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

[Altitude sickness]

As often mentioned. It’s surprising that the Super 30 hasn’t had a resurgence. Bullet selection, feeding, accuracy, recoil.

 

[grand veneur]

As often mentioned. It’s surprising that the Super 30 hasn’t had a resurgence. Bullet selection, feeding, accuracy, recoil.

The cartridges 300 H&H Magnum and 30 Super Belted Rimless H&H are often described as the same, but this is not entirely true. In my opinion the cartridge 300 H&H Magnum is the more modern version and offers some advantages if you stick to the earlier specifications of both cartridges.

 

[grand veneur]

In my opinion the cartridge 300 H&H Magnum became popular after Ben Comfort won the 1000-yard Wimbledon Cup Match at Camp Perry in 1935. Thereafter perhaps chamber dimensions closer to the upper tolerances of the 30 Super chamber became established in the USA and our cartridge 300 H&H Magnum was born.

An NRA Shooting Sports Journal | Wimbledon Cup History: Ben Comfort's Controversial Sighters

At the 1935 Wimbledon Cup Match, Ben C. Comfort set one of Camp Perry's more memorable "firsts."

www.ssusa.org

 

[grand veneur]

My rifle caliber 300 H&H Magnum was built in 1964 in Germany also with a Model 17 action, like the rifle of Ben Comfort built by Griffin &Howe.

 

[grand veneur]

My most accurate factory load is the one pictured below. Otherwise, I was able to find a very good reload with 180gr TSX bullets.

 

[Jon R15]

My 300 H&H is headed to Namibia next week for an Eland, Oryx, Zebra, and hopefully some others. I had great luck with Reloader 22, GM215M primers and twice fired Winchester brass. This attached target has the three 200gr Northfork solids (not 180s like the note on the target) touching at the bottom and the top two are 180gr A-Frames. The 200s are 2905fps and the 180s are 2978fps.

 

[Altitude sickness]

The 180 Silvertip shoots very well out of mine also

 

[Atticus]

I saw that Midway has several HSM 300 H&H loads back in stock. I’ve never tried it but another option.

 

[John the Electrician]

Thank you all for the helpful suggestions. I’m debating between getting 100 rounds of loaded ammo vs the Hendershots route.

I was able to get a set of dies from an a young man I know, his father was an avid gun guy, owning a small town gun store briefly. He has two or three of nearly everything gun and ammo related

Reloading is half the fun, so I am leaning toward purchasing some factory ammonium to get the gun sighted in. Reloading to find a pet load from there.

Anyone who has 100+ rounds of factory ammunition they want to sell, feel free to PM me.

Thank you for your advice.

John

 

[PARA45]

@John the Electrician, I'd buy the factory ammo available at Midway USA, and then I'd keep an eye on Raven Rocks Precision and get on their mailing list for when the 300 H&H brass is available.

 

[akrifleman]

I use a belted magnum collet, and get far more reloadings (without separation).

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

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?

@John the Electrician
I haven't bought factory ammo for any rifle in a long, long, long time.
As I'm a handloader I buy virgin brass ( the only virgins I've had in my life) and pick the projectile in going to use and work up my loads.
I buy 100 cases at a time.
Work up my load with 20 new cases, reloading the same 20 all the time until I get what I want.
This may involve a couple of reloads.
I keep track of the amount of times that 20 were fired and put them aside.

That way I have 80 new case on hand and load and use them until they reach the same round count as the first 20.
Then I reload the whole 100.
When ALL my cases have had five reloads I anneal the necks and start again. If you use good quality brass you can get upto twenty or more reloads out of one case. That equates to 2,000 shots from your original 100 cases.
Easier than it sounds
Bob

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

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.

@Doug3006
Silly question
Do you use the belt or datum line to set the headspace.
Neck sizing may help and annealing the neck and shoulder will extend case life.

If not hunting Africa I would save my good brass and buy cheap 375 brass and neck it down in a couple of steps (375-338-308) then anneal the necks. A little work but saves a bucket full of money.
Just a thought
Bob

 

[Kiwifire111]

Load your own, buy Norma brass and here's a set of dies for you.
My Ruger No1 300H&H shoots Woodleigh 180gr into .9 inch groups, with a Hicks accuriser fitted.

 

[Doug3006]

@Doug3006
Silly question
Do you use the belt or datum line to set the headspace.
Neck sizing may help and annealing the neck and shoulder will extend case life.

If not hunting Africa I would save my good brass and buy cheap 375 brass and neck it down in a couple of steps (375-338-308) then anneal the necks. A little work but saves a bucket full of money.
Just a thought
Bob

Hi Bob! I plan on going the neck sizing route. Thanks for the suggestion to try annealing the necks. I’ll try that too.

 

[Desperatezulu]

Adding my 2c here on the 300 H&H...

1. Case failure tends to happen above the belt (i.e. case head separation) and not neck cracking. I do anneal every reloading cycle and have yet to have a single neck crack. I partial full-length resize to try and index off the shoulder and minimise case stretch. It gives better case life than pure neck-sizing.
2. The hotter the load, the faster the onset of case head separation.
3. I used 200gr bullets for years - Accubonds, Peregrine monos, TSX and NOrma Oryx until supply constraints ruled the various options out. The flatbase TSX and Oryx were by far the most accurate.
4. I know use 180gr Partitions and these have been the most accurate in my rifle yet.
5. Reloder-26 gives the most/best performance if you want to run up to the pressure limit in pursuit of velocity.

 

[quandary]

Maybe this is a odd approach but here's what I am thinking. PG hunt in Namibia. Taking two rifles a 35 Whelen and a 300H&H that I am in process of building. I will run 225s (probably Accubonds as they shoot really well in my 35 Whelen) in the 35 Whelen for the bigger stuff. Never loaded for 300H&H but reviewing the Nosler load data I am thinking of 165 Accubonds (assuming they shoot) which should run at 3,000fps or a bit quicker. I figure this way if something happens to one of the rifles I am realistically covered for everything. Obviously for the "smaller" caliber I could take a whole bunch of other rifles but I like the idea of the classic Super 30 and "America's Magnum" as Col. Townsend Whelen said.

 

[BC Tal]

Quandary,
You don't mention what PG animals you intend to hunt. If you follow the rule of take what the bush gives you it could range from medium to larger PG animals. For this task, the 300 H&H will be just fine for what the 35 Whelen could do. 30 cal 165gr heads is something I associate with 308 loads and/or smaller antelope game and 180gr heads for 30-06 and heavier antelope. I would suggest looking at 200gr heads for the 300 H&H to cover off the heavier antelope game.

 

[farmer_john]

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.

Do you anneal your cases? You can probably get at least double the case life or more. If you do

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

Maybe this is a odd approach but here's what I am thinking. PG hunt in Namibia. Taking two rifles a 35 Whelen and a 300H&H that I am in process of building. I will run 225s (probably Accubonds as they shoot really well in my 35 Whelen) in the 35 Whelen for the bigger stuff. Never loaded for 300H&H but reviewing the Nosler load data I am thinking of 165 Accubonds (assuming they shoot) which should run at 3,000fps or a bit quicker. I figure this way if something happens to one of the rifles I am realistically covered for everything. Obviously for the "smaller" caliber I could take a whole bunch of other rifles but I like the idea of the classic Super 30 and "America's Magnum" as Col. Townsend Whelen said.

@quandary
With the 225 accubonds work up slowly to 69 gn of CFE 223 .
This will give you 2,900fps and shoot fairly flat out to 400 where they still carry over 2,000fpe.
This is a max load so work up from 66gn keeping an eye on pressure. This was safe in MY rifle but use caution.
Bob