.300 win mag vs .300 Rem Ultra Mag

Looking at the .300 RUM. How is it recoil wise compared to the win mag?

Noticeably more.

^^^^ This
I have owned both and still shoot a 300WM. The recoil of the 300RUM is certainly more noticeable.

Is the performance that much greater in the RUM or just the recoil? I've also considered one of the short mags as there are several to choose from.

It would probably help if you could define your performance objective. For shooting game at a reasonable distance (i.e. less than 500 yards), they won't be able to tell the difference between the two; either will kill them just as dead.

That said, if you plan on shooting paper/steel at long ranges, it does have some ballistic advantages over the 300WM; if those performance benefits are worth the recoil is a different story.

Keep in mind, a 300RUM is going to beat the snot out of you in most platforms (without a muzzle brake). I've owned a 300 RUM in a 700 Sendero package, and with full power loads that rifle was extremely unpleasant to shoot. I'm confident with a break it would have been much nicer, but then you're dealing with some serious blast. There's no way I'd consider owning one in a sporter/hunting config without a break.

I sold my 300 RUM, and just take a 30-06 if I've got to shoot something big. If I'm punching paper/steel, the 30 cal's stay at home anyway; there are so many other cartridges that will put rounds down range accurately without all the recoil/blast.

All of the above considered, if you're asking this kind of question it tells me you're not a target shooter. If I were looking for a good "Texas Hunting Rifle" I'd probably look for something a bit less stout.

300WM (WSM) will reach out there.
300RUM will reach "way" out there - but you're gonna know it!

Sorry I shouldn't prefaced my question in the first post. I'll be hunting elk this fall and have been told the long shot is an ever present possibility. I would never consider a round of this nature for use in Texas. My model 700 .257 Roberts has put down so many deer here in at home it's not going to be replaced.

I'm not a fan of muzzle breaks but will have one on whatever I make my mind up on with this big .30 cal.


If I were to be looking at punching paper I'd keep it in the 6-6.5 mm range of cartridges.

The 300RUM does make for a great elk cartridge if you can handle it. But like an outfitter friend of mine says he would much rather have a hunter show up with a 270 or 30-06 they are familiar with than a magnum they do not shoot well or are afraid of.

For elk, I would look at 300 wsm in a Kimber Montana type rifle. You can get a lighter more compact and packable rifle, with same ballistics at huntig ranges as 300 win and the least recoil of the fast .30s.

Consider this: Get the 300 RUM and try it with a box each of PL II (.300 WM equivalent) and PL III (300 RUM). See what works better for you. That said, I understand PL III is somewhat underloaded from true potential.

It's not necessary.

Elk rifle?

1:8.5" 7 Rem Mag and 180 gr missles. At least that's what I'm gonna use and not detach my retinas doing it.

With proper shot placement, 300 Win Mag is all you need. I look at the over all package (i.e.- ammo, rifles, recoil, overall shooting enjoyment). 1- In general, RUM factory ammo is not very good. 2- Plus, it's also a lot more expensive. 3- Your rifle choices are a lot less in the RUM. Everyone makes a 300WM. 4- factory ammo in a 300WM is generally pretty good, with ample bullet selection. 5- less recoil in a 300WM, which by itself, can have a lot of recoil. 6- Less cost ammo and less recoil means you will shoot it more, therefore practice more.

If you told me I could only pick one caliber for the rest of my rifle shooting, it would be a 300 Win Mag. I have hit targets with bullets from 190 SMK, 208 A-max, and Hornady 225 BTHP. I have broken metal targets with a 225 bthp at long range. It hits VERY hard. If you can not get the job done with a Win Mag, then a RUM will not help you any more.

Do you handload, or will you be using factory ammo? One problem with the ultra mags and similar is that there are many fewer factory ammo choices. If there's only 3 ammo choices and your rifle hates them, what do you do? If you reload, then it's another situation entirely, as you can play with components to infinity. I own a 7 Ultra and a .338 Lapua, and I'd never consider factory ammo with either unless I was absolutely desperate. I've also got a .300 WM, and would feel comfortable walking into any Wal-Mart, buying ammo, sighting in the rifle, and then going hunting. The .300 WM is much more convenient; but if you like to fiddle with your shooting gear, then get the .300 Ultra.

I also much prefer Mag-na-porting to muzzle brakes. It's not perfect, but it's pretty darn good.

Don't discount the 6.5 for elk. Remember the 6.5x55 swede has been taking moose size game in Europe for a long time. But I agree that a 300 wsm if you prefer a SA or a 300 WM if you prefer a LA should be a staple piece in a collection. Either one can drop 90%+ of North American game. IMO the rum is over kill for elk. Many guys in colorado use 7mag, 270, 300 WM/WSM, and even the 25-06

I have shot 300 wby and 300 rum. The Rum out performs the wby, but I didn't notice much if any recoil difference.

I have never shot a 300 WM. Personally I think 300 wm is your answer, it been around its proven its cheaper to shoot with better selection of ammo and gun and reportedly has less recoil and you can dam sure kill elk with it and less.

matt

The biggest advantage of the RUM over the WIN is it takes a little bit of guess work out of long range shooting due to the fact it shoots flater. Of course it hits harder too but the animal aint going to know that........but your shoulder sure will.

I too elk hunt, and I've used the 300RUM (Rem. Sendero)and 300WinMag (Win. Mod 70) to kill elk. I've also used .264WinMag and .270Wby Mag to kill elk. All will poke out there to the limits of most shooter's capabilities. My advise is to get a LIGHT rifle that is easly carried and won't kill your shoulder while at the range. Also, avoid the muzzle brakes while hunting, you won't have time to put on ear protection, and if you have ever shot a rifle with a muzzle brake, you know it can be deafoning. Again, I've hunted CO for most of my 43 years. The lighter the rifle, the more enjoyable your hunt.

If your going to be a bear be kodiak grizzly.......30-378 wby

I have that exact rifle. Was pleasantly surprised at its manageable recoil. Look forward to using it.

Well then....suprise suprise......
You are not a Kodiak Grizzly, you are a fancy blk bear that dances for food .:)

LOL!! Well I had a Sako TRG 30-378Wby for awhile but since I didnt handload the ammo cost was more than I could stand. The RUM factory ammo is half the price of the 30-378Wby ammo.

Honey grizzly dont care about ammo costs.....

Lol thought you would get a chuckle... I think I hate work Tuesday s worse then mondays

Me too.

I have 300 RUM that is ported etc...and has a decent recoil pad on it. I shot PL II on my first elk hunt. To me the recoil was not that different than shooting my Winchester featherweight 30-06. BUT I WILL SAY IT IS LOUD!

I hate muzzle brakes. That is all.

I have killed a lot of animals in the more than 50 yrs. I've hunted..Elk only about 3 or 4 of them..w/7mm Rem Mag and 300 Win
Mag..but I could have killed every one of them w/a 270..they are mostly like shooting at a COW..quite a bit larger than most targets we shoot here in TEXAS...I did shoot too far in my younger days w/my 300 Win..but you can overdo anything you wish..but it will not make you a better shot or hunter..My 300 Wthrby is in my safe..I've cull shot and hunted almost exclusively the last 10 yrs w/a 22-250,270,308, and a few 338 Win
Mags I got for my boys..the lst 5 yrs..only a 308 Win..W/Barnes.

Yup. get a rifle that you don't need a muzzle brake to shoot. If a 300 win. Mag. is too much recoil for you, a medium weight 7 Rem. Mag. is plenty of juice for any elk that's ever lived and recoil is just a touch more than 30-06, depending on the load (30-06 is another great round that would do the job..). Plenty of great bullets available in 7mm, too.

IV shot both but my fav is the RUM. I hunt everything with it. Last year on my Alaska Brown bear hunt I took a nice 9'2" brownee. The combo I use with that rifle is flat deadly on anything. I load it with 96grains of H1000 topped with a 180gr Nosler Partition. From my experience when you are hunting and get the opertunity to shoot I don't feel any recoil. In my opinion a brake doesnt out way the extreme noise your going to get. It's a negative gain in my opinion. But with that said 300RUM is very expensive unless you reload. I feel that a 3006 or 270 is very capable of taking any game out there. Prior to my RUM my main hunting rifle was a 6.5x270 and it has taken many animals.

Lots of good reading to do. I appreciate the input. When I was younger I had a couple magnums. I had a 7 STW and a .300 H&H

Wish I'd've kept one of them.

It will depend more on the weight of the rifle/scope than any other factor, weight of bullet second, then the .300 UM will recoil somewhat more.

All of the advise in the thread is pretty good. I personally like the WM and the extra case capacity/expense of the UM is really only useful if you handload.

Zeiss

I have a 300 RUM and love it, took a 5x5 elk last yr in Colorado, try a vais muzzle brake it distributes the gas evenly and only increases the sound by 2 decibel, vais is out of texas nr san Antonio, very well known

Im a big fan of long distance precision shooting and the rum hold more velocity past 300 than just about any other cartridge in the caliber

Love them both. The 338 RUM would interest me big time.

300 isn't long distance.

Now if you say the RUM will hold more velocity past 1000 then there's something to that.

There seem to be a good number of folks who: 1)just have to use itty-bitty cartridges (scared of recoil?) or 2)just have to use a cannon (usually equipped with a muzzle brake to ensure not only them but everyone else suffers).

I don't get it myself.

lol, yep.

meet in the middle is not part of their vocabulary

What about the folks that shoot the itty-bitty stuff, AND the cannon but the cannon doesn't have a brake?

I had a 300rum and it was a beast. I did have a break on it and it was loud. It kicks like a mule without the break but not bad with it.

I had to have knee surgery right before the season a few yrs ago and did not want to be doing a bunch of tracking on crutches. My buddy has the 7mmrum and always said he wished he had got the 300, so I gave it a go.

It worked well... No tracking needed

If I thought I need more gun than a 300W Mag I would seriously consider going to the 338W Mag.

Heck, might as well go 338 Lapua Mag, and be done with it.

How in the world have arrows, .264", .284", and. 308" bullets ever got it done?

For all Texas hunting, anything below .243 and anything above .300WM just begs one question: WHY?

I agree with you completely but still own a .22-250, a .338 LM, three .375 and a .500. If it makes you happy and it's **legal**, go for it.

I own everything from a .17 HMR to .375 H&H magnum. Not a thing wrong with that. But folks lose me when they begin debating that cartridges on either end of the spectrum are somehow better than those that are obviously matched to Texas sized game.

I'm not a fan of marginal improvements. If I wanted more performance I would take a big step up and go all the way up to a 338 of some type. I just don't think the 300 RUM gives you much of a real increase in performance. If I'm going to be kicked anyway I might as well get more versatility.

My dad had a 338 mag in a savage. Muzzle break on, it would cause a dust storm that rivaled panhandle and raise rocks off the ground. With it off it was brutal.

If I can't use a 300win mag to kill it, I ain't hunting it

Your point is well made. To be sure, you are certainly right.

I have a .338 WM in a pre 64 Model 70. Killed my first elk with it and several hogs. I don't notice the recoil-more of a shove than a punch. It's really not bad at all.

I'm sure the range is a lot more harsh then when hunting, but it was brutal enough that I decided wasn't for me.

Nutshell: Like you, If I could only have one rifle it would be a .300 WM. Hands down.

David killed Goliath with a rock thrown about 25 fps.

















just sayin'

Here's a link to Chuck Hawks free recoil table http://www.chuckhawks.com/recoil_table.htm You will note that the 300 RUM at 180 grains has the same free recoil as the 338W Mag shooting a 200 grain bullet. Like I said if I'm going to get kicked I might as well have the versatility of a bigger bore. Coincidentally it's also the same amount of recoil as 11/4 oz rifled slug like a Brenneke.