# 300 ultra mag



## trikortreat (Dec 10, 2008)

anybody know much about the 300 ultra mag? not buyin one. my uncle would like to know. what i know is that they have very good velocity for such a large round. just wana know what yall think.


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## varmit b gone (Jan 31, 2008)

Whats he going to be hunting? I think unless your hunting grizzlys or African game you don't need such a hellaciously large caliber. I think a 300 Win Mag is just as good for just about anyting in America, but if he just wants something that big just to have more power to him. :sniper:


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## hypno (Mar 3, 2009)

It's a good big game caliber if your shooting beyond 500yds. Under 500yds, it's wayyy overkill.


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## trikortreat (Dec 10, 2008)

sorry i didnt mention that. Yes hes gona be huntin grizz. he has gone 5 times. Hes leaving soon to goto alaska to unit 13 just north of Anchorage for the spring bear hunt....he will be gone till May on acount hes going to be timber wolf hunting also i believe. but hes not going to use the 300 RUM on those suckers! lol just was wonderin what yall thought bout it. i was with him the other day n we found a nice remington 700 in 300RUM and i think he might go for it. it looks like a sweet caliber.


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## Centerfire (Jan 13, 2006)

I really like the concept on the 300 RUM - 3 guns in one as you can buy 300 RUM ammo for: 1) Medium , 2) Heavy and 3) Dangerous game

I would rather site the gun in for the different loads than shell out over a grand apiece for a second or third rifle. At least until the economy gets stable anyway it makes alot of sense to me.


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## Wyomingpredator (Oct 16, 2007)

My brother in law has one and swears by it, He has shot deer from about 150 to 550 yards and elk out to 350 yards and says it is awesome as for Grizz with a good bullet it would be hard to beat, and well worth the money IMO


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## NDTerminator (Aug 20, 2003)

I had one for awhile and ended up trading it. the full house 300 RUM performance is almost unreal. The down side are substantial recoil, expensive ammo & brass, and very short barrel life.

I was concerned about barrel life when I got it so I called the Remington Custom Shop and asked one of their smiths directly. He was very straightforward & honest. He advised a barrel life of just 1,000-,2000 rounds!!! He said the 300 RUM was designed to perform first & foremost, and that's just the price of that performance.

BTW, at that time Remington was only selling full power loads. I consider the "three power level" bit to be just a gimmick to sell the RUM after they committed to it and figured out that it was too much gun for all but special applications.

I would be very surprised if you can load down a high case capacity round like the RUM with consistent performance & satisfactory accuracy. In fact, if you handload reduced charges in a round like this that is designed to be filled to the gills, it's very dangerous.

Seems to me if you want 06' or 300 Win Mag, buy it, don't try to gimmick it. If you want/need 300 RUM performance, then buy that...


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## Plainsman (Jul 30, 2003)

NDTerminator, once again I'm with you.

Also, there are still two schools of thought out there. They originated with Elmer Keith and Jack O'Connor. Old school recommended large caliber heavy bullets. Then along came the 270 Winchester and Jack got on board hook line and sinker. From that day on velocity reigned supreme.

Today some people are gravitating back to the ideas of old school. I am in between on this, but would pick a 338 Winchester mag over the 300 RUM for bear.

Frontal diameter is important or it would not be necessary for bullets to expand. They build them to expand so that they can get 45 caliber performance out of a 30 caliber cartridge. The velocity is important, but the light bullet weight will not carry it as deep into the animal without the mass.

The number one rifle of guides in Alaska is the 338 Winchester. Lately the Department of Interior has began to issue Marlin guide guns in 45/70 for protection against bears when working in dangerous areas.

If you reload you can get near 300 RUM performance out of a 300 Win Mag. I can get 3200fps out of mine with a 200 gr bullet and I think the RUM is 3250 fps. Like NDTerminator pointed out performance isn't great with download 300 RUM. It isn't great in the 300 Win Mag when you download. I restrict downloads to smaller capacity cases.


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## NDTerminator (Aug 20, 2003)

Plainsman said:


> Today some people are gravitating back to the ideas of old school. I am in between on this, but would pick a 338 Winchester mag over the 300 RUM for bear.
> 
> The number one rifle of guides in Alaska is the 338 Winchester. Lately the Department of Interior has began to issue Marlin guide guns in 45/70 for protection against bears when working in dangerous areas.


Right back at ya... :beer:

I had the 300RUM and currently own both the 338 Mag and 45-70, so I have first hand experience with them all.

I like the 338 Mag better than the RUM as a large/dangerous game round. It's much easier on the rifle, much less costly to shoot & load, and is very easy to load for. If a guy wants to use it for them, it will kill deer & other medium game in fine fashion without being outlandishly overgunned.

The close range quick handling and crunching power of a Guide Gun stuffed with heavy 45-70 loads simply has be seen to be believed. Even if a guy never stops a bear charge with it, the 45-70 is a ball to mess around with.

I really believe the 300 RUM is best with it's full house loads in a specialized role, such as a cross canyon elk buster...


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## JDOster (Nov 27, 2006)

I've taken every species in Alaska except bison with my 300 ultra mag including 2 coastal brown bears, and I've found it to be a good caliber with plenty of knockout power for even the biggest bears. I reload using 84 gr of RL-22 with 180 gr Barnes-TSX.

Jason


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## Plainsman (Jul 30, 2003)

I'm sure the 300 RUM is a good rifle, and with X bullets will perhaps stop just about anything. Like NDTerminator across canyon for elk would be it's ideal use. No doubt it will stop bears, but is it the best or ideal caliber? I don't remember if it was Alaska or the Yukon where a native woman killed two very large grizzlies with a 22 long rifle when they were destroying her winter food cache. 
If I was shooting at bears at 400 yards I would take the 300 RUM because the ballistic coefficient is going to allow it to retain more energy than the 338. If I am shooting under 100 yards and I worry that there may be a possibility of the bear charging the 228 with a 250 gr bullet has it all over the 30 caliber. If the bear is close that old 45/70 with a 405 gr bullet pushing slightly over 2000 fps has it all over both. 
Put that bear at 25 yards and I would take my single shot 45/70 which handles 405 gr pushing 2250 fps. That's nearly 4600 ft/lb and starting with nearly 1/2 inch frontal diameter.

I mentioned the old school of thought. Try this site: http://www.benchrest.com/sst/taylor.html

You will notice that the 300 RUM has a KO value of 28 and the heavy loads in a 45/70 have a KO value of 59.


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## Brad from ND (Jan 23, 2007)

I have one and love it. I use it for deer and elk. Is it overkill on deer? You bet. Is it the perfect brown bear gun? Nope. Will I ever get rid of it? Not a chance. The accuracy out of my gun is awesome with handloads. If I was getting a gun for just bears, the 338 win is hard to beat. The 338 RUM would definitely work too, but then you're back to that almost too high of velocity to retain enough weight on a close shot. I guess, if the price was right, I'd get it. If he can get a better suited rifle for the same price, I would do that instead.


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## trikortreat (Dec 10, 2008)

BassnMan said:


> I have one and love it. I use it for deer and elk. Is it overkill on deer? You bet. Is it the perfect brown bear gun? Nope. Will I ever get rid of it? Not a chance. The accuracy out of my gun is awesome with handloads. If I was getting a gun for just bears, the 338 win is hard to beat. The 338 RUM would definitely work too, but then you're back to that almost too high of velocity to retain enough weight on a close shot. I guess, if the price was right, I'd get it. If he can get a better suited rifle for the same price, I would do that instead.


i wonder what some guys are gettin out of there 338RUM with hand loads? so yer sayin dont go with teh remington er go with a different make? dont understand ya sir?


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## Brad from ND (Jan 23, 2007)

What I'm saying is if I had the choice between a 300 RUM and a 338 win mag for a strictly brown bear gun, I'd go with the 338. If I wanted a gun that would work for bears, deer at long ranges, elk, than the 300 RUM would definitely be one to look at. If you used the RUM at close range on browns, though, you better use a 200 gr TSX or another all copper bullet, or you will probably have bullet failure. A lead bullet can come apart at the velocities the RUM cases can reach and that's not a chance I'm willing to take on a ****** off brown.


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## Plainsman (Jul 30, 2003)

The 338 RUM was tempting at one time, but I think I am getting to old to mess with the recoil. I noticed in the reloading books that the highest velocity for a 250 gr bullet was 3002 fps. The highest velocity in the reloading manual for the 338 Lapua with a 250 gr bullet was 3002 fps. Identical without needing a bank loan for 20 rounds.
In a form on long range hunting guys are shooting deer at 1500 yards with the 338 Lapua and RUM. 
I have always heard that cartridges that headspace off the shoulder were better than the magnums that headspace of the magnum ring. If I was purchasing a 300 magnum today it would perhaps be the RUM, but I currently have and odd ball 300 Win Mag that groups under 1/3 inch at 100 yards so I will stick with it.

JDOster, I find that R22 is the best powder for my 300 Winchester also. I use a few different bullets including the TSX and I can see where your combination is lethal. At long range the 30 calibers are very good. The high ballistic coefficient with the same weight makes them more lethal at long range than the 338 Winchester. The velocity has to be picked up into the range of the 338 RUM to beat your rifle at long range.


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## Brad from ND (Jan 23, 2007)

I run RL-22 in my RUM also. 93 gr and 165 Accubonds shoot sweet out of my gun. Plainsman, it was a tossup between the RUM and the win mag. I was 25 when I bought it so I guess I fell into the bigger is better category. Mine is just a SPS in a HS Precision stock and a trigger job. This thing must have been a Wednesday morning gun. It has shot every load I've tried well. I've been thinking of building a long range rig and I tell everyone to go RUM over Lupua. They're ballistically equal and a lot cheaper to run. If I do build one though, it's definitely going to have a muzzle brake. I'm already getting tired of the recoil of this one.


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