December 31, 2023 – For me, Christmas is complicated; a celebration of the birth of Christ and the giving and receiving of gifts. It is very enjoyable to be thoughtful in gift giving, and to put smiles on the faces of family and friends. I am not big on receiving gifts. Anything elaborate causes embarrassment, I am not worthy, and clothing leads down the path of returns and exchanges.
The best gifts are those that show people know you. This year was exceptional. I don’t like cats… at all. Would not harm one, but I find their passive aggressiveness to be off putting, and their owners take on the persona of helicopter parents. I have never seen, any animal, draw so much doting, while doing do little in return.
A most expressive gift of my cat animosity is Cat-A-Pult. Essentially, a catapult, three caped cats, and a scoring target to place 10′ away. I play every day. The thrill is in the flight and landing, the score is a secondary consideration. I am blessed to have good friends.
Happy New Year! Hope you have the best year ever!..!!
Whew! I’m exhausted after all of those exclamation marks.
Fun with the Winchester XPR Extreme Hunter
Getting
range days without gale level winds or torrential rainfall has been problematic, but I finally got there. The Winchester was shot with a suppressor in place, a Silencerco Omega 36M, which softened recoil and took the edge off of muzzle blast. The radial brake that is shipped with the rifle did as good with recoil reduction.
Some handloads that follow, marked, exceed the SAAMI 3.340″ maximum COL. They are VLD design, or solid copper bullets that have a lower sectional density than jacketed lead. I did not attempt to minimize bullet to rifling leade spacing, but given COL was checked to assure adequate distance from rifling. The Magazine can accommodate a COL of 3.400″ so, armed with COL gauges, there is room to play with seating bullets out closer to rifling.
Powder selection and case capacity
Alliant Reloder 26 availability is spotty, and prices are erratic. Shortsighted dealers, that believe customers are disposable, are really taking advantage of the situation. It looks like 1 lb ranges from $35 – $59. A 10% or even 20% during short can be classified as “good business”. A 68% is too Scrooge like for me.
Accurate MagPro, with appropriate powder charge adjustments, delivers about the same velocity and accuracy as Reloder 26. Reloder 22 worked out well, price and performance and similar performance can be had with IMR 7828 SSC.
I used neck sized, once fired brass. The H2O case capacity at 80 grains was 4 grains greater than new brass, and 3 grains greater than full length resized brass.
Warning: Bullet selections are specific, and loads are not valid with substitutions of different bullets of the same weight. Variations in bullet length will alter net case capacity, pressure and velocity. Primer selection is specific and primer types are not interchangeable. These are maximum loads in my firearms and may be excessive in others. All loads should be reduced by 5% as a starting point for development where cartridges have greater than 40 grains in capacity and 10% for cartridges with less than 40 grain capacity following safe handloading practices as represented in established mainstream reloading manuals. Presentation of these loads does not constitute a solicitation for their use, nor a recommendation.
Bullets above, L-R, appear on the table below, top to bottom
| Cartridge – 300 Winchester Magnum |
|
| Firearm | Winchester XPR |
| Barrel Length | 26.00″ |
| Min – Max Case Length | 2.620″ +0.000″/-0.020″ |
| Min – Max COL | 3.215″ – 3.340″ |
| Primer | CCI 250 |
| Bullet Diameter | 0.3090″ +0.000″/-0.0030″ |
| Reloading Dies | Redding – Neck Sizer |
| Bullet Type | Bullet Weight Grains |
Net H2O Grains Capacity |
COL” | Powder Type | Powder Charge Grains |
Muzzle Velocity fps |
Muzzle Energy ft/lbs |
3 Shot 100 YD Group |
| Barnes TTSX |
130 |
83.7 | 3.340 | Alliant Reloder 16 | 76.5 | 3600 | 3741 | 0.8 |
| Barnes TTSX |
130 |
83.7 | 3.340 | Alliant Reloder 17 | 78.5 | 3637 | 3819 | 0.7 |
| Barnes TTSX |
130 |
83.7 | 3.340 | Hodgdon H414 | 83.7 | 3570 | 3680 | 0.9 |
| Barnes TTSX | 168 | 79.1 | *3.360 | Alliant Reloder 22 | 77.0 | 3202 | 3825 | 0.5 |
| Barnes TTSX | 168 | 79.1 | *3.360 | Alliant Reloder 26 | 80.0 | 3275 | 4000 | 0.5 |
| Barnes TTSX | 168 | 79.1 | *3.360 | IMR 7828 SSC | 77.5 | 3233 | 3899 | 0.7 |
| Berger VLD Hunting | 168 | 82.2 | 3.340 | Accurate MagPro | 83.0 | 3270 | 3990 | 0.4 |
| Berger VLD Hunting | 168 | 82.2 | 3.340 | Alliant Reloder 26 | 82.0 | 3286 | 4029 | 0.7 |
| Berger VLD Hunting | 168 | 82.2 | 3.340 | RS Magnum | 85.5 | 3221 | 3870 | 0.6 |
| Berger VLD Hunting | 175 | 82.6 | *3.360 | Accurate MagPro | 83.0 | 3200 | 3980 | 0.9 |
| Berger VLD Hunting | 175 | 82.6 | *3.360 | Alliant Reloder 22 | 79.0 | 3187 | 3948 | 0.8 |
| Berger VLD Hunting | 175 | 82.6 | *3.360 | IMR 7828 SSC | 79.0 | 3198 | 3974 | 0.5 |
| Barnes TTSX | 180 | 77.9 | 3.340 | Alliant Reloder 26 | 78.0 | 3169 | 4014 | 0.4 |
| Barnes TTSX | 180 | 77.9 | 3.340 | IMR 7828 SSC | 75.5 | 3128 | 3911 | 0.9 |
| Barnes TTSX | 180 | 77.9 | 3.340 | RS Magnum | 81.0 | 3092 | 3822 | 0.7 |
| Nosler Partition | 180 | 82.2 | *3.360 | Accurate MagPro | 82.5 | 3182 | 4047 | 0.5 |
| Nosler Partition | 180 | 82.2 | *3.360 | Allaint Reloder 26 | 81.0 | 3211 | 4120 | 0.7 |
| Nosler Partition | 180 | 82.2 | *3.360 | RS Magnum | 84.0 | 3129 | 3914 | 0.5 |
| Hornady ELD X | 200 | 77.7 | 3.340 | Accurate MagPro | 77.0 | 3001 | 3999 | 0.3 |
| Hornady ELD X | 200 | 77.7 | 3.340 | Alliant Reloder 26 | 76.0 | 3039 | 4102 | 0.5 |
| Hornady ELD X | 200 | 77.7 | 3.340 | RS Magnum | 79.0 | 2970 | 3919 | 0.8 |
| Hornady ELD X | 220 | 75.1 | 3.340 | Accurate MagPro |
72.0 | 2802 | 3836 | 07 |
| Hornady ELD X | 220 | 75.1 | 3.340 | IMR 7828 SSC | 70.5 | 2874 | 4036 | 0.4 |
| Hornady ELD X | 220 | 75.1 | 3.340 | RS Magnum | 75.5 | 2831 | 3916 | 0.4 |
| *Exceed SAAMI 3.340″ maximum cartridge overall length | ||||||||
Conclusions…
The 26″ barrel Winchester Extreme Hunter and 300 Winchester Magnum is quite a combination. Good power, good reach and even a lot of fun range shooting. For big and dangerous game in North America, I could not think of anything that would be too much. By the same token, a little softer loaded, and with lighter bullets, the combination would make for a heck of a deer rifle.
The 300 Winchester Magnum is a powerful cartridge, and the XPR is not a heavy weight. There are some costs for those benefits including getting bounced around a bit, even with the brake. I did all of my work with a suppressor or brake in place, shooting from a weighted sled. Yeah for me. It is a combination that takes some practice to gain proficiency, but not a lot.
As indicated in Part I, there are lots of other calibers to chose within the Winchester XPR Extreme Hunter where the answer to an application is not the 300 Win Mag. Very nice rifle, a solid performer and a bargain at current rifle market prices.
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