Hello from Iowa

[turnkey]

Just bought a Savage 110 ENGAGE HUNTER XP 300 Win Mag
and as a after thought wish I would of gotten a 308
Can I change the Win Mag over to 308 with just a simple barrel
change? If so what would be a good brand of barrel to purchase?
Thanks
Denny

[Dave Hoback]

Welcome,

Barrel & Magnum face bolt head are needed. Why is it you want to switch now? A barrel & bolt head will cost you at least $400. Better off putting that into reloading gear, if you don’t already. They use the same bullets & you can load the 300WM down to 308 levels if it’s recoil that has you questioning. But you’ll still have the ability to run full bore 300WM if you choose. As Cris Kyle quoted, “The 300 is in another class entirely!”

[turnkey]

My main concern was barrel life of the 300 mag. I'm not experienced at long range shooting and my thoughts
were with the 308 I could shoot more rounds and improve my accuracy and work my way up to long range shooting
with out worrying about barrel erosion from the heavy magnum loads.
Denny

[Dave Hoback]

Right. Are you reloading or buying factory ammo? If reloading, once again, simply load down. The barrel will last quite a long time. Now if you are using factory ammunition, I still wouldn’t worry. A 300WM should deliver close to 1500 rounds of factory ammunition. Any 300WM ammunition to be found in stock is priced about $41 & up.. even to over $100 for 20rds! Just going with the cheapest, at $41/20rds, it’ll cost around. $3,000 before a new barrel is needed for top accuracy. So you see, choosing now to rebarrel for $400+, doesn’t save you anything in the long term.

My advice is to just have fun & shoot. And once again… invest that money into reloading equipment. For the price of a barrel, you will have everything needed to start reloading. You’ll be able to roll much better ammunition than factory, and at a fraction of the cost. Unless of course, there is some other reason for your trepidation for the 300WM?

[ragsflh]

welcome

[turnkey]

No that was the only reason I wanted to change over to 308. Will down loading the 300 Win mag cause loss in accuracy at say 500 yds?
I have all the reloading equipment and components I need, just never reloaded for bottleneck/belted cartridges before. I reload for handguns mostly.

[Dave Hoback]

Not necessarily. It’s about finding the right combination. That’s what load development is.

But again, you see my point… right? You are fearful of burning out the barrel & facing cost of a new one, so your remedy is to buy a new barrel in a different cartridge now? And doing this will gain maybe 500-1000 more rounds before throat erosion rears it’s head. You aren’t under the assumption that a 308 barrel lasts 3, 4, 5 times the amount of rounds, are you? Honestly speaking it doesn’t even last 2 times as long. It just doesn’t work like that. If you are serious abut overall accuracy in competition, a barrel is a consumable resource. 1500 rounds before accuracy starts to degrade is considered good. Bad “barrel burner” rounds are those that roast the throat in 400-500 rounds!

But hey, do what you think is right. However, your best bet is to sell the rifle & buy another in 308, if that’s how you want to go.

[turnkey]

I guess I was overthinking it. I'll stay with the 300 Win mag and start searching my Manuals for
some reduced loads.
Thanks for your help and turning me in the right direction.
Denny

[turnkey]

welcome


Thanks

[GaCop]

Welcome to the group.

[ragsflh]

welcome