Why do reloaders have a hard time with belted magnums?

I've been loading belted cases for more than 40 years and there is absolutely no difference between loading belted and non belted cases. Treat your belted case as though the belt doesn't exist and use all the prudent loading techniques and you will encounter no problems at all.
As to 338 WM vs 300 RUM, the 300 RUM is twice the cartridge the 338 will ever be. It is the killingest cartridge I have ever used on non dangerous game. Load it with a premium 200+ gn bullet and it will do things the 338 only dreams of. It is faster, flatter, hits harder, transfers it's energy better and is one of the most devastating cartridges on game I have ever used. It is an honest 750 mtr hunting cartridge in the right rifle with the right man behind it.
It has 2 downsides, it is a meat destroying SOB, even with premium bullets under 500 mtrs and it kicks like a mule, don't let anybody try to tell you different........the laws of physics cannot be denied.
It functions best in a 26-28" barreled rifle, so it's not a ultra light carbine cartridge, but if you have a great urge to "reach out and touch" something a long ways out this cartridge has few peers.
The 338 WM does nothing exceptionally well and is at best a mediocre killer, it has neither the range nor trajectory nor terminal energy of the 30 magnums, and doesn't come even close to the 340 and 375 class of cartridges...........YAWN.........JMHO.
 
Thanks for the info guys. I do all FL sizing for my rifles, just makes life a little easier when I take my ammo and shoot it in a different rifle. As far as a 325 wsm is concerned, I dont mind the caliber, but odd reloading stuff is hard to find here. .277, .284, .223, .30 and .338 are you basic options without driving 2.5 hours. I know brass for the RUM is hard to find, however the shop here has enough of it, he hit one to many zereos when ordering it in lol

I also borrowed a buddies 300 RUM 2 days ago in a Savage 116 stainless steel. Shot 10 rounds out of it before I was a little sore. Probably coulda shot another 5 but I was done. I would for sure put a better recoil pad on it, this one felt like a hockey puck as it was an older savage 116 not like new ones today that have a pillow behind them.
 
Yep. Marketing hype. All magnums are the result of the best marketing program in history. There's absolutely no game in North America that needs one to kill.
Guys argue about everything. Ford vs GM. Blonds vs red heads. RUM vs anything else. And if you think that's not true you're wrong!!! snicker.
 
c-fbmi said:
I've been loading belted cases for more than 40 years and there is absolutely no difference between loading belted and non belted cases. Treat your belted case as though the belt doesn't exist and use all the prudent loading techniques and you will encounter no problems at all.
As to 338 WM vs 300 RUM, the 300 RUM is twice the cartridge the 338 will ever be. It is the killingest cartridge I have ever used on non dangerous game. Load it with a premium 200+ gn bullet and it will do things the 338 only dreams of. It is faster, flatter, hits harder, transfers it's energy better and is one of the most devastating cartridges on game I have ever used. It is an honest 750 mtr hunting cartridge in the right rifle with the right man behind it.
It has 2 downsides, it is a meat destroying SOB, even with premium bullets under 500 mtrs and it kicks like a mule, don't let anybody try to tell you different........the laws of physics cannot be denied.
It functions best in a 26-28" barreled rifle, so it's not a ultra light carbine cartridge, but if you have a great urge to "reach out and touch" something a long ways out this cartridge has few peers.
The 338 WM does nothing exceptionally well and is at best a mediocre killer, it has neither the range nor trajectory nor terminal energy of the 30 magnums, and doesn't come even close to the 340 and 375 class of cartridges...........YAWN.........JMHO.
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I was with a guy who shot a big 400+B&C M Caribou last summer with the 300RUM at over 400 yds. It dropped instantly with a shot in the lungs. Of course they aren't hard to kill, but the bull appeared out of a snowstorm and he had to make a quick shot and the scope was on a low power, he didn't have time to think much. The point I'm trying to make is the thing is flat shooting.
 
I have loaded belted magnums for over 40 years, and I have neck sizers for everything. They are easy to work with, and some of my brass is real old. I anneal and trim regularly. It is a rare occasion that I full length resize. No problems ever with them, and I prefer them with the belts on them. IMO it is an anti magnum critic that started to bash them, and the rumor mongers amplified the issue without any fact or proof.
 
Ok so belts don't really do a whole lot, just watch your brass, trim and and don't push it to the limits. So now, from a reloaders stand point, which round is more favourable? I have access to your basic bullets in.30 and .338.
 
I never had any issues with belted cases, use standard reloading practice.
My non belted cases, RUM, Dakota, Jefferies cost considerably more than my
belted cases (7mm RM, 300 WM, 264 WM and 338 WM).
Just Saying.
BB
 
Buster95 said:
The Larry Willis belted magnum collet resizing die is useless? http://www.larrywillis.com/
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I have the Larry Willis collet resizing die. I had bought a batch of 300 WBY brass and after full sizing them they would not chamber properly. Once I used the Larry Willis collet resizing die they chambered smoothly. However if I were doing it again I would stick with new brass because the die aint cheap! .. although, now that I have the die I guess its not a problem
 
I used a Willis die to salvage a pile of .257 Weatherby brass that had been fired in one of my rifles that I sold and much of it wouldn't chamber in another one. I also used it on a .300 Win that was chambered with a super tight reamer. After a few loadings the cartridges would get progressively harder to chamber. The Willis die fixed that up too, though I eventually just ran a SAAMI spec reamer through it.

I made it 30 years of handloading without the Willis die, and could have made it a few more. I won't say its useless though.
 
Ive been reloading for 20 years and Im still not sure what these so called issues are. Sounds like a lot of bs to me. Don't worry about belted or non belted, pick the cartridge you want and start reloading for it
 
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