300 PRC vs 300 Win Mag

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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 rapidly encounter opinions more durable than granite bedrock and as tough to navigate and unpack. Degree-headed evaluation is in brief provide when evaluating the deserves and downsides 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 could possibly be the precise reply.

We’ll begin with a fast overview of every cartridge, delve a bit into their fascinating (and overlapping) histories, after which speak about their sensible efficiency within the area, each on sport and in long-range taking pictures functions.

300 Win Magazine Specs

• Bullet Diameter: .308 inches
• Total Size: 3.340 inches
• Case Size: 2.620 inches (customary lengthy motion)
• Case Head: .532 inches (makes use of customary .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
• Yr Launched: 1963
• Dad or mum Case: .375 H&H Magnum

300 PRC Specs

• Bullet Diameter: .308 inches
• Total Size: 3.7 inches
• Case Size: 2.580 inches (customary lengthy motion)
• Case Head: .532 inches (makes use of customary .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
• Yr Launched: 2018
• Dad or mum 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 have 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 have been in a position to head West and journey internationally to hunt, they gravitated to this spherical when elk, moose, and bear have been within the offing.

With the bullets of the time — and lengthy earlier than the arrival 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 finally took a shine to the 300 Win Magazine as nicely. I am going into element on its adoption as a sniper spherical on this story on the best 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 Nineteen Nineties when the precise bullets used both did not adjust to the principles of conflict or failed to fulfill the army’s requirements, the 300 Win Magazine hit its stride.

The successful 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 area it was correct nicely 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) have 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 have 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 could possibly be used.

In the course of the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq the army wished a spherical that could possibly be shot precisely at even higher distances, setting the edge at 1,500 meters. Different cartridges have been thought-about throughout this course of, however the 300 Win Magazine as soon as once more obtained the nod, because of 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 working), 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 have 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 have been patched up in a band-aid like trend to maintain it slogging alongside, regardless of demonstrably higher choices. There’s fact to each assertions.

The 300 PRC is essentially 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 could be made that the 300 PRC leads the pack.

The 300 PRC is predicated 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 taking pictures.

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 canine with at excessive distances. In truth, 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 authorized 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 trade to develop a multi-caliber sniper rifle system with some demanding (to the purpose of being unrealistic) accuracy specs.

Hornady offered the 300 PRC as one of the best .30-caliber magnum, although in the end 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, only a few years later the Navy’s Particular Warfare fighters gave it the nod. They have been in search of 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 one of the best practices that ballistics engineers use to get peak efficiency from at the moment’s most correct cartridges. The rules they make use of fall below the umbrella of Modern Cartridge Design.

Broadly talking, the purpose 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
• Ample neck size to correctly help 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 potential, and the 300 PRC. It additionally reveals 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 despite the fact that 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, reducing muzzle velocity whereas boosting stress. Worse, the bottom of the bullet could 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 this can be a results of the intentional design of the 300 PRC to create the last word .30-caliber magnum for excessive long-range taking pictures. The 300 Win Magazine was born of one other period, the place the purpose was to drive the standard bullets of the time (180 grains and fewer) as quick as potential to realize 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’s 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 comparable, even when utilizing radically totally different bullets. Because of this for looking at any affordable distance, there’s no have to really feel handicapped by the 300 Win Magazine. The spherical’s many a long time of success on massive sport is testomony to that, however these numbers help the conclusion.

Nevertheless, if hitting targets at excessive ranges is your purpose, 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 Area

I’ve hunted with each rounds over time, and even took animals with one among every this final fall. I killed a 6×6 bull elk in Colorado with a 300 Win Magazine taking pictures 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 below the conceal 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 looking 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 want 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 taking pictures occasions on the market, and the 300 PRC actually shines below these situations.

I delve into the weeds about my preparation for that match in 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 nicely. That was with Hornady 230-grain A-Suggestions 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 means of 2000 — it isn’t a go-to spherical for a lot of long-range opponents, although you’ll nonetheless see it on the firing line (in extremely modified chambers) even at the moment. 

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 the complete case and, secondly, you get fewer firings from brass with belts earlier than they fail. The 300 PRC is extra forgiving that method.

Once I develop hundreds for competitors or looking 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 could be shot within the 300 Win Magazine, however essentially the most fascinating 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 Professionals and Cons

Professionals

• Confirmed monitor file on massive sport all over the world
• Wonderful choice of manufacturing unit ammunition and bullet weights
• Usually correct at long-range looking distances

Cons

• Not in a position to reap the benefits of at the moment’s finest bullets with out modifications to chamber and twist price
• Not as succesful at excessive ranges because the 300 PRC

300 PRC Professionals and Cons

Professionals

• Designed to ship most accuracy for excessive long-range taking pictures
• Optimized to work with one of the best long-range bullets
• Extraordinarily succesful on massive sport

Cons

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

Steadily Requested Questions

Remaining Ideas on the 300 PRC vs 300 Win Magazine

For the devoted big-game hunter who isn’t into long-range taking pictures, I’d have a tough time arguing in opposition to the 300 Win Magazine. It’s a nice spherical with a fantastic heritage. And when you’re the sort of shooter who’s prepared to make some modifications to your rifle, you will get a customized chamber and twist price that makes up for lots 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 newest and best it’s the method to go. It has a greater choice of match bullets for ELR taking pictures and brings extra to the social gathering for the handloader.

In the end, there’s no proper or improper reply right here. Possibly 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 long run.  

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