The .300 H&H

Henry it would be nice if one of the main rifle companies would make a run for the 300H&H again I would definitley be one to be interested. I think what stands out on the 300 H&H is that it suits the heavier bullets to the 220gr better than the newer 300's.
But its a very good looking cartridge that's for sure.
 
Although I’m currently using 180 grain Woodleigh PPSNs I really appreciate the 220 grain Woodleigh RNSNs and FMJs. This bull fell to some quick 220 grain RNSNs...

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Bought this Prewar M70 .300H&H about 20 years ago. Finally got to Africa last August and put it to good use. 5 shots got this Eland, Kudu, Oryx, Blesbok and a Warthog using 180gr Nosler partitions.
 
Beautiful rifle, and great trophies. Check on gunbroker, and not a single 300 H&H is listed.
 
Although I’m currently using 180 grain Woodleigh PPSNs I really appreciate the 220 grain Woodleigh RNSNs and FMJs. This bull fell to some quick 220 grain RNSNs...

View attachment 338379
A little off topic, but those 220s have a low impact velocity. How have they held up with the speed from the 300 H&H?

I agonized, and still do, between the 308 Norma and the H&H. In the end I just liked the case more in the Norma. I still wonder if I should have gone H&H :unsure::rolleyes::)
 
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Fellow Hunters,

I am +1 with the O.P. and others here who, sing happy songs about this cartridge.
Originally, I had owned a 1950’s vintage Model 721 in .300 H&H.
Sold it during a fit of stupidity.
But, soon found another one (also a Rem 721) and used it for years in Alaska, during the 1980’s and 1990’s.

First time I set foot in Africa was I think 2003?
I was carrying a .300 H&H Mauser ‘98.
It wore a 4x Zeiss in old model Talley lever rings.
Even with only 4x magnification on it, my .300 would shoot tiny groups from sand bags.
That rifle very much “liked” 180 grain Nosler Partition bullets @ just a little over 2800+ fps.
It worked like magic on all animals I shot, during that first Safari (Namibia).

Elsewhere here within the world’s greatest forum, I have said that the original 1920’s vintage H&H .300 Magnum, works so well that, there really was no serious need for all the other versions of the .30 Magnum concept to have been conceived.

I had to sell that Mauser, to help pay for the hunting trip, taxidermy, etc.
However, someday I will have another rifle in that caliber.

Cheers,
Velo Dog.
Today is your lucky day I just put one up for sale haha
 
A little off topic, but those 220s have a low impact velocity. How have they held up with the speed from the 300 H&H?

I agonized, and still do, between the 308 Norma and the H&H. In the end I just liked the case more in the Norma. I still wonder if I should have gone H&H :unsure::rolleyes::)

They’ve done really well, although I probably had them loaded to a moderate velocity - I usually avoid top speed. I’ll rummage around and see if I have recovered any. The solids obviously work fine, and the softs seem to work, too. However, despite many successes there was one bull, perfectly side-on at 70m, and my initial shot failed to put him down or anchor him. Things got interesting for some minutes in the long grass and the guys climbed a tree to stay safe. But he’s now hanging on the back veranda. Time prevented me from doing the detective work but I can’t help but wonder if I either got a deflection or a failure off a heavy bone.
 
Nice, what advantage does it have over .300wm?
Not knocking it but i have stuck with standard chamerings and readily available common cartridges so ive not looked at this cartridge
 
Nice, what advantage does it have over .300wm?
Not knocking it but i have stuck with standard chamerings and readily available common cartridges so ive not looked at this cartridge

It’s not about advantage, it’s about whatever makes your heart sing! Nothing wrong with the Winchester Magnum, and it has slightly bigger numbers and is definitely more popular. But the Holland & Holland Magnum came before and for those of us with a passion for it we are bewitched by its grace and style and elegance - not to mention its tremendous effect on game (which is no better or worse than the Winchester version).
 
Nice, what advantage does it have over .300wm?
Not knocking it but i have stuck with standard chamerings and readily available common cartridges so ive not looked at this cartridge

CBH, with a 180gr bullet the Win mag performs better than the 300 H&H but I think most Win mag rilfes don't like the heavier bullets in the twist rate as the H&H.
Biggest difference one is classic and the other just a modern version.
 
I want one. Not sure what rifle I would get. Maybe a break action single shot would be cool. I have several 300wby and 300rums, but none of them are as cool and anything with H&H behind it.
 
300 H&H Magnum, my favorite super thirty

We all have a favorite hunting caliber, the reasons behind your choice favorite can be many. Mine is the .300 H&H Magnum.

full


This rifle has been in my family for a long time, the story goes that my grandfather bought this rifle in the pharmacy in Brits for 70 pounds. He bought the Sako with 40 rounds of Kynoch ammunition, when the gun was passed to me in 2001 it still had 38 Kynoch rounds left. It is one of very few Sako rifles that was built on a k98 magnum length Action. I think what i like most about the H&H is not the fact that it is very versatile and that it has one of the best-looking cartridges of all time. I like it because it’s kind of rare and not everyone has one.

This caliber was designed by Holland&Holland in 1925 as the super 30, it is based on the .375 H&H case necked down to .308 caliber. It was designed for shooting 180gr -220gr bullets at longer range and for everything right up to mouse and eland. For me it has proved to be a very good all-round rifle for both plains and bushveld situations. For at least 5 years as a young PH my .300 H&H was my only rifle, this meant that the rifle worked extremely hard, it was used for culling, problem animal control, back up rifle for wounded plains game and was also used by clients when they did not bring their own.

Over the years I have experimented with several different load combinations of bullet makes and weights. The best results I had for accuracy and effectiveness was with Hornady 190 gr interlocks. My rifle just liked this bullet. Sadly as far as I could find out Hornady stopped making the 190gr interlock , I have bought all the stock in south Africa that I could find and have enough stock to last me a year or 3 but I dread the day I will run out.

There are few Hunting memories that stand out with my Sako, the first is a trip down to the eastern Cape with my Dad to go hunt in the Bathurst area. We were looking for wildebeest , and our guide spotted a group of bulls on a hillside, we sneaked up to the bulls but we could not get any closer because of the open terrain on the hill sides, I was not accustomed to the area and was used to judging distance in the flat bush veld of Thabazimbi so I referred to our guide. He guesstimated the range at around 300 meters. There was no usable rest to shoot from so I went prone and rested the rifle on a slight bump on the hillside, I used my scope’s reticule to adjust for the hold over for the range given. When I felt comfortable and steady, I squeezed the trigger and I lost sight of the bull with the recoil. When I regained the sight picture i could see the wildebeest lying dead in his tracks, he fell right where he was. There was loud cheering from my Dad and our guide. It took us a while to make our way to the opposite hill where the bull was, when we got there, we found that the shot broke both shoulders right on the knoppe (tip of the shoulder)

Another great memory was a zebra I got to the hunt in the Mkuze Game reserve in Natal, back then I was working for Morongwa bush safaris, they owned a ranch in the Thabazimbi area. The owner bought some hunting packages on the Mkuze game reserve at an auction at the Phasa meeting.

I got to tag along on the trips because I had a professional hunters license for natal. There were 2 zebras available on the packages, and one of the clients did not want to hunt his, so the opportunity was given to me. We found a group of zebra moving across and opening in the natal bushveld, they were about to disappear in some thick stuff so i had to make a quick shot of the shooting sticks, I did not want to do a lengthy recovery in the thick bush so opted for spine shot to drop the stallion in the opening in the bush. At about 150 m we could hear the impact of the 190 gr Hornady Interlock clearly, and the zebra was down, the trackers were very happy for the easy recovery we could drive the land cruiser right up to the zebra.

The .300 H&H mag is not a very popular caliber these days with all the caliber choices that are available and is mostly only available in second hand guns or custom build guns. But there are still a few good ones around and the hunters who have them that I have met swear by them and love this classic caliber. I guided a hunter from the UK a couple of years back that had one in a beautiful Winchester pre-64 action. If you are looking to build that special rifle in a classic caliber to hunt anything from a dassie to a big blue eland bull this would be great caliber to consider, reloading components area still readily available and there are some good bullet choices available in the .308 cal. range.

May the original super 30 continue to make hunting memories for us as they are passed from one generation to the next, my son is 7 now, not so long from now will he will be hunting with his Great Grandfathers rifle.

Long live the 300 H&H magnums.
Henry Griffiths Safaris
A beautiful rifle in a classic cartridge, I like the knife that goes with it. People may not realize it but the 300 H&H actually won the 1,000 yard championships in accuracy at one time. The old girl when loaded properly sits between the 300 win mag and the 300 weatherby but closer to the weatherby. Neither of them have the same class as the H&H .
Cheers mate Bob
 
I may well be re barreling one of my 375 H&H ZKK602 rifles to 300 H&H as my experimenting with lighter bullets in 375 H&H are not impressing me.

I will then have as my African battery:

243 ZKK 601(spring buck, bles buck, MTN Reedbuck open areas)
7x57mm ZKK 600(smaller species up to BWB in bushveldt)
300 H&H ZKK 602(larger game to eland in open areas)
375 H&H ZKK 602(larger game to DG in bushveldt)
500 Jeff ZKK 602(DG)
 
I personally think the 300 H&H is a great caliber, have shot it and reloaded for it for a few years now. I shoot a Cooper model 56 that groups under 1" which is pretty good for me.
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Although I’m currently using 180 grain Woodleigh PPSNs I really appreciate the 220 grain Woodleigh RNSNs and FMJs. This bull fell to some quick 220 grain RNSNs...

View attachment 338379
Ben KK
Nice buff mate is that a 26 inch barrel on that rifle.
Cheers mate Bob
 
Nice, what advantage does it have over .300wm?
Not knocking it but i have stuck with standard chamerings and readily available common cartridges so ive not looked at this cartridge
CBH
Chris that's like asking what advantage does Rolls Royce have over a Holden.
Mate the H&H is all class and feeds like a newborn baby where as the 300 win mag is a blue collar worker, gets the job done, fairly common and lacking in class.
If this blue collar bloke could afford one he would have it any day over the win mag. It just oozes nostalgia and class it's a classic.
Cheers Chris
Bob
 

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