The 300WSM sounds like the bees knees, but cases are expensive and hard to find. It seems as though the oldie 300WM does not do badly against the WSM when using Somchem muti. A 100fps difference and 0,25MOA better accuracy is not going to mean that you are going to miss your target. The Sako action is not modern and the 300WSM has quite a bit more bolt thrust than the 300WM. Speak to the gunsmith and get his opinion.

[klippies]

If I was in your shoes, I would go the 375 H&H route (action dependant), that would complement the other two you already have an widen your spectrum vastly. You can shoot 200gr Impala's or GS Custom bullets fast, or on the flip side you can go heavy and slow for the bush.

I am just not sure if your action would be up to it, i am no metallurgic genius so would not know, however it is just another angle to look at.... My 2c

[264WinMag]

Thank you for the inputs.

The gunsmith indicated that the action will be able to handle the 300WSM.

But I have not thought of the 375 H&H. So I will ask them if it is possible.

[264WinMag]

The 7mm RM does not do well with Somchem Propellants and is only 100-150fps faster than the 7x64 with S385.

The 300WSM sounds like the bees knees, but cases are expensive and hard to find. It seems as though the oldie 300WM does not do badly against the WSM when using Somchem muti. A 100fps difference and 0,25MOA better accuracy is not going to mean that you are going to miss your target. The Sako action is not modern and the 300WSM has quite a bit more bolt thrust than the 300WM. Speak to the gunsmith and get his opinion.

I heard the same thing about the 7Rem Mag and Somchem powders, that's why I was not really considering it. The gunsmith indicated that I can consider the 300wsm for the sako action.

[Peter Brian]

What about the .338 Win Mag for something with heavier bullets? Check what brass is easily available for each calibre considered. I would also try to stick to cartridges using the same base diameter so that the bolt face does not have to be cut.

[obasch]

Have you considered the 6,5-284 Norma?

[264WinMag]

Have you considered the 6,5-284 Norma?

How available is the brass?

[Capt. Oblivious]

No man replace the barrel and keep it 264WM