.300 H&H Mag
I have a few questions. I am looking for opinions on the best combo of powder and bullet for a 300 H&H Mag. shooting a 180 grain bullet. My main goal for this load would be Elk hunting. I also wanted to get some opinions about the best hunting scope for a 300 H&H Mag. Lastly I wanted to learn about any great reference books that people may know of that has good info/best practices on using a .300 H&H Mag. Thanks.
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You're looking for the "best combo" of bullet and powder for your rifle. Only your rifle can tell you that. Get a good premium quality bullet, I'm a Nosler fan but Trophy Bonded, Barnes and several others are good, and a couple loading manuals and try several loads with several different powders to see which your gun shoots best. What works in mine may not work in yours. As for the "best hunting scope", that will vary with whoever you talk to plus other considerations. If your gun is a pre-64 Model 70 Winchester, you may want to keep a period scope on your rifle. Some folks swear by the Swarovski scopes which are very expensive but worth it to their fans. I've had great luck with Leupolds. Some swear by Nikon, Redfield, Weaver, etc. Go to a gun store that stocks a number of scopes and try them. Look thru them for brightness, eye relief, reticule type, cost, etc and go with what you like. READ A LOT of hunting/shooting books by knowledgeable authors. Haunt the Forums like you seem to be doing. Ask questions. And good luck on getting a classic caliber shooting the way it should. I envy you your quest.
yooper0 -
Ah, one of my favorite cartridges! My range notes show data on 4 rifles. Best results were with IMR4350 powder and 165 Nosler balistic tips and 180 Sierras (both BT and flat base). With the 180's, I've started with 65 gr. and worked up to 68. I also got good groups with Sierra 200 gr. BT and IMR4831. The H&H can handle the heavy bullets very well. Handloads can produce very impressive velocities in this cartridge.
Some of the factory loads do not offer much more than the .30/06. Some I have tried:
150 gr. Win. silver tip @ 3120 fps
180 gr. Win. silver tip @ 2722 fps
180 gr. Rem. pointed CL @ 2814 fps
I have not experimented with any of the premium bullets in this cartridge.
Maybe this will give you some starting points. Good luck!
I can't help you much with the scope. The three rifles I own are 50-60 years old and carry the old fixed Bausch & Lomb scopes in adjustable mounts.0 -
Many Elk have been killed through the years with 180 Grain Remington Pointed soft point Core Lockt's. Also with Winchester Silvertips. If you want to puchase ammo...this stuff is still around if you look. 0 -
Great cartridge,I killed a bull moose in Newfoundland with my 300HH. Wanted to use my Mod.71 winchester,good thing i didn't the moose was 250 yards.
180 Gr. Rem.corelock
Very accurate,they used them in 1000 yd.rile matches.[^]
Oh, I forgot to mention the scope 3x9x40 vxII leupold.0 -
Curious, Did you buy a used rifle in this caliber or a new rifle?
I agree with everything so far said.0 -
I just got a Ruger No. 1 in .300 H&H. It is new. I'm excited to get some good use out of it. 0 -
molloy:
For many years (over 30) I used a Leupold VariX III in 3.5-10X40mm AO as the scope on my elk rifle, which is and was a Weatherby Mark V in 7mm Weatherby. My last two elk were one shot kills at 314 and 525 yards, respectively. The 10 power was more than enough, even on the longer shot.
If you want a bit more magnification, the 4.5-14 Leupolds with the Boone & Crocket or Varminthunter reticles deserve a serious look. I have one of these but have not mounted it on anything yet.
I have a number of the 30mm Leupolds in the LongRange versions, but they are heavier, more expensive, and the additional visual advantage that they give you in most hunting situations is debatable. They are wonderful scopes, but the one inch tubes are lighter, less expensive, and more than adequate in nearly all normal hunting situations.
I have been a Leupold fan, and have never had a malfunction with one. The above Leupold would still be on the rifle today if I had not fallen very hard on it when I slipped on ice and broke the front bell off. I have a Leupold VariX II in 3-9 that is over 35 years old, and I still use it and it works well.
There are many good scopes out there. You can pay much more than the Leupolds cost, or much less. I have a Bushnell Elite 4200 in 4-16 that is a good scope also.
I like the reticles known as 'BDC' for ballistic drop compensating, and many of the scope makers are offering this reticle, including Zeiss, Leupold, Swarovksi, and many others. There was an article several months ago in American Hunter discussing and testing these that I would recommend to you as you gather information to make an informed decision about a scope for your new rifle.
The 300 H&H is a very fine cartridge for elk. As others have suggested, I would expect that IMR-4350, IMR-4831, H-4831, and similar burn rate powders would get good results from your 300 H&H. You can load this excellent round up to nearly 300 Weatherby or 300 Winchester performance in the Ruger No. 1 if you are so inclined.
With regard to bullets, I also like Nosler Partitions, and they have never let me down, but there are many good premium bullets. I am also interested in the Barnes copper bullets. The Barnes line has high ballistic coefficients and you might consider dropping down to 165 or so grains with them. If you load your rounds hot, the premium bullets such as these will hold together even at the closer ranges.
Good luck.0 -
Scopes for hunting rifles are usually lighter weight and lower power as compared to say target scopes and such. A question that you need to ask yourself how far are you willing to pull the trigger on any likely game? If the answer is 300yds or less then you really don't need a scope more powerful then 9x or 10x and in fact a 7x or 8x max variable scope should do just fine. Burris is what my 300 weatherby wears though a Leupold would be a good choice also, IMO. 0 -
m0ll0y,
Welcome to the Gunbroker Forums!
This is a link to a thread I posted on a couple of years ago. The article I posted is by Chris Bekker about the .300 H&H:
http://forums.gunbroker.com/topic.asp?TOPIC_ID=211739
Books specifically focusing on this one cartridge are going to be few and far between or non-existent. Some of the greater big game hunters and Professional Hunters from Africa will have incorporated some advice about the cartridge in articles and books but not entire books that I'm aware of.
Scopes will depend upon the terrain and the distances you expect to encounter shootable game. Given the performance capability of the cartridge when properly loaded, common variable scopes will be sufficient. But bear in mind that it's the quality of the glass that's important. I've used an older straight power 3x scope all the way up through a really good 4-16x Tactical scope on rifles chambered for this cartridge loaded for high performance. Better quality 3-9x would be a good starter scope for the average shooter.
The .300 H&H will perform better when loaded with the heavier bullets in excess of the 180's but you can shoot darn near any weight with this case and get good results. It's just that you'll be duplicating other cartridges.
My 180 grain load is the Nosler Partition over a full case load of Re-22 producing 2950 FPS. This is used in a classic M721 with a 26" barrel. I can cover 3 shots with a quarter at 200 yards when I shoot from a steady field position, prone or resting on a log or blow down.
The Match load I developed uses a custom bullet from South Africa over Re-25 which I load for long range target shooting and competition. It gets the other shooters all worked up when you tell them that the cartridge design is from the early 1920's...
North Fork make a great series of bullets for many calibers and the one I have used for heavier loads is their 200 grain. I use Re-22 for this load.
Here is an article with load data for the range of bullets suitable for the .300 H&H:
http://www.rifleshootermag.com/ammunition/RS_the_late_great_300_hh_020810/
Best.0 -
Thanks for your opinions. I know it has been a while but I have settled on a load shooting 200 grain speers. I use Norma MRP in Remington brass. My rifle is a Ruger No. 1 and I use a Nikon 3-9x40 with the BDC reticle. It shoots sub MOA at 100 & 200 yds. Now I just have to buy a truck and shoot some Elk to fill my freezer. 0
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