Criterion 300 Weatherby Build

Marc of Maine sent us some info on his 300 Weatherby Mag build using a Criterion Barrels Inc. barrel purchased from NSS. He also included a photo of his target shot at 183 yards.

Here are the specs on the barrel:

• 24” Criterion sporter contour- small shank Savage- 300 Weatherby Mag.- 10 twist
• NSS precision ground recoil lug

Here is what Marc had to say about his build.

“Barrel arrived yesterday in pristine condition, and I was able to install the complete build quickly into an MDT chassis. I originally wanted to do a more traditional wood stock—but realized that the standard long action magazines would not accommodate the 3.560 COL so went the MDT route since their AICS mag goes out to 3.715.”

Went out this morning just to get some break-in rounds through the barrel and cleaning between shots. Conditions were also pretty sucky—shooting into a quartering headwind of 20 mph in light rain. I saved the last three cartridges to do the 3 shot “Weatherby Test” just for grins—as they say the picture speaks for itself. : ) Thank you for a great deal on a great value product.

The load came straight out of Nosler’s guide for 165/168 grain bullets: I used 75 grains of IMR 4831 with 168 grain Custom Competition bullets (I have a 250 count box I got for very cheap so I use them for “consumable testing”). I used 7 cartridges for “break-in” though I suspect it probably didn’t need it and then did the 3 shot group. I’ll try some Elite Hunter or TTSX bullets eventually. I still have a few boxes of partition bullets—the old 180 gr partition cartridges made by Norma were classic hunting cartridges in 300 Wby. A fun and easy build.”