Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Are there practical reasons to own a .300 H&H?

Or is it all just nostalgia?

thanks in advance for your replies...

It’s better today than it was when it was created in my opinion. It cycles like it’s greased, gets excellent speeds that nip on the Win Mag, seems very accurate as well. I’d easy cave for the right one. Right now I’m enjoying the P64 rechambered to 300 Wby but I would have been just as happy with the H&H.

Easy. You find an old classic beauty and it's a Super .30. No flies on the ballistics either. Originally, it was designed, so I've read, to match .30/06 ballistics safely in hot climates. Needs a long action or (my preference) a nice falling block.

They feed very well and handle heavy bullets exceptionally well.

No.

It has the same capacity as a WSM, but requires a magnum-length action. WSM brass and ammo are everywhere, but H&H brass is rare. The Win Mag is even more prolific in guns and components, and outdoes the old round's ballistics. No practical reasons to select the H&H today.

Because you want one?

If one came your way free of charge with plenty of loading supplies, loaded ammo, and you didn't own any other big game rifles but you did need one, sure. Other than the above scenario playing out, not really.

The Remington Classic is a fine gun. They chambered it one year. One sold in the classifieds not long ago for around 900.00

New in the box 300 H&H Classic on GB for 1600.00

No practical reason but almost guaranteed your buddies won’t have one. 😀 I’ve got two, a Remington 721 made in the month I was born and a used Rem 40-XB

No. Not when you can get a 300 WSM that gives better velocity out of a short action than the 300 H&H gives from a full length magnum action.



There's no denying that the 300 H&H is cool and there are some beautiful rifles chambered in it. I'd be happy to own one, but if I were designing a modern hunting rifle it wouldn't be in 300 H&H.

Practicality has no bearing on what rifles float my boat. I love my 300 H&H's !

Yep, practicality is often highly overrated. Which is why I've had four .300 H&H's.

John, Is practical ever mentioned in the definition of "Rifle Loony"? Just curious.

Well I've used my pre-64 from the Alaskan Peninsula to Sonora Mexico on everything from Brown Bear to Sonoran Whitetail. Also shot a 363 Bull Elk with it among other things. I used 200 grain Partitions in Alaska and 180 grain Partitions elsewhere. Worked just fine!

I'd love on in a pre 64, just struggle at the price they bring currently.
Then again, I want a 7x57 on a mauser action whereas a 7-08 is not particularly of interest!

The .300 H & H is cool.. Mine is a #1, but have had several 721's one model 70 and one rebarreled 700.. Think I might still have that barrel some where..

I don't own a 300 Mag of any flavor, just don't feel like I need one for whitetails. The only 300 Mag that could tempt me is the H&H. Just a cool old cartridge.

As to the question about any practical reason, probably not.

The idea that when a new shape of shell comes out that the old shell suddenly stops working right is just dumb.

The 300 H&H is at least as good today as it ever was and with modern powders it's actually better.

I have made so many 300s of various types that I have lost count of them. 300 H&Hs 300 Win mags, 308 Normas, 30-338s, 300 Weatherbys, a few 300 Ultras and so on. In the field I can't tell the difference in any of them as to how well they kill. In fact the fastest ones are the ones that seem to present the most problems in loads and bullet performance if you don't pay attention tot he details.

I have paired down my 30s to a 30-30, a few 308s, a few 30-06s and one 300, which is an H&H. I sold my last 300 Win mag a few years ago. It had a 26" barrel on it. I chronographed it along side my 300 H&H and there was no practical difference at all. In fact with my 200 grain loads my H&H is actually 12 FPS faster.

Both rifles shot under MOA.

The 300 Win Mag was on an M70 Winchester and my H&H (one of 3 I have owned) is on a Mauser which I just like the looks of better.
So I kept the 300H&H.

"Practical" is not something that entered my mind because there is nothing impractical about it any more than any other 300.

If total practicality was of any concern to me at all, I would probably only own a 308 Winchester and a 30-06 and forget every other 30 cal ever made.

But "practical" is not a concern to a gun buff.

Enjoyment is the 1st concern.