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I'm considering barrelling a Mauser belted mag action with one of the RUM calibers , just for the heckuva it. No particular goal other than a nice rifle, useable for hunting or targets. The RUM calibers are interesting and I was just wondering if one seems to be a standout for accuracy over the others. The 375 has been recommended as has the 338. Any thoughts on these, vs. the other RUM calibers?

I've shot all of them but the .375 and really like them. I own the 7mm Ultra Mag in a Sendero, but the most popular one seems to be the .300 and it may just be the best .300 magnum ever. It seems fashionable in some quarters to bash the Ultras but the fact remains they are all no nonsense accurate killers. I've heard people bash them that I know for a fact never pulled the trigger on one. Anyway, I would build on the .300. If you don't reload Remington has ammunition at three performance levels and if you do you can easily duplicate the factory offerings. If you reload, the 7mm can perform wonders but if you don't then forget the 7. I have two friends that use the .338 Ultra and both really like it, saying it is very accurate and easy to load for. Hope this helps.

I have a 7MMUM in a Sako rifle that I won some years ago. This is definitely a specialty caliber for long range use. A 140G & 175G. factory load is available if you don't handload. The 300RUM seems far more versatile to me. Again, if you don't handload there are three levels of performance with factory ammo. The 338 & 375RUM doesn't seem to get much play so I have no experience with them. I look at the RUM's as something for the true marksman to use for 400+ yards. My limit is just over 400 yards so I have little need for something with this potential. A 257 Weatherby, 300 Win. Mag, 30-06, 35 Whelen, & 280 seem to be all I need for non dangerous game.

g5m - I had one in .300 Ultra and all I can say is that it was "impressive".. The hunting trip I had planned to use it on fell through so I sold it here.. Nice long range round!

The more I read about them the more appealing the 300 WinMag is as I really don't expect to go hunting again and don't really need the recoil of these even bigger bruisers.
But, long range shooting is a lot of fun.
I'll look at a magnum length action and 300 Win mag and seat the bullets out maybe. (The action is an Interarms Mark X with long mag box for 300/375 H&H length rounds).
Thanks very much for the comments. Gotta love this Board.

g5m - I was looking at a used .300 Weatherby when I saw this new Rem 700 SS BDL .300 Ultra for 100 bucks less than the Weatherby! I think I'd go with the .300 WBY instead of the .300 Win. but that's just me!

Keeping that option open, too.

I've always thought that a mauser action in 338 RUM would be the ideal big bear rifle. I might even get enough cash together to make one for myself someday.

I have 2 RUM's a 300 and a 338. Both are on Sako actions. I did put brakes on them just because I really like shooting them. I like them because the country I've been hunting lately affords a lot of long shots and very few close ones.

The 300 is a little newer and has only one kill.

The 338 has taken 4 or 5 elk and can be devastating. I just like cranking it a few inches high at 100 yds and being deadly out to almost 500 yds with them.

The longest kill for the 338 was a bull at 390 yds, shot in the head as it was looking at me. Granted a 243 might have done it in that circumstance, but the 338 did it well.

I really like my 300 RUM, M700. I mainly got it because it was different from everyone else in my hunting group. I have heard a lot of guys say the 338 was very good shooter. I haven't heard much about the 375. I would definately buy another 300rum.

I shoot a 375rum and love it except when I have to buy ammo. Factory 300gr A-frames are over $100/box in some places. I need to take my rifle out of the gun safe and store the ammo inside - its worth more.

I would probably get an H&H if I had to do it again.

did somebody say "ULTRA-MAGNUM!!" bwoo-haa-haa-haa!!

Everyone is different. I believe I could manage the .375 RUM with iron sights, but not scoped without a brake.

I had a .338 RUM in the 700 XCR. Nice rifle. Recoil was up there, but my shoulder was managing. My forehead was not. 1-2 times out of 10 rounds that scum sucker would clock me in the noggin with the scope. I tried several scopes with good eye relief including a Loopy 2.5-8X, changed mounts to try to optimize scope location for eye relief, and just could not get a success out of it.

I had 3 options left ... muzzle brake, scout scope, or (the one I chose) consign the gun and buy something I could handle.

The consignment is all messed up, long story, but I might wind up with the gun back. If I do, I'm going to use that action and build something. Might well be a Sendero-like package, stick with .338 RUM, and put a _good_ muzzle brake on it.

T_O_M - I had my .300 RUM Mag-Na-Ported and it did help control the muzzle rise.

For me this is definately the way to go! I won't do a brake, not even a Vais....

Dober

Don't waste your time with the win mag as a reloader. You mentioned seating the bullets further out. Be very careful with the 300 win. That short neck drove me crazy when tring to develop loads and then try to have the small neck grip the bullet well enough when under recoil in the magazine. How many cartridges do you know of where the length of the neck is less then the diameter of the bullet. That was at one time a strong standard for developing wildcats. "never have the neck shorter then the diameter of the bullet". Well Winchester did it with successful results using some loads, and with factory loading equipment.

Once fired brass was good, but after 3-5 firings they were bad to unusable. The neck stretch and splitting was excessive. On the other hand I loaded for my 300 weatherby and my buddies for many years too. That long neck is simply a dream to reload with. 15-20 loads per shell was the norm.

For a factory load shooter the 300 Win is fine, for a reloader there are far better options to get the most from such a versatile bullet selection.

JJ-your experiences are totally different from mine in a big time way.

I've had no none zero issues with loading a 300 Winnie, brass life has been good 4 me as well.

Accuracy is superb, and speed is normally within 100-125 fps of the Wby.

As far as you getting 15-20 loads out of the Wby case, I spect something isn't totally right there. If one is getting that kind of case life out of the 300 Wby, or about most any other round for that matter then there is some serious underloading going on.

As for the short neck, IMO this is another example of cutting the ends off the roast...

Dober

Thanks for that. Will look much harder at the 300 Weatherby. Have owned several over the years but they were factory rifles.

Mark, That is very interesting. When I was struggling with the reloads for the 300 win mag, I questioned what my skills were as I could not get what I was hoping for with that cartridge.

This was "pre internet" so I was stuck with asking around for guidance and help to make this work. During that time I was doing some research work for Hornady for the then New XTP handgun bullets. I asked one of the the engineer I was working with at Hornady about the problems I was experiencing with the 300 Win mag. I still remember him laughing about the question and saying to me "join the club". He was the one who told me about the short neck being the cause of the case life and sometimes difficult loading.

There is a very short section on a bullet, especially with a boat tail that will allow a tight grip between the flat of the case and the flat of the bullet. Seating depth becomes more or less non-adjustable with this. Heavy bullets (no longer an issue with the TSX) had to be seated deeply taking up case capacity. Short bullets had to be seated out too far to get the neck to have something to grab. Boat tails like NBT's or others were simply out of the formula to load with.

As far as the Weatherby ( going from memory)I was loading 84grains of RL15 for minimum 3100fps with the 180 grain bullets. Not a hot load but If memory serves me right it was within book standards. 15 reloads was easy with that rifle. The 300 Weatherby case is one of my favorite all time reloadable cases. Plenty of powder capacity, the longest neck in the business, and at least with the weatherby cases, very long life. My 300 weatherby was built on a Pre64 Winchester action.

I do recall my friend once telling me that they were getting limited reloads with remington cases, Maybe they were lighter constructed? The actual head stamped Weatherby cases last a hella long time.