300-221

[bobg]

Lets hear some opinions on this caliber in a Contender for whitetail size game. I would be useing a 14" barrel with 150 grain bullets.
 

               Thanks,
                   bobg

[Lone Star]

Don't do it.  The 150-grain bullets are too slow and too tough for this cartridge.  The developer of the .300 Whisper (~ same as .30-.221) recommends the 125-grain Nosler Ballistic Tip for deer - follow his advice.  

[fyrepowrx]

Excellent advice there from LoneStar..stick with 125 grain BT or at the most the various single shot pistol bullets up to 135 grains. The Sierra is more likely to expand than the Hornady at Whisper velocities; jacket is a bit thinner. I have a 10' .300 Whisper & a 12" VV 300/221 & they both shoot heavy bullets well but, 150's arent going to open up much on deer. I have also had good luck with the bulk Remington 125 grain in several small-case .30's in TC barrels, but they have not produced the accuracy of the 125BT's.

[Doc T]

What they said.  I have two 10 inchers but my favorite is my 20" carbine barrel.  I have been shooting Hornady 130gr but I was actually planning to go load some 125 Ballistic Tips when I get through 'net surfing this afternoon.

[Gregory]

Excellent advice there from LoneStar..stick with 125 grain BT or at the most the various single shot pistol bullets up to 135 grains. The Sierra is more likely to expand than the Hornady at Whisper velocities; jacket is a bit thinner. I have a 10' .300 Whisper & a 12" VV 300/221 & they both shoot heavy bullets well but, 150's arent going to open up much on deer. I have also had good luck with the bulk Remington 125 grain in several small-case .30's in TC barrels, but they have not produced the accuracy of the 125BT's.

 
fyrepowrx
 
Have you used the 125 Rem bullet on deer?  If so, how did it perform.  A couple of years ago, I took a small buck at about 30-35 yds with this bullet out of a 10" barrel TC.  Very little blood trial.  Deer made about 100 yds after the shot.  Hit him through both lungs broadside about midway up.   Chest cavity was full of blood, but I almost lost his trail.  I was so unimpressed with the caliber, for deer, I sold my barrel.

[fyrepowrx]

Greg;

i have used that bullet on deer but not in the .300 Whisper...i have a 12" SSK .30x39 which probably generates about 200 FPS more than the whisper so it may not be a valid comparison, but i've taken 2 with the SSK barrel & those 125SP's. First one went through the ribcage without hitting any major bones, deer went about 50 yards & fell over, no massive exit hole or anything but the lungs were well perforated.

Second was at a deer quartering away & went through the onside ribcage & went through the offside shoulder blade, it also exited..quite a bit of damage on the shoulder. That one staggered only a few steps.

The bullet is not explosive at 300 Whisper speeds, and does not expand as well as the lightweight Nosler BT's, but at the same time it will punch through WITHOUT blowing up if you hit a shoulder....guess its a trade-off overall, i'd have to say it expands about like the Hornady SSP bullet does.

If you speed it up, fire it from something like a 309JDJ, or the 30/30Ackley Improved (thats what i shoot) then it does start opening up, i shot a small pig with my 30/30AI & that bullet & damage was pretty severe. It didnt exit, even though the hog was only about 70 pounds.

hope this helps.

[spinafish]

My Custom Shop .300 Whisper really likes the 125 BT's as far as accuracy goes, will almost stack them! Another bullet that I have been playing with is the 125 Sierra HP, intended for use in the 30-30.  I know it doesn't have the high BC of the BT's, but man, what a pretty mushroom!  I will probably use it this year while woods hunting, going back to the BT when hunting the fields!

[fyrepowrx]

Spinafish;

thanks for the info on those 125 FNHP, i have a few boxes of those but never shot anything with 'em yet, they shot OK but were not the most accurate in my tubes. They sure looked good though, plenty of lead exposed & the HP to help expand, glad to hear the jacket is thick enough to keep them from blowing up.

do they seem tough enough to you to withstand a couple hundred more FPS from cartridges bigger than the whisper? where i hunt its rare to even be able to see a hundred yards, most deer we shoot are at 50-75 yards, so a high BC doesnt matter as much to me as reliable expansion...

[spinafish]

sorry, haven't visited in a few days.I believe it would handle probably 400 or so fps.  I have loaded them in 30-30 for a friends Marlin lever gun and an old Savage 340 with a barrel right at 16" long.  They were shot through a large plastic bottle of water and then caught in wet phone books at a distance of about fifty yards.  Penetrated about five inches of phone book..  I have also loaded the little 90 grain XTP that is meant for the 30 Mauser and 30 carbine..it is VERY explosive from the 300 Whisper..

[palgeno]

Hey Guys---I have used the Sierra 125 gr fnhp handloaded ( Varget) with good result ( exceptionally accurate) in my Marlin 30-30 chronoed at 2470 fps----kills 100 lb deer really dead---never shot a bigger one with it. Good idea to try it in the 300 Whisper! :grin: pg

[bobg]

Well guys it looks like with the right bullet this is a deer caliber. I have some 125gr. hp from Cor-Bon. Will these work for deer?
          Thanks again, bobg

[palgeno]

Keep your shots in the right place and at reasonable distances and you will be fine. :lol: pg

[Bugflipper]

I have used the 125 grains out to 190 yards on deer, performed flawlessly every time it entered the vitals. Quite honestly I don't remember how many deer taken with the whisper, maybe 11 or 12, none ran over 70 yards, some piled up and didn't run. I believe you already made your mind up, but I'd just like to say to stay away from 150 gr sp ammo. I tried remington bulk 150 gr loaded up. Just not enough steam to mushroom the bullet. I had a heck of a tracking job on one account, on the other I got lucky enough to finish the animal quickly with a second shot. Those corbons will do fine, I loaded some in a herret a few years back. Another option may be the single shot pistol bullet (I believe from speer,,,,, maybe sierra). I can't recall if I was using it in a tcu caliber or in the whisper, at any rate if they make it in a 30 no matter the grain, give it a try. It has a thin jacket and will do well at low velocities. One other option is the hornady v-max it will do a very fine job. I played around with a load in 7 tcu and 7-30 waters, both worked great on deer down to low velocities. No large holes as associated with varmint bullets at high velocities.

[BruceP]

Bugflipper, how are the blood trails usually with the whisper and the lighter bullets. I have only shot one deer with mine. It was with the 125 gr. Ballistic tip. While the deer only went about 50-60 yds. it left only small specks of blood here and there. It did get complete penetration through the chest and took out the top of the heart but the exit hole was small.

BruceP

[Gregory]

Bugflipper, how are the blood trails usually with the whisper and the lighter bullets. I have only shot one deer with mine. It was with the 125 gr. Ballistic tip. While the deer only went about 50-60 yds. it left only small specks of blood here and there. It did get complete penetration through the chest and took out the top of the heart but the exit hole was small.

BruceP

A couple of years ago, I took a small buck at about 30-35 yds with this bullet out of a 10" barrel TC. Very little blood trial. Deer made about 100 yds after the shot. Hit him through both lungs broadside about midway up. Chest cavity was full of blood, but I almost lost his trail. I was so unimpressed with the caliber, for deer, I sold my barrel.

Bruce I had the same experience as you, my bullet was a pass through too.

[BruceP]

Greg, if this tends to be the norm then I may have to think about sending my barrel on down the road also. I would like to hear some reports from someone who has several kills with the whisper before I decide though.

BruceP

[brasskeeper]

This may be a stupid question. How would this cartridge campare to 7.62x39?

[fyrepowrx]

i own both in 12" barrels...my .300/221 is by Virgin Valley, my .30x39 (7.62.39 with .308 bore) is by SSK.

The whisper lags behind by about 200 fps depending on the load/bullet weight, it tries hard,  but it just runs out of case capacity before it can hit the higher speeds.

[brasskeeper]

i own both in 12" barrels...my .300/221 is by Virgin Valley, my .30x39 (7.62.39 with .308 bore) is by SSK.

The whisper lags behind by about 200 fps depending on the load/bullet weight, it tries hard,  but it just runs out of case capacity before it can hit the higher speeds.

Thanks for the response. I bet both are loud out of a 12" barrel.

[patw]

I will be leaving for the Texas hill country in the morning, and a friend and I were both going to try the 300/221 on the small hogs that we have, most are about 60-80 lbs.  I had some 150 BT loaded, but after reading the above, I did some emergency reloading with the 125 BTs.  My friend had reloaded some 150 gr hollow points, any opinions if those would expand sufficiently?

[patw]

I  shot a pig with it and was less than impressed.  60 or 70 lb pig showed up at about sixty yards, got a good broadside shot.  Did not even knock it over.  Found  some blood where I hit it, looked like a good lung shot.  There was not that much of a blood trail, it was very  hard to find and follow in the dark, and we finally had to give up.