.300 RUM Potential?

hunter-4-life

hunter-4-life

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A local guy in town absolutely loves is .300 RUM so much he's almost got me convinced on adding one to the safe (don't need it, but want it anyway haha)
But what i'm unsure of is what is the potential that this round has? Can I load it down for deer and what not so I don't leave watermelon size holes and I don' punish my shoulder every time I shoot? (would like 165gr barnes TTSX but open to suggestions)
Im not recoil shy, in fact I shoot my neighbours 300 SAUM Remington Model 7 with no issues, but from what I understand the 300 RUM gives a bigger thump.
Would you recommend this rifle as an "all around" rifle, one from deer to the big bears? My rifle of choice is probably a Remington 700 XCR II

Sorry for posting so many threads, I'm just doin some research before dropping $1000 on a rifle.
 
IMHO the 300RUM is too much of a good thing, unless you are shooting long heavy bullets at long range. Most guys that own the RUM cartridges seem to think it's a laser death machine, but then shoot animals at 200 yards. :)
 
I have owned two custom rifles in 300RUM, and they did very well for moose and elk, but I certainly wouldn't recommend the 300RUM, for an all around rifle. Recoil is a significant step up from the 300wm, and barrel life is significantly shorter. If you practice enough to be able to use a 300RUM to potential, the barrel isn't going to last overly long. If you are the box or two per year shooter, you will never shoot the 300RUM to it's potential.
 
I used my .300 RUM on quite a few cull animals this year, maybe 50 in total. They ranged up to buffalo well over 2000 pounds and a scrub bull on the heavy end. I'll freely concede that trying the last two teeters on retarded, but whatever. I did it all with 180 Accu-bonds too.

In answer to whether you can do everything on your list with one; sure.

Then theres the question you didn't ask," Is it worth it.?". To that I have to say probably not. My RUM just isn't that much faster than my vanilla plain .300 Wins to justify the buck and roar. With the volume I was shooting, the heat and noise was past abrasive. That's with ear muffs too.
 
Is it worth it?? Does it have a significant gain over a .300 WM or 300 WSM? My shots can vary from 0-600 yards out here (depending on where you are out here). I wouldnt take a 400+ yard shot with out being able to hit a pie plate 3-5 times in a row, consistently too not just once and call it good.
 
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I think it is a bit much for an "all around" rifle. I don't know what percentage of the average hunter's hunting life is spent hunting things that "need" that level of power, but I bet it is actually quite small compared to the time hunting game that really doesn't need that much violence on either end of the gun. It is also not likely that you will enjoy shooting it enough to shoot it a lot just for fun. I think it's a much more specific round for larger than deer game, so I would encourage something more like one of the '06 based rounds, or maybe something in the .308 case as an "all rounder" that will be much more fun. Save the .30 cal. magnums for special duty.

There are lots of reasons to own more than one gun.
 
I've owned 2 and although the calibre will do everything you want it to, the rifles are too big and cummbersome to carry through the bush all day. For my type of hunting, a 22" barreled rifle in your hands is better than a 26" barreled rifle slung over your shoulder. But that's just me.
 
Both my #1 son and I have 300 RUMs and they most definitely are a one gun does all for NA. His 300 RUM is his first go-to rifle over all his rifles, he always has loads for it and never touches his scope so it is always ready to go. I designed this cartridge 10 years before Rem SAAMI'd it and 3 or 4 years before even the Can or Imp magnum came out with it, but alas we didn't have the powders back then to make it really perform as we have today. The recoil is significantly higher than even the 300 Wby and one should never use anything but the best built bullets for game as it is a bullet destroying SOB. The boy and I have used everything from 165 ABs (his first choice) through 200 ABs, Parts and A-frames. I'm waiting until the new 210 LRAB is in regular supply and then I'm going to work on loads for both it and the 190 LRAB. My original goal was to drive a 30 cal 200 gn bullet at 3300 fps from a 24" barrel and the 300 RUM will do this now with the new powders available, but it is much easier with the 26" tube normally screwed on these rifles. I will probably get Marshal (Matrix Bullets) to build me some bullets in the 190-220 range as well and see how they perform from this cartridge. My pet is still my 300 Wby with 200 gn loads but I do like the 300 RUM as well.
One of the nice thing about the 300 RUM in the country we hunt is that one never knows what you're likely to see while hunting and it can be from 50 to 750 mtrs, could be a super Dall ram or caribou way out there on a mountain top or it could be a 2000 lb moose pops out at 50-500 mtrs or a grizzly at any range from spitting distance out to several hundred mtrs. The 300 RUM covers all these scenarios better than most cartridges.
 
c-fbmi said:
Both my #1 son and I have 300 RUMs and they most definitely are a one gun does all for NA. His 300 RUM is his first go-to rifle over all his rifles, he always has loads for it and never touches his scope so it is always ready to go. I designed this cartridge 10 years before Rem SAAMI'd it and 3 or 4 years before even the Can or Imp magnum came out with it, but alas we didn't have the powders back then to make it really perform as we have today. The recoil is significantly higher than even the 300 Wby and one should never use anything but the best built bullets for game as it is a bullet destroying SOB. The boy and I have used everything from 165 ABs (his first choice) through 200 ABs, Parts and A-frames. I'm waiting until the new 210 LRAB is in regular supply and then I'm going to work on loads for both it and the 190 LRAB. My original goal was to drive a 30 cal 200 gn bullet at 3300 fps from a 24" barrel and the 300 RUM will do this now with the new powders available, but it is much easier with the 26" tube normally screwed on these rifles. I will probably get Marshal (Matrix Bullets) to build me some bullets in the 190-220 range as well and see how they perform from this cartridge. My pet is still my 300 Wby with 200 gn loads but I do like the 300 RUM as well.
One of the nice thing about the 300 RUM in the country we hunt is that one never knows what you're likely to see while hunting and it can be from 50 to 750 mtrs, could be a super Dall ram or caribou way out there on a mountain top or it could be a 2000 lb moose pops out at 50-500 mtrs or a grizzly at any range from spitting distance out to several hundred mtrs. The 300 RUM covers all these scenarios better than most cartridges.
Click to expand...

Good to know. Basically I would want loads for deer, loads for elk and then the full loads for moose/bear etc. I have a .243 for coyotes and what not but want something bigger that I can take to Alaska or Africa for plains game if the opportunity ever arose. I dont handload yet, im planning on it within the next 3-5 years tho.
 
What does "need" have to do with it? If you fancy a new .300 RUM, then a .300 RUM you should get! I have a .338 RUM and love it. The real advantage to these big cartridges is not necessarily driving a light bullet ridiculously fast, but rather driving a heavy project fast. They have the horsepower to do it and the tougher heavier bullets will typically cause less meat damage (assuming shot placement is kept judicious). Recoil is considered by many folks to be in another league than the typical belted cartridges of the same caliber, but you have to pay the piper for what you have - a fast, flat shooter capable of delivering heavy for caliber projectiles way out there. Get one. You will love it. (Hope you reload).
 
I'm hoping that the Norma brass will get me a little more speed with acceptable case life. The Nosler stuff I'm using won't even get me to the book max without pressure signs. It feels somewhat odd to be loading starting loads in a coal burner.
 
I have owned 6 rifles chambered in 300 rum and currently own 2. In my remington I shoot 210 grain bergers. In my Hs precision I shoot 200 grain sierra spbts. I dont find the recoil to be excessive. I consider the 300 rum to be a great all round cartridge for north america for everything including big bears. The 300 rum is best when using bullets 200 grains and heavier. If you dont take long shots on a regular basis It is more then you will need. But in the end who cares about need? Its all about want. You should buy one.
 
I load mine with 200gr Barnes TSX. My gun is one of the first Rem 700 XCR.
I like the extreme boom, I'm no recoil shy.
Imo, those have to be loaded with heavy and strong bullet. 180gr feels like a waste of energy.

Get one absolutely. But replace the stock with a stronger one. I have bedded mine in Bell and Carlson stock.

This is a big boomer. Enjoy it !

Mush
 
When the 300 RUM first came out, Savage chambered it in their wood stock rifle with open sites. I was target shooting at the Selkirk rifle range one day and a man came up and showed me his new rifle. He just bought it and there was no scope on it. He told me how much better it was than the 300 Win Mag I was shooting.

Well I continued to shoot with my pea shooter 300 Win Mag. He fired his rifle, it hit the ground, he started crying. I thought the rifle blew up. He was fine but with a bruise shoulder and ego. The unscoped, wood Savage is a pretty light platform for a 300 RUM it turns out...

That is my only time I've ever ran across someone with a 300 RUM.
 
I really like my s/s 26" barreled Rem 700 LSS in 300RUM it has its place in my collection of rifles just like any of my other rifle/cartridge combos do.

I load 200gr A-Frames & 200gr Accubonds @ 3200fps I also have a box of Rem factory 30-06 equivalent 150gr level 3 loads with my 200gr zero'ed at 200 yards these give 200 yard deer hunting accuracy without a change in hold.

My son has put a 200gr A-Frame lengthwise thru an 8' grizzly @ 200 yards I've shot deer and black bear with it it definitely hits with authority.
 
A couple of the guys here have them; the one I had the opportunity to shoot was a M-700 custom rifle in a McMillan stock with a Benchmark 28" barrel. It shoots. I didn't have the opportunity to use it at long range, but I was impressed none the less. The handloader determines the versatility of his rifle. The more powder capacity a cartridge case has, the more you can do with it. In the case of the .300 Ultra, you could dribble cast bullets out at 1600 fps with light charges of Unique for plinking and small game. You could reach out well past a kilometer with a 210 VLD started out at a bit better than 3000 fps with a case load of R-25. Or you could load a 150 gr hunting bullet over enough 4895 to give you 2500-2700 fps for a good deer load. A 250 gr Barnes Original, or a similar bullet from a custom bullet maker, again backed by R-25 could be loaded to 2800 fps for heavy game like bison. A 130 gr TTSX/R-25 combination sneaks up on 4000 fps, and would prove deadly on anything from coyotes to moose. All in all, that looks pretty versatile to me.

But here's the rub. Grossly over capacity cartridges like the .300 Ultra and the .30-378 Wby need long barrels to perform to their potential, and an exceptionally long rifle is not always the best tool in the field. So despite the versatility of the cartridge, the .300 Ultra is probably at its best as a niche gun, for those occasions where you would like to precisely place a bullet on a target at 1500 yards. In 24" trim, its just another noisy .300 magnum.

I very much like the .375 Ultra. IMHO, it has the correct powder capacity for the bullet diameter and weight. In a short barrel, compact hunting rifle, the .375 version is a more versatile cartridge than the .300 Ultra could ever hope to be.
 
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Boomer I find the same thing I grab my 375RUM before I grab my 300RUM but really only due to the 375 having a 21" barrel and the 300 a 26" barrel.

I do like shorter faster handling rifles with that said though when I hunted alpine this last Sept I was grabbing my 300RUM.

Retumbo is my powder of choice for the 300RUM with 200gr bullets.

200gr Accubonds 94grs Retumbo Fed 215 primer

100 yards

img_9200.jpg


300 yards

img_9196.jpg
 
The next time I feel the need to own another 300 RUM, it will have a 28 inch barrel with a 1 in 16 twist. There's just something about launching a Barnes 110gr TTSX at 4500fps that interests the hell out of me.
 
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