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

Funny. I had a dream last night that a relative brought over some old ammo, and when I looked at the headstamp it was 300 H&H. Then the first thread that pops up when I log on is this one. I guess I need to get one.

The old 300 H&H will still be killing game in the future. The latest flash in the pan cartridge will be forgotten. But the old 300 will always work. Hasbeen

Yes, it will wok, and work well. After all it is a .30’06 +

What concerns me, in the practical sense, is the investment value of that Pre ‘64, or 721 etc.

Versus my lust for a 300 Norma gong blaster 😉

What sort of practical value is there in an original 300 H&H takeoff barrel ?

I had a similar nightmare :

My uncle came over with a can of corroded 270 ammo, that he had come across in his wine cellar.
And a Savage 270 Win in similar condition.

Now if it was 280, or 260 I could understand ...

Just post it for sale. Ought to last about thirty seconds.

Ted

Is that even legal ? 22.5” minus 3-7/8” = about 17-3/4 “ of practical bore length ,
considering the scratches in the rifling at the muzzle from cleaning too exuberantly from the front end.

🥴

I was hoping to drag it out a bit longer, and subsidize the rest of the build ,
Somewhat, to offset my grief in the loss of a classic barrel.

The Art, as Steve puts it so well, is in the sum of the parts. Not the dispassionate disassembly.

😢

Whoever had it before I got it took very good care of the bore; bright with sharp rifling all the way, and still able to put a mag full into five inches at 300 meters, that's 328 yards for our friends down South, on our silhouette range.

You enjoying the cold in Alberta? Finally warming up here, -28 this morning.

Ted

-39 this AM in Cold Lake.

That is one sweet H&H, if stocks could talk. Just joking about the bbl/ bore length.
Ever since C68 I’ve been sarcastic and twitchy.

What scope is that ?

A Lyman All American 4X, probably older than the rifle. Somebody evidently took care of the scope, as well as the bore.



Yes, I'm sure both the rifle and the scope could tell us a few things about hunting.

With apologies to the OP for the brief hijack.

Ted

If the .300 H&H is an old Mod. 70 Supergrade with a 25" tube and a 4 round magazine I consider it a very "practical gitterdone" set up I would like to have on my wall.

Evidently rifle loonies have very different definitions of practical than most humans. However, esthetics and panache are not generally considered practical considerations, though that doesn't mean they're not valid reasons. Even whether some cartridge/bullet combination kills big game isn't necessarily "practical." Hundreds of smokeless-powder cartridges have killed big game consistently in the 130+ years since the 8mm Lebel was introduced.

I have owned, handloaded and hunted with several .300 H&H's, including a pre-'64 Model 70 Winchester, Ruger No. 1, and a custom rifle built on the Winchester 70 "classic" action. I really liked every one of them, but eventually somebody who wasn't particularly practical wanted them more than I did, whether for esthetics, panache or that mysterious something the French call "je ne sais quoi," which basically means something indefinable.

I'm pretty much done with the .300 H&H, not because I'm so damn practical, but because they sated my desire for esthetics and panache in that particular realm.I have not sated my desire for esthetics and panache in other rifles, but that doesn't mean when I buy, say, a .303 British Ross (as I did a few months ago) that I am being practical. I may be being historical or curious, and panache may even have something to do with it. But aside from the fact that .303 ammo and brass are far more available than .300 H&H, it is not practical.

What is that expression about ignoring history, and being doomed to repeat it.

MD has often mentioned that the 300 WSM has the same case capacity as the H&H.

One of our former liberal francophone prime ministers, who was famous for literally talking out of both sides of his mouth at the same time, While mangling the English language often said
“ Led Me Say Dis about Dat”

The action length has changed, but the ballistic results are virtually identical.
The short action is lighter, stiffer, quicker handling. But oh does that Magnum H&H feed !

If someone else was carrying it for me, I’d much rather have a pair of 26” CRF M70 s in 300 & 375 to deal with what happens.
My 2 boys come to mind. Better get synthetic stocks.

Practical isn’t just about logistics and economics.

to me, the biggest reason is twofold...

1. the nostalgia
2. the cool factor which is off the charts.

This thread is a derivative of the classic "which cartridge is the best?". And, by definition, a rifle looney cannot be practical.

Cartridges are not judged solely on their shoulder angle, name, case capacity or killing power. If that was the case, no one would have bothered developing anything after the 300 H&H. There was no practical need, according to some. What one man considers practical, another considers frivolous. I think 25 calibre cartridges are a waste, but I must defer to the needs of others. The practicality is there. It just doesn't fit my version of it.

This is an excerpt of an article that was written by freelance writer Beth Goldowitz. I have edited it. Consider that attracting buyers and convincing them to buy a 300 H&H rifle meant catching their eye and appealing to their need. There was no Internet or fancy colour magazines. That 300 H&H had to catch your eye, and encourage you to ask about the capabilities of the cartridge with the shop owner or gunsmith. Anyone who examined an 300 H&H was concerned with the actual use of the cartridge. The esthetics of the design were clear.

This continues today. The medium may be different, but cartridges still need to get noticed. One might argue this is more important today because of the number of cartridges available in a crowded marketplace.

Here's what Beth says.

Is there any practical purpose to art?

Art communicates. The stone carvers who worked on Notre Dame could have made simple waterspouts, but instead they carved elaborate and fanciful gargoyles, to communicate the horrors of hell and encourage people to turn to god for salvation. Is that practical? It is if you’re a member of the clergy, who relies on your position in society to be clothed, fed and housed through the donations of wealthy patrons and poor parishioners alike. It is if you’re one of the hundreds of craftsmen working on the cathedral, because that money pays your wages and feeds your family. It is if you live in the town where the cathedral is built, because cathedrals draw pilgrims, and pilgrims need to eat. They need roofs over their heads. They need places to stable their horses. They need food and supplies for their continuing journey. As anyone who lives in a popular tourist town knows, tourists are good for the economy. That’s practical.

It communicates through time, so we can look at 18th century paintings and figure out how people cooked in the time period. It communicates personality, so we can look at Velasquez’ Portrait of Juan de Pereja and see the relationship between the painter and the slave he would manumit soon after painting his portrait. We can look at quilts made by slaves that illustrate stories from the bible for people who were forbidden to learn how to read. Some people think slave quilts communicated information about the Underground Railroad, but we don’t know for sure.
---

Old cartridges, inlaid and carved wooden stocks, unusual, old metal gun sights, trigger guards, or engraved side plates are communicating through time. Once, they attracted buyers who spent money and bumped up the economy. They still do today. They are also of value to historians, collectors or anyone who is interested in hunting and firearms.

The 300 H&H is practical, if it satisfies your needs.

As SteveR says, it’s not the shoulder angle, which necessitated the H&H belt for headspacing.
But the long neck & shoulder from cordite days, which makes it so cool,
un-WSM or perhaps un-Rum even.

Usually it’s the long magnum action , with a classic stock, and stunning performance that is the art.
The whole is greater than the sum of the parts, which all work in concert.

I could be very happy with a cf arsenal that consisted of 6mm/244Rem, 280 Rem,
And a pair of 300 + 375 H&H CRF .All matched, of course.

No need for high pressure throat burners.

Just steady pointing , with clean slick feeding for follow ups.

Cheers

SR - didn’t Mr.Elwood Epps have a 25-303 Improved cat ?

I had one barrelled up on a No4 Mk1 by Bevan King. It was very accurate, but a demon to get to feed Never did get it to handle more than two in the magazine.

That was enough though....

Ted

I know it's already been said but ...

IMHO, yes. The .300 H&H and .300 WSM are near identical once the bullet leaves the barrel. Some actions, like 700s, really don't feed WSMs very well. I've had 2, was dissatisfied with both. Though you have to go with a long / magnum action, 700s feed the .300 H&H slicker than snot on a buttered doorknob. (Not that a .300 Win Mag might not be an even easier alternative.)

However, nostalgia is a pretty suitable reason. I like muzzleloaders, single shots and lever actions, single action revolvers .. why wouldn't I like the .300 H&H? Truly, what's not to like?

Tom

Yes. And all of the improved cartridges that Ellwood developed from the 303 British had 35 degree shoulders. Ellwood and Parker Ackley used to write back and forth, comparing notes. Some of their correspondence was about improving various cartridges. Ackley originally used the 35 degree shoulder angle, but switched to 40 degrees, Ellwood used the 35 degree angle and stuck with it. Ellwood developed ten improved cartridges based on the 303 British case.

There are often feeding problems that result from changing the shoulder and decreasing the body taper. People like Ackley and Epps were experimenters and in some ways helped advance mainstream cartridge development.