Remington M700 LRR in 300 RUM 2 buy or not

It kinda occurred to me that I will without doubt one day in the not TOO distant future wish to begin my journey into long range shooting and was leaning VERY strongly towards a rifle in 300 RUM as it IMHHO, the best compromise in all respects of cost, practicality, versatility, ets, ets, for a shooter of my limited financial means.

I've seen some vary tempting deals on new R700 Long Range Rifles with the M40 stocks, but with all the negative press on the net about Remington's QC and their having filed chapter 11 I would like some input on if buying a M700 LRR at this point in time is a wise choice. I spoke with my smith, not about this gun and he said what ever gun I bought he would blue print and true up the action, bed it and if need be crown the muzzle for a VERY reasonable price. Didn't think to ask his advice on which rifle.

There is presently a stainless one FS at Cabela's used but listed as LNIB, perfect condition and the externals of the gun are flawless and the bore looks pristine for under $600 OTD I might be able to haggle price on. Also I can buy a new one for under $680 TMD. I feel the new one is a pretty good bargain on a great all around rifle and caliber for hunting anything in NA and 1000-1200 yard target shooting.

Love to spend more, but this is about my max budget on a rifle that is essentially going to be a hobby.

Thoughts please.

I had 3 different 300 rums and finally decided that for all the extra powder, poor brass life, recoil, hard on barrels, etc., There were better options.
It's true they will reach higher velocities, but you are only talking a couple hundred yards over a 300 WM.
Personally, I would get the WM for what you are intending to do. There are a lot more good budget W M's out there than the rum. The WM is more than capable at 1000-1200 yards with the right bullet for hunting and target shooting. This is just my thoughts on it and if a rum is what you really want, it packs plenty of punch....rich

elkaholic,
Crap there you go echoing my original thoughts on 300WM VS 300RUM, but I have to admit the cost savings of a 300WM VS a 300RUM are to large to simply ignore. I also should take into account brass availability as 300WM brass is ALWAYS going to be available.

I'm going to agree with elkaholic. The RUM is substantially more expensive to shoot when you consider brass and powder costs vs the 300 win. I shoot my 300 WM out to 1000 and could easily stretch it out to 1200. Even with my cheap HST 6-24 scope I could shoot well past 1200 on steel.

And if a Remington 300wm, do yourself a favour and go for the mil spec 5r. You'd be hard pressed to find poor reviews on it, unlike the long range where it may be hit and miss as far as a good shooter out of the box.

I agree it woulb be best to get the 300wm. I happened onto a deal last year on the 700 Long Range in 300 RUM; it was 550 with a 150 rebate from remington. I bought it because I couldn't pass up a R700 for 400! After barrel brake in my 300rum is throwing a 225 ELDM at 2970fps. The last group I shot was 3 rounds at 1050 and the group measured 8" in about a 7mph wind. The only thing I did to the rifle is a bedding job I did myself. I was hesitant on Remington's QC but it looks like I got lucky. If your smith will true and bed the rifle at a reasonable price, I'd say you can't go wrong.

As others have said, the 300win isn't that much less of a cartridge than the 300rum, and brass is a good bit more available. That said, I have 2 rifles in 300 rum and 1 in 300win. I'm not even bothering to shoot heavy pills in my 300win as both of my 300rum rifles love the 225 hdy bpbt match pushed with rl33. The brass really seems to last well on the 300rum if you don't beat on it too much, so find a hundred rounds of good brass and you'll probably be set for your bore's life too...
As to the rem lr 300rum, one of my 300rum rifles is a blued lr, and she's fine.