Finally: taking out .300 H&H Mag.

Unless you need absolutely EVERY last bit of velocity the H&H will do anything that any of the more modern 300s will do. And H&H sounds cool when you say it.

Most manufacturers use a 26" on the 300 H&H. Any magnum will lose a bit of velocity with a 2" reduction in barrel length.

I think that you will be very satisfied with the .300 H&H chambering, capable, in a good rifle, of very good accuracy and performance in the hunting arena.

I've owned a .300 H&H for about 10 years, it's a great cartridge. The finer points are brass lasts forever, some of the brass I have is on the 3rd firing and still does not need trimmed. Recoil is not as bad as comparable cartridges. I sold a 7mm RM because that rifle kicked worse then the .300.

To: joed,

You wrote: "I've owned a .300 H&H for about 10 years, it's a great cartridge. The finer points are brass lasts forever, some of the brass I have is on the 3rd firing and still does not need trimmed. Recoil is not as bad as comparable cartridges. I sold a 7mm RM because that rifle kicked worse then the .300."

I don't agree that the brass lasts long at all. The cartridge cannot headspace on its shoulder well and therefore the webs thin and the case has to be scrapped.

Also the cartridge is longer and needs a heavier special action.

The 300 WSM is a better round and so is the 30-06 for that matter.

Its nice to say that you have one however as to the uninformed it has an unearned reputation.

Its nice to say that you have one however as to the uninformed it has an unearned reputation.

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Yeowch. Don't spare the man your feelings.

Seems like it wouldn't still exist almost 100 years after being introduced if it didn't have something going for it.

The cartridge cannot headspace on its shoulder well

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Hmmmm...... maybe just maybe this why the 300 H&H has a belt. Oh wait, the 300 H&H does head space on the belt.

Also the cartridge is longer and needs a heavier special action.

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Well darn, I guess I need to get rid of my Pre 64 Mdl 70 300 H&H. The 300 H&H does take a mag action. But it's not alone.

The 300 WSM is a better round and so is the 30-06 for that matter.

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'06 a better round? Ya smokin Crack? Until the 300 WSM wins the Wimbleton at Perry like the 300 H&H did I doubt it shoots as well or someone would be shooting it.

Its nice to say that you have one however as to the uninformed it has an unearned reputation.

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Ahhh, Take your own advice? Have you checked 300 H&H data against 300 Win Mag data? You will find the 300 H&H will drive some bullets a little faster than the 300 Win Mag and use less powder doing it. The 300 H&H is efficient in its powder use. It takes more powder to out run the 300 H&H in the belted brass magmums. Once you get into the heavy 30 caliber bullets the other 300’s can’t keep up with the 300 H&H for the most part. Until 1963, the 300 H&H was the 30 caliber mag.

Checking your 300 WSM agsinst 300H&H data it appears there were some gains made by the WSM. However again there was no reference to the WSM being a accurate round. Now I know the WSM should be but I have not seen it yet. The accuracy of the 300H&H is well documented. It has also taken every beast on the earth. The 300 H&H appears to have a milder recoil than the others according to my shoulder.

Yeah, I agree. It's on my short list of heavier calibers along with it's big brother - 375 H&H. Any round that has been there and done that as long as these two, must have some inherent advantage? It seems that the others are trying to duplicate the numbers or "gee whiz" the market into thinking they are better, but they are not.

It's like the 303 (not really, but bear with me ) in that it does a lot of things well and it's on the shelf in a lot of places. It's a known accurate round, it has manageable recoil for a heavy 30, it can be readily reloaded for improved accuracy for the rifle at hand, and folks are still making guns chambered for the round. They would not do that if it were not viable

It may out-live a lot of other "super duper let's see what we can do to confuse the market rounds" that are on the shelves. Gee, wonder who will still be on the market in another 50 years?

Savage99- Weeeeelll... As one of "uninformed" who believes the 300 H&H is a viable cartridge let me clarify my earlier comment.

The more modern 300s offer more velocity potential. If one feels the need to wring every last foot per second of muzzle velocity in a 30 caliber rifle then there are better choices than the H&H version.

But I suspect that 98% of us really don't need every last foot per second. The 300 H&H is a powerful 30 caliber. Not as powerful of the more recent 300 Magnums, but it has been getting the job done since 1912 (hey, 100 years) and will continue to do so. I seriously doubt the average shooter will do all that much better with an additional 100-200 FPS and I am fairly confident any animal shot with the H&H will not be able to discern the difference, either.

As for case life, I am unaware of any problems with excessive wear in the H&H shoulder area. On the longer action needed for the H&H, you say that like it's a bad thing. A Magnum Mauser or an elegant single shot like the Ruger #1 is a thing of beauty. Actually, a 300 H&H can be, and has been built on regular length actions. Note the Remington Model 721s and the scads of Mauser 98s running around in this caliber.

I love the 30/06 but it sure isn't better than a 300 H&H. They are 2 different cartridges designed to do 2 different things and both are great for doing what they were designed for. FRJ

Savage99 said:

To: joed,

You wrote: "I've owned a .300 H&H for about 10 years, it's a great cartridge. The finer points are brass lasts forever, some of the brass I have is on the 3rd firing and still does not need trimmed. Recoil is not as bad as comparable cartridges. I sold a 7mm RM because that rifle kicked worse then the .300."

I don't agree that the brass lasts long at all. The cartridge cannot headspace on its shoulder well and therefore the webs thin and the case has to be scrapped.

Also the cartridge is longer and needs a heavier special action.

The 300 WSM is a better round and so is the 30-06 for that matter.

Its nice to say that you have one however as to the uninformed it has an unearned reputation.

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I have to disagree with you after 3 firings and brass not even needing trimmed. My opinion is the shallow shoulder helps in this respect. The .300 H&H has been around a long time and has some pretty decent ballistic credentials. It's biggest fault is the length which requires a magnum action, but who cares. The biggest reason manufacturers prefer to not make a long action is profit, not that it's weaker or anything. I haven't found the shallow shoulder to be a detriment other then reading it in print. This round has to headspace on the belt and not the shoulder but it hasn't caused me any problems.

If you compare the H&H to the .300 WM both cases are very close in internal volume with the WM having less then a 2 gr advantage. With a 200 gr bullet the H&H may actually have the edge as the WM and WSM need that bullet to be seated rather deeply in the case. The H&H also runs at less pressure then the WM or the WSM. To be honest looking in my loading manuals the H&H gives up nothing to a WSM with heavy bullets. The H&H really shines when you start talking about 200 gr or heavier bullets.

Look in an older Nosler manual like #4 and there are many loads that can drive a 180 gr bullet over 3000 fps. There's a reason this cartridge is still with us.

Unearned reputation? No, it's reputation is well documented, this cartridge has done a lot in 100 years as others on here have pointed out.

I bought my rifle for hunting and have been very pleased with it's performance.

talldragon, what are you loading in the H&H? I've shot 165, 180 and 200 gr bullets from mine with all of them producing excellent results on targets. Only powder I've tried so far has been IMR4350. It's worked so well that I have not even considered trying anything else.

When I came across my Remington Classic chambered in .300 H&H there were 2 reasons I bought it. The first is it's a unique cartridge and the second reason was it could easily share powders with my magnum chamberings.

I was pleasantly surprised the first time I fired it. It is accurate with all the bullet weights I tried in it. I think you will be very happy with that cartridge.

Thats a nice rifle Dragon, ive always wanted a .300H&H. I think its one of the nicest rounds out there. The reason i see for the H&H eating cases is if the chamber is long the first shot will stretch the web (my old 7mm only took 2 firings to show signs). If you have a tight chamber and or use a modified handloading procedure of going a caliber or so larger then necking back down again on the first firing to get good headspace on the shoulder (as i do with on all my belted rounds now), they should last as long as any other case. The round is as fast or nearly as fast as any of the .300 magnums, short of the real monsters. When properly loaded its much faster then any 06 ive ever seen. It also has an eye pleasing shape if you ask me...just something i like.

Now you got me started on the .300 H&H again. I may take mine out this weekend and run a few through it as I think the weather is supposed to warm up.

May ever run a few of these over the chrony as long as weather stays fair.

Some one had better bone up on "Thirty-Caliber Magnums, 101".

The Holland does indeed have enough shoulder to head space on. Excessive resizing will move the shoulder back and cause early case separation.

Any bottle necked cartridge can have the same problem.

The Holland will push bullets over 180 gr faster than most other Magnum Thirties with less powder.

The 300 H&H has won world championships, the Short Mag has yet to do this.

Using a Redding Competition Shell Holder set will eliminate head space problems in all bottle necked cartridges.

Arrogance AND ignorance is a terrible combination.:banghead:

Talldragon, I will indeed post my results but I pretty much know what they will be already. This rifle and me go back 10 years and lots of loaded cartridges. Not to many fired ones though, as I don't have a lot of range time with this rifle, I bought it with the hopes of some larger game hunting.

I'll try the 200 gr Sierras that I have loaded for it today. Wish I could take the camera with me but it's not here. In fact I don't have but one picture of the rifle.

Hopefully nothing has changed as the rifle has been unfired and sitting for 5 years.

The only picture of my .300 H&H. it's the one on the right next to my favorite rifle, a BDL VS in .25-06.

john wall said:

Some one had better bone up on "Thirty-Caliber Magnums, 101".

The Holland does indeed have enough shoulder to head space on. Excessive resizing will move the shoulder back and cause early case separation.

Any bottle necked cartridge can have the same problem.

The Holland will push bullets over 180 gr faster than most other Magnum Thirties with less powder.

The 300 H&H has won world championships, the Short Mag has yet to do this.

Using a Redding Competition Shell Holder set will eliminate head space problems in all bottle necked cartridges.

Arrogance AND ignorance is a terrible combination.:banghead:

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Good info but you'd have to explain the Redding competition shell holder to me. I don't have enough Redding dies, but have had good luck with them.

I think it hit me last night while sitting here bored. The .300 H&H is 100 years old now! After 100 years it is still capable of holding it's own with cartridges that are youngsters. How many other cartridges can you make that same statement about?

And as stated with less powder then the newer cartridges. I've been very pleased with my Remington Classic in .300 H&H, I just wish I could say I used it on large game as that's what I bought it for. And I thought it's history was quite cool.

From the research I've done the H&H is still quite popular in Africa and the .300 is used on plains game.

I think it's a shame that no one chambers this round in a modern rifle anymore but with the economics of producing a long action I understand why?

Back from a trip to the range today. Little colder and windier then I thought it would be but it was good to get out.

First thing I'll say is I've gotten used to the smaller calibers like the .22-250 after letting this rifle sit for so long. I could feel the thump right through a heavy coat. And this rifle doesn't have a brake or anything.

Today I tried the 200 gr Sierra bullets loaded with IMR4350 that I've had sitting for awhile. You can surely feel a difference between these and the 180 gr. The scope was still spot on which surprised me as it's an old Vari X I Leupold 3x9. No matter what I did today group size was about 3/4". I'm sure I could do better after some more range time. But it was worth it just to get out.

Probably won't get out again till spring so that's my day.

Dear Joed

These shell holders are thicker than standard ones, in .002" increments. They keep the sizing die from setting back the shoulder on a bottle necked cartridge any more than is needed for the case to properly chamber.

Finding brass fired in other guns will typically allow you to choose the right shell holder. In your case, run a slightly larger inside neck expander such as a 32 or 8mm caliber in the case neck, and starting with the .010" shell holder, go down using your FL die until round chambers with little or no effort.

Belted Magnums and Rimmed cartridges DO initially headspace on the belt or rim, but after firing, bottle necked rounds should headspace on the shoulder. Sometimes, the chamber is generous on these cartridges, but this gives a little more powder capacity.

Semi-auto and pump rifles should have the shoulder bumped back .001" more than needed to insure proper chambering when the chamber is fouled. Most autos and pumps have little leverage when chambering a round.

I use the Competition Shell Holder set for all my bottle necked rifle rounds.

Even the 30/30 can benefit from greatly increased case life if it is not excessively re sized.

Thanks John, I'll have to look into that. Amazing, I learned something new today. I'll have to look at picking some of these up. As much as I shoot the H&H though I don't know if I'd benefit. In 10 years I've managed 120 rounds.

I bought a lot of brass when I first bought the gun. Would you believe I have 700 cases? I can't even imagine what that brass costs now.