EXPEDITION BIG GAME S - Winchesterwinchesterproductdemos.winchester.com/newproducts-2016/... · 2016. 2. 24. · Winchester ammunition has helped seal the deal when the trigger was

150 YEARS OF LEGENDARY EXCELLENCE20

ince the second half of the 1800s, wherever men have journeyed

in search of big game—whether for sport or for food, whether to distant lands or on the back 40—Winchester ammunition has helped seal the deal when the trigger was pulled on a

well-aimed rifle.

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From the company’s earliest days, Win-chester’s energy was

focused on improving shooting performance—

first by designing a rifle that better accommodated the

.44 Henry rimfire round. That resulted in the creation of the Model 1866 “Yellow Boy,” the very first Winchester rifle. It was basically an improved Henry rifle, which Winchester as the New Haven Arms Company had designed to work better with the early load.

Soon after, the company focused on developing another new rifle and chambered it with a more powerful and reliable load of their own creation. That

The .300 Win. Mag., arguably the best all-around caliber for hunting big game (remains among the most popular of the .30-caliber hunting options today. Its praises are echoed by such modern outdoorsmen as writer and outdoor television host Tim Herald, “I say it is the best North American big-game cartridge ever,” and Winchester World of Whitetail host Ron Spomer, who in this same catalog suggests “it’s considered by most experts to be the most perfectly balanced, do-all sporting rifle cartridge ever designed.” In American Rifleman, gun expert and writer John Haviland wrote, “of the dozen or so .300 magnum cartridges, either short or tall, fat or slim, the .300 Win. Mag. is far and away the most popular.”

Meanwhile, the .300’s big brother, the .338 Winchester Magnum and its opportunity for heavy weight payloads well over 200 grains has also garnered its legion of fans, many who place it at the top of the list as a true North Ameri-can big game-getter where elk, moose and brown bear are being

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combined devel-opment would take shape as the Model 1873 (later known as the Gun that Won the West) and its stan-dard chambering, the .44-40 WCF (Win-chester Center Fire). It was the company’s first centerfire car-tridge, but would be far from the last.

Over the next 143 years, Win-chester would go on to develop and attach its name to some of the most popular, top per-forming hunting and

big game cartridges ever created. Some of the more notable include the .30-30 Winchester, credit-ed with being used to harvest more deer than any other caliber in American history; the .270 Winchester, favored by famed Outdoor Life legend Jack O’Connor, who was a life-long proponent of the cartridge; the .243 Win-chester, a light-recoiling favorite for everything from varmints to deer; the .308 Winchester, a ubiquitous round commonly spotted in both deer camps and on long-range shooting benches; and the .405 Winchester, a favor-ite round of Theodore Roosevelt who called his Winchester Model 1895 chambered in the round his “medicine gun” for lions.

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Winchester Expedition Big Game ammuni-tion is loaded with the com-pany’s proven Accubond CT bullets and packaged to make selecting the perfect load for your big game hunt easy.

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A History of

BIG GAME HUNTING

ExcellenceWhatever far corners of the globe sportsmen wander in search of big game hunting adventure, Winchester has been—and always will be—there. By Doug Howlett

150 YEARS OF LEGENDARY EXCELLENCE22

pursued. “Many of my shooting and hunting pals are propo-nents of this cartridge for one reason or another, and they own a rifle chambered in .338 Win. Mag. that has become a pet ri-fle,” Gun Digest columnist Philip Massaro recently wrote.

In modern times, Win-chester’s focus continues to evolve, with their engineers working on obtaining even more performance from this legacy of proven calibers.

“Over the last decade or so, we’ve transitioned a lot of our effort from cartridge and caliber design to optimizing our bullet designs,” says Mike Stock, cen-terfire product manager at Win-chester. “There are a lot of great

Big game hunting in North America is big business and often requires quite a bit of investment on the part of the participant in obtaining gear, preparing mentally and physically for a hunt and in actually paying for the hunt. Quite often, it involves all three. With so much involved to make each hunt a success, it’s no time to scrimp on effort or quality. However, what is perhaps the most important part of the planning and execution of a hunt-of-a-lifetime is somehow overlooked by some hunters.

A guy plunks down $5,000 (or more) for a guided hunt. He’s maybe already spent more than a couple grand on his rifle and scope; hundreds more on a license and airplane ticket. Even on a do-it-yourself hunt, a hunter can have hundreds, if not thousands, spent on gear, gas, lodging, you name it. So why when it comes to ammo, some guys cut corners and take the cheap route? Good ammunition, after all, is the most critical link between you and the game you hunt. It is the one physical piece of this huge equation that most directly connects the hunter to the hunted.

“Many things are im-portant to keep in mind when getting close to an animal, but when it comes to the moment of truth, nothing is more critical than the ammunition you are using,” says Melissa Bachman, a world-renowned hunter and

host of Winchester Deadly Passion. “You’ve done all the hard work to get within range, you’ve stayed undetected, and now you need the confidence to know your bullet will perform. This is the last step in making a suc-cessful hunt and by far the most important.”

With Winchester’s new Expedition Big Game loads, this important step is made easier than ever. The company’s proven Accubond CT bullets are now packaged in the Expedition line to help hunters understand the best use for each round. With a focus on North American big game and African plains game, these new loads follow the simplistic approach by combining the best bullet weight and caliber for both continent’s big game species. The Lubalox coating reduces barrel fouling and keeps bullets in like-new condition, which also aids in smoother travel down the barrel and some increased velocity.

“You really want a tough bullet for some of the biggest critters,” says Stock. “You might plan on a long distance shot at an elk when hunting the open country of the West, but if you call one in close, that bullet is going incredibly fast and is going to be tested with a high impact velocity at 30 yards. You need the toughest bullet you can buy, because you don’t know exactly how close or far you are going to need to make a shot during the hunt of a lifetime.” AM

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calibers out there. We are finding ways to make those calibers work more effec-tively on big game and meet the needs of the hunters who hunt with them.”

Part of that effort is not just in making bullets better, but also in making their ballistic benefits easier to un-derstand for the average guy standing in the ammo aisle of his local sporting goods shop and deciding what to buy. In 2016, that effort and perfor-mance takes another leap forward—continuing Win-chester’s 150-year legacy of providing the best ammuni-tion for the American hunter.Expedition Big Game

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brutal hikes

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bullet will

perform.offerings include:

140-grain .270 Win.140-grain .270 WSM160-grain 7mm Rem. Mag. 160-grain 7mm WSM 180-grain .30-06180-grain .300 Win. Mag.180-grain .300 WSM200-grain .325 WSM225-grain .338 Win. Mag.300-grain .338 Lapua Mag.

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Keep It Real…And Fun

“Make your practice fun,” says Melissa Bachman, host of Winchester Deadly Passion. “It’s great to spend as much time on the range as possible but also make it enjoyable!” She sug-gests taking a new person out shooting, bringing your kids or family and making the shooting regimen exciting by changing up targets or turning things into a mini competition.

“The more time you can spend with your guns and ammo in the off-season, the more productive and suc-cessful your hunting season will be. And the more fun your shooting practice is, the more you will go out and do it,” she says.

Targets like the Do-All Out-doors Impact Seal 3D Prairie Dog (right) and the Birchwood Casey Ground Strike Hex Ball (below) keep things light and fun on the range.

— MELISSA BACHMAN host of Winchester Deadly PassionAMMO OF CHOICE: Power Max Bonded

— BOB FOULKROD Television Show HostAMMO OF CHOICE: Ballistic Silvertip

I want something that will bust through heavy hide and bone, causing extreme trauma and hold that weight all the way through, giving me quick clean kills on the biggest game.”

The ammo is absolutely critical no matter what you are hunting. It is what actually kills the animal, so you want your ammo to perform. Winchester has really brokeN it down for the hunter so they know exactly what

to choose.”

More Big Game OptionsWhile big game hunters will be excited about the new Win-chester Expedition Big Game loads, they still have other tried-and-true Winchester op-tions. For those value-obsessed hunters who still seek a level of proven performance, Power Max Bonded® come in a variety of calibers and bullet weights and also boast a bonded hollow-point bullet for both penetration and controlled expansion.

“My favorite thing about the Power Max Bonded bullet is the high retained weight,” says Bachman. “I want something that will bust through heavy hide and bone, causing extreme trauma and hold that weight all the way through, giving me quick clean kills on the biggest game.” Stock notes this is an ideal load for large deer all the way up to elk.

Another big name hunter who puts his trust in Winchester loads is Bob Foulkrod, a self-

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avowed long-range shooter on the range and a highly skilled marksman in the field.

“The ammo is absolute-ly critical no matter what you are hunting. It is what actually kills the animal, so you want your ammo to perform,” says Foulkrod. “Winchester in recent years has really broke it down for the hunter so they know exactly what to choose.”

Regardless of what cartridge Foulkrod is shooting, he prefers a .30-caliber 180-grain bullet.

“I know how it will per-form in the wind, at elevation and on various game,” he says. And while he has extensively used Winchester’s entire line of ammunition, for general hunting for deer and similar game, he confesses a fondness for the company’s Ballistic Silvertip bullets.

“They are super accurate,” he says. “When one hits some-thing, all the energy transfers for rapid knockdown power.”