What are y'all's opinions on the 300 RUM?
I have been looking at it but not sure how well they are.
Is the recoil as bad as some say it is? Worse than a 300 Win Mag?

Yes, it's worse. I've had several--got sick of knocking my fillings out and/or having to shoot w/ a brake. I realized all my shots were well within the capable range of a .308, 30/06, 270, etc, and sold them off.

That's my experience (I've owned 300RUMs, 338 Rum, 7.82 Warbird, 375H&H, 7 Rem mag, 300 Win mag)

300 RUM and the Warbird were the worst unbraked.

Overkill for most everything. That's what I think.

Even if I were hunting brown bear I would go with a .338 or .375.

300RUM has a very violent recoil. Its still my favorite of the 300's but trust me it will wake you up!

It's my favorite gun you pull the trigger and let the big dog eat and then hit the dirt ! That's it .

If you are running the figures through a recoil calculator, you want to pay attention to the recoil velocity figure rather than the recoil energy figure. The recoil velocity is what makes recoil nasty.

Let's back up. Why that cartridge? What is the job it is going to do for you?

It's a whole lots of powder behind (potentially) a very big ole bullet.

Chad loaded ammo for N.T.R.P.'s 300 Rum and we shot it in October weather to a mile. That's what it's capable of, if that gives you any indication of how much horse power it is delivering. It had a good brake, and was a [censored] cat for what it was chambered in, I highly doubt it would be much fun to shoot without the brake.

I buy that. Been punished more by a good day of dove hunting than a good day of shooting a short action rifle. Heck even a well built 50 BMG pushes on you more than pops you like a shotgun will. Powder burn rate, I deduce.

Put a break on them and they are not bad. I am a fan if you are going to go 30 caliber you can really push the heavy bullets and deliver a pile of energy especially like it for in an elk or bear.

have one in a rem 700 love it NO BRAKE for me. recoil is not bad hunting. off the bench u will notice it

That's where rifle/shotgun weight comes into the equation & its ability to accelerate and kick pad acts to decelerate.

I like the RUM, also like what Brad Stairs did to that case.

My main question is what can the 300 RUM do that the 300 Win Mag can't. You will gain about 150 fps over the 300 Win Mag with the RUM with most bullet weights. The RUM takes 95 to 100 grains of powder where the 300 Win Mag takes 73 to 78 grains of powder, and the RUM only gains about 150 fps over the 300 Win Mag. As far as efficiency goes, the RUM gets very bad gas mileage.

Second, getting a RUM to shoot well is a PITA. When a customer calls me with load development, the RUM is the only caliber I will not guarantee MOA accuracy with, especially with a bone stock factory rifle. It is very difficult to get it dialed in with most any bullets AND get the desired speed of the RUM. You can get them to shoot good at slightly slower speeds, but then it's not a RUM.

And I haven't even started talking about the added recoil and abuse of the round.

If you went 300 WM, ammo is much better with more bullet choices (if you don't reload). Also, the 300 RUM was 69 MOA to 1780 yards with a Hornady 225 BTHP, and the same bullet in my 300 WM was 77 MOA to 1780 yards. Sure the RUM is a little faster and flatter, but the 300WM can do anything the RUM can do without all the negatives of the RUM.

If I were to only pick one caliber I could shoot from now on, without hesitation it would be a 300 Win Mag. No critter or target is going to know the difference from 150 fps between the 2 rounds. My $.02.

Chad is spot on.

How tall are you ? It really matters

Listen to Chad, your really splitting hairs in the performance between RUM vs WM. I have a WM with a brake and its easy on the shoulder but recommend hearing protection. Never shot out to a mile but I'm at 26.75MOA at 1000 yards.

I'm coming to the same conclusion as a combo with a 308.

The place the 300 RUM has a notable advantage is pushing the 230 and 240's, which can almost match a 338 LM for half the price.

If I could have only 3 guns they would be 7mm-08, .300 Win Mag, and .375 H&H.

If I could only have one it would be a .300 Win Mag.

I like my 300 but prefer my 7mm's and 6.5mm's. Just my .02

I was running my 300 Win Mag with the 208 A-max's shooting side by side with a 338 Lapua running the 250 grain SMK out to 1780 yards. Our come ups and wind calls were identical! We were both running ~2900 fps with near identical BC's. If you are running two totally different calibers (.308" vs .338" in this case), and both bullets have the same BC and the velocity is the same, you will have the SAME EXACT drop and wind drift, no matter the bullet weight or caliber. The only difference is the .338" 250 grain delivers a little more energy on target, since the bullet weighs more. This is mind blowing to some shooters!

Most people want the most FPS for some reason they don't accept the explanation of bullet weight, BC, ES, etc.

No surprise here. I sold my 338's. They did not shoot bullets, they shot $5 bills.

Not knocking what you said, it's spot on, but I ran the numbers and @ 1780yds that 142.4 inche difference. Thats insane!

Jeff Cooper stated in the hands of a capable shooter the 30-06 with a 180 gr bullet was adequate for any game except buffs & pachyderms.

Yes, the RUM load for the NTRP mile tower was a HOT load. It was running like 3150 fps with a 225 BTHP, IIRC. The brass was only good for 1-2 reloads, and the primer pockets were toast.