Selecting barrel for 300RUM need help.

[Minesweeper3433]

I am going to be having a new barrel made up for my long action 700 in 300RUM. I will be using the barrel with an elite iron suppressor, their Sierra SD model made with a 30 bore. Anyway I am torn between getting one of the LW light weight barrels they make with the aluminum sleeve and have an almost straight taper. Or go with a krieger #9 or 10 contour finished at 22". If I went with the LW barrel I could have more barrel for same weight but it would be 3 times as much and would be a really long time waiting. Although I am not concerned about weight of the rifle I don't want it to tip forward on the bipod at all. the rifle will be shooting nothing but supper heavies like the new hybrid 230 or 215 and some sierras. The rifle is being built ultra long range steel shooting and maybe the occasional F class match if I feel extra crazy one day. I just can't make up my mind on the barrel so could use your opinions on them.

 

[effendude]

Minesweeper,
I would strongly recommend not having a barrel length shorter than 24" at the absolute minimum with 26" being more of a practical field length. The Ultramag burns a whole s*^%pot of slow burning powder and it really needs the barrel length to get all of the round's potential. Both of my 300 RUM rifles have 26" barrels as they are hunting rifles. My go-to load is 97 grains of Retumbo with a 180 Barnes MRX or TTSX. I truly think you would be wasting your time at 22".
Scott

 

[gmorganal]

I rebarreled a Sendero a couple years ago with a Krieger Remington varmint contour barrel,10-twist, 28-inch, 30- inch counting the brake. I had no idea what kind of monster I was putting together. It shoots 210-grain VLD Bergers at 3200 FPS with 94 grains of Retumbo. My last two three-shot groups at 520 yards measured 1.5 and 1.9 inches. I am still looking for just the right target.

 

[Minesweeper3433]

effendude I was thinking that exact problem which is why I might just order the light weight barrel and wait on it. Does anybody know if the aluminum sleeved barrel would support the weight of a suppressor? I might have to use this as an excuse to go with a longer stock for balance purposes than what I already have. Right now the rifle is a 300 win mag with a 28 inch krieger in a HS varmint style stock with the vertical grip. It shoots great prone but the stock isn't that long for balance reasons.

 

[BigDMT]

Minesweeper,
I would strongly recommend not having a barrel length shorter than 24" at the absolute minimum with 26" being more of a practical field length. The Ultramag burns a whole s*^%pot of slow burning powder and it really needs the barrel length to get all of the round's potential. Both of my 300 RUM rifles have 26" barrels as they are hunting rifles. My go-to load is 97 grains of Retumbo with a 180 Barnes MRX or TTSX. I truly think you would be wasting your time at 22".
Scott

I agree. I think the whole point of building a 300 RUM is for maximum performance. You can't get the performance from the slow powders used for heavy bullets if you can't burn it all before it leaves the barrel's crown. Might as well build a 300 WSM if using a 22" barrel. But even then, the performance will still be greatly hindered with heavy pills because the 300 WSM also uses slow burning powders in those applications.

A 300 RUM may give good speeds in a 22" barrel if using lighter pills with faster powder. Otherwise I think you will just be shooting unburned powder out of the barrel.

 

[Minesweeper3433]

The way I am looking at it is I will still get the better performance than my 300 winmag does even with the shorter barrel. It isn't exactly like factory 300RUM come with a 30" barrel, at least not that I am aware of. I am going to look at what the projected weight for a 26 inch fluted heavy #9 or 10 would be and see if I can make that work.

 

[BigDMT]

The way I am looking at it is I will still get the better performance than my 300 winmag does even with the shorter barrel. It isn't exactly like factory 300RUM come with a 30" barrel, at least not that I am aware of. I am going to look at what the projected weight for a 26 inch fluted heavy #9 or 10 would be and see if I can make that work.

The 300 Winny is a fast 30 as well. I had mine shooting the 180gr Swift Scirocco II at 3230 fps. Another load using the 178gr A-Max going 3250 fps. And those speeds were from a 24" barrel!

Even had the 210gr Sierra MK going 2940 fps. Couldn't go any faster though because I couldn't burn any more of the slow powders in my 24" pipe.

So the old .300 WM can hold it's own with speed using the right loads.

 

[Minesweeper3433]

I think my krieger is a slow barrel. I only get about 3050 with the 190 sierra's and hornady antiques I am shooting out of it. That is with a 28+break barrel 11 twist. The reason I am having the 30RUM barrel made up is so I can shoot the new berger hybrids in the same ballpark. I really enjoy shooting my WM maybe a bit too much. It is one of the biggest things I have been looking forward to doing when I get back to the states.

 

[BigDMT]

Yeah mine was a 12 twist. Used 78 gr of RL-19 for the 180 and 178 bullets. Can't remember what I used for the 210??? Have it written somewhere I'm sure. That was a long time ago. I think it might have been a Retumbo compressed load