Thursday Range Bag V

In this installment of the Thursday Range Bag, I’d like to talk about a cartridge that has flown under the radar of most shooters, but is getting a groundswell of support from hunters and bench-shooters alike. That usually spells cha-ching for the manufacturers.. A friend in the know tells me that this is Weatherby’s best seller now..

The cartridge is the .30-378 magnum. As the name tells us, it is a thirty caliber bullet in a necked down .378 Weatherby magnum case.

Here is a pic for comparison. The .30-378 is on the right, .30-06 in the center, and a 7mm STW on the left

There are reports of extremely long and extremely effective shots on deer and other hill dwellers in the western part of the country. Word has it that hand loaders are putting 110 grain bullets over 120 grains of slow burning powder in that cavernous case, and getting 4000 feet per second muzzle readings. Its also dropping whatever critter it hits instantly out to 800 yards..

There is also a large contingent of bench shooters that have adapted this cartridge in the 1000 yard competitions. If they are getting that kind of velocity with the inherently accurate .30 caliber bullet, I bet that these reports are accurate, pardon the pun.

I have shot a .378 Weatherby Magnum, and for reference, it kicked about like a 7mm ultra mag, or a little more that a .300 ultra mag. Or to say it better, the fillings in my teeth hurt for a day or two after firing either of the above offhand.

So for me, unless I am heading out west, I cannot see me needing this in my safe, but damn, it sure is freaking cool.

In closing this thought, if the throat in any rifle of this caliber has the slightest scratch or machining mark on it, erosion would definitely start early. I’d double check the throat of any rifle I bought in this caliber to ensure that the throat is polished to a mirror shine. I guess that goes for any firearm in the monster magnum family though.

Second and lastly, to get the best out of this round, hand loading is a must, as is a 30 inch barrel. Factory rounds are 165 grains or above, so the little screamers are out of reach if you cannot hand load..

Here is some ballistic info on the cartridge.. The lighter bullets are not mentioned here though..

That is all...