I'm reloading for a friend that will use his rum for wisconsin whitetail hunting. Full power definately not needed. Has anyone run any 150's/165's at "starting loads" with accuracy?? Right now with factory ammo he's getting ton's of bloodshot meat. I'm hoping to slow him down to about 300win mag speed with maybe some Partitions or tsx's and save his shoulder a bit in the process.

That's always the problem w/ magnums, high impact vel. @ close range. I don't shoot a RUM but an upgrade to a premium bullet will definetly help w/ bloodshot meat. I use 160grNPs in my 7mmDakota @ 3250fps & have had several kills through the shoulder @ close range .

roger

quote:

Originally posted by kraky:
I'm reloading for a friend that will use his rum for wisconsin whitetail hunting. Full power definately not needed. Has anyone run any 150's/165's at "starting loads" with accuracy?? Right now with factory ammo he's getting ton's of bloodshot meat. I'm hoping to slow him down to about 300win mag speed with maybe some Partitions or tsx's and save his shoulder a bit in the process.

76gr IMR 4350 behind a 165 grain bullet at 3000fps would be a good start. However , as I'm sure you know, that in his rifle it may or may not be accurate.

I don't load for the 300RUM, but I've run a lot of reduced loads through my 300 WM. First thing you need to watch for is detonation. Make sure the cases is at least 80% full or you risk blowing the rifle up.

I would pick a bulky powder that helps fill the case and keep the load density high without excessive pressure or velocity (H1000 comes to mind). I would also select a long bullet that takes up some space in the case. All of these things will help bring your load density up. That seemed to help me with accuracy. I'd try a medium load of powder with a heavier bullet. 86 grains of H1000 should give you 3000 fps with a 180 gr bullet. H4895 worked well for me in reduced loads for my 300. I'm not sure it will work with the RUM (it may not be safe). I'd definately call the powder companies tech lines to see if they have any suggestions about which propellant to choose.

The easiest way to eliminate blooshot meat is to shoot larger bullets at slower velocities. A tougher bullet like a Barnes TSX will help as well. It wont really help in the recoil department though. The load I listed is still 300 fps slower than the max load. With a 9 pound rifle that would reduce the recoil energy from 36 pounds down to 31. a tougher bullet like a Barnes TSX will help as well.

Being this is for a "friend" I sure won't be using anything that isn't a published load....just don't need any problems that way.
I was hoping someone had some luck with some published starting loads.

I think any of the published loads will work, but they wont be really accurate unless you can fool with the rifle and expirement. I got decent accuaracy from starting loads in my rifles (2.5" groups @100 down to 1" at 100), but nothing spectacular. I think that getting the right COL for the rifle is more important than the exact powder charge. At least that was true in the three rifles I load for. Once I had a good COL I was getting 1-2" groups. Adding powder and looking for the "best" charge weight shaved another .5" off my groups.

kraky, friends don't let friends shoot whitetails with a RUM...

But if you do, and not that I'm concerned with his shoulder mind you, I'd use a starter load in a 200-220 grain round nose just to keep velocity down. Not even going to look in a manual before hazarding guess, but 2700 fps ought to be doable, give or take, +/-, more or less. I'm in the camp that sez fillin' a big case half way full is a bad idea. Big bullet, fastest powder you can find data for, and start = finished...good luck in any case.

Actually, Accurate Powders load manual does a lot of loads using 5744 powder in the Ultra Mag cases for reduced load.....

It is not position sensitive or temperature sensitive....

Accuracy is not bad.. I stil prefer IMR 4198 or SR 4759 for accuracy... ReLoader 7 and 2400 are also not bad choices....

Cast bullet manuals also have a lot of reduced loads... if they don't have the Ultra Mag case listed.. loads for a 300 Weatherby or a 300 WinMag would also work well.. just giving a little less velocity...

A round nose, or a 170 grain 30/30 bullet would also work well without giving a lot of meat damage..

cheers
seafire

I'd try AA8700 start load of 102 grains even the max of 113 grains is only presure rated at 56k psi. and you'd be shooting a compressed or near compressed load. 105-106 should be good for 3000+ out of a 26" bbl. with 165 grain bullets. Nothing i've ever tried but looks workable. I use this powder for my 7mm ultra.