As far as what people say about the .300 RUM being finicky, a friend of mine looking for a new rifle asked for advice on a caliber for whitetails. I told him that the .270 Win. would be perfect for him. He then asked why I shoot a .300 RUM. I told him it was like driving a hot rod. You are putting up with self-induced problems in the quest for ultimate performance. If you do not want to put up with a shoulder thumping, barrel eroding, powder burner that requires more tolerance this is not the caliber for you.

The .300 RUM is like a redhead. Both are hard to handle but once you do, HOOOWEEEE!!!!

Like a redhead, until she costs you a fortune.

Good analogy whiskey, I like it.

I just fired one of my 300ultramags for the first time after having a new Gaillard medium varmint barrel installed.Using 180gr ballistic tips and r-25 my worst group(of three) at 100yards was .580" and my best was .050"(one slightly oversized hole).As with my other 300ultramag rifle the optimum charge so far appears to be 95gr of R-25.I have yet to do some more load development but so far this combination appears to have a great accuracy potential.As an added bonus the gaillard barrel seems to copper foul much less than my other barrels.

ROTFLMAO.. Let's see new round that's finicky ,guns needing new barrels for best accuracy, alot more powder for minimum gains over existing calibers. I'll run right out and buy one......not.
Everyone thinking of buying one should be able to read this thread.

ruddyduck did write: One great advantage involve in holding an FFL is that one has the privilege of buying new toys, shooting same and if not satisfied with the piece, passing it along to someone who may enjoy it, while at the same time suffering little or no loss. This was precisely the path I followed, after my venture into the world of re-loading 300RUM. The round was not for me, but I had fun and didn't lose anything on the experience.
Countless "new and improved" cartridges have been introduced over the past 40 years of my gun-sports activities. Most of those "wonder' cartridges have gone the way of the do-do bird, while others have been re-named and re-into'd to again receive the ballyhoo from gun rag writers. Recently belted magnums have given way to fat, long beltless cartridges, which now are feeling pressure from shorter, fat cartridges. There will, of course be a shake-out and not all of the new cartridges will survive that melt-down within the marketplace. Will the 300RUM make it?.....Stay tuned and find out!

You know I don't own a 300 RUM and probably never will but not because it is not a great performing round. If someone is enjoying it and likes it performance on game and on targets why look down on them?

I don't pull any bones, on what is fact with this round. I love my 300RUM. But I am honest saying it is finicky a cartridge I have seen. Just another toy for me. I would defiately buy it over any Weatherby. I have never used it on elk, but bet it will be a dandy. All of the moose I took in Newfoundland were far. Well over 200 yards. And I wanted that downrange energy from the 300RUM with a 200gr bullet. And I did get a pass thru on one. Which I thought was quite impressive at such a distance. I doubt I will be going back to that island for moose, but plan on using it on elk soon in Colorado. I never did get a shot at a nice >40" moose. And I have about given up on them in newfoundland.

Guys my problem is much the same as some of the other guys. My 70 Classic Stainless has a magazine length which puts the bullet at least .2 inches from the lands. I think this is the source of my problems. I have been 180 Sciroccos with mixed results. 96 gr. of RL 25 gave me a .5 inch group once but never since. That one still buffaloes me.
Does anyone have experience with a faster powder like say RL22 in a gun with a min. magazine length. Will it change things any?
With pressure down and velocity around 3050 the gun will shoot 1 inch groups all day long. But when you increase velocity to published ranges things go awry. Any suggestions?

jessejames did write: " I have been 180 Sciroccos with mixed results. 96 gr. of RL 25 gave me a .5 inch group once but never since. That one still buffaloes me."

Sounds like what I was writing a couple weeks ago, except I had a Browning Stainless Stalker instead of jessejames' Winchester. Very inconsistant groups from that 300RUM. Tried four different propellants and five different bullets. Clean, clean, clean and still got lousy groups. The length of mag in the Browning would not allow me to get the OAL out where smoking the cartridge said that I should have it! If I dropped down in bullet weight and/or velocity, groups improved, but then why have a 300RUM if you can only push 165gr bullets, or have to slow 180gr bullets down to 3000fps. Hey, I am happy for others who have reported great sucess with the 300RUM. I simply gave up and am now very happy with a 7mmWSM in a Winchester Ultimate Shadow. 1 1/4" groups at 200yards, pushing a Nosler 140gr Accubond at just over 3300fps at 10' from the muzzle. I expect to get better groups after honing the trigger.
Maybe the reports are going to prove to be incorrect, but I am beginning to believe that with the newer, premium bullets, one can take elk with a 140gr bullet just as one used to with a 180gr bullet.

Absolutely true.I have taken several elk and moose with 140gr partitions out of my 7mmstw's with no problems at all.However the 180gr ballistic tips out of my 300 ultramags do seem to drop them faster.Does it really matter,not usually but it can prevent an elk or moose from reaching thick brush or a swamp where retrievel is more difficult.For the record ,both of my 300ultramags are long throated and even when loaded to 3.670" the bullet is still.2" from the lands.However it has not caused me any accuracy problems.My latest 300ultramag did have the groups open up a bit when I increased the powder charge,but both of my 300ultramags still average 1/2" to 5/8" groups while producing 3320fps.