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

[BruceS]

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?

I only buy new brass. I enjoy load development and find i get about 5 loadings before case is discarded. Love woodleigh 220gr. Very deadly on plainsgame.

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

I only buy new brass. I enjoy load development and find i get about 5 loadings before case is discarded. Love woodleigh 220gr. Very deadly on plainsgame.

@BruceS
If you trat your brass well there's no reason not to get 10-20 reloads per case.
Neck size only until the brass gets hard to chamber, only them bump the shoulder back the minimum needed.

Check length and trim when needed
Re chamfer inside and outside of cas neck after trimming.
Anneal every 5 reloads.
Doing this cases should last a long long time.
Bob

 

[Razorback]

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.

What velocities are you getting with Reloder 26 and 180 gr? I would imagine close to 3100?

 

[BruceS]

@BruceS
If you trat your brass well there's no reason not to get 10-20 reloads per case.
Neck size only until the brass gets hard to chamber, only them bump the shoulder back the minimum needed.

Check length and trim when needed
Re chamfer inside and outside of cas neck after trimming.
Anneal every 5 reloads.
Doing this cases should last a long long time.
Bob

Thanks for the tip. I will give it a go

 

[MacJenkins]

I use to have neck size dies for every caliber. I have not used them in over a decade, problem is consistency. I don't like the idea of neck sizing until it does not fit. That means you are not making consistent ammo from batch to batch. I bump the shoulder 2 though now. I like full size bushing dies if available. Often times I remove the button and uniform the neck with a mandrel after sizing. Now with good annealing machines available my ammo consistency has greatly improved.

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

I use to have neck size dies for every caliber. I have not used them in over a decade, problem is consistency. I don't like the idea of neck sizing until it does not fit. That means you are not making consistent ammo from batch to batch. I bump the shoulder 2 though now. I like full size bushing dies if available. Often times I remove the button and uniform the neck with a mandrel after sizing. Now with good annealing machines available my ammo consistency has greatly improved.

@MacJenkins
If'n neck sizing doesn't produce consistently good ammo for accuracy why do the bench rest crowd swear by it .
My rifle only use neck sized brass as described previously and all shoot sub moa groups and a couple shoot sub half MOA .
So it will agree to disagree with you as all rifles are a law unti themselves.
Bob

 

[MacJenkins]

@MacJenkins
If'n neck sizing doesn't produce consistently good ammo for accuracy why do the bench rest crowd swear by it .
My rifle only use neck sized brass as described previously and all shoot sub moa groups and a couple shoot sub half MOA .
So it will agree to disagree with you as all rifles are a law unti themselves.
Bob

Hello Bob, I don’t follow much on the benches crowd. I do follow F-Class a bit and follow a couple of those top shooters. They say they bump shoulders ever firing.

I agree, what works for some don’t for others.

 

[ve7poi]

@BruceS
If you trat your brass well there's no reason not to get 10-20 reloads per case.
Neck size only until the brass gets hard to chamber, only them bump the shoulder back the minimum needed.

Check length and trim when needed
Re chamfer inside and outside of cas neck after trimming.
Anneal every 5 reloads.
Doing this cases should last a long long time.
Bob

Very good advice

 

[Schüler Jumbo]

The key result from neck sizing or even better, partial neck sizing is that it ensures cartridge perfect centric alignment with that specific rifle chamber and bore. The neck sized brass should be kept with the specific rifle in which it was fired. Bumping the shoulder back at such time when bolt closure has resistance optimizes cartridge-chamber-bore alignment, hence full rifle accuracy potential.

 

[Schüler Jumbo]

The classic .300 H&H brass failure is separation of the case in front of the head spacing belt. This occurs because of the shallow 8 degrees shoulder angle which allows excessive case stretching. Partial neck sizing goes a long way to increasing .300 H&H brass life along with case annealing. I anneal after two firings.

 

[quandary]

Hello Bob, I don’t follow much on the benches crowd. I do follow F-Class a bit and follow a couple of those top shooters. They say they bump shoulders ever firing.

I agree, what works for some don’t for others.

Eric Cortina being one of the most successful F-Class shooters who fully believes in FL sizing every time. I also tend to anneal every reload. If you call and chat with the brass makers, in this case Peterson, they will tell you annealing can only help. It also helps to have an induction annealer so annealing is a very simple step in the process for me.

 

[MacJenkins]

Eric Cortina being one of the most successful F-Class shooters who fully believes in FL sizing every time. I also tend to anneal every reload. If you call and chat with the brass makers, in this case Peterson, they will tell you annealing can only help. It also helps to have an induction annealer so annealing is a very simple step in the process for me.

Yes I have an AMP annealer an I use it ever time.

 

[LimbNoMo]

I have a mechanic’s inductor. This seems like a good place to thank @Bob Nelson 35Whelen for getting me to use it for annealing brass.

 

[HWL]

Bought this at egun.
DWM ammunition from the late 60s. Shot two boxes at the range without any malfunction.

HWL

 

[quandary]

Got the 300H&H done and put 40 rounds of box loads through it. I have now started on load development. I have 180 Accubonds and 180 Partitions. I started by trying the 4831SC and H1000 midpoint loads to see if there were any obvious things the gun would tell me.

The barrels clearly prefers the Accubonds and the accuracy will be there with H1000 or 4831SC.

Today I loaded up 5 with H1000 starting at 70grs to 72grs which is the top of the Hodgdon load data for 180gr Sierra GKs. Velocity was 2,872 at the top. No pressure signs. Next I will do the same with 4831SC at the top of the Nosler load data and hope that gives me a bit more velocity. The case is mighty full with H1000, 4831SC should give me room to go spicey if I want.

Here is the 300H&H I put together using a Sako AV action I reclaimed from a low cost purchase of a nasty looking Sako 338WM. It was a bit more work to get it all cleaned up and put together than I anticipated, but it was fun.

 

[Pole Pole]

A little late but congratulations on nice trophies. Those 200 grain H&H’s are proper bullets. Makes me grin to see the lead up front which complement the case design. Mine is a 1957 M-70 that still has the steel “recoil pad”. Haha. Also, have a Ruger no 1 in 300 HH. Keep shooting

 

[CJNJ]

I miss my 1953 Remington 721 in 300 H&H. What a smooth action! Like @Pole Pole I still have a Ruger No. 1 300 H&H which will probably be my whitetail/Black bear gun this fall.

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

Hello Bob, I don’t follow much on the benches crowd. I do follow F-Class a bit and follow a couple of those top shooters. They say they bump shoulders ever firing.

I agree, what works for some don’t for others.

@MacJenkins
Personally can't see the use in humping the shoulder back until the case gets harder to chamber.
When the cartridge is fired it expands to grip the chamber walls then relax after firing. The fired case still fits the chamber ( unless there's a problem). If the fired case still fits the chamber I only neck size. Quicker and easier. No need to lube the case then wipe lube off loaded round. Two less steps = faster reloading. I like easy and simple. Sometimes I can get five reloads before I have to full length size. Then I will anneal and then fls but that's just me.
Bob

 

[Pole Pole]

I’m with Bob. I do love lead, however, I have tried some 165 grain TSX at max per Barnes Manuel and they are tack drivers. Just might be a good deer or antelope load.