300 Win Mag or 325 WSM

[clint21]

Hi everyone,

I am booked in to do a plains game hunt next year just wondering what callibers people are using. My main animals will be kudu zebra eland springbuck gemsbok and so on. I want to get a 300 win mag but the gun i am after i am having trouble getting it. There is a 325 wsm in the same make of rifle that i like but would like to know what people think of the 325 over the 300. And is the ammo for the 325 easy to get over in Africa (Namibia) just incase things go missing in transit.
Cheers in advance
Clint

 

[enysse]

I own both calibers and both are in Browning A Bolts. I like both calibers, I won the 325 WSM at SCI show. The 300 Win Mag components are popular everywhere and the 325 WSM components are not. I would honestly go with the 300 Win Mag in a heavy bullet, that has been my main gun in Africa and it has never let me down.

I would recommend the 338 Win Mag over the 325 WSM, that is another caliber I own and I think it would be a awesome gun for large plains game. Again the 338 Win Mag is more popular than the 325 WSM.

 

[BRICKBURN]

This should help begin to answer one of your questions.


PMP Denel

 

[bluey]

I own both calibers and both are in Browning A Bolts. I like both calibers, I won the 325 WSM at SCI show. The 300 Win Mag components are popular everywhere and the 325 WSM components are not. I would honestly go with the 300 Win Mag in a heavy bullet, that has been my main gun in Africa and it has never let me down.

I would recommend the 338 Win Mag over the 325 WSM, that is another caliber I own and I think it would be a awesome gun for large plains game. Again the 338 Win Mag is more popular than the 325 WSM.

honest helpful tip and one worth remembering thanks enysee

 

[enysse]

Thanks bluey, the 325 WSM is very similar to the 8mm Rem Mag, which was a favorite of Boddington's at one time. I looked around last week for brass or bullets for the 8mm Rem Mag and there was slim pickings. It's a effective caliber, the masses just didn't care for it. It goes back to the .243 Win versus the 6mm, they are the same but the .243 Win is at least 10 times more popular.

 

[bluey]

yeah I had never heard of it until 2 or 3 years ago ,quite a few houndsmen over here are starting to really go for it generally in a browning lever action , and it seems that its becoming more and more popular.
im hearing you on the classic calibre , which also the in betweeners are starting to kick in around here aswell.
from the little ive seen of the 325 short its very effective on our deer .im told its got a lot to do with the ultra slow burning powders that are now available for the reloading
but I will be sticking to my 30.06 for hound hunting .

 

[clint21]

Thankyou for the quivk replys, looks like I will be sticking with the 300 win mag. Ive always liked them just the 325 is starting to take off over here mainly for the deer hunting.

Looking forward to experiencing Namibia can't wait
Cheers Clint

 

[enysse]

Good luck Clint, a lot of resident hunters in Namibia have the 300 Win Mag.

 

[gillettehunter]

What it really boils down To is that the .300win mag will do everything the .325 will do. Bullets are available up to 230 grains. Great availability of ammo almost everywhere. Probably 10 times the selection of bullets if you reload. In fact probably about the same for loaded ammo choices. The .300 will easily harvest all of the animals on your list if you do your part. Good luck. Bruce

 

[enysse]

A lot of it comes down to popularity and availability.

I would never say a bad thing about the .325 WSM or 8mm Rem Mag, but the fact of the matter the 300 Win Mag is probably 10x more popular. I think the .325 WSM is better but all the little advantages are taken away with less availability to get ammo or bullet selection for that matter.

 

[35bore]

A lot of it comes down to popularity and availability.

I would never say a bad thing about the .325 WSM or 8mm Rem Mag, but the fact of the matter the 300 Win Mag is probably 10x more popular. I think the .325 WSM is better but all the little advantages are taken away with less availability to get ammo or bullet selection for that matter.

Ditto. All mentioned calibers a fine. Just get the one you want.... If you want the 300 win, then wait for it/order it, and enjoy the hunt...

 

[Mekis]

I bought my browning stainless A bolt II in 325WSM in 2006. It is a factory gun with a 23 inch barrel and I reload. It is too bad that Federal didn't make any factory rounds for it. There are a number of different factory rounds however if you look. I shot a black bear with it in 2013 and the bear simply flew backwards and died but it was close as in 30 yards or so. That was with 200 grain accubonds and loaded with H4350 powder @ 2780 fps with my chronograph. I tried Reloder 17 and got better results in speed as in 2861 fps on average. In 2018 I went on a plains game safari in Namibia with Orpa Safaris. I shot game from 100 yards to 263 range finded yards using 200 grain nosler partions and RL17. The gembok, mountain zebra, and warthog dropped in their tracks with one shot each. The greater kudu ran about 30 yards and fell just before I was going to give him a second. I recovered the bullet from the mountain zebra on its far side and it mushroomed perfectly. Based on my experience and sighted in a 200 yards, this package with my 2-10 bushnel 4200 elite is just perfect. Easy to carry and reasonable recoil for my 69 year old 170 pound body.

 

[BeeMaa]

For the many reasons mentioned above, I'd go with the 300WM.
The next obvious step up would be the (previously mentioned) 338WM.
My only other suggestion is why not a 375?

If you already have a 30 caliber like a 308WIN or 30-06 save your money.
Put a little more horsepower in that punch with a 375H&H.
After all, a 30-06 and 375H&H is a classic African 2-gun battery.

EDIT - Damn, I just realized this thread is 7 years old.

 

[Pheroze]

EDIT - Damn, I just realized this thread is 7 years old.

Still an interesting read. It's good to see these pop up again

 

[lwaters]

I've noticed this cartridge alot in my loading manuals. If you reload my be the best of the short mags. The only thing a 338 has on it is the 250 gr bullet. The 200 220 grain bullets beat everything else.

 

[shark_za]

7 years old and I still have not seen a box of .325 WSM in the shops.

 

[cperso]

I have a 300wsm,325wsm,338 wm,375h&h and taken plenty of game all of them. The 325 is one of my favorites, its hits like the hammer of Thor.

 

[Velo Dog]

Hello fellow Hunters,

This 7 year old thread / question is still valid now in my grumpy old man opinion.
I see no point for the .325 having been conceived.

But then, I see no reason for all the relatively recent and much dreaded .300 magnums of the world, having been conceived, because the .300 H&H has been around since the 1920’s.
And, it is still working extremely well (just ask the ghost of any critter that’s been shot with it lol).

Also, I’m +1 with BeeMaa on the .338 Winchester being a way better choice for Africa (Canada / Alaska as well) than any .30 caliber that the world has ever heard of and definitely light years ahead of anything the .325 could ever have hoped to have been.

Likewise, +1 again with BeeMaa, on the notion that if one can shoot a .338 well, why not just get a .375, you know you want one whoever you are out there hahahaha.....ha.

Beware of sales gimmicks,
Velo Dog.

 

[curtism1234]

Oddly, I have been researching the 325 pretty hard this week.

It has everything going for it except popularity. When you shoot factory ammo, that is important. 50 USD a box (starting price) is more than the 300wsm or 300winmag and you have to order it online which means you are probably means you are buying 3-4 boxes at a time. The extra 15-20 dollars a box doesn't bother me as much as finding it in the future. The empty cases are very expensive and hard telling what availability will be 20 years from now.

If only Winchester made it a 338wsm...

 

[BeeMaa]

The 300WSM was an answer to a question no one asked.
If you try to load it up to 300WM speeds with 220 grain pills, you run into OAL issues.
Not to mention compression of the powder.
Add to that the price of boxed ammo compared to the 300WM.
The gap just gets bigger.

I kinda feel the same for the 325WSM.
There was a short mag explosion in the early 2000's with these.
270WSM, 7mmWSM, 300WSM, 325WSM and don't forget all the WSSM's.
It was kinda ridiculous how fast they pumped these out.

I know there are fans of these calibers and they ARE good at what they do.
And I'm not looking to start a cartridge war over which is better.
If they had caught on with more popularity, we wouldn't be having this discussion.