I don't own a rifle chambered for a belted case. I know the belted cases headspace on the belt and non-belted on the shoulder. What does the belt do for or against case reloading life? Is it possible the get the belted case to headspace on the shoulder? Which do you like more, belted or non-belted?

Volumes could be filled with discussion over this. Here is just one man's opinion. Treat the belted mag case that has a definite defineable shoulder (not those that are more like tapered) such as the 7 mm RM, like an unbelted case and let it headspace on the shoulder, it will last longer. HSing on the belt encourages stretching and case head failure. sundog

Confer the two pics here:

A .300 WinMag



Both are magnums, but you can put one beltless more in the mag. As today technics allows exacter headspacing, you don't need the belt for that purpose. (Except .458WM)

Unbelt the magnums!

Fritz

Belts don't bother me per se. As I understand it, the reason they're their is because it was in vogue.
The taper of the H&H and the lack of shoulder of the 458 aside, there just isn't any reason for it. I do wish the 9.3x68 case were as widely available as the H&H, b/c I'm certain we'd see the 2.5 and 2.85" case replaced by it.
That on the one side and the RUM on the other, you could choose either higher mag cap or a bigger case with same capacity. Not sure why to seek out the belted.
That said, the 300 and 338 are proven performers, without any real mark against them.
If that's what you're looking for, don't sweat the belt.