300RUM

Another suggestion, have another shooter fire the gun. Preferably someone capable of sub MOA accuracy. If they can get it to group you need to work on shooting technique. If they can't get it to group it indicates load / rifle problems. I had just picked up a muzzleloader a few years back and was out at the RSSC range practicing. Another shooter was having trouble with a match rifle and asked a range officer if he new another shooter on the line capable of sub MOA accuracy. The range officer pointed down to me and told him "See the idiot with his cleaning rod stuck in his muzzleloader? He doesn't know much about muzzleloaders but he is pretty good with a rifle." I was able to get 1/2 inch groups from the rifle, isolating the problem to the shooter. Turns out the guy was a big muzzleloader hunter and I got a lot of good tips from him.

I will second the different bullet suggestion. A friend recently had to employ his backup gun on a sheep hunt. With this rifle he gets 3 inch groups with SST's and 3/4 inch groups with ballistic tips. I am not slamming the SST. I have a gun in the same caliber that groups them just fine. Just like some people don't like some foods, some rifles don't like some bullets. We have learned not to feed this gun SST's.

If you go with the Harris swivel there are aftermarket levers to replace the round knob that tightens up the swivel once you have leveled the rifle. They work much better , all my bipods have them.

If the action is long enough for the win mag it's probably long enough for the ultra, the OAL spec for the ultra is only 0.260 longer. I have not worked with M77's much but there would probably be more machining needed to open up the inside of the action so the larger cartridges would feed from the mag. Between that and the bolt face / extractor modifications that is a lot of money sunk into machine work. If you are attached to the rifle why not keep it like it is and buy another rifle that is a magnum? As far as breaks go I run a OPS on my 300RUM and love it. The design of this break creates a cone to the rear of the rifle where the decibel level does not substantially increase over an un-braked gun. If you fire it on a hunt without putting in ear plugs you will still be able to hear afterwards. They are available through brownells.

I'm sick and bored so I pulled up the chamber prints to amuse myself. the 7mm & .300 RSAUM match in the following dimensions. Head to shoulder 1.5383. Body taper measurements at 1.250 spacing are 5.500 & 5.357. Shoulder is 30 degrees. Case length is different. 2.035 for the 7mm and 2.015 for the .300. All that means is you wont have to trim brass for a while, Good luck.

I turn .308 brass into 7mm-08 AI without any problems. You can type each cartridge into your search engine along with the letters "SAAMI". This should pull up a chamber blueprint for each round that you can compare. I expect the only difference will be the neck diameter, however I am aware the .338RUM has the shoulder pushed back and is shorter than the 7mm & .300RUM. So it is the same parent case but has a different headspace. Comparing chamber prints will confirm if the dimensions, other than the neck, are a match. Since you are sizing the necks down the wall will get thicker. If it ends up to thick, for any reason, the neck wall can be turned down.

I use 3 different rifles depending on how I hunt. If I climb high and sit I take a .300 Ultra. I know its overkill but it was built to handle everything up to elk at extended range and its paid for. If I am running a mobile hunt I carry a lightweight 7mm-08 A.I. I built it after a New Mexico antelope hunt where I carried the .300 on a sling for 7 miles before I got a shot. My shoulder was killing me. If I am working game trails in thick oak and juniper I use a AR-15 carbine in 6.8mm SPC. Arguably there is no 1 perfect gun. That is the perfect excuse to buy more guns, right?

For the story behind this look under Hunts For Heroes - Desert Bighorn Hunt See post # 1 and # 47 That seems to be as good as a Marine and an old truck driver are able to tell the 2 parts to this story. If it is going to be done any better we probably need an author.

How about writing an article and submitting it for publication in Bugle, the Rocky Mountain Elk Foundation publication. It is just the kind of thing they would print, with national exposure. There have to be other states with tag donation to veteran programs. Getting the word out that tags can be donated to veterans increases the chances that they will be.

I wonder how many people are not aware you can donate a tag to a vet? Let me throw out a suggestion, See if some newspapers would run a little story about this. It is the kind of story that might get published. The reason to get the story published would be to communicate the fact a tag can be donated to a Vet. It would obviously have to be Neil's call to whether proceed with this. I have frequent contact with the Globe newspaper and another co-worker who hunts frequently goes to the Payson paper.

I've never been motivated to join a forum before. This event has changed that. The forum members coming together on such short notice to assist a deserving veteran was incredible. The 37B Sheep tag was donated by Chris, my best friend and hunting partner for over 25 years. Chris is not a skilled long range shooter so the first week we ran a stalk and maneuver hunt trying to get a close shot. We were consistently defeated by the mountain. In one case Chris tumbled down the mountain, breaking his rifle stock in half. By the end of the week he had nicknamed Picketpost "The Mountain of Pain." The second weekend we had a bold plan to hunt from a camp on top of the mountain. This would have provided plenty of short range shots to positions the sheep liked. I caught bronchitis, the weather was terrible, so Chris aborted that plan and stayed low. On the 22nd Chris called to inform me the hunt was over. His mother had just been rushed to the hospital and her condition was not promising. The place for him to be was at her side. He decided to donate the tag to a veteran. I told him to include my name and number with it. All the knowledge we had gathered needed to accompany that tag. The hunter would not much time as the tag expired on the 31st. I was also willing to get out in the field when I was available to do so. Jim, another of Chris's friends was willing to assist as well. On the 27th, I was contacted by Tom, who had gotten the tag re-issued to a veteran. Tom and Andrew came to my house that evening and we went over maps and satellite images. The whole time they were coordinating with volunteers and making a plan to get the hunter in the field the next day. This thing was actually going to take off and fly! As they left I told them I would see them out there Friday and Saturday. At 3:20 P.M. on Wednesday the 28th I received a text, "Big Ram Down!" I called Chris. In over 25 years of hunting together we have obviously experienced both success and failure. Although Chris didn't tag the ram we both agree this hunt goes in the success pile. It was inspiring to be able to turn the hunt over to a veteran instead of letting the tag expire in Chris's wallet at the hospital. Fortunately, his mother is stabilized and may be able to leave soon. Neil, I appreciate your service and sacrifice. You jumped right into a challenging hunt with no time to prepare, then got out on that mountain and made it happen. Nice shot Marine! That is a beautiful ram. Lee Zimmermann