Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game 300 RUM vs Elk?

I used the .300 RUM feral culling in Australia, partly to see just exactly how much a 180 Accubond could take and partly because I had a new custom Sako and wanted to put some miles on it.

The way it turned out I shot animals as large as water buffalo with that little bullet and found there was nothing to worry about. I also found that for shooting mag after mag in a screaming hot rifle the RUM was an obnoxiously loud pig and after fifty animals I put it away. A guy almost shouldn't need to be told that, but that part of the experiment was just to stress the Accubond as much as possible. Ranges were relatively short too, so the bullet didn't get a break on velocity.

Long story short, there isn't an elk in the world that I wouldn't clobber with a 180 grain AB. You can try the 200 if you want but you don't need it. For this 500 and down stuff a argument can be made that you don't need the RUM either, but that's a whole nuther conversation.

6mm-06AI...bull made it 15 yds.....bullet took a rib going in and out.

Bergers?

My 300 RUM has killed elk with 168 Berger VLD's and 180 gr. BT. Both bullets shoot very well in the rifle, the 180 BT seems to be the best of both worlds, giving me solid penetration and great expansion. The Bergers are impressive bullets though. One big old bull was shot center spine at around 400 yards from above, 6" of spine disappeared. Can't complain about the performance of them on smaller big game either. From antelope to deer, they were like setting off an explosive inside the animal. The Ballistic Tips are just as accurate and seem to buck the wind better. Performance has been very good with these bullets as well. I'm not a huge AB fan, if for no other reason than they didn't provide the kind of on game performance that I like through my .280.

JLK same same

Model70guy, I was waiting for someone else to say that a RUM isn't needed for elk to 500. I agree. I use a 30-06, and if I felt comfortable taking the shot, I know it would work perfectly to 700. 600 is my self-imposed distance limit, because the drops get steep beyond that, let alone wind calling. I've yet to test that, but I am confident in my shooting. I can't imagine pulling the trigger if I wasn't confident.

What we don't know is what kind of shot the guy is, or what country he hunts, or where he aims on elk. What is known though is if he thinks he needs a RUM for elk to 500, it will work just fine, as long as he can shoot.

Killed six bulls and one cow with my 300 rum. One 180 gr Partition, one 200 gr AB and five with 180 gr TBBC's. All worked great. Have not had to track a single animal shot with that rifle.

Thanks guys, now I have to figure out what powder to use. Retumbo is nowhere to be found around here, neither is H1000. I do have a few pounds of 7828 and 16 pounds of DP 86 (3100)as well as a couple pounds of R-22, but it looks like none of these are ideal for the 200gr.

How does R-25 work? I might be able to find a few pounds.

I would be more concerned with accuracy than absolute max velocity, especially at long range where that fraction of an inch becomes 5-6 fractions of an inch ... or worse.

If 7828 is the slowest powder you've got, run some and see what it does. I've often had the best accuracy with a powder that was a hair fast for highest velocity.

RL 25 might be a good choice.

You're not really going to know 'til you start pulling the trigger with YOUR rifle. What someone else's gun does is better than no information at all but it's a long ways from an answer.

Tom

I've killed two bull elk with a 300 RUM one with a 180 AB and one with a 200 AB...both worked fine both pushed by retumbo...I hunt with a 280 Ackley now, less recoil and blast and way more efficient !

My pal came home from an elk hunt last year with two recovered 200 gr AB's and a dead 6x6.

I've never gotten too excited about the Accubond so never used them on elk but seems to me they expand to a little bigger frontal area than a Partition and seem not to penetrate quite as deep.

I have used the 180 and 200 gr Partition and have stumbled on a couple of 180's recovered from mature bulls but it took a long shot angle to stop one;and I could never find a 200 gr at all,since they all exited.

I would not hesitate to use a 180 or 200 AB but would take the Partition over either if I had a choice.

Interesting, I have several Hundred 180gr Partitions and only one box of 200gr AB. How do you think the Partition will stack up accuracy wise at 500+ yards?

Well Steve, I have killed a couple of bulls with the 180 NPT at about 500 yards from a 300 Win Mag started at about 3125 fps.

One went down immediately to a shoulder shot but his head was still up. I broke his neck (on purpose) with the second shot.

All this of course was preceded by a lot of range time with the bullet to 500-600 yards.

So.....I guess it'll work.

RL25 has been my go to powder for 10 years with my 300 RUM. I run 96.0 grains with 180 grain partitions, Accubond and BT's.

Dink

God to know, thanks.

RL22 has been my go to powder under 180 gr. bullets in the 300 RUM for several years as well. Tried Retumbo and didn't get the groups I was looking for.

Why not the 210 gr long range accubond

As with just about every other bullet mentioned here, they do not exist. Out-of-Stock and No-Backorder is pretty much "Why".

I used the 210 gr LRAB last year. That being said, I will be going back to the 200 gr Accubond I've used since 2003. I've been hunting with a .300 RUM since 2000 and have used other bullets from time to time, but with the exception of using an E-Tip one year, the last 13 bulls have all been taken with an Accubond. I use RL-25, a federal 215 and Remington brass. mtmuley

OK, managed to pick up a pound of R-25 today. Now all I have to do is get an accurate load worked up with Minimal # of bullets (200 AB).

Thanks.