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Reloder 15 is an excellent powder option for your application.

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I am a big fan of Wipe Out.  It doesn't stink, you can leave it in the bore overnight and it does a great job of removing copper fouling.  No brushes…just a good jag and cotton patches will do the trick.  If I do need to use a brush, I prefer to use nylon.  If I am dealing with a nasty bore, JB bore paste to the rescue.  If I need to just remove carbon fouling, I like using carb cleaner. For a general purpose solvent, I've come to really like Hoppe's Elite.  For old school nostalgia, it is hard to beat good old Hoppe's #9 🙂  I like Tipton rods and jags and Lucas bore guides.  I've also used many a Sinclair bore guide with complete satisfaction.  Bottom line, only clean when accuracy goes south and protect that crown!

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JM; recoil tolerance is a personal thing.  I find the 300 Win Mag to be sharp and painful as compared to the 375 H&H for example.  Please keep in mind that stock design, bullet weight, overall rifle weight and bullet velocity all skew the mix of what hurts and what doesn't (for me).  The most distasteful cartridge I've ever shot is an unbraked 340 Weatherby Mag.  The largest cartridge I have fired is a 416 Rem Mag.  Shooting the 340 Wby Mag was the closest I've ever come to getting the “Leupold kiss” from being bitten by the scope.  The older I get and the more arthritic I get 🙂 the more I appreciate standard cartridges at standard pressures. That being said, a pard of mine has a {heavy) Rem 700 300 win mag that shoots tiny bug holes with 210 gr Bergers.  It kicks no worse than any 300 WSM I've shot with 180 gr bullets…which is tolerable for a day at the bench.  Regarding accuracy, you pays your money and takes your chances.  A good friend of mine brought over a battered old Savage .308 with a vintage Redfield scope and a weathered old box of Remington 150 gr Core-lokts.  He asked that I sight it in for him.  I tried but I couldn't get that rifle to shoot over 1/2 moa at the 100 yard line.  I TRIED my best to buy that rifle…but he wanted it for a “truck” gun.  He had more expensive guns for hunting 🙂  Conversely, I know many a man who has paid big bucks for custom and semi-custom rifles who couldn't get the accuracy I experienced from that beat up old Savage.

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Hi JM;

All of your cartridge choices are way more than sufficient for your intended purposes.  Do you reload or do you plan to use factory ammunition?  If the latter, do you have a good local supply to draw from?  I’m recoil sensitive due to some physical limitations and much prefer the 300 short mag over the 300 win mag.  I liken the 300 WSM to a 30-06 on steroids.  I haven’t shot a 300 WSM from a Tikka platform but I have shot well over a hundred from a Kimber 8400…tolerable.  I shot one magazine of 180 gr.  factory 300 Win Mag from a Tikka Hunter and it was very unpleasant  ;D  I see an advantage with the 300 WM IF you load/shoot heavy for caliber bullets.  Personally, I feel bullet choice is more important than the head stamp. 

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Hi Al…have you posted about this “small trick” before?  I am very interested to learn about it.

Do you have a trigger pull gauge to measure your adjustments? If not, this is all a moot point…you can't safely adjust your trigger.

That said, I've safely adjusted a dozen T3 triggers to between 1-1/2# and 1-3/4# with the factory adjustment screw…and a small trick.

I have a half dozen Ernie springs un-used in the toolbox, as I haven't needed them after I got the rifles “tuned” up.

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While this is an old post the topic is relevant.  Sight height is the measurement from the center line of the bore to the center line of the scope.  The easiest means to measure sight height is to use a dial caliper.  Pull the bolt and measure the diameter.  For illustrative purposes, lets say the measurement is 1/2″.  Divide that in half for the center line measurement.  Insert the bolt back into the rifle.  Measure the distance from the top of the bolt to the bottom of the scope…let's say 1″.  Now, measure the diameter of the scope's maintube…again, let's say it is 1″.  Divide this in half.  Now, add the measurements together: 1/4″+1″+1/2″=1.75″…which is the sight height for that rifle with that particular scope.

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Robert…which smith did you use to have the chamber punched Ackley?

I found an 8 twist 223 super light at a local big name store awhile back….. And bought it ! Then I punched it out to 223AI. I'm diggin it so far! Just need to decide between the factory stock @ 7# & change, or the comp/tac at 8 1/2#.  Here's a couple teaser pics.

For the GB, I'm trying to whittle away from the following list:

7-08 compact- punch it out to 284 & run 162 amax's for elk hunting (long miles, loads of vertical),
260- or 6.5 swede forest- nothing bad to say about either- and the T3 action is about perfect for a swede!
204 compact- gonna be a collectors item I think,
260 ctr- just to stomp custom rifles at matches.

I think it'll be at least one of the 6.5's (260, or swede), and good chance of the 7-08 (I have a pile of amax's). It could be a broke spring for me after this….