I have the opportunity to purchase a very lightly used Remington Model 700 in .300 RUM. I'm not overly familiar with the cartridge, but the ballistics look very intriguing. The fact that it can be downloaded to .30-'06 levels and all the way to full on .300 RUM levels makes it seem very versatile with the wide selection of bullets available to be hand loaded. I have a CZ 550 in 9.3x62, and was looking for another rifle in .300 Win Mag when I came across this. I'm not recoil sensitive, so that isn't a factor. Just looking for some input on the cartridge from shooters and hand loaders. Thanks!

Had one for a short time

I thought I wasn't recoil sensitive too

I have 3 of them. Accurate, hard hitting and the capability of loading 190 gr or heavier and still keeping the velocity levels up. Decent long range trajectory.

You find a lot of very slightly used one's on the secondary market for a reason.

Had one for my elk rifle. M700SS in plastic stock. Shot well under MOA. It is a great cartridge and the recoil never bothered me but of course I shoot a 375H&H. Put a muzzle break on it when I first got it until I shot it without hearing protection while hunting. Don't know who hurt more, me or the elk.
Only sold it because I don't hunt elk any more.

I have one. I like it. Shot a lot of animals with it. Doesn't bother me when hunting, but hated shooting it off the bench for sight in/load development. Much worse off the bench than a 375 H&H to me.

Need tough bullets for full power loads or they'll fragment on short (under 100 yard) shots.

I had a great track record with mine (# one-shot kills) on everything up to Elk, Kudu and Zebra. Very similar to the 300 Wby but probably easier to make shoot accurately. I used 200gr Accubonds or Partitions in mine.

Unless you're looking for long range fun (600+) I think it's too much of a good thing. It has slight edge over .300WM but if I'm going to shoot far enough to need that little bit, I'd probably be looking at turning it into a .338 Edge or .338 Norma Mag.

There is pretty much nothing you can do with a 300RUM that you can't do with a 300WM except burn more puwder in more expensive brass. My brother in law bought one for long range deer hunting. As it turns out I can place my shots more accurately at longer ranges with my 06 than he can with his RUM due to recoil differences.
They are a dime a dozen on the used market around here.

It is the only RUM I haven't owned. I wouldn't own another one, if you handload and have room in the action for big bullets it is a hell of a round.

I had one and loved it....pleasure to shoot...accurate.....but used only for whitetails, which was silly, so traded it off.

I've got one, a custom Sako/McMillan/Gaillard build that shoots great out to 1000. Even used it on a cull hunt so it has its share of death and destruction on it.

When this barrel is done I'll make it into something else, probably a .338 RUM. In the real world I only get a 150 fps velocity increase over my .300 Wins, and for that I get a ear splitting, obnoxiously loud cartridge that just isn't much fun to shoot. I don't mind the recoil, but still don't want to take it for nothing or almost nothing. Besides that, my barrel went downhill very fast. I had to rework the loads at 600 rounds to eek a little more life out of it and that's with a 3.800" Sako Mag.

quote:

Put a muzzle break on it when I first got it until I shot it without hearing protection while hunting.

Did that once, never again. That was the worst I ever blasted my ears. Its bad enough without the brake.

I have a mod 70 stainless. I handload 180 accubonds @ 3400FPS (chrono'd). Hell of an open country gun.
I though it was tough off the bench as well until I began shooting 458 WM's, Lotts and 470 NE's. Seems like a pussy cat now…

EZ

I like it! Shot through a sable broadside at 450 yards with one in Tanzania. Accurate, easy to load and fast with heavy bullets. Basically overkill on plains game but I like overkill!

I had a Remington Sendero (the original ones) in 300 RUM. Had a Zeiss 3.5-10x44 and a Vias muzzle brake. Shot 180 gr TBBC and Sciroccos <1/2 MOA. I killed a lot of stuff with it, including an Oryx in NM at 415 yards. It was a dead accurate, long range rifle.

I eventually sold it (got what I had in it) because the rifle was just to darn heavy and the muzzle brake made the barrel 28".

My replacement rifle, which I still need to work up a load for is a 300 Weatherby barrel for my Mauser M03. I went ahead and magnaported the barrel to keep the muzzle jump down.

Now, it's been a few years since I sold the rifle (I think I sold it in 2011?) And have't had anything in to fill the gap between my 308 Win and 375 H&H, but I've killed a heck of a lot of stuff since then with my 308 Win, 8x57, 375 H&H, and 404 Jeffery. So do I really need a replacement cartridge? Probably not, but with the Mauser M03 barrel option, why not? Though one would argue, successfully I might add, that the cost of a barrel and scope mount is more than most new rifles!

So why am I planning on a 300 Weatherby? Easy, Elk. I honestly think that's the only thing I can justify it for, or a 300 Win Mag even. I guess I could shoot 270 gr TSXs from my 375 H&H if I wanted to get better ballistics than my 300 gr TSXs.

quote:

Originally posted by Dogleg:
I had to rework the loads at 600 rounds to eek a little more life out of it and that's with a 3.800" Sako Mag.

We built a 7.82 Warbird as 1000 yard bench rest rifle on a Barnard heavy action.

The barrel was rat-f'd within 500 rounds.

At least with the 6.5-284 you get 800-1200.

If you want to go fast and beltless, it is the ticket. In my experience, not a fussy cartridge to reload. 3300-3400fps with a 180 accubond is a reality.

I have one on a Sako action. Very accurate but the recoil is there.

We have the original 30/404 - we developed it long before Remington came up with the 300 RUM.

Ballistically they are identical.

I built mine on a Sako action, and a Dan Lilja 27 inch barrel.

Extremely accurate, and very flat shooting.

I get over 3400 fps with 180 grain bullets.

Like all large capacity cartridges, it does have some recoil, but not really serious enough to stop you getting used to it.

Thanks for the input guys! That's why I love this forum!!

I would never intend for this gun to be a plinking gun. But for my hunting purposes now and in the future, it seems like a real good option. I can get used to the recoil. I used to deer hunt with a 12ga shotgun shooting 3" mag slugs. That used to get brutal after a while! I just like the idea of really being able to tailor the loadings over such a wide range. And the number of choices of good quality .30cal bullets out there is nice to have also.

We have a Remington Sendero in this for this cartridge.

It is very accurate, and the velocities we got are better than our Weatherby Mk V in 30-378 Weatherby.

"It's the only RUM I haven't owned. I'll never own another one....."

WTF??????

can't imagine why i would want such a big case. ! for open country , i think the 7mm mag is great for deer , and the .338 win for elk.
If you need more in north america you are shooting to far !
...tj3006

My intentions are not to make extreme long range shots on game, although the range is nice to have. I just have an opportunity to purchase a very nice rifle at an attractive price. I try not to take a shot on game outside of 100yds whenever possible. I don't feel it is a fair game to the animal I am hunting past that. I prefer the challenge of getting in close. If I do any extreme long range shooting, it would be at paper.

How about barrel life ?

quote:

Originally posted by DocEd:
"It's the only RUM I haven't owned. I'll never own another one....."

WTF??????

I just think their are better ways to skin a cat.

I am a F-Class competitive shooter, so I am more incline to pick a cartridge for long range that has better components.

Like the 6.5-284, WSMs, 300 & 338 Norma or the 338 Lapua.

First question I ask is:

Does Norma, RWS or Lapua make brass for it?

The RUM's have a great designed cartridge, but since I am going to go with a custom barrel and custom action, I am better off picking something that is built from the ground up for precision.

Just me nit-picking it.

May seem like a small thing, but small things matter at a distance.

The .300 RUM is Super! -My Remington Model 700 was VERY accurate, also with reduced loads.
Recoil is stiff, but you have many ways to compensate for that with the various slip-on recoilpads, muzzlebrakes, etc.
Avoid rapid fire, unless you have to.

quote:

Does Norma, RWS or Lapua make brass for it?

Does Norma, RWS or Lapua make brass for it?


It was probably a rhetorical question, but Norma does make brass for it.

I'll be damned, I didn't know Norma was making brass for it.

Nice!

It's a great cartridge if you need the ballistics that it provides, but like most "upgrades", the cost comes in recoil, muzzle blast, and more expensive ammunition. I love it, and to say it's only a modest improvement over a 300 WM....well, you could say a 300 Win Mag is just a modest improvement over a 30-06, and a 30-06 is just a modest improvement over a 308, and a 308 is......pretty soon you'll be back to "shootin yur thudy-thudy" :-)

Never owned one and don't have any desire to. My friend who does muzzle brakes at Barnes Bullets said he had done more muzzle brakes for the 300 RUM than all other calibers combined. When shooting reloading data, they had to re-chamber every 4-6 rounds to deal with throat erosion. Kills like lightening but on deer and elk size targets so does my 338 WM with the Barnes 200 grain TSX. DW

quote:

Originally posted by ted thorn:
Had one for a short time

I thought I wasn't recoil sensitive too

I feel your pain ...

quote:

Originally posted by Big Wonderful Wyoming:
I'll be damned, I didn't know Norma was making brass for it.

Nice!

I mostly have it around for my Edge.

After benching a .458 Lott, the .300 RUM feels like a bb gun!

I think anything over the 300 H&H I have is too rough on barrels and my shoulder.

That said, Remington succeeded admirably in their goal for the "Ultimate Magnum" 30 caliber rifle.

Why the concern over barrel life??? Are you going to use it for prairie dogs? Maybe for high power competition?
With all due respect, most of my big game rifles get fired less than 1/2 dozen times for sight checks and less than that in a hunting season. So if the barrel went south in 100 rounds, it would last me 8 years worth of hunting.
It is probably possible to burn up a barrel in 100 rounds if you sat down and fired them off in one session as fast as you could but I can't imagine why you would want to do that. Used for hunting the RUM shouldn't burn up barrels any faster than a WM or Roy and it has a hell of a lot more velocity potential. Unless you don't consider 2-300fps faster to be significant.

I presently shoot a 300 Win mag, my favorite is the 300 H&H..

The RUM will beat the 300 H&H by a 125 FPS on average, and the 300 Win. mag by 200 FPS as best as I can tell from my chronograph, and for that measly amount of velocity you get a 55 gal drum of extra recoil and muzzle blast, but hey some guys can take that recoil/blast with a grain of salt so its the gun for them I suppose, I know Robgunbuilder could take a 40 MM cannons recoil and giggle. It must be his DNA

QUOTE] With all due respect, most of my big game rifles get fired less than 1/2 dozen times for sight checks and less than that in a hunting season.[/QUOTE]

What you do is closer to normal than what I do. Barrel life for different calibers are tied at infinite if you never get there.

150-200 rounds is a fun Saturday morning for me, but seldom does a day that I'm home go by without a couple boxes of something going down-range. I've got my own 800 yard shooting range, and live a few minutes away from our club range as well if I feel like company. We typically rotate through a half a dozen rifles apiece to allow barrels to cool.

I just built a 1917 Enfield into a .358U/M.
26", fits me, balanced, weighs 14lbs 7ozs, recoil isn't too bad.
I wouldn't have a ear buster if they gave me the factory!
IF you can't handle the recoil without a brake on it, get a smaller rifle IMO.

Twice now I've fired 50rnds in two hours learning the gun and fire forming brass. These are real light loads so far, 170gr cast, 10gr Red Dot. But, I've shot half dozen full loads and they're nothing I can't handle. I just had a new total right shoulder put in Jan 22 too.

Haven't gotten the chronograph to work yet, won't read so I don't have any info there yet.

I've always preferred to carry a heavier rifle than get kicked by a light one. I don't have slings either. One of the jokes is: "I carry it in one hand til my knuckles drag the ground, then change hands".

Good discussion, enjoy reading others opinions most of the time.

George