New Ruger RCM....Why?

[Coyote Hunter]

Interesting point.  Question: given that Hornady came out with the RCM, does that mean that Ruger is paying a royalty fee to Hornady?  Or did they work out a deal with no royalty fees?

Zachary

Hornady developed the RCM cartridges, not Ruger.

[roper]

I've read alittle about the 300RCM and be interesting to see what a factory round would do in a 24" barrel.  I like the WSM line of cases and when you are limited in selection of rifles and only factory ammo you limit the market.  I'm not going to buy a rifle to shoot factory ammo and from my understand the powder used is not available to the public.  I fully understand a short barrel rifle like the RCM may appeal to some shooter and non reloaders and if that is the market they are trying for great. 

[CapoWard]

Last spring and summer there were complaints that only the “special” Hornady powder would replicate their published figurers for the 375 Ruger cartridge yet this fall Hodgdon has met and exceeded these figurers while staying within SAAMI specifications with powders that are commercially available to all of us.  I’m sure that we’ll see something similar from Hodgdon regarding the RCM cartridges.

I believe the more options the cartridge, component, and rifle manufacturers give us the better off we are consumers are.  I do believe the Jamison lawsuit results were both unfortunate and wrong as I believe wildcatters produced similar cartridges much earlier in the 1900s and their cartridges were available to the general shooting public which I believe should have negated Jamison’s patent application – unfortunately the patent office didn’t agree. 

I personally had hoped that the first 375 Ruger derivative cartridges that Hornady and Ruger developed would have been standard length cartridges for standard length actions rather than short cartridges for short actions.  Oh well, here’s hoping that we’ll see either a .308 or .338 and a .416 or .423 or .458 offered sometime in early 2008 to flesh out the Hawkeye line.

[jro45]

I think its great Hornady and Ruger. Hornady could come up with the bullets and Ruger could make the rifles

[deltecs]

The design of the RCM cartridges were 2 fold.  The first reason was a round that used the standard belted mag bolt face without alterations and having the same number of rounds in the magazine.  The second reason was to near duplicate ballistics of extremely popular and effective rounds used in a short action for handiness and portability.  The .300 and .338 Win Mags are extremely popular and effective on both NA and African plains game.  The RCM rounds now duplicate these cartridges ballistics in a shorter, handier, rifle without losing any effectiveness.  I for one have never seen the need for a belt around a cartridge and am glad some firearms makers now are recognizing this.  The case capacities of both the .300 and .338 RCM are very close to case capacities of the .300 and .338 Win Mags, so standard powders can be used more efficiently due the larger ignition area exposed to the primer.  This is where efficiency comes into play.   One doesn't need the longer barrels to burn the powder effectively.  There was also no necessity for a standard length case to increase velocity just to compete for highest velocity per bore.  Existing rounds already cover this area of super velocity.  The case capacity of the .375 RCM also is larger than the .375 H&H, so should have similar or better ballistics than it even with normal powder loads.  I think the firearms industry has finally reached the stage where having a belt is not needed or wanted as similar ballistics can be achieved using shorter handier rifles with rounds not having the belt.  I like the idea and you can bet you'll be seeing more of them over the next 5 years.

[jim dab]

I was kind of waiting to see what Ruger might do with this new cartridge. I was really disappointed they went the way they did. I would think maybe, just maybe offer something new to the market place. How about a 6.5, 8mm, .358 or even a new .416. I stopped waiting and I can tell you the cost of wildcatting is getting more and more expensive, and living in Canada doesn't help with obtaining components. I have a 358 STA and am in the process of building a 6.5 Ruger so if Ruger would start looking at .416 that would be a real help.

Jim

[SHOOTALL]

#-1 , if i only hunted deer and could only kill one a day then you may have a point , but i hunt other critters and we can kill 2 deer a day . So I like more than one in the gun !
#-2 time will tell , but i don't plan to buy one , will get the Ruger in 308 .