Opinions on a caliber of a gun.

[Rmk900rider]

I would like peoples opinion on the 300 ultra mag. Planning on building a gun a this is one of the better calibers i have found for longer ranges. Any input on pros and cons would be appreciated. I know nate should chime in on this one. I am trying to stay pretty cost effective.Thanks EveryOne and Have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

 

[Blu Du]

i have one but never shot it at game. just sighted it in and it sits in the safe. saving it for a west trip some day. my dad had one and sold it to a buddy that shoots in a turkey shoot every fall. he says he has won every event with it and lots of money paid for it a couple of times already. nothing special for optics either

 

[Clarke673]

I have a 300 win mag. Semi auto, cheep reloads, cases can be reloaded 3 times, and its guarantied to kill anything you want. Also it is a very accurate rifle with one of the best ballistics in a large caliber.

 

[Rmk900rider]

IownU i have a 300 weatherby which is comprable to your 300 win great guns i am just looking for something bigger to build a longer range gun. I load everything so ammunition is not a big deal to me. U do much elk hunting this year. I was over their in the park during august and did not see that many calves at all. Looks like the wolves are doing a heck of job on those elk.

 

[Clarke673]

i tried. I could have shot about 20 cows and i had a chance at a 4x5 that was pretty cool looking but other then that natta. I had my tonsils removed mid season so i didn't get out to much.

F'n wolves. I used to make $1000's a year by horn hunting and now i can't hardly find any horns.

Speaking of long range, I sighted my gun in at 500 yards with a huge target and its actually pretty accurate at that distance if the wind is low. My uncle just bought a 338 lapoua and its probably the sweetest gun I have ever seen. IF you are looking at spending a lot of cash and want a long range sniper riffle, that’s the rifle to have!

EDIT- http://www.snipercentral.com/338.htm

 

[Nate]

The ultra mag case is under bored. Even with the .338 its still underbored. Case is too long allowing more than half of your un-burnt powder to be puked down your barrel. Finicky with different lengths of barrels. Although they work, they just foul the throats more commonly than other .30's. Basically the bullet to case length ratio is the massive down fall. I suggest if your going to build a gun and wanting a .30 cal go with dakota arms, the .30 Dakota is one of your best 30's on the market, they do it with a smaller case and still put up larger FPS numbers. When talking anything in the 7mm to .33 cal stuff Dakota is by far one of your biggest competetors on the range. Just my .02! Happy holidays

 

[adrenaline junkey]

Ive got one great gun but its the only gun i have that even when your excited why shooting at game you feel the recoil. Its not kind to your shoulder at all best plan on putting a break on it if you reload look at the retumbo Ive shot my tightest groups with it

 

[Rmk900rider]

Thanks For all the info guys keep it coming.

 

[Fosgate]

Great round for long distance. I'd suggest reloading yourself and try different, powder/bullet brands and type, loads suggested in the speer or nosler reloading guides till you find one that shows the best consistancy. This would help also to offset the cost of ammo (Brass is spendy now and only looks to get worse). Also if you havn't bought a good long range gun, there are alot of surpluss M24 .300 ultra sniper rifles available since the military is changing it's issued sniper rifle.

 

[Nate]

Actually food for thought, forgot to mention this. The longest confirmed kill on ANYTHING was done with a .300 Ultramag by Dan Kinneman over in the Jackson area. He managed to grease a Prarie dog at 2200 somethin yards anyways, food for thought. YOu want to know about the 300 ultra mag, he ovbiously has something that works

Snow Fox knows of him, he's from that area.

 

[spring snow hero]

how heavy a gun are you wanting to build, how far do you shoot, what do you want out of this one that your 300winnie can't do?

I have a 300rum and recently sold a 300rum christensen. the christensen was under 7# all up and it was absolute hell on scopes and bedding. my current rum is on a 700 action in a mc classic. I like it alot, but for me shots of over 700yds are not common enough to haul it around as much as I thought I would and the smackdown my 6.5-06 has been putting down at those ranges is plunto for me. in reality you are only looking at a couple minutes of change over the win mag. both are likely gonna give pass throughs on double lung type elk hits to well over 700yds. both the win and the rum are going to require ballistic research, turrets and proper technique to make good hits at big ranges so in reality you are only saving yourself a few clicks. 110 grs of powder vs 75 for similar results......your call. I started to leave mine at home when a pard and I both dumped cows at 615yds me on my ultra, he on a 30-06. both cows folded at the shot, both were comparable in damages.

if you want to really do some big canyon crossing I would lean to the big 338's.

 

[untouchable]

I've done alot of research on this load. In my opinion, and as Nate talked about before, there is a lot of powder in that case... maybe even too much. So I am going to go with the .338 utlra. Its comparable to the Weatherby .338-378, except youre looking at $75 for 20 Weatherby cases, versues $45 for 50 RUM cases. Powder is the same between each, bullets are the same, ect. Plus youre looking at $830 for a Rem 700 XCR with a 26" barrel, or $1500 for a base Weatherby. The big defference between the .30 cal and the .338 is bullet weight. When you get down past 500yds the heavier grain (for example 225 or 250) is going to be packing alot more energy than the commomn 180 gr. out of the .300 cal. The best performing powder Ive read about is the Alliant 25, I have used this in my 7mm Mag with great success. (Problem there is I can only get a 175gr bullet in 7mm). Its a slower burning powder that produces greater compression.

The biggest thing over-looked is the optics, it doesnt matter if your gun can shoot +1000yds if you cant see your target youre going to miss.

 

[Rmk900rider]

Im looking at the remington senderos. We got spots where we can kill big bulls at 1000 yards. I agree with you about the price compared to a weatherby as i was stuck on a 30-378 for a while but decided against. As for optics leuopold will build me a tactical for what ever i buy. And also when i start making trips to alaska it seems that u can find ultra mag ammunition if something happens to urs as these specialty calibers it would almos be impossible. Im liking all the info guys. Thanks. P.S. I knw shooting long range takes practice and im not worried about that as we have our own range to 1500 yards that i can shoot regular.

 

[mod03rmk800]

I have a model 700 300 ultra. It is brutal on the bench and fouls out rapidly. However it is awesome on critters. It likes the heavy 180-220 grain bullets and the slower powders. A scope with ample eye relieve is mandatory! Also need higher magnification on the optics to take advantage of the caliber.
Buddy has the 338 ultra with a muzzle brake(I think hp precision that was down in Hamilton but are no longer there) and it is pleasant to shoot. I believe that the 338 is a better choice for this case size. Got to also hand load or you will go broke buying the ammo.

 

[yardsale_oem]

there is a guy in idaho that builds a 338 edge........nice looking boomstick!

 

[happyfast79]

i picked 7mm/.284 cal for my long range gun because it has one of the best ballistic coeficent's, thus does the best with cross winds and such.
one of the best ive seen in hornady's line is the Amax in 162 gr it has a b.c of .625. and the best you can get in .308(300 rem ultra mag)cal is .495 in the amax. also i have a 7mm rem mag, as i think the r.u.m line of cartriges are underbored and are harder on throats, and the recoil with out a brake makes it unconfortable to shoot multiple times.

 

[Chubby]

I bought a 30-378 this year and love the gun. I do think I should of went with a 338 lupra or a 338-378 but My elk didnt care this year. HAHAHA

 

[spring snow hero]

i picked 7mm/.284 cal for my long range gun because it has one of the best ballistic coeficent's, thus does the best with cross winds and such.
one of the best ive seen in hornady's line is the Amax in 162 gr it has a b.c of .625. and the best you can get in .308(300 rem ultra mag)cal is .495 in the amax. also i have a 7mm rem mag, as i think the r.u.m line of cartriges are underbored and are harder on throats, and the recoil with out a brake makes it unconfortable to shoot multiple times.

hornady is far from the tops in BC, there are 308 dia bullets approaching 1.0 BC at ultra mag speeds. 284 is a good choice, but as the bore gets bigger so does the opportunity for higher bc's....with a recoil penalty of course.

 

[happyfast79]

who makes a .308 cal bullin with close to 1.0 bc?
the best hornady made is there discontinued # 30631 bthp 178 gr match bullet that is .505 b.c
where as the .284/7mm 162 amax is .625. the only thing with a better b.c than that is the 750 gr .510 cal bullet for the .50 bmg that is 1.050 b.c

 

[TBWdracula2003]

i have a model 70 .300 H&H mag and i love it, my dads ruger model 77 .300 kicks like a cracked out mule. but my H&H just sets back in your shoulder, its amazing