I'm torn. I have a 300RUM with a bedded Boyd's thumb hole stock and hinged floor plate. There some rust in the throat, doesn't group the greatest. I would like to have a new barrel put on it, but don't have the need for a 300RUM, and really don't care for the calibers that are in the same group for the boot face. So a few questions, how much hassle is it to find a new bolt and have headspace set for a different caliber? Also, what's a rough estimate on the value of a gun like that if I decided to sell as is?

What cartridge are you thinking about getting? That bolt face will be able to use any of the magnum cartridges.

Not really sure, thought about a smaller caliber, maybe 280AI, 6.8 western, 264 win mag. Something with less recoil and more suited for the hunting I do. I already have (2) 7mm Rem mag. And I really like the thumb hole stock

Your bolt face is fine as is, fall back to any Magnum ( try either a 257 WBY or similar for a flat shooter), you will need a new magazine box and Follower for the new round. Any good gunsmith can convert everything when they rebarrel it. Gold Jerry, Gold!

I thought about the 257, not really interested in that caliber.

Go with the .264 Win.

If you go to a skinnier cartridge, you will have feeding issues.
The cartridge will pop up prematurely, this may not matter on a push feed too much, but it will be an issue.
If it were me, I would spin up some scotch brite on a dowel and polish out the rust and give the throat an inspection, it may be superficial and not a concern.
You could sell it as a barreled action and keep the stock.

Cheers.

Mmm... Depends...

I picked up a LH Rem 700 LSS chambered 7mm RUM a while back. Two to three inch groups at 100 yards. Decided to rebarrel. Found a .473" LH LA SS bolt on eBay. Picked up a .30-06 CBI Remage barrel here on the 'Fire. It will feed four .30-06 cartridges right side up, upside down, vertical up, or vertical down. Repeatably. LSS RUM action, bottom metal and stock. Data point of one. YMMV...

I'm not a huge fan of the recoil it produces. That would be a bonus of re barreling, go with a heavier contour and put a brake on it. I'll probably just go back with the 300RUM, especially since I have all the ingredients and tools to reload it

if you reload, you can download the 300 RUM to something like a 30-06.

I load down 300 Weatherby’s to a hot 30-06. Way more pleasant to shoot. I do the same with a 7mm ultra mag.

Any magnum cartridge. 264 any Weatherby except 378, 416, 460 bee 28 nosler etc. If looking for a beanfield 257 Bee or even the 6.5-300 Bee would rock

Probably going to stay with the 300RUM. New barrel, brake, and some fluting. Probably add a trigger while I'm at it also.