.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.

 

[Atticus]

I picked up a couple boxes of Nosler Accubonds from Midway when I bought my pre-64 last winter and have reused the brass. I bought some Norma brass from Raven Rocks this summer as well. I've seen brass listed recently at Graff and at Midway.

What I was not expecting was the accuracy of the 300 H&H from my 1953 model 70! Sub MOA at with the factory Accubonds and with handloaded 175gr LRX.

100 yards with Factory Noslers

200 yards with Barnes 175 LRX over H4350 (prefer H4831sc but it's out of stock)

 

[Altitude sickness]

Email or call Hendershots. Tell them your barrel length and twist. And they will build you a ladder

 

[Altitude sickness]

I bought the bullets and brass from an AH members classified ad. Send it all to Hendershots. Told them it was a 1939 model 70. They know the speed they tend to like.
And all of these shoot 1” or less.

 

[PARA45]

Midway has some Nosler factory ammo with Accubond or Partition bullets.

Nosler Custom 300 H&H Mag Ammo 180 Grain Nosler Partition Jacketed

For over 60 years, the professionals at Nosler have been making precision bullets for competitive shooters, varmint hunters and big game hunters. ...

www.midwayusa.com

Also, I'd keep an eye on Raven Rocks Precision, a sponsor here. They usually carry 300 H&H brass, and they are great to deal with.

Norma 300 H&H Mag Brass - 50 ct

300 H&H Mag Brass

ravenrocksprecision.com

 

[Altitude sickness]

I guess that was a false statement. They all don’t shoot 1” or less because I haven’t shot them all yet

Should have said The three different bullets shoot one inch or less.

 

[BenKK]

That’s excellent! Enjoy your new rifle in this classic cartridge! I’ve usually bought new brass relatively easily online in Australia. I’ve hunted with 180 grain Woodleigh PPSNs, Barnes TSXs, and 220 grain Woodleigh FMJs and RNSNs. All of those work well.

 

[Luederitz]

Prices – Hülsenmanufaktur

No clue if it is possible to import brass from Germany, but SHM has the .300 H&H on stock and provides really good quality.

 

[mdwest]

Ive never found it difficult to get my hands on factory 300 H&H... you dont have a whole lot of options out there.. and its expensive.. but Midway has 2 different options on hand right now for example, and stock 5 different options typically..

300 H&H Magnum Ammo for Sale | MidwayUSA

Shop 300 H&H Magnum at MidwayUSA! We carry a wide selection of 300 H&H Magnum at the best prices!

www.midwayusa.com

AmmoSeek has dozens upon dozens of retailers listed that have 300 H&H in stock right now.. (albeit again, limited options in terms of what sort of ammo is available)

.300 H&H Ammo

In-stock best prices for 300 H&H Ammo | Bulk 300 H&H Ammunition - AmmoSeek.com

ammoseek.com

Its been a few years since I loaded for 300 H&H.. but like @LimbNoMo , when Im starting with any new caliber, I just buy 5 boxes of whatever the cheapest stuff I can find that I know has decent quality brass (the norma stuff you can easily find for 300 H&H is very good brass in my experience).. and then reload that once Ive shot through all of it..

Were it me, I'd buy 5x boxes of the Nosler Trophy Grade 180gr Accubonds (wonderful plains game or deer/elk ammo) from Fast Ammo (top listing on the ammoseek link above) at $72 a box (about as cheap as youre ever going to find 300 HH).. and once I was through all of that, start reloading it..

 

[Surgeon1]

I have two 300H&H, remember my dad used one in a pre-war Mod 70 with good luck on lots of NA game. I think my mom & dad even used it a couple of times in Africa in the 50's.not sure what ammo they used but likely Kynock which they used in 375 and their doubles.
The first was a Don Allen built early Dakota Traveler in 300 H&H and 375 H&H bought it several years ago. Put it in the vault with other Dakotas I have.
I got the second one in a 3-way trade during covid it's a Custom built on an FN action (maybe was a browning originally) with nice wood, mod 70 trigger and a great trigger.
Finally got around to shooting the FN which has an apparent 10" twist cut rifling barrel, with Norma Factory 180s shot 3/4 to 7/8" pretty consistent. Then reloaded them with one of my favorite Swift 200gr A-frames and it shot 1/2" with IMR4350 66gr at 2840fps. I didn't do any ladder tests just found the load in a long-gone friend's reloading book. I've used the 200A-frame in the last 4 trips to Africa
with great results in 300 Win and 300 Wby both at 2800-2850. The speed which my friend Bill @ Swift told me would give me stellar results, he has never steered me wrong.
The traveler shoots them close to 1/2" with same load but better than 1/2" with RL22. The 375 barrel
shoots 300gr A-frames in a clover leaf. So, my plan is taking the Traveler and a Double with me back
to Uganda in Feb.

 

[CJNJ]

Email or call Hendershots. Tell them your barrel length and twist. And they will build you a ladder

Agree with this. Just had my 1953 Remington 721 in 300 H&H to the range using Hendershot's extreme custom loaded ammo (180 grain Hornady spire points at 3000 fps) and was having fun obliterating rattle can spray paint cans at 100 yards. And now I have 40 once fired brass to reload.

 

[Hunter-Habib]

Get Hendershots Custom Ammunition to load you up a batch employing 200Gr Nosler Partitions.

 

[Doug3006]

Get Hendershots Custom Ammunition to load you up a batch employing 200Gr Nosler Partitions.

I had much success with the 200grn Partition this April. I believe I have my forever plains game rifle and load!

 

[Hunter-Habib]

I had much success with the 200grn Partition this April. I believe I have my forever plains game rifle and load!

View attachment 709508View attachment 709509View attachment 709510

That's one epic looking gemsbok, Doug !

 

[BC Tal]

First off, congrats on the 300 H&H.
If you reload, you have to reload for it.
I used Norma brass (reasonably available) with Vihtavuori N560 and North Fork 200gr semi spitzers to take an eland in Africa.
300 H&H is both classic and a performer. You won’t regret it.
Just look at those beauties.