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R-1 is 300 WinMag or 300 WSM


tman9970

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I was hoping some of you with more experience can help me with this. I'm looking to get an R-1 in either 300 Win Mag or 300 WSM, however I was looking for some input.

 

Its my understanding that the WinMag has a bit more power than the WSM.

 

I live in Northern Cal, I'm looking for gun that will be used in Northern Idaho and Alaska.

 

I have an SBE2 and love it, I have pins in my shoulder from an accident years ago so the light recoil is a big plus for me.

 

Could someone give me the pro's and con's of both.

 

 

Thanks guys.

 

P.S. I will be buying it with the comfor-tech stock.

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This has been debated here before - the calibers are virtually identical in performance, a miniscule edge in velocity w/ heavy bullets going to the 300Win over the WSM. If you search the web you will find a lot of theoretcal BS about the short/fat cased WSM being more accurate - it's been tested to death and that's just what it is, a theory. In the real world shooting comparable rifles there is no appreciable accuracy difference.

 

In a bolt action rifle, the shorter cased WSM's make for a slightly shorter/lighter rifle than their 300Win mag counterparts, at the expense of having reduced cartridge feeding reliability due to the rebated rim and steep shoulder angles. In the Benelli R1 the 300WSM appears to be pure stupidity:

 

The action and rifle length are identical in the 300Win vs the 300WSM so you get decreased feed reliability w/ no decrease in OAL length or weight.

 

Several folks on this forum that have shot more than 1 box of ammunition from their R1's have managed to get pretty decent accuracy (1-1.5 MOA), however, R1's are NOT match rifles - nor were they designed to be. As such any difference in accuracy between the calibers (which hasn't proven out in any actual field testing) is negligible.

 

300WSM is more available now than when it first came out, but 300Win has far more factory loads available and is easier to find. The gap will continue to grow as the WSM's become obsolescent in the future.

 

Apparently Benelli agrees as the WSM offerings have been discontinued in 2011 - the R1's are now available only in 30-06, 300Win and 338Win (new this year). I'm sure you can find a 300WSM somewhere in stock, but I would stick w/ the 300Win, it's the clear winner in this platform.

 

David

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I was hoping some of you with more experience can help me with this. I'm looking to get an R-1 in either 300 Win Mag or 300 WSM, however I was looking for some input.

 

Its my understanding that the WinMag has a bit more power than the WSM.

 

I live in Northern Cal, I'm looking for gun that will be used in Northern Idaho and Alaska.

 

I have an SBE2 and love it, I have pins in my shoulder from an accident years ago so the light recoil is a big plus for me.

 

Could someone give me the pro's and con's of both.

 

 

Thanks guys.

 

P.S. I will be buying it with the comfor-tech stock.

 

I have a little experience hunting with a 300WM R-1, check out this thread.

 

http://www.benelliusa.com/forum/showthread.php?t=11936

 

Steve

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Thank You David, I appreciate the advice. What do you think of the 300 Winmag vs the 338 Win? What type of game would need the larger 338 win?

 

Thank You

 

There is no real advantage that I'm aware of until you get to the big bears. Some people debate even the 338 for the big bears preferring something more like the 375 H&H. If you check out the thread that Steve posted, you will find numerous bears that Steve took w/ his 300 Win, however when he finally shot the barrel out in his 300 Win, he opted to go for a more powerful caliber.

 

For anything short of the big bears or the occasional big bear w/ a guide the 300 Win would probably be the better choice.

 

HTH

 

David

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  • 4 weeks later...
  • 3 weeks later...

I went with the 338 win mag R1. I already have a 270 winchester and didn't feel the 300 mags had enough advantage over it. I hand load and after looking at various bullet manufacturers the 338 hunting bullets seemed to be more efficient than the 300's.

 

My plan is to use it for bear and elk hunting. It's topped with a vortex viper pst 1-4X24. Most of the hunting I do is in timber or thick brush. A 50 yard shot at an elk running through timber isn't unusual.

 

It's getting sighted in this weekened weather permitting.

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I just bought a new R1 in 300 Win Mag. I have not shot it yet but I hope to soon. I am moving to Nebraska this July and wanted a good long range gun.

 

You can't go wrong with either caliber in my book. I guess if I was going to hunt more woodland elk than anything I would of chosen with the 338.

 

Good luck with your new gun! Keep us posted on how it shoots.

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