300 RUM Anyone?

[Michael J. Spangler]

does anyone load for this?

i love the gun but i know it's a barrel burner. i figured cast would be the way to go, especially after seeing the 311365. that looks like it would be perfect!

question is, will it work?

the starting loads for jacketed bullets are around 2700 FPS for a 200 grain bullet and work their way up from there.

i know i can reduce some, and i know a lot of guys have worked with different powders for reduced loads. the selling point of this round was that it could be loaded from 30-06 type velocity and up to sill RUM velocity.

anyone out there shooting this round? how is it working for you? I have a remington 700 pss with a 30" barrel i believe (now i need to check) it slugs out to .308"

i would love to shoot cast and extend the barrel life.

let me know what you all think! thanks!

[bfuller14]

Have you looked at Gun Loads here? They have a few 300RUM loads listed

Good luck,
Barry

[Michael J. Spangler]

just checked out load data.com

great info. how do you guys handle cast spire points in a bolt gun though? do they get beat up?

[afrance]

Michael,

I used 18 gr of 2400 over the 240 grain CBE bullet when I was firepolishing the barrel of my RUM. I extrapolated that load from some 300 Weatherby data in my lyman manual. The best list of cast data for the RUM I have found is at http://www.gmdr.com/lever/300rum170_dat.htm.

Most of it is plinking load data but I will likely use that to develop a fun load for mine. My RUM is a heavy barrel, 11 lb rifle (I didn't want a brake) so it will feel more like a rimfire load with many of these loads.

[Michael J. Spangler]

awesome!

thanks man. i still need to give it a try. i haven't had much time lately to get to it.

thanks for the info!

[Michael J. Spangler]

bump

i have various bullets to try now and have found some loads on loaddata for 4198, and varget which i have on hand so i'm going to try those first

[Michael J. Spangler]

http://i286.photobucket.com/albums/ll105/MJSpangler/94B1CCD5-3C75-43C7-BA51-D75DE010711F-19649-0000044AF0F87BC0.jpg

ok so here it is.

reduced loads listed are between 35 grains and 55 grains of varget.

i was worried i would need to seat these way out to be close to the lands. i measure them with a hornady comparator and when seated to the crimp groove they're just about kissing the lands! woohoo! makes it easy for me

i can't wait to see how they shoot.

a side note i had a ton of erosion in the throat of the barrel from shooting jacketed loads. they really beat the **** out of the rifle. i'm hoping cast will help with the life of the barrel a bit.

[I'll Make Mine]

a side note i had a ton of erosion in the throat of the barrel from shooting jacketed loads. they really beat the **** out of the rifle. i'm hoping cast will help with the life of the barrel a bit.

From what I understand, throat erosion is mostly from powder gas; it's common in magnums, especially the biggest/fastest. You see it with jacketed bullets because those are the ones that can be loaded up to 3500+ ft/s and concomitant pressures -- in other words, shooting cast will prevent throat erosion in a chambering like .300 RUM, by forcing you to load down.

[Michael J. Spangler]

exactly my point. it would be nice to be able to cast up some boolits instead of running to the shop and paying about $40 for 100 pack

[I'll Make Mine]

If you want to get as close as possible to your jacketed performance, you might want to consider paper patch. According to those who do it (I haven't yet, still getting my ducks in a row), paper patch with the correct sizing, powder, and loading technique can match any jacketed bullet performance, and do it at lower pressure (because less barrel friction), while keeping the bore polished and cleaned with each shot. I'm assured that it's possible to (at least) get 3000 ft/s out of a .30 class rifle with paper patched bullets in an alloy similar to straight clip-on wheel weight; that would be "loading down" for your RUM, but I'm guessing that's still not the limit of paper patching.

There's a learning curve, certainly -- and it's longer than for jacketed -- but in the end, you should be able to come very close to duplicating the ballistics of your factory ammunition, with much less barrel wear (and a bunch less cost -- save 15 to 20 cents per bullet).

[Michael J. Spangler]

awesome idea!!!
i think i should try that.

[I'll Make Mine]

I'm going to be doing it as soon as I can get the rest of the pieces together. I need to make up a push-through sizing die to squeeze my boolits down to .301, and get my casting up to speed, and then it's time to start learning about paper patches from the hands-on side. I hope to make my Mosin Nagant into a real shooter -- it'd be a kick to have a $120 rifle designed in 1891 shooting as well as those $2000 custom jobs...

[Michael J. Spangler]

that would rock. man i love casting.
i'm worried paper patching will be just as bad an addiction

[I'll Make Mine]

that would rock. man i love casting.
i'm worried paper patching will be just as bad an addiction

Quit worrying and enjoy it. It's cheaper than strip clubs or casino gambling, and it gets you outdoors, might even put some meat in the freezer.

[Michael J. Spangler]

hahaa.

you're so right. you sound like my buddy that i got the rifle from. he said just shoot the damn thing and enjoy it