300 WSM Rifle Choices

[JeffRaines]

I have an X Bolt Pro in 300 wsm and absolutely love it. Lightweight without being too light, smooth action and deadly accurate. Mine shoots 1.5" groups at 300 w/ my handloads. And she has never shot over moa with any factory ammunition. Only thing I have done to it was put in a lighter trigger spring from mcarbo to get the trigger down to 2.5#.

I also have a Kimber Montana. Great gun too and a bit lighter. I'd give the edge to the browning. In the end I don't think you can go wrong with either. There are a lot of good choices out there. Tikkas are great shooters but I sent both I owned down the road. The plastic stocks didn't jive with me and I absolutely hated the magazine design. Like I said, lots of good choices out there, put your hands on a few well know performers and let the rifle tell you which one is right for you.

Not necessarily a warning for you, but for the OP-

I owned two xbolts. Both would not go below 3# with the mcarbo spring - and my experience adding the spring caused the trigger pull weight to vary quite a bit as well as introduced an inconsistent amount of pre-travel. I ended up dropping a Timney in the one I kept.

They’re great shooters otherwise. I did end up eventually sending the last one up the road in favor of the tikka just due to the low amount of aftermarket parts. Not a big deal if you jive with their stocks, but I wanted something different. Otherwise they’re good shooters.

 

[Steelruger22]

Not necessarily a warning for you, but for the OP-

I owned two xbolts. Both would not go below 3# with the mcarbo spring - and my experience adding the spring caused the trigger pull weight to vary quite a bit as well as introduced an inconsistent amount of pre-travel. I ended up dropping a Timney in the one I kept.

They’re great shooters otherwise. I did end up eventually sending the last one up the road in favor of the tikka just due to the low amount of aftermarket parts. Not a big deal if you jive with their stocks, but I wanted something different. Otherwise they’re good shooters.

Thanks for the heads up. I'll keep an eye on it but thus far mine has been consistent in both pull weight and operation. I generally don't keep my big game rifles with such a low trigger weight but with that one it works for me. I feel that the trigger pull weight has to be proportionate to the overall weight of the rifle. I have found that lighter weight rifles shoot better for me with lighter triggers in field conditions.
Like everything else a lot of it comes down to practice and knowing your own capabilities when safety is concerned. As a general rule, for most people a 3-3.5 lb trigger is the lowest I would recommend.

 

[MartinD-35]

Have you identified a direction for a stock/chassis or are you sticking with the accustock?

 

[Cdpp880]

I own a ridge line in 300wsm and love it. I did opt for their side baffle brake from the beginning. With that brake recoil in a complete non issue. I have a Bushnell LRHS 4-18 which is around 26oz. Loaded with 3 rounds it’s 8lb 3oz.

A buddy of mine just got a browning hells canyon speed. I really like that gun also.
Don’t think you can go wrong with any of the ones in your list.

 

[HookUp]

I have a HC speed in 300 WSM. I put an beige after market strap on cheek pad on it. Puts me at the right height and holds my magazine and some extra rounds. 4/4 on elk so far would not change a thing.

 

[thinhorn_AK]

I like the mountain ascents. I had one in 300wsm and passed it on to my dad for elk hunting. They are great rifles. I just got myself a new one in 300 win mag and it’s great. I’ve had great luck with kimbers.

 

[erle1139]

I own a ridge line in 300wsm and love it. I did opt for their side baffle brake from the beginning. With that brake recoil in a complete non issue. I have a Bushnell LRHS 4-18 which is around 26oz. Loaded with 3 rounds it’s 8lb 3oz.

A buddy of mine just got a browning hells canyon speed. I really like that gun also.
Don’t think you can go wrong with any of the ones in your list.

I ended up with the ridge line and started the barrel break in. I bought some Norma 165 Oryx and some Armscor 165 Accubonds to start the break in process since I didn't want to waste my limited reloading material. With the factory Norma I noticed some pressure signs (sticky bolt, ejector marks on brass) but with the Armscor with Winchester brass I had no issues. I also loaded up some of my own rounds using Winchester staball 6.5 with new Norma brass, starting about mid load .030 off the measured lands and was getting pressure signs too (hard to eject, ejector marks). Have you noticed any issues in your Ridgeline with different ammo?

 

[gfb0904]

In the market for buying a new 300 WSM for lugging around the mountains elk hunting. I believe I have it narrowed down to Browning HC speed, Kimber Mountain Ascent, Christensen Arms Ridgeline, Fierce Fury. Want it under 7lbs and with a muzzle brake. ~$2k and under is pretty much my budget. I've read some pros/cons of each, such as not many after market parts for Browning (I'm not really a tinkerer anyway), thin barrels of Kimbers over heating quicker, Christensen Arms complaints about sloppy workmanship, I don't really know anything about Fierce.

I have owned all the rifles you mentioned in 300WSM, except the Browning. I've also owned a Tikka T3 and Kimber Montana in 300WSM. The only one I still own is the Kimber Mountain Ascent.

The Fierce was the nicest from a quality standpoint, but the stock didn't fit me right. It shot great. The Ridgeline also shot well, but I had to send it back to the factory two times before I had 50 rounds through it, and it still had issues after the second time I sent it back. The Montana had a series of issues I had to have a gunsmith fix and I couldn't get it to shoot well even after the work. The Tikka was fine, but it was a bit heavy and wasn't shooting as consistently as I'd like.

Of all these, the only one I bought used was the Mountain Ascent, and it's the best shooter of them all. It's also the lightest and fits me the best. So that's the one still in my safe.