Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Help me decide 30-06 vs 300 wsm

Days on the bench vs a few shots per year hunting. .30-06 vs. .300WSM.

My choice" Neither.

Get something like a 6.5 Creed, 6.5 PRC, 7mm-08, or .308 Win. Maybe a .270 or .280.

Days on the bench vs a few shots per year hunting. .30-06 vs. .300WSM.

My choice" Neither.

Get something like a 6.5 Creed, 6.5 PRC, 7mm-08, or .308 Win. Maybe a .270 or .280.

Looking to pick up a new toy but I'm on the fence and can't decide. I like the idea of a 300 wsm, with it's edge on performance, but having never shot one, I'm concerned about the recoil. Recoil in the field isn't a concern but I want a gun that I can spend a day on the bench shooting without feeling like I got hit by a truck.

I've owned 300 win mags and 30-06s and found the 300 win mag to be tolerable but not fun to shoot all day. 30-06 for me is much more pleasant to shoot but the I've been looking a lot more into the 300 wsm and it sounds like it would get me the added performance with *possibly* a noticed drop in recoil compared to the 300 win mag. Gun would be an M70 and I'll probably put a McMillan Hunter stock on it.

In the field it would be used for elk and mule deer up to 500 yds, but will see a lot more range use for paper punching fun.... basically needs to do both duties. I reload and cost difference isn't a concern to me.

So if you were me, what would you go with?

The 300 WSM doesn’t recoil anymore than a 30-06 to me. Less recoil from the short case.

Have you considered a 270 WSM? He’s a 700 270 WSM

.308 Win, and never look back

Having been there done that, here's my suggestion: I'd buy the 300WSM and build it exactly how you want it, or how you are envisioning it. Kind of like the one I had:




You'll find the 300WSM recoils right between the 30-06 and 300WM, which is not bad and can be tolerated for a bench session and some field shooting. I probably wouldn't fire off more than 50 rounds per day, personally... That may just be me though... My biggest gripe with the 300WSM vs. the 30-06 is the amount of ammo you can stuff into the mag box. This may or may not bother you, but its likely going to be 3 vs. 5 when you are comparing similar rifles (lets say winchester model 70 CRF). The 300WSM cartridge is known for its "inherent" accuracy, but I've never had a bad shooting 06 either... I will say, that either cartridge will get you past most sane hunting distance when the rifle is set up properly for long range shooting and still have plenty of horsepower to get into the vitals and cause DRT's. So the extra added power of the WSM is almost a moot point when comparing it to the grand ol 30-06. I'd also add, if you want to shoot your 300 wsm more, put it in a stock with a higher more parallel comb stock like a brown precision or basner if you don't want to pay brown's prices. That type of stock will mitigate recoil much better than the Mcmillan hunters compact:


I know a lot of us have been in your shoes and I would not sway a person one way or the other and say one is better than the other. That's something you will have to learn for yourself. And if you are like many of us here, that thought of "needing" that 300WSM, won't go away until you actually have one in your hands. Just be warned, if you started out on the 30-06 don't be surprised if you give the wsm a good honest try and then find out the 06 will do everything the wsm will do. But it will do it with less expense, more rounds in the magazine and less recoil. I still say buy the 300WSM and learn this on your own. Good luck with it...

I recognize recoil perception varies greatly from shooter to shooter but for me, there was a world of difference between the 30-06 and 300 WM.

So let me ask the question in a different way... for those that have experience with these cartridges, would you say the 300 wsm recoil is closer to the 30-06 or 300 Win mag?