700 PSS rifles - 308 & 300WM - test fired side-by-side @ 100 yards

[PA Rifleman]

Last November I did a side-by-side comparison between two unmodified Remington 700Ps (Mfg website link). One in 300 Winchester Magnum, and another in 308 Winchester. Both rifles are fitted with Leupold quick-detach mounts and Harris bipods.

Differences: 300 WM has two-piece base & a Leupold 4.5-14x Tactical with mil dot reticle (Leupold #49208). The 308 has one-piece scope base and is temporarily fitted with an early 1980s Tasco 3x9 scope until I get a better replacement.

Here's the 700P in 300 WM:



The targets (below) enlarge with a click. All were shot at 100 yards.

The test really wasn't scientific by any means, the 300 WM ammo was exclusively hand loads and all the 308 was South American ball or Chinese steel case 308 ball from the early 90s. All targets are exactly 8.5 by 11 inches. Rifles were supported with bipods only.

The 300:

Silhouette. Couldn't really see the geometric center, at 100 yards it looks like the black blob in the top left corner:


And I'm trying to pull a Vassili Zaitsev here shooting where the scope would be:


And the 308 Win:
-

Black dot in center is exactly 1" diameter.

And the silhouette:


Even with the scope and ammunition in favor of the 300 WM, the 308 still has respectable performance.

As you can see, the 700 won't disappoint you, particularly a P/PSS model.

[markheck1]

Nice!

you aren't really going to see much difference in those 2, especially at 100 yds

Only real advantage to the .300WM is that it will shoot flatter, and kick harder, LOL

[JIMMYC308]

Very nice shooting!

[ALS]

One thing you will notice at distance is the 300 WM will be as accurate or better against the .308. The heavier the bullet the longer it takes to settle down. By settle down the bullet does not come out of the muzzle clean but has a yaw to it.
With 155's my 300 WM is pretty accurate at 100-200 yards. It will group <1 moa all day. When using 190 MK's it takes close to 300 yards for the bullet to settle down and give me better than 1 moa accuracy.
The gun BTW is a Blaser LRS2.



Just so you realize the 300 Win Mag is brutal on your shoulder if you spend any time shooting it. The .308 is a lot more comfortable to do any extended shooting with. There is no animal in the commonwealth that a .308 can't drop with one shot.

I will tell you there are very few guns out there that will give you the out of the box accuracy that the PSS will for the price.

[Tomcat088]

I just wanted to clear something up from ALS' post that might confuse some people. The .308 and .300 WM can both fire the same weight of bullets. You can get .308 with 190 grain bullets. The advantage of the .300 WM is that it can fire the heavier bullets faster than the .308. Faster isn't always necessarily "better", but in some areas it does have it's advantages. On longer shots you need to compensate for less drop, or at unknown distances if you're yardage is just a little off, then the advantage will go to the .300 WM. The problem with the .300 winmag is if you're pushing the loads hard, the barrel life will be much shorter than the .308, and with the heavier bullets comes more recoil. Another advantage that the .300 winmag has over the .308 is that since the bullet is moving faster from the muzzle and downrange, it stays super sonic to a longer distance. This means that it will shoot more accurately out to longer distances with a consistent load. This also means that since the .300 winmag is moving faster, it takes less time for the bullet to get to the target once it has left the barrel. This translates to with the same weight of bullet, the .300 winmag will have far less wind drift than the .308.

Also realize that what ALS is talking about his bullet going to "sleep", is different for all rifles, barrels, loads, etc. Whether or not the bullet "sleeps" depends on many different variables which are influenced by the ogive of the bullet, weight of the bullet, twist rate of the barrel, speed that the bullet is leaving the barrel and if this matches the twist rate of the barrel, whether the load is tuned to a "node" for that particular barrel, etc. Not all .300 winmag 190 Sierra Match Kings take out to 300 yards to "sleep", some do.

[ALS]

Thanks for clarifying that. You said it better than I did.

[Tomcat088]

You're welcome buddy. The post made sense to me because I am well versed in what you're talking about. I just didn't want some people who knew a little about these things, or none at all to be confused.