Winchester's XPR Renegade Long Range SR 300 WSM Part II

01/03/2021

The Winchester XPR Renegade Long Range SR is a… pleasant and rewarding firearm to shoot. Certainly a couple of adjectives I don’t often use.The combination of a little bit of heft, a good fitting Grayboe stock and a SilencerCo Omega 36M took the edge off of magnum report and recoil in a major way. It is a rifle that made for some very enjoyable range days. It is a rifle that would make for some very enjoyable hunting days.

The Logic of “Long Range”

There is a distinct difference between long range  target shooting and long range hunting. Paper can be punched at any range and a miss means no more than an unblemished target. A miss with long range hunting could mean a wounded animal, lost to the hunter, and left to die where ever it finally fell or, even if recovered, a deer or elk with shot out hind quarters. Ethical hunting comes into play and “long range” is a relative term. The first time we participate in a hunter’s safety course, we are told, reminded… and reminded some more, that shooting distance limitations are determined by the type of game, environmental conditions, capability of the firearm, and competency of the shooter.

Personally, I am a 1,000 yard paper target guy with many… many targets left unscathed. I am only a 300 yard hunter and nothing has ever gotten away. The limitation has nothing to do with age, as I was always a 300 yard maximum hunter. I’ve never had the motivation to reach farther to see where my shooting skills ended, because that range would be marked by a failed hunt and possibly a lost, wounded animal. There are a good number of folks out there who could easily double my hunting maximum range. There are also many who just think they can. Those that can put in the time and train to get there. They know their firearms and ammunition inside and out. They are true marksman and they know how to adjust for crosswinds, temperature changes, irregular elevations and they know the anatomy of animal they hunt. Those that can’t are social media influencers.

Why all of the hunting references for the Winchester XPR Renegade Long Range SR and not competitive shooting references? From my perspective, the rifle is optimally configured for the long range hunter and is lacking the amenities associated with 1,000 yard target competition. As examples, the barrel is sporter weight and 24″ long, rather than longer and a target heavy weight. The stock does not have an adjustable comb or cant or heel/toe adjustment. All of this is a good thing because those features would be superfluous to a long range hunter and they would have unnecessarily nearly doubled the weight and price tag of the rifle.

The Winchester XPR Renegade for the long range hunter

Handload bullet selection

All five bullets selected are expanding types as listed on the handload data table. The first, a flat base secant ogive design, the others are VLD hybrid secant/tangent ogive design. The first, a Hornady SST was selected because it provided a relatively high ballistic coefficient for a lightweight .30 caliber bullet. It was seated to its cannelure as recommended by Hornady reloading manuals.

The 125 grain bullet is not listed within Hornady reloading data for the 300 WSM, 300 Win Mag, or 300 Weatherby. However, it is listed for the 308 Win, 30-06 Springfield, 300 H&H, and 300 Remington Ultra Mag. Used with the 300 WSM, the 125 grain bullet falls within Hornady’s impact velocity range criteria, and Hornady indicates it is suitable for deer and similar size game.

The Berger VLD Hunting bullets are good for thin skinned medium and large size game. The Hornady ELD-X are a bit tougher, stay together at short distances, but will still expand appropriately at longer ranges. In any event, the Winchester XPR Renegade seemed to like the selection. The flat base, secant design is supposed to be less tolerant of seating depth and distance from rifling. The Hybrid is supposed to be less sensitive to the same. Fortunately, Hornady put a big ol’ cannelure around the bullet with a tiny sign that say “Stop Here!” when seating.

Handload Data

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.