Deer hunting-264 Win Mag or 300 WBY?

[Dragonsden73]

I know, 300 WBY pretty big for a blacktail , is 264 Win Mag overkill? I totally demolished good meat with it, but maybe it was shot placement. Thoughts?

[GDuck]

If I posted a picture of the elk I shot several years back with a .300 Wby I'd get kicked off Ifish . That was at 150 yards thru the chest, uphill 35 deg angle and OUT the spinal column with a 165 Partition. That said, I shot several deer with the Noslers and they didn't "explode" like this poor elk did. I never had any meat damage to speak of on blacktails...the elk, well, who knows, probably a one time thing. Someone else can add more. If you are a one gun hunter tailor the load to the Wby and go for it. I know there are guys on here with .264s who will chime in.

G

[scottishsetter]

PM me for the location of a Rem Classic in 300Wthby used but appears unfired. Great gun, and if you reload great for deer espec. the east side.

[Dragonsden73]

That's the other thing....I once hit a blacktail with my 300 WBY at MAYBE 30 yards, in the lower neck / chest and out the ribcage. He stood on his hind legs, then dropped like a sack of bricks in his tracks. No loss of meat whatsoever.....then again I have destroyed them with both calibers too.

[DAB]

I shoot a .264 Win Mag for deer and it does a great job. I use a 140 grain bullet. IMHO if I were going to buy a rifle for deer only I would not get either one. The 300 WBY is way over kill for deer, The Ammo for 264 Win Mag costs a lot more than other deer calibers and if you reload your own Like I do the price of rounds go way down, but 264 Win Mag Brass can be hard to find at times. The real reason I shoot the 264 Win Mag is that I always wanted one in a pre 64 Win. Mod. 70 and I finaly found one. Not that it is better or worse than any other calber. It was one of those wants not a need thing.

I would go for an 30-06 , 270 , 7mm Rem Mag. 280 , 308 , or one of the others that fall in this range of power.

And all this is worth just what you paid for it. Just my opinion is all.
You will get many differnt opinions when you ask this kind of question and 99% are good opinions. So just go out and buy the one that you want.
DAB

[wheelerite]

I have hunted with the 264 all my life. It does fine on deer, antelope and elk even killed a few bear with it. I use 140 grain bullets for everything and dont loose giant amounts of meat unless I hit a large bone. It shatters into the meat and you have to cut that out.There has been times when I have used hot loads on deer and lost a shoulder. The 264 win mag is my favorite over my 30-06,300 win mag and 222 for deer. It is also one of the most acurate rifles I have ever had. The groups tend to be less than 1&1/2 inches and I only shoot it a couple of times a year to see if the scope is still on and then to shoot my animal. I will take neck or head shots up to 100 yds if I have a rest.
Dont know if this helps,good luck on your decision.
K. Smith

[dubl_t]

Originally Posted by DAB

It was one of those wants not a need thing.
DAB

Didn't know there was a difference when referring to guns

[Brush Hunter]

I've used my 300 for the last 10-15 bucks and still haven't lost much meat just don't hit them in the hind end or right through the shoulders. Every once in a while you might lose some of the shoulder but that can happen with alot of guns. Just get them down!

[bigjake_888]

338 "eat to the bullet hole"

[Mooch]

Originally Posted by Dragonsden73

I know, 300 WBY pretty big for a blacktail , is 264 Win Mag overkill? I totally demolished good meat with it, but maybe it was shot placement. Thoughts?

Neither,the .300 is way too much and the .264 has a terrible selections of available ammo.

If you re-load then I'd do the .264

[EvilD]

Recoil and muzzle blast can be punishing with the 300. I do not love my range sessions with mine, very hard round to practice with.
I do not have any experience with a 264, sorry, not much help there.

[Dragonsden73]

Originally Posted by Mooch

Neither,the .300 is way too much and the .264 has a terrible selections of available ammo.

If you re-load then I'd do the .264

Well I have 5 or 6 factory boxes of ammo for each, and a reloader and all the dies for whenever I decide to actually open it and learn to reload. Thing is, I can group maybe 1 to 1.5" at 100 yards all day long with both. 264 is a bit nicer to shoot, less recoil and lighter weapon.

When I go for elk, I ALWAYS bring the 300. Deer season, just depends which one I feel like lugging around that day. The only reason I shot the above said deer with my 300 is because I drove up to elk camp the day before opening, so in driving around on the last day deer season was open, well, there he was! I had 2 choices. To shoot or not to shoot. Boy, he sure was a yummy one!

[Washington Hunter]

I hunted with a 264 Win. Mag. for years. It was the only rifle I owned. Did just fine on deer, and elk. But eventually I sold it and upgraded to a 270 Win. There's basically no difference between the two, other than in the noise and recoil department.

[scottishsetter]

I look at it this way; I have had a #1 in 30-06 that crono-ed 180grs at 2900. The 300Whby can be loaded according to Nosler#6 with IMR4350 180 Min. (and most accurate with that powder) down to 2918.
With a 165gr bullet and IMR4831 *Most accurate powder/load tested 3048.
Under 30-06 Max. speed, 165gr tested yields 3002.
Don't know if that indicates how excellent 30-06 is or(with expensive cases) how 300Whby can easily be loaded to Min. powder levels to match 30-06?????OR near max. loads to shoot flat for elk.?

[nevermiss]

That's not really a great choice, in my opinion. If you are blacktail hunting, what of that I've done was in fairly thick country, the kind neither of those calibers is really suited to. Better choices would be an '06 or 7mm/'08 or even a .308. If you aren't able to choose any but these two I'd have to say select the one you can load to the proper velocity for the kind hunting you'll expect to do. However you choose--best of luck!

[Sixes]

Originally Posted by Dragonsden73

I know, 300 WBY pretty big for a blacktail , is 264 Win Mag overkill? I totally demolished good meat with it, but maybe it was shot placement. Thoughts?

I have shot many blacktail with my 300 Wby and a 30-06, using 180 grain Remington over the counter Shells. If you have good shot placement (IE: neck, behind the shoulder, or head) you will not loose much meat with the 300 Wby. It actually does not seem to blood shot near as bad as the 30-06 does. It causes the meat kinda dry around the entrance and exit wounds. Also the blood shot that does happen it is more between the layers and is easilly cleaned. The 300 Wby is just heavier than the 06. On elk the 300 Wby does very little damage but it is all about shot placement. I carry the 300 Wby more that the 30-06 thats my !