Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters JB article "Why dont they chamber the__?" in latest Rifle mag

John another good article. I enjoy your thoughts and seems we often think the same. I've always been attracted to some of the lesser chambered or obsolete cartridges. I blame Ken Waters in part as I've read PetLoads so many times its ragged, and reading his thoughts and experimentation with some of the "classic" cartridges and his praises for them led me to a life of experimentation and wanting to relive his findings. I buy a rifle for the cartridge its chambered for rather than it being a Rem, Win, Savage etc. over 90% of rifles I own or have owned were bought used, again for the chambering. Currently some in my stable include 218Bee, 222 Rem mag, 257 Robts, 35 Rem, 444 Marlin, 50/70 Govt oh yeah mm's 6.5, 7x57, and 8.
I enjoy them all especially reloading and seeing what each rifle likes.
Its funny you mentioned buying a Savage due to the fact a barrel can be easily installed. I recently posted elsewhere on this site the very project I am thinking of.
I've always wanted a 300 H&H and am exploring getting a Savage in 300 win mag or 7mm mag for the sole purpose of installing a 300 H&H chambered barrel on it. I think a fun project my only concern is wondering if I will need to tweak magazine whether box or internal to avoid feeding issues.
I guess I'm rambling but just thought it a coincidence about the Savage project due to chambering availability.
Maybe I really am a rifle looney.
Wondering what others wish some company would either bring back or start chambering.
Keep up the good work John.

Hi Nick,

Glad you enjoyed the article! It does sound like you're a rifle loony.

I may have to do another article on why the rifle sometimes matters more to us than the chambering....

JB
As an ex Rigby owner, it always fascinated me why shotgunners cover stock fit, weight and balance and it is seldom covered relating to rifles.
The Rigby's taught me the importance and relevance to rifles and especially stock design and fit so I definitely think you have a market of interest for such an article.
All the best.
John

Hi John,

I've done that article a few times over the past several years, but thankfully some editor always seems to want an update--one of the pluses of writing for a number of different editors!

Nick, a .300 H&H cartridge is a lot longer than a .300 Winchester. That conversion would be major.

I saw a Remington 721 in .300 H&H for $500 in a local shop a couple of years ago. Since you like used rifles, maybe you should shop for a used .300 H&H.

I still have an article Wootters did, likely in the very early 1990s, on his favorite rifles. How it was the particular rifles that grabbed him; the cartridge designation was almost incidental.

As I recall they were a B78 octagon barreled 25-06 and a factory walnut 7mm-08, and two Joe Balicke rifles. A full-length stocked M88 7mm-08 and his beloved M98 280.

There are at least a few writers no longer with us that I wish I had read more of, with Wootters and Aagard at the top of that list!

Yeah, good read John. Thanks. Will look forward to something on why the rifle can make more difference that the chambering. I've believe one reason the 243 Winchester got an early jump on the Remington .244 (which my be the better round)is in part due to the rifles they were offered in.

What do you mean sometimes?

I saw, and handled, a factory Savage 116 in .375 H&H at a gunshow a few years ago. Don't know if Savage set that one up any different than the .300 Win mag length action or not, but apparently it is possible.

It was pretty light, very reasonably priced, and felt perfectly balanced to me. I had the money in hand, but was on the hunt for something more pressing at the time, but if I would've had enough money..

As Newhart used to say "That would be me".

Since, as you point out in your article, most ordinary cartridges can do pretty much all most of us require, as long as a potential rifle purchase can be fed with stuff I already have or can get easily, the chambering matters very little to me. Appealing aesthetics, and the fiddle factor determine what I buy these days. Budget stuff like your new project rifle are affordable fun and make good truck guns, but are unlikely to make the cut as keepers or heirlooms. I don't have a truck or a barn and in the East at least, places where you can walk around carrying a rifle, "just in case" are pretty scarce.

Which issue? Just looked online at January and didn't see it

I think the paper copies are getting to people faster than the electronic (.pdf) copies.

Sycamore

Anyone else notice how the availability has changed. Remington used to make the 700 in Adl, Bdl, and Varmint. The Bdl was made in about every caliber they chambered, the Adl was a little limited and the Varmint only a few. Now they have more models than one can keep track of. But Every rifle has limited calibers. If you want a 700 in 308 you cant get a Bdl.

It was a good rifle with Savage's version of CRF. There was a lot of room in the magazine, and the action swallowed the long 375 H&H with no choking. I wish many times I hadn't sold mine.

I have been looking for used 300 H&H but certainly not a common find. Don't want to spend lots for a pre64 which are out there.300 H&H is longer but not a lot has a real long neck but OAL I believe .026 longer.
Local gunsmith had a 7mag savage and he put a 300 H&H in mag (not a detachable mag) and it fit ok and moving bolt forward stripped it out of mag fine, bolt face same size. Thinking a fun project... we'll see.
I could just get new barrel for my T?C Prohunter but what fun is that?

Just fyi, Cabelas in Wichita had a 300 H&H on the used rack last week when I was there. Don't remember now if it was a M70 or the Remington. Pristine it wasn't, but might make something to build from.

Don't know why, but the coolest looking cartridge I have ever seen, was one a guy had at the gun range several years ago...

one Sunday afternoon, guy was over there next couple of benches over, and was shooting a Ruger Number One in Stainless with a Grey Laminate Stock. Told me it was one of those Lipsey Special Order Runs, and he collected them...Stainless in Old or Odd Calibers...

When I asked him what it was chambered in, he handed me one of the rounds he was shooting, as he told me....300 H & H with Nickle Brass, with a 220 grain Round Nose...something he had bought and then reloaded.

don't know why, but not only did I think that rifle was so cool, I thought that particular round, with the 220 grain Round Nose on it, was the coolest looking round I'd ever seen.

He let me pull the trigger at a target a couple of times.. put them right in there at 100 yds, but the recoil was much less than I was assuming it would be. Can't tell if that was courtesy of the Ruger's stock design or the cartridge...

I certainly was impressed, even if I really didn't have a need for such a cartridge chambering, or ever desired a Ruger Number One.

With him that day, he also had the rifle's twin, in a 30/40 Krag, another old cartridge I love and think is pretty darn cool looking...and I do have one of those....an 1898 Krag Cav Carbine, with a factory 24 inch barrel instead of the 31 inch standard.

I love the cool old rounds also...

short list of rounds I have thought of rebarreling a Stainless Model 77 in are the 30 Remington... and My two Holy Grail Rifles are a Model 30S Rem in that chambering, and a Model 54 in the good old 30/30. As I have gotten older, the 30/30 equivalents are about all I need for the woods distances I hunt at., but I still prefer a bolt action classic over a lever action...

and old rifles, that were built on tough actions, just are off the charts on the cool factor...

luv2safari, cool pictures, and good to know!

I thought I was the only person in the world that has a desire for a 30 Remington. Another idea I have is for a wildcat 30 caliber or 7mm based on the 35 Rem case.