.300 Holland and Holland, opinions and suggestions on how to feed one.

[John the Electrician]

I’m eagerly awaiting the arrival of a very special to me rifle. This is in .300 HH and I have never owned one before so I have no ammunition or reloading components for it aside from .30 cal bullets and primers.

So, the question is, do I acquire new or used brass or, should I buy loaded ammo and save the brass after the ammo is shot?

Naturally there are tons of nuances to either option. What are the opinions and suggestions of the group?

 

[LimbNoMo]

I have a reloading bench, but I usually buy loaded ammunition and save the brass.

 

[Doug3006]

Hi John. Welcome to the original magnum 30 club! Here’s what I do. You may want to try something else.

First of all, finding loaded 300 H&H ammo is a chore! The only loaded ammo I’ve been able to find is Nosler 180 grain Accubond. It shoots 1.5” to 2” groups out of my Ruger #1. So I load my own.

Brass is also hard to find. So I routinely check the usual reloading sites and Gunbroker. Be prepared to be gouged. Achieving ballistic nirvana is not cheap. I’ve been able to amass a good inventory of Norma and Nosler brass. (I think Nosler gets their brass from Norma….regardless my loads shoot the same using either brand. ). I practice with loads developed using fired brass. The 300 H&H is known for relatively short case life, but I can generally get 3-4 loads out of them before neck cracking sets in.

I load my hunting rounds using new cases. I can’t tell the difference from an accuracy standpoint and I figure using fresh cases eliminates one potential point of failure. I load 200 grain Nosler Partitions. I feel like the heavier bullets make the H&H really stand out.

Best of luck! PM me if you’d like.

 

[steve white]

I would also headspace it off the shoulder when setting up the dies.
If you safely load it to it's potential, it can't help but compete with all the other magnums, since it certainly has the case capacity.

 

[MRBlack]

Welcome to the world of classy performance! I hand load everything, so my opinion would be to buy brass and develop a load. I have had great luck with the heavier for caliber bullets. Tony from Swift Bullets turned me on to the fact that because of its large case capacity, there isn’t much difference in velocity between the 180 and 200 grain bullets. Here is a picture of my pre 64 Winchester’s group at 100 yards after tweaking the load.

 

[RedTag]

All of the above!
I live in Alaska and .300 H&H Magnum ammo and brass is generally difficult or impossible to find in stores up here. I will buy factory ammunition for mine at every opportunity, which more often than not entails flying it up from the lower 48 when visiting family. The value of the brass alone, plus the convenience of ready to shoot ammo and the baseline it provides, makes buying factory ammunition an easy choice. I buy new brass whenever I can find any at reasonable prices. I recently purchased a hundred pieces from Raven Rocks Precision and I highly recommend them. I keep a close watch on the local classified advertisements and have found a veritable treasure trove of second hand brass and ammo at very nice deals this way, but this requires a lot of patience. Patience is a virtue. I avoid gun broker. I bought brass once through gb and it was a ripoff, overpriced and damaged. I could go on and on about what I think of the guys who resell on gb taking advantage and ruining our sport, but would digress in doing so…
You’re going to fall in love with the .300 H&H Magnum. The balance of power, accuracy, recoil, and class hasn’t been surpassed by anything else in this weight class in a century.