Was wondering what your opinions are for using a 300 RUM (Remington Ultra Mag) with a 200 gr. Nosler Partition on plains game.

Thanks for any input.

What are you planning on hunting? Plains game covers a lot of animals.

Everything from Eland to Impala. Warthogs, wildebeest, kudu,gemsbok, blesbok, duiker.

168 TTSX works well in that round.

DF

Yes a .300 RUM and the 200 gr NP will work. Although for duiker it's really BIG,are you taking a second rifle?

Never hunted plains game, but the 200 grain partition from my 300 win has performed perfectly on moose and deer for me, my favorite bullet.

The most common rifle used in South Africa by locals for plains game species is a 308 and 30.06

Anything bigger is a bonus for those that can shoot them. Remember if hunting actual wild plans game in natural habitat. Most shots will be under 150 yards.

300RUM is a lot of rifle for 50-150 yards!

300 RUM truly shines with 180 TTSX at about 3300 fps.

Not a doubt in my mind it will work.

300 RUM?
Have it rebarreled as a 404 Jeffery (best use of a 300RUM)

Buy a nice 7x57 Mauser (Ruger for example) and take that.

Even better, find a 7mm STW and have it rebarreled as a 300H&H and take that.

I use a 300 Weatherby mag,same power with 200 gr A-Frames. Crushes Gemsbok,Zebra,Kudu etc. I take 257 Weather by mag with 215 Bearclaws for little stuff.

It will be more than enough.

Last May I took a Kudu, Gemsbok, Warthog, Zebra, Blesbok, and Impala with a 300 Win shooting 180 gr, partitions. All dropped in their hooves, (actually, the warthog ran about 75 yards in a circle back to where he was shot. tough little piggy)

The only thing you want to take care of is that soft tip of a partition as you will load and unload your rifle 2-3 times a day. This can possibly damage the tip and that may cause you issues if you have a longer range shot planned, especially important if you plan to stalk Kudu.

Interesting.

I've often wondered about this. Last year I did a little test with my 350 Rem mag and 225gr partitions. I shot several groups out to 250 yards. Some bullets I filed the tips off flat with the jacket, some at a 45 degree angle, both to the left and right, and some I took a hammer and tapped the lead tip to "mushroom" it out a bit. To my surprise it made absolutely no difference in group size or drop. Granted, 250 yards isn't that far, but it's what I had to work with. At farther distances it may come into play, or possibly with higher velocity it migh make more of a difference(muzzle velocity with the 225 NP is 2675 out of my 350RM)

This issue with Partitions has been well documented, damage the base and they fly all over, damage the tip and it's virtually meaningless. As a PH I have used the partitions during my career and have loaded and unloaded them from the magazine several times a day for months of hunting every day. The tips on some were completely missing and others were so bad it was like a cartoon shaped bullet! It never mattered one bit.

As far as being worried about shooting a Kudu at long range? Kudu live in the thickest bush available. I can count on one hand the kudu's we have shot over 200 yards in over 25 years of doing this. Maybe if you're hunting them in the open country of the eastern Cape. There are no natural greater Kudu in this area though, all have been introduced or stocked by game farms. Maybe some areas of Namibia. But certainly not the natural habitat they live in over most of their range

Exactly.

This can easily be demonstrated with a ballistic program by comparing the trajectories of the 180-grain spitzer Partition and its counterpart, the Protected Point, which is the same except for the flat tip--very much like the tip of the spitzer would look after days of "flattening" on safari.

The listed ballistic coefficient for the spitzer is .474 and the PP .361, yet if you start them both at a muzzle velocity of 2750 fps (typical for a .30-06 handload) and sight them in at 200 yards, the difference in drop at 300 yards is much less than an inch, and a little over two inches at 400. Neither would ever be important when shooting at a kudu. Only at 500 does the difference amount to much, and even then its only about 5 inches.

And as Jim pointed out, most kudu are shot at much closer ranges. The only two I've killed past 200 yards (or even seen killed by companions) were Cape kudu, the slightly smaller subspecies found in the up-and-down country of the Eastern Cape. One was taken at 250 yards and the other at 360--and longer shot was made with a .30-06 and handloaded 180-grain Partition spitzers handloaded to just about 2750 fps.

I'd been hunting for around 10 days by then, and had already taken quite a few animals. The rounds had been in and out of the magazine many times, in between being subjected to recoil. I have no idea whether the bullet that killed the bull at 360 yards had a normal tip, deformed tip, or if the tip was completely flattened like the Protected Point's. Don't really care, because it wouldn't matter at that range, and didn't, since the kudu dropped to my first shot, which landed where I aimed.

What truly matters is how well the hunter shoots. Off the sticks. At live game. Quickly.


RS

I used a 300 RUM on my first safari in 1998. I took 16 animals with 18 rounds...needed a 2nd in a Zebra to keep it from getting to a steep dropoff. I used 180gr Partitions as I recall, but 200gr is probably a better choice with Eland being on the menu. Good luck!

I have shot a 16-17 Plains game in Africa, with a bow. Your 300 mag is more than enough. You can do it just as well with a 7MM Rem, 30-06 or size of cartridge. Interesting is that the eland was the largest I shot and went down the quickest. Its hide was thinner than a whitetail hide.
Have fun in Africa.

Curious as to what you have hunted to date with said round given it being complete overkill for what it is its intended used?.

If the .300 Ultra Mag. that you are considering has a muzzle brake, strongly consider using something else. PH's and trackers HATE muzzle brakes.

RS

Yeah,they suck for a couple shots but they are a brutally painful nightmare as a PH that has a dozen guys a year shoot with a brake at 7-10 or more animals each. Now that PH is exposed to a hundred or even a couple hundred blasts a season!

I'm certainly no fan! Especially when a 30/06 is plenty and anyone can shoot that cartridge! Never understood the whole muzzle brake concept personally.

I used that caliber and bullet on an Alaskan coastal black bear. Killed it DRT. Used 165 gr. Nosler solid base on 3 caribou with 300 RUM. Again, they worked great too.

BTW: I have a break on my 300 RUM. Yes, it's loud, but makes my RUM shoot like a .243. Best $145 I ever spent. And, that's what they make ear plugs for.. If I go to Africa, I'll have lots to pass out to the PH and trackers.

No African experience at all - but I shot a largish boar with a 338-06 and 210-grain partitions. I mention it here because I was shooting Weatherby factory ammo and about 10 rounds (out of 2 boxes) had the lead tip completely broken off and they were laying loose in the box. I understand Norma loads ammo for Weatherby and have long experience with their excellent quality ammo, so the issue probably lay with handling during shipping. While I did not test the rounds on paper, I've used them on game and I experienced no problem.

On the issue of muzzle breaks, several minutes after I shot my hog, my friend tagged an eating sized sow with his 6mm Remington. It was sporting a muzzle break (why brake a 6mm Remington is an issue for another post) and everyone in our party was DEAFENED by the report. Never want to experience that again. Handing out ear protection to the PH and staff in the middle of a stalk may not be a practical plan. Can the brake be removed for hunting to save those around you from bleeding ears?

OMG....
What a silly question to ask.

Don't matter, nor does it matter Brit Boddington took her eland with 7mm/08 200yd, nor that a hunter took his eland
195yd with .303 SxS 175gn RNSP under 2000mv..!..nor that Allen Day took buffalo with 300win,..etc, etc ,etc,
cause the alternate universe myth of African game being exponentially tougher than anything else on the globe will still
perpetuate..Logic & decades of empirical evidence showing anything that bleeds the same you can kill the same,
be damned.

did I miss anything?..

Before you just take it with you, I'd ask the PH what he thinks about muzzle brakes. I'm no expert on Africa but I do know most PH's and trackers don't like them, and it's not reasonable for them to have to put in plugs every time you shoot, or that they would have time or remember each time.

You'll need to forgive me, this was my attempt at humor/sarcasm, albeit unsuccessful. I was in brick-throwing distance of each Kudu at the time of the shot. I should have put a emoticon at the end of the sentence...



On the topic of deformed tips however, I have heard and read reviews from both sides. I've just always subscribed to avoid a potential issue if there is a possibility of a problem (Murphy's law). At standard ranges, its agreed very little effect, if any, happens. I would like to test longer ranges, and as I mentioned at these ranges, where you may see issues. Gives me a fun experiment for a day. I would say starting at 300 yards going out to 600 yards. While not very common in Africa, a common Pronghorn distance here is the US.

A little off topic, but would be fun to maybe do a side by side test of two distant weighted partitions. Also, to see the degree of damage/deformation, if any, needed to change POI substantially

I've done it, used side cutters to snip off the tip with a severe pinched jacket/lead tip as the result, out to 300 yards shot from a 300 weatherby and a 30/06 there was no functional difference in accuracy from the perfect new bullets.

I've used that combination on mule deer effectively but not in Africa,

However, I've used the 180 grain Nosler Protected Tip Partition in a 300 WSM at about 2975 fps MV to take about 25 PGs ranging from steenbok and impala to eland, zebra and kudu without any problems. I can't recall needing a 2nd shot on anything,

I definitely think your 300 RUM and 200 grain PT will work just fine. Enjoy your trip.

Thanks so much for your info. Much appreciated. Booked for May of 2018. Can't wait. Wish I was leaving tomorrow.

Enjoy your trip.

Only 'silly' questions are the ones not asked. Always told my students that while teaching 30 years in the public schools.

Have a great trip but if I were you, I'd use 168 grain bullets. Less kick and they kill well. And if you can, leave the muzzle break at home. I once shot a zebra while resting the rifle over the PH's shoulder, while he stopped up one ear with his finger. No time to put in ear protection in a situation like that and nobody wants to wear it all the time because I'd deadens other sounds you want to hear.