300 WSM Subsonic

[Xbow hunter]

For those of you shooting a 300 WSM have you tried going subsonic with it and a suppressor? If so, how did it compare to a 308 and what twist rate? I was thinking about getting a 308 for shooting subsonic suppressed but if I could get it done with a 300 WSM it would save some money on having to buy another rifle. The 300 WSM will also be used supersonic mainly. Just subsonic while hunting coyotes.

 

[Shooter2medic]

I have been shooting subs out of my 30-06
Hornady 220 gr RN. Using trailboss powder. You will have to play with the load to get the velocity right for you set up.
Mine rifle shoot about 2 inches at 100 yards. I had killed deer and coyote with the load. Nothing over 75 yards.

 

[Mike D Texas]

Be very careful shooting large capacity cartridges with subsonics. The powder fill will be typically very low and when laid on its side it may spike extremely high or it could end up as a squib load due to inconsistent powder ignition.

If you just want to shoot .308 caliber subs, 300 blackout is your best option. You’ll see more consistent velocities with it due to low powder capacity of the case.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro

 

[hodgeman]

I've loaded up 300WSM with Trailboss for low recoil /low noise loads.

Works like a champ. I loaded the 150gr Speer RN to about 1600fps, but you could go heavier and slow it down a bit more.

 

[308ghost]

The issue I ran into by trying to use my 308 for subs was the twist rate. The trail boss powder you mention is perfect for both 300wsm or 308win as it fills the case up to a decent amount. Obviously the 308 win is the better choice as it will have more case fill that the 300 short mag. The powder column seamed to be fine and ignite great every time. Even after I intentionally tried to flatten the powder columns. However, doing a paper test similar to an archery paper test I found that the bullets were wobbling or not stabilized very well. This wasn’t an issue right out of the muzzle but showed up around 30 yards for me. It’s going to be different in every rifle barrel so maybe do your own tests. The 1:10 twist seamed to stabilize the 165’s ok out to 100 yards. I wanted more energy so I tried 180 and 220 rnsp. Those were the issues for my rifle. The 220’s you could visually watch them fly down range. Fun to see but by the time I got the velocities fast enough for a nice bullet flight I was beyond subs speed. If you want a .30 bolt gun for subs, I’d order your barrel with a 1:9 or 1:8 even better. Which makes it less effective for other stuff but kinda bridges the gap and could help the heavies with lower velocities fly better. This is why 300 BLK has faster twists which you may know already. You need more speed to spin the heavies at slower velocity’s. As you test these, I’d recommend doing it without the can attached until you are certain your bullet isn’t producing a key hole out the muzzle. Save yourself the baffle strike and attach your can after you’ve established velocity and paper tests.