What's up with ultra mag brass???

[smithjasona1978]

I am wanting to do a new rifle build. I would love to do a 300 ultra mag. But I see how much brass is now. In 2012 when I bought my win mag the brass was the same price. Now its almost 3 times as much. What gives? Why is ultra mag brass so hard to get and so expensive now? I can get 338 lapua brass cheaper than ultra mag brass. Does anyone know why??

 

[J E Custom]

I am wanting to do a new rifle build. I would love to do a 300 ultra mag. But I see how much brass is now. In 2012 when I bought my win mag the brass was the same price. Now its almost 3 times as much. What gives? Why is ultra mag brass so hard to get and so expensive now? I can get 338 lapua brass cheaper than ultra mag brass. Does anyone know why??

Supply and demand. Just more games that are intended to drive the price up.

If I could find an ear at Lapua, I would ask them to make the RUM brass and put an end to this
mess.

There is a member selling 7 RUM brass and it can be sized up to 300 with very little effort.
http://www.longrangehunting.com/forums/f41/wts-remington-7mm-ultra-mag-brass-173815/

J E CUSTOM

 

[screech]

I was a huge ultra mag guy but since the brass has been so hard to find I went to a 7x300 win mag. It's not a 300 rum but brass is resonably priced and available

 

[johnnyk]

But I see how much brass is now.

I right there with ya brother! I just got a 270 Allen Magnum and can't believe the prices and scarcity of RUM brass. This kinda crap makes you think twice about owning a "top fuel dragster rifle"! Once you reach this level of performance it's hard to go "less" (kinda like a crack addict I suppose). The search continues. JohnnyK.

 

[J E Custom]

Thought I would add something to the conversation/post. after doing a reality check on brass for myself in general.

First, I am a huge fan of all the RUMs because It is such a good case design and also great for wildcatting. It seems to be a very forgiving cartridge when re loaded and very accurate with lots of power. my latest wildcat using the 375 RUM brass (Same dimensions as the 7mm and the 300 RUM) will hold 119.9 grains to the bottom of the neck. This design has squeezed every bit
of space out of the case and appears to be as good as the other wildcats based on this case. with straighter sides and a 40o shoulder, the brass should last a long time if loaded reasonably.

When I started loading for the 300 RUM, Remington brass was $47.00 for a bag of 50. I bough lots of it to get the same batch. later I began wildcatting the cartridge so I bought a bunch of 375 RUM Brass. It ranged from $ 54.00 to $73.00 a bag of 50 ($1.46 each) . the last I bought was $107.00
per 50 rd bag ($2.14 ea).

Now it is $2.72 to $2.75 each. 338 Lapua is $2.60 each, and everything in 270 WSM to 300 RUM
in large capacity cases average $2.75 each. when you go above that, the price really goes up. from $3.40 to $6.60 each.

So I don't feel so bad now that I have put everything into perspective. (I wished the RUM brass was cheaper) but it appears that almost all of the newer designed cartridge brass has gone up.

The real common Cartridges average $.75 to $1.00 each so If you want a cartridge with over 80 grains of capacity, you/I will have to pay more.

Even though it is more than double some brass, I will continue to buy what I need because it is such a great cartridge. Note: Norma brass is very good brass and much cheaper than Nosler, so even though I am a Nosler fan, I think the Norma brass is superior and a better buy for the money.

If you want/like the RUM cartridge, buy some Norma brass and don't look back.

Just my opinion

J E CUSTOM

 

[smithjasona1978]

I am not a big brass snob. I always pretty much buy hornady brass. At the moment I am only loading for a 300 win mag and a 243. I know everyone says its not as good as lapua nosler norma but it costs half as much. I would rather have 2 pieces of hornady brass than one piece of anything else. Midsouth did have 50 count bags of norma 300 rum brass recently for 97$ but it won't last long. I almost bought some just so I would have an excuse to buy a rifle they fit in. I haven't had anything larger than my win mag so someone tell me please. If I buy a ultra mag, how much brass should I buy to last the life of the barrel with reasonable loads. I don't need to go very hot with that much capacity.

 

[J E Custom]

I am not a big brass snob. I always pretty much buy hornady brass. At the moment I am only loading for a 300 win mag and a 243. I know everyone says its not as good as lapua nosler norma but it costs half as much. I would rather have 2 pieces of hornady brass than one piece of anything else. Midsouth did have 50 count bags of norma 300 rum brass recently for 97$ but it won't last long. I almost bought some just so I would have an excuse to buy a rifle they fit in. I haven't had anything larger than my win mag so someone tell me please. If I buy a ultra mag, how much brass should I buy to last the life of the barrel with reasonable loads. I don't need to go very hot with that much capacity.

I would recommend 300 rounds. you should get at least 4 loadings + if you don't overload it.

That would give you 1200 rounds + down the barrel. If you take care of a barrel you can get more life in an Ultra mag.

You can get by with less, but that should last a lifetime Hunting. I don't see anyone using the RUM for matches, so that should do it.

J E CUSTOM

 

[450hunter]

I wonder what it would take to get Lapua to make 338 RUM brass?

 

[smithjasona1978]

Probably 1 million pieces.

 

[Varmint Hunter]

That would be great. They should make a run of 300 RUM while they're at it.

I'm still waiting for Lapua, Norma, Nosler or any other quality brass manufacturer to make 7WSM brass.

 

[WildRose]

I have 3, 300 Rum's and really enjoy them. Of course my favorite is the 7mm STW which I've been shooting for nearly three decades now so I learned long ago to buy brass in bulk and or factory ammo in bulk so that for each of my rifles I have essentially a lifetime supply of brass.

If I were starting over today I'd go with the case Nosler is using for their 26, 28, and 30 Noslers or the .375 Ruger as the parent case for anything I wanted more case capacity in than the .300wm.

Weatherby of course is the other alternative and while expensive, it'll always be available.