Does anyone here have any experience with this round. I was thinking it would be a great middle ground between 7mm regular mag and the 7mm RUM or STW. I know brass and dies must be an arm and a leg to get ahold of. But it has alot of potential no? beltless case design and all that.
Any info would be appreciated.

mark

Markus - I have been shooting the 7mm Dakota for over 8 years. In my opinion the cartridge is a perfect balance between improved performance over the RemMag, yet not as inefficient as the ultra mag. I get an honest 3200 fps with a 160gr Nosler Partition Gold with 74.5gr of RL-22 or 76gr of H-4831sc. This offers a little better performance over the STW or Weatherby.

Brass is expensive at a $1 per case, however, with neck only sizing and annealing after 5 reloads, my brass has lasted a very long time.

[ 10-29-2002, 17:43: Message edited by: Zero Drift ]

Thanks alot zero drift. I was wondering something actually is the dakota also based on the jefferys case?

I have a 300RUM but the case length is so long wouldn't mind it if it was a 300 dakota. From what I understand the dakota is a jeffery's case but with a larger head size. Couldn't a guy run a 300RUM case into a 300 dakota full length sizer to push the shoulder back down. and then trim the extra off the neck to effectively make a 300 dakota wild cat? It would be a wild cat because it has a different head size. But the case volume would be identical to a 300 dakota.

Is it possible?

markus, when Remington came out with the 338 UM they shortened the case by .090" Thats when I got serious about getting a couple reamers made on that case. I just got through checking the grains of water from a resized case that has not been fireformed and it is 108 gr. this was from the 7/338 RUM I also had a 30/338 RUM reamer made. The loaded round was seated to be firm against the lands and I still have around .070" less than magazine length for my 700 action. I bring all this up as an option to the great brass expense you are concerned with, and to bring to light another way to get where you want to be.

.300 Dakota Case Dimension
Case Rim & Body - .5450"
Base To Shoulder - 2.086"
Shoulder Angle - 32 degrees
Case OAL - 2.550"

.300 Ultra Case Dimension
Case Rim - .5340" (Rebated)
Case Body - .550"
Base To Shoulder - 2.387"
Shoulder Angle - 30 degrees
Case OAL - 2.850"

The 7mm Dakota, .300 Dakota, .330 Dakota, .375 Dakota, .416 Dakota, and the .404 Dakota all share the same parent case - the .404 Jeffery.

Markus, technically, you could push the shoulder back on the Ultra and achieve your Dakota �wildcat�, however, I am not sure you have made any positive gains. Dakota brass is not soooo expensive to waste a lot of time attempting to form suitable brass from the Ultra case. Then considering the cost to cut custom dies and you probably have invested enough time and money to purchase a lifetime supply of Dakota brass.

I know it gets cold and dark up there in Canada, however, you could simply continue to reload your RUM and shoot it.....or not.

Hahaha you are so right zero drift. I do have too much time on my hands lately. I find myself thinking about this stuff way too much. thanks for helping to set me straight though. tims idea sounds like a pertty good one though.