Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Will the 300 RUM survive?

This cartridge has recently gotten my interest. With the three factory loaded levels, -from 30-06 to 300 Win to 300 OMG- and endless handload capabilities, it seems to be a pretty good round for about anything that walks. What do you think? Is Remington the only company that makes rifles in this cartridge? Thanks.

Don't know who chambers for it but think it should be around for awhile.It's got a steady following .

Generally unpleasant to shoot. Yet the 3 levels of power is a great tool for the marketing of that caliber. So the 50 year old overweight guy sitting in elk camp can tell everyone he is shooting a 300 RUM and it is quite pleasant to shoot, not telling them he is shooting the level one ammo (30-06). Makes for the perfect rifle "viagra".

I do have a 300 SAUM which I think is pretty cool.

I've used the .300 RUM quite a bit since it came out. I've found that it generally lives up to its billing of big, fast, and very accurate.

In hunting weight rifles (8-9 lbs)it has too much recoil to shoot comfortably from the bench without a muzzle brake (I hate brakes) and its appetite for powder (90+ grains per load) makes it fairly expensive to reload and barrel life is going to be on the short side.

I tend to view it as a niche cartridge. Great for long range hunting (provided one practices enough with it to develop his or her skills), especially for critters bigger than deer but not as all around useful for hunting as the .300 Winchester or .30/06.

This said if any of the Ultra Magnums survive it'll be the .300.

HBB

When I shoot my 6.5 lb 06AI from the bench--the sissy bag is my friend.......

Casey

I have no doubt it will survive, it won't ever have a large amount of the sales mix but it will survive.

As for the recoil, the 3 that I've worked with all had a bump about like a 12 ga 3" goose load. Really not to tough to deal with IMO.

As long as it has a tube that goes .65" at the mzl or so it isn't the end of the world.

Dober

I think the .300 RUM changed the attitude of .300 Magnum users in that with the others, all of them, the 180 grain weight was still the staple diet for most hunting.

When the RUM came out, the market responded with a desire to run 200 grain bullets in preference to the 180's as you can see by this site, whereby we not only have a fair slice of the RUM market contributing, but we have commentary on 200gn Accubonds and Partitions ad nauseum.

I think the RUM will survive simply because the serious hunter has adopted the cartridge and also the long range target shooters, recreation or otherwise.

I liked the cartridge when I tested my first 2 and rang it out in the bush on a range of game but I am less enthusiastic with my 3rd rifle as I have now had time to sit back and evaluate the performance compared to lesser 30's.

I appreciate the flat trajectory. I get very good accuracy levels as most do, but the animals do not come in a mid size that defines whether one cartridge will not work and another will work fine.

Handloading and selecting the right bullet appears to me, to be a far greater influence on whether any cartridge is appreciably better than a slightly smaller easier to shoot choice.

What do you blokes think?

AGW

I haven't used it since it first came out. I liked it fine, it shot well in the Remington rifle I used, and recoil never seemed like a big deal. But then I shoot a lot. Eventually decided that it was ballistically pretty much like the .300 Weatherby, which has fewer problems fitting into a "standard" action.

Am kind of getting intrigued with the .338 RUM though.

JB

Survive, likely, thrive, likely not. Once you go past a 300 win mag, you are dealing with recoil that most folks can't handle (many aren't up to the 300 winnies buck), and fewer still have the shooting skills to take advantage of what the 300 rum offers.

I kinda got away ftom the .300RUM for a while but slowly have come full circle back to it. It is a pretty good handful in a light rifle, but it works very well at less than full throttle also, and loaded to full throttle it really does reach out especially with heavy bullets. Needs at least 26" of barrel (or more). With my 1000yd rifle I have pushed 210 bergers over 3300 with good accuracy. I feel it is a very accurate round.

lefty

The 300RUM seemed to be on a good run at first until the 300WSM came on board and slowed things down. I have also become intrigued by the 338RUM after getting a good deal on one in the Remington APR verion. I have not used it much though. That is the problem these days, too much new stuff coming out and not enough days to hunt.

I am working on getting my 338 RUM put together. Sorry for the slight hijack but was wondering what seemed to intrigue you? (Mule Deer or blaser guy)

No..................it will not over time survive beyond the rest of the cartridges that fall into that category. Too close to the .300 Wby and it is already a classic.

I think it will survive, but I have no use for one as If I felt the need to have that much case capacity I would want a much larger bullet sticking out of it. I also don't understand the thinking behind offering it loaded to .30-06 power levels, to me this is seems like all flash and no substance. I guess that it would be like one of the Kit cars that looks like a Lambourghini but is really a VW bettle...

I used it as a basis for the "300 Slowpoke"!! Have a lifetime supply of brass but it will make it hopefully.

If you don't mind cooking the throat in your barrel in a couple hundred rounds, and getting the chit pounded out of you for an extra couple hundred fps that nobody really needs except ultra long range shooters, it's great for impressing the guys in deer camp.

Other than that it makes a GREAT tomato stake.

Somewhere between 300 Win Mag and 300SAUM is what most people end up with and find that they get WAY more power than a 308 or ought six and get their range extended to 600 or even a thousand yards with reasonable recoil and barrel life.

But then... Some people just have to run wide open and more power to 'em... <grin>

$bob$

I think most people's eyes are bigger than their appetite. They buy a big magnum and find out they aren't fun at all, LOL.

More power to the guys that like shooting them, but my 300 Win is more than enough in the punishment department for me.

Partagas,

I am becoming inrtrigued with the .338 RUM because of some recent interviews I did with various industry folks on the question of "inherent accuracy." Two of the people interviewed were with bullet companies know for their accurate products, and both mentioned the .338 Lapua as their standard test round these days for .338 bullets.

Now, of course I initialy thought about a .338 Lapua, but after comparing it with the RUM case, and doing some thinking, it seemed to be apparent that the accuracy advantage of the Lapua is probably in the Lapua brass, not in case design, since the two rounds are very, very similar. So by sorting Remington RUM brass I could do the same things, but cheaper--such as a 250 at 3000 fps or a 225 at 3150.

JB

JB,

Brake that puppy!!! I've shot 338 Lapuas and they ain't no fun at all in my book. Kinda like a punch by Mike Tyson and the bite on the ear hurts too.

You sure you ain't jes' gittin' numb? <grin>

I finally broke down and got a Lead Sled DRT and haven't used it yet but I'm finally THROUGH with gettin' the snot pounded outta me fer' nuttin'... <grin>

$bob$

MD, how does that feel sitting behind a 250 moving at 3000? That has got to kick. My 300 is lightweight, and I think it is a borderline concussion machine. LOL