The Best .300 Win Mag Rifles For Every Shooter: Buying Guide

The .300 Winchester Magnum is an extremely versatile cartridge that is used by a wide range of shooters including hunters, target shooters, military units, and law enforcement departments due to its superior ballistics.

Introduced by the Winchester Repeating Arms Company in 1963 for use in their Model 70 bolt action rifle, the .300 Winchester Magnum cartridge is a belted, bottleneck, magnum rifle cartridge based on the .375 H & H Mangum cartridge but is designed to fit in a standard (medium) length rifle action.

In fact, the .300 Winchester Magnum's widespread availability in popular rifles such as Winchester's Model 70 and Remington’s Model 700 have made it a very popular choice among shooters even though other magnum rifle cartridges such as the .300 H&H Magnum, .30-338 Winchester Magnum and the .308 Norma Magnum had a head start; causing these other cartridges to soon fade into obsolescence.

Thus, the .300 Winchester Magnum is the only one to survive today as a readily available cartridge.

However, this comes as no surprise to avid shooters who find this cartridge to be an effective all-around choice with bullet options ranging from the flatter shooting 165 grain to the harder hitting 200+ grain selections available from commercial ammunition manufacturers.

Consequently, the .300 Winchester Magnum remains the most popular .30 caliber magnum cartridge among American hunters despite being surpassed in performance by other, more powerful, .30 caliber cartridges.

Therefore, it is a popular choice for hunting large game species such as Elk, Moose and, Brown Bear because it can deliver better long range performance than most other .30 caliber cartridges and thus, both military and law enforcement personnel use this cartridge for long range sniping and marksmanship.

In fact, since its introduction it has won several 1,000-yard competitions. Consequently, nearly every gun manufacturer around the world offers rifles chambered for the .300 Winchester Magnum.

Below you will find a list of some of the best .300 Winchester Magnum rifles available.

Winchester Model 70 Super Grade

Winchester Model 70 Super Grade

Originally manufactured by the Winchester Repeating Arms Company between 1936 and 1980, the Winchester Model 70 is a true American icon among avid hunters.

Similar in appearance to the ever popular Remington Model 700 BDL, the Winchester Model 70 is an iconic piece of American history.

Starting with the introduction of the first model 70 in 1936 which is commonly known as a pre ’64 model (those rifles made prior to 1964), the original model 70 was widely known as a “rifleman’s rifle” because it featured a simple walnut stock combined with a sturdy bolt action and a simple but reliable trigger mechanism.

But, in 1964, Winchester made significant “upgrades” to the rifle’s action which made the new model 70 significantly easier to mass produce.

However, many hunters felt that these changes actually detracted from rather than improved the rifle’s performance and thus, the pre ’64 Model 70 still has large following.

Even so, the modern version of the Winchester Model 70 is very popular among today’s hunters and it is available in several different models such as the Super Grade which is Winchester’s equivalent to the Remington Model 700 BDL.

Thus, it features a grade IV/V fancy walnut stock with a shadow cheek piece combined with a forged steel receiver and an integral recoil lug and glass bedded bolt action and a free floated, 26 inch, cold hammer forged, Sporter contour barrel with a recessed target crown and a polished blue finish, along with an M.O.A. trigger system, the Winchester Model 70 is designed to deliver both superior appearance and superior performance.

Remington 700 CDL

Remington 700 CDL

Although the Remington Model 700 lacks the interesting history of the Winchester Model 70, it is arguably the single most popular hunting rifle in America today and, according to Remington, it is the most accurate out-of-the-box rifle manufactured today; a claim that is supported by the fact that the U.S. military uses Remington Model 700 bolt actions as the basis for their proprietary M24 Sniper Weapon System.

Featuring a high-gloss American walnut Monte Carlo stock with a distinctive fore-end cap and a raised cheek piece combined with Remington’s famous model 700 bolt action and a 26 inch, Sporter contour, barrel with a polished blue finish and a four round integral box magazine with a hinged floor plate, the Remington Model 700 is immediately identifiable by any avid gun enthusiast due to its stunning appearance.

In addition, not only is the receiver drilled and tapped for easy mounting of a scope, the model 700 also includes both an adjustable rear sight and a ramped, hooded, front sight for those hunters who prefer open sights over scopes.

Kimber Classic Select Grade

Kimber Classic Select Grade

Perhaps best known for their production of high end, heavily customized, model 1911 pistols, Kimber also offers a line of meticulously made bolt action rifles made with the same attention to design and manufacture that they give to their famous model 1911 pistols.

In fact, their fit and finish easily rivals that of both the Winchester Super Grade and the Remington BDL rifles which have long stood as the standard by which other rifles are measured.

Thus, the Kimber Classic Select Grade bolt action rifles feature an A Grade French Walnut stock with a hand-rubbed oil finish and a Pachmyer recoil pad with an Ebony forend cap and a steel pistol grip cap.

In addition, the standard length, 8400 Magnum, matte finish, bolt action is both pillar bedded and glass bedded and it is combined with a four round box magazine with a hinged floor plate and a 26 inch, Sporter contour, steel barrel with a match grade chamber and a deep blue finish.

Savage model 14/114 American Classic

Savage model 14/114

Commonly known as one of the most accurate production rifles available, Savage rifles incorporate several unique innovations not featured on other rifles.

For instance, headspace (the distance from the bolt face the back of the cartridge when a round is chambered) is absolutely critical to accuracy but, most manufacturer’s designs require them to first establish a safe headspace range and then attach their barrels accordingly whereas, Savage’s barrel nut system enables them to first adjust the headspace of each chamber individually before tightening the barrel nut for a precision fit chamber on every rifle.

In addition, bolt face to case head alignment is another critical factor to rifle accuracy and thus, instead of the standard single-piece bolt, Savage bolts feature a two-piece, floating, design which enables the bolt face to precisely align with the case head each and every time.

Thus, the Savage model 14/114, features an American walnut stock with a black forend cap and a stain finish combined with Savage’s proprietary two-piece bolt action and a 3 round box magazine with a hinged floor plate and a 24 inch, Sporter contour, steel barrel with a matte blued finish and Savage’s proprietary, adjustable, Accutrigger mechanism.

Browning BAR MK II Safari

Browning BAR MK II Safari

Based on the original Browning Automatic Rifle dubbed the BAR M1918 designed by John Browning for the U.S. military near the end of WWI, the modern sporting version of the BAR is both significantly smaller and lighter than the M1918, but its internal design is based entirely on the original military version.

However, the sporting version of the BAR has undergone significant evolution since its introduction to become one of the single most popular semiautomatic hunting rifles on the market with the present version which was introduced in 1993 known as the Mark II and which includes several significant upgrades such as a trigger assembly that is retained by cross pins for easy disassembly and a redesigned gas assembly for greater reliability.

Thus, the Browning BAR Mark II is considered by many hunters to be the ultimate semiautomatic sporting rifle and the Safari model features a Turkish Walnut, Grade I, buttstock and forend with a high gloss finish and a short action steel receiver with a 4 round, hinged floorplate, detachable box magazine combined with a 24 inch, Sporter contour, steel barrel with a chrome plated chamber and a polished blue finish.

Conclusion

While the .300 Winchester Magnum may lack the rich history of some of the other popular rifle cartridges, it is nonetheless, an extremely popular rifle cartridge among long range shooters and big game hunters due to its flat trajectory and wide range of bullet weights combined with its extreme kinetic energy.

It is a favored cartridge for hunting both medium and large game species at extended ranges in open terrain as well as for hunting North American dangerous game species at both long ranges and in dense foliage.

Plus, due to its superior long range accuracy, it is also an extremely popular cartridge among long range target shooters as well as both military and police snipers.

Therefore, it is a readily available cartridge loaded with a wide range of bullet types and weights and yet, it has significantly less recoil than some of the more powerful belted magnum cartridges such as the .338 Winchester or the .375 H & H Magnum.

If you are in need of a long range, flat shooting, hard hitting rifle for hunting medium to large game species or for long range target shooting, the .300 Winchester Magnum is hard to beat and the 5 rifles listed above are among the best .300 Winchester Magnum rifles available.