I own two custom made 300 Remington Ultra Mags. Don't.

Or a 7mm...

get a 30-06 and you can handload the the same grain bullets to be just as fast or a little bit slower than the regular 300 win mag for pretty cheap, because i think the ultra mag is a little bit too big for regular animals unless your hunting bear, moose and stuff that size

No need for an ultra mag unless your after Kodiak or Polar Bears in AK or in Miles and miles of Bloody Africa facing something much bigger.

For some reason, that long heavy powder column seems to cause enough recoil that severl .300 RUM owners I know dislike it (although I know as many that love it). I myself find it excessive for the added power that it provides. After much research, I went to a .300 Dakota that uses a wider, shorter 2 1/2 inch long rifle case. Surprisingly, (somewhat similar to our experience with the "short magnums") it does have noticably less recoil for nearly the same performance as the RUM. I love my .300 Dakota. The recoil to me is not as great as the .300 Win Mag and maybe slightly more than the 30-06. I really like the added velocity and range that it provides. As far as accuracy, I am amazed. I have shot three shot groups UNDER .1 inches (that's right... under a tenth of an inch) at 100 yards and it shoots all bullets I have tried (nearly all .30 cal from 110 grains to 210 grains) at less than one half inch. I am tinkering yet with my deer load, a 130 or 135 grain bullet going between 3750 and 3850 fps. I can shoot these faster but begin to lose accuracy posting 1 to 1.5 inch groups with speeds over 3850 fps. I have shot 165s over 3600 fps but again they group under 1/4 inch if kept below 3500 fps. My 110 grain bullets are still my most accurate and reach speeds of 4150 fps in my 26 inch barrel (although I can still get the .1 groups down to 3600 fps). With this rig, I can consistently hit 2 inch groups or less at 600 yards with over 2000 foot pounds of energy remaining. I think of it as a 30-06 on steroids and shoot as many as 100 rounds or more a day at the range without recoil concerns. I do have a 26 inch varmint barrel on it so it is over 10 pounds with scope and all. I also use a Limbsaver recoil pad but no muzzle brake. I could load it at 30-06 speeds if I wanted to but have never had the inclination or the need. To me, the only negative is that I am limited to one less round in the magazine with a standard large rifle Mauser action. Armed with this kind of speed and accuracy, I won't be using a 30-06 or a .270 for plains mulies or elk although I know they could get the job done (I do still like to plink them with my 25-06 though).

Anyone seen any Rhinos around lately?

ken.mcloud said it best!
“So, I think that the superior killing power of larger rounds is largely in our heads.(likely testosterone induced) A flat-shooting round that you can accurately place will produce as many if not more "bang-flop" kills as a heavy caliber round.”

Save yourself the anguish of buying and selling the Rum and get a 270 or 25-06.

Clay,

Saw a rhino just the other day. Now where was that....?

I’ll admit it… I am a speed freak! Although I might rationalize a bit, I don’t think it is testosterone induced though. You see I grew up on prairie shooting, trying to get safely accurate at longer ranges, having to hunt on too many windy days and having to pass on just too many running targets that I thought I should be able to hit. At an early age, my solution was to get as much speed as I could to reduce lead and holdover and minimize wind allowance as much as I could (i.e. "flat shooting"). I soon found that speed was truly an advantage for me and I went for all I could get. I started in 1967 with a home made 25-06 improved rifle with a 27 inch 1:12 twist barrel and it improved my odds considerably in these conditions. I chose a 25-06 because the recoil from my .270 just caused me too many flinch problems when I was practicing and I hated it for prairie dog hunting which I used to hone my long range hitting skills. When I wanted something with a little more down range energy, I built a .300 Dakota getting even a little more speed and considerably more long range power for animals the size of elk. I will agree with all who say that a bullet through the vitals has about the same terminal value regardless of the cartridge from which it was launched given that it has enough energy to penetrate. I still feel however that getting a bullet to the vitals under these adverse conditions is greatly simplified with a higher speed projectile as long as brush deflection is not an issue. With larger bullets, the flinching impact of recoil does enter the picture. Therefore, I have had to balance speed and energy with the recoil that was comfortable to me. That is why I chose the .300 Dakota with a 26 inch barrel over the .300 Win Mag or .300 RUM and it hasn’t disappointed me on that front. The .270 or even a 30-06 have good speed but they don’t let me hit where the cross hairs are nearly as well as faster rifles. I’m still working on increasing the speed of these two rifles and am starting to experiment with Hex Boron Nitrate on the bullets to see if I can kick the speed up even a little more. We all have our preferences in caliber for the conditions we hunt and when we get good at what we use, we can all be quite effective hunters. I realize that I am quirky about speed so I never look down on someone shooting a slower bullet. I just do my best with what I shoot and have been pretty happy with the results so far.

I think it boils down to what you want to do with it. All I know about the RUM is what I've read, and from that I understand the recoil is ferocious. I do have a Win Mag and it's plenty, if not too much, for whitetails. If you're considering the usual fare of the lower 48, whitetails, black bear, etc, then I think it would be too much. While I'm not a .270 fan by any stretch, I do think it would serve you better until you decide to look for moose or something along that line. Ever consider a 7mm Remington Magnum?

I agree with Clay. The 25-06 is a great caliber for most things, when i need something larger, I go to my Ruger 1B in 280 Rem. The 270 win is ok, but, more bullet choices with the 280Rem.

The trend is toward the more modern ammo. Although I have owned and shot a .30-06 and had it wildcatted, It still fell short. If the new Ultra-Mags offered no advantage, why would a major manufacturer like Remington lead the way to magnum rifle cartridges? It is best to change with the times.