Bullet choices for 300 RUM

[Moman]

My Sendero will be here at the end of the week and I'm trying to figure out what bullets to start my load development with. I have thought about the 210 Bergers, 200 Accubonds, even 208 A-Max. I have heard pros and cons on all of these but it's been hard to sort it all out. I even thought about trying 210 or 220 SMK's thinking they might give similiar performance to the 338 300 grain pill. My goal is to develop an accurate long range hunting round, deer and elk size game. I know a lot of you are using this round for the same type of hunting, can you give me some feedback on what is working for you?

[MontanaRifleman]

If you dont mind the cost, the GS HV 177's will far out perform anything else in the 30 cal.

I developed loads for the 180 E-Tip, 200 AB, and 210 Berger. I've decided to go with the 180 E-Tips for now becuase they are as accurate as the others and I am getting 3400 fps with them. With that velocity they are very close to the 200's and 210's down range and I've read too many confliciting reports on the AB's and Bergers. A couple of E-Tips I pulled from the dirt were very impressive looking. No worries about terminal performance with them.

When my budget loosens a little, I'll be ordering some GS 177's which will extend my "potential" range from 1100 yds to 1500 yds. Potential meaning me and the rifle do our part. I expect to be able to push them close to 3600 fps with a BC of ~ .62

Mark

[Long Time Long Ranger]

Well, Montana beat me to it. I agree the 177 GS is your bullet if they are accurate. I tried the ones you mentioned and got good velocity with good accuracy, but not good terminal performance. The A-max jackets are to thin, Bergers were not much better and the Accubonds were best. So far I have got good performance out of the 200 grain 30 cal accubonds. But on several elk hunts this year I saw the 225 grain 338 accubond completely dissentigrate every time. Last count I think was 7 for 7. Bullet completely spent with nothing but pieces of jacket remaining. That's the reason I am just giving up and hunting with nothing but solid controled expansion bullets like the etip, GS, barnes, etc. A friend borrowed my 300 wsm this year and had perfect terminal performance with the 150 grain etip starting at 3400 fps. Another friend on the caribou hunt shot a caribou at 400 yards with the 208 Amax out of my 300 ultramag at 3250 fps. At least a baseball size exit hole and dead in it's tracks.

[RockyMtnMT]

I am running the 177 GS HV's this year. I harvested 2 antelope, 2 mule deer, and 1 elk. Ranges from 297 on a mulie to 762 on an antelope. Terminal performance is exceptional. Meat loss is nill. I took autopsy photos, but I have not developed them yet. I will do it this week and post them.

I ran the 180 E-tip last year. I have no complaints about them. I like the GS better for the bc's and the extra velocity. They will simply out run conventional lead core bullets for drop and drift. Plus they are a dedicated hunting bullet.

I have been holding off saying anything because I have not gotten the pics done. I'll get it done soon.

Later,

Steve

[Long Time Long Ranger]

Get the pics! Thanks for posting. Do you have enough of those GS that I could buy a few from you for testing? I am in northern Wyoming and in Billings all the time. Especially since the new Cabelas opened there. Don't know if you are in that part of Montana or not. I know a good thing when I see it. If those bullets have that good a BC and shoot straight, knowing I can push them close to 3500 fps, my big 338's are going to get jealous.

[MontanaRifleman]

Are you still using one of those old antique cameras?

[MontanaRifleman]

LTLR, I'll be giving RL17 a try with the 177 GS's in my RUM. I tried it for the 180 E-Tips and it matched the velocoites Retumbo and H1000 were giving me, so my guess is that it will do well with the GS bullets, probably better than Retumbo and H1000 at that pressure velocity ratio.