I find myself with 3 300 RUM rifles. They were a good deal

One m70 has a KDF brake and is redundant (I hate brakes)and was thinking of rebarreling. My options are 338 RUM 375 RUM or something else? Looking at ideas and opinions. I know I could make a 404 Jeffrey pretty easy.....

416 RUM? 458 RUM?

Haha now that would be impressive

8mm Rum firing Cutting Edge 256gr solids. Let me know it works.

What velocity would that get me?

Not sure. Something between a .30 cal 240gr Matchking and a .338 cal 300gr Matchking.

You didn't say if you wanted to go bigger or smaller?????

My next build will probably be a .270RUM. I have a buddy that has built bout all the RUM's below .338 caliber. His favorite is the 270RUM. The .264 is too overbored. A 30"+ barrel might work though.

He is shooting Barnes 110 grainers and said he could hold in the middle of a deer to 400 yds and be in the vitals. I'm guessing with a 300 yd zero. Seems like velocity was getting close to 4000 fps.

God Bless, Louis

How about a .425 WR? That's what I did. You can form WR cases out of RUM brass. They will be missing the rebated rim, but IMHO that's all to the good. You probably don't plan to clip load, anyway.

Easy conversion to a 404 Jeffery. Or how about the 7mm RUM?

Oh hey if you want 7mm Ultra Mag, I have a post-'64 Model 70 with a Shilen Select barrel that I'm getting rid of. I bought it used. A gunsmith ran a borescope in it and verified low round count. I'm getting rid of it because it has a 1 in 11 twist rate. I expected it to be a faster twist.

Good ideas here. Not sure a 7mm will give me much more than the 30? Was thinking of going up never really considered going down. The 404 Is a clear traditional choice. 375 is a hammer on big game from the sounds of it. Was trying to think of something useful? 338 would be a heck of a bear gun.

Depends on what you want it to do.

A 338 would be a long range elk smasher.

I just might sell it and use that money and barrel money to fund something a bit more pleasant.

and thats another good idea.....

How about a .358 RUM?

isn't that essentially the 358 STA?

I built a 375 Rum on a Brno 602 action. Lightly loaded it is a 375 H&H. Full throttlr it is quite a bit more but still a useful cartridge. With 250 or 270 gr Barnes bullets it has a flat trajectory and is useable on large NA game

quote:

Originally posted by bluefish:
isn't that essentially the 358 STA?

No. The 358 STA is the 375 H&H case necked down and blown out, right out. From memory is .505 t the shoulder as opposed to about .48 for most belted magnums. So it is bigger than the 8mm Rem necked up.

The 358 RUM would be a bigger case capacity. The full length RUM case (the 338 RUM is shorter) as in the 7mm, 300 and 375 rums is about midway in case capacity between the 300 Wby and 378 Wby and 378 based calibres.

You might not have to order a custom reamer. It's also called the 358UMT; Ultra Mag Towsley. Bryce Towsley had it done a while back.

I would go for 338 RUM - a great all around caliber. No brake required - 26" barrel.
Nosler brass.

quote:

Originally posted by crf:
I would go for 338 RUM - a great all around caliber. No brake required - 26" barrel.
Nosler brass.

The 338 RUM case is also good for 358 and for same reasons. Like the 338, heavier bullets in 358 have more bullet in front of the cannelure so if loaded to the cannelure OLA is greater than 3.6"

When I had 358 STA, even though necked down and fire formed 375 case, the resulting the 358 STA case was shorter than the 375. But with 250 Hornady seated to the cannelure OAL was just a bit long for 375 M70 and touch and go for Rem 700 as they are about 3.65" magazine.

Although I would still prefer a 358 on the full length RUM case and neck down 375 RUM as you don't have any donut when necking down.

quote:

Originally posted by LongDistanceOperator:
You might not have to order a custom reamer. It's also called the 358UMT; Ultra Mag Towsley. Bryce Towsley had it done a while back.

Nope, the gunsmith uses a 35cal neck/throat reamer after the 300RUM reamer. Dies are equally cheap, you use a set of Lee 300RUM dies, cut a new neck in the FL and seater die.
Cheers...
Con

Basically you have 4 choices...rebarrel, re-bore, trade or leave it alone, nothing wrong with any of these. Whatever you do go with the K.I.S.S. principle...KEEP IT SIMPLE and stay with factory/store bought ammo available calibers unless you just want to have a "one of..." then take your pick and Bobs your uncle. Base your decision on REALITY...what you REALLY are hunting and the distance.

Personally I would just re-bore to 338 or 375 RUM or if you were hunting T-Rex then MAYBE a 416 RUM...that one has been done...and all these are just easy as cake....er...pie. I'm guessing you have plenty of brass and at least one set of dies. Ch4D Will make you a very nice bushing die sizer that will encompass all 3 or a gunsmith can open up your sizer/seater but just buying the correct set might be cheaper, quicker, simpler.

If you are comparing velos/cartridges, be sure to compare equal length barrels, too often people just compare velos in reloading books WITHOUT comparing apple to apples and come away disappointed at the end result. You can get within ≈100 fs of PUBLISHED 375-416 RUM with a 375-416 Ruger IF barrel lengths are equal...and do it with a LOT less powder...20% less...which is something else to consider...argumentative to say the least. BUT you can also push velos higher with the 18% larger RUM case. LOTSA of head scratching to be done when you are contemplating mucking about with shooters.

Your choices are no different than building/buying/trading for a new rifle...in then long run. Good Luck

Good Hunting

I don't have a .338 RUM but I do have 2 Edges (necked up 300 RUM) and they are beautiful long range guns, but then, so is the 300 RUM.

There are all sorts of weird things that you can do but AnotherAZWriter, among others, hit the nail on the head with the 338 RUM.
Super easy, super killer!

My 2 cents, for free.
Zeke

.358RUM (UMT)

Just a short bit of info.
I had a 1917 Enfield that had been butchered, got it on a trade for an old scope I had no use for.

Ran across a guy on an old board that was selling a Douglas blank cheap. I wanted to build a .35 anyway so I snapped it up.

14:1", 26", knew it would be a kicker so built it heavy all the way around. 15lbs loaded.

Two loads: started with 250's and 90gr 7828
15 shot avg=2884fps. Damned good starting point.

We just shot some of the heavier loaded stuff and quit when 95gr turned 3260fps.

Just need to find some GOOD bullets for it now and pull the hotter loads as I won't shoot them.(98,99,100gr) No sign of pressure with the 95 gr loads. Just that imo that's plenty.

Seems like fine accuracy though we haven't grouped it. Lousy bench, cold wind so mostly we just shot for velocity. Still around 15-18 shots with three shooters from an unstable bench rest over bags were all within 4-5" not even trying for group.

IF a .35 and these velocities interest you, I suggest this build. Like most big stuff it'll kick all you wish for.

George

Yes good ideas all. Even the 375 RUM has my interest. Never thought of 35 are there good bullets? seems more in the 300-338-375-416 class. Heck 416 and 458 RUM seems interesting as well. I guess I need to decide if I want "long range" or "mammoth stopper". I have all of the above so it comes down to......???