Q: I have the chance to buy a Remington Model 700 LSS chambered for the .300 Remington Ultra Mag. A friend bought it a few years ago to use in Africa, but he found the recoil too punishing and put it away until fairly recently.
The price he is asking for the rifle is reasonable enough, but before I buy it I’d like to know more about this cartridge. Any information you can offer would be most welcome.
Patrick Duffy
A: Advertised as “the first of a line of new, beltless magnum cartridges,” the .300 Ultra Mag was a real powerhouse. Muzzle velocity was exactly what the factory claimed — it drives the 180gn Nosler Partition bullet at 3300fps with a minor variation of 35fps and churns up 4352ft-lb of energy.
Away out yonder at 500yd, the bullet is still moving along at 2316fps and packing 2144ft-lb.
When the rifle is zeroed for 300yd the bullets are 3” high at 100, 3½” high at 200, and 21.6” below the line of sight out at 500yd.
The .300 Ultra Mag is inherently accurate, flat shooting and packs one helluva wallop at longer ranges. A Model 700 rifle I tested back in 1999 regularly landed five shots inside 1.5 inches all day long.
The round is based on the .404 Jeffery case with the body expanded to 0.550” all the way to the shoulder and given a 30-degree shoulder while rebating the rim to 0.534”.
In case you are worried about recoil, the .300 Ultra Mag nudges the shoulder just like my Model 700 in 8mm Rem Mag. That’s the fastest I’ve ever experienced — abrupt and instantaneous, but not unbearable thanks to a soft ¾” rubber recoil pad.
The stock is well designed and the rounded Monte Carlo comb offers plenty of support for the face and, sloping down toward the front, it slides rearward away from the cheek when the rifle recoils.
If you grasp the fore-end firmly and pull the butt tightly against your shoulder, you’ll find you can control it well enough.
Buy that Model 700 but only if you think you are man enough to handle it.
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