Anybody shoot .300 H&H with Cast?

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  • Last Post 31 October 2019
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M3 Mitch posted this 22 October 2019

Well, I have come into a very nice 1951 Model 70 Super Grade in 300 H&H, if you were wondering why I wanted to buy 300 H&H brass and Lyman 48 sights (both of which I have in good supply thanks to my comrades on here, thanks!) well this is why.

Now of course I have most all of the manuals out there, and these offer a wide variety of loads with various bullets.  Lyman generally lists an "accuracy load", and that can be helpful. And I do know every rifle is a law to itself, If somebody has the exact same rifle as me, they will each have their own preference for exact loads.  But most rounds do have some general "do's" and "don'ts" .

But I am wondering if anyone else on here already has experience with this round, anything that stands out as working, or not working?

How close can I consider it to my 30-06?  The 300 H&H is not that much bigger by volume, I couldn't find a reference saying how much more case volume it has, but just eyeballing it, about 10% I would guess. 

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M3 Mitch posted this 31 October 2019

Keep the ideas coming guys, thanks!  I have read that the .375 is the parent case for the .300. 

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delmarskid posted this 31 October 2019

I guess I could have been more clear. I used the .375 h&h reference because it is about the same case as the 300 h&h. I used Merino wool batting as a filler once. Bad burned hair stench but I got a lot of attention.

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Ken Campbell Iowa posted this 31 October 2019

dacron, .... yep

i seldom use fillers, but when i do 

i use dacron 

ok, also have good luck with cotton balls or ground corncobs; i keep thinking the dacron should leave a residue but i never find any.  i guess gunpowder is plastic also ...

ken

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M3 Mitch posted this 31 October 2019

Looks like I need to buy a container of shotshell buffer and/or get some Dacron.  I guess any sewing or fabric shop would have Dacron?

Need to get some because Ed's recipe for Garand loads also calls for Dacron.

Are you guys using Magnum primers, or do you find a regular Large Rifle primer is fine for cast loads?

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admiral posted this 31 October 2019

Agreed Larry. My .375 H&H load is a 250 gr. LBT LFN @.379" with 43 gr. IMR 3031 with Precision reloading buffer up to the bullet base for 2050 fps. Accurate in my Ruger No.1 and my Pop's M70

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Larry Gibson posted this 30 October 2019

The OP asked about the 300 H&H.

However, the 375 H&H is also excellent with cast bullets.  I use the Lyman 375449 cast of COWWs + 2% tin and WQ'd out of the mould sized .377 and lubed with 2500+ over 49 gr 4895 with a dacron filler.  That gives 2140 fps and excellent accuracy.  I do push it upwards of 2400 fps for a practice DG load. Also the same bullet over 36 gr AA5744 sans the dacron filler runs 1850 fps, also with excellent accuracy. 

Hornady 375 RBs TL in LLA over 4 gr Bullseye (no wad or filler) run just at 900 fpss and hold excellent accuracy out to 50+ yards for an excellent small game load.  I am working on a PB'd 375248 load using Bullseye for a small game/vermin load at about 1050 fps.

The 375 H&H is a fine cast bullet cartridge.

LMG

 

 

Concealment is not cover.........

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delmarskid posted this 30 October 2019

The 375 H&H is a big case and it's no big trick to get a cast load to work. I'd try 13g of red dot.

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M3 Mitch posted this 29 October 2019

Thanks to all of you for your information, so I won't be starting from a blank slate, but instead using your good ideas and real-world experiences. 

That said, if anyone else has some different or even the same ideas, please post up!

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Larry Gibson posted this 24 October 2019

About 35 - 40 years ago I developed a load for a Rem M700 Classic 300 H&H.  Used the 311284 over either 36 or 38 gr H4895 with a Dacron filler.  Velocity was close to 1900 fps and accuracy was around 1 1/2 moa.  Yes, I did have an Oehler chronograph back then.....

LMG

 

 

Concealment is not cover.........

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M3 Mitch posted this 23 October 2019

I can't recall the Lyman number, but, yeah, I do have that flat point, roughly 170 grain, plain base bullet.

Thanks to all of you, you did exactly what I hoped for in this thread, to put my brain in "the right gear" so to speak, thinking about what will and won't work, and citing some loads that actually *have* worked.

But, anybody with more ideas, please post them up!

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RicinYakima posted this 23 October 2019

What Ken said. You would be easier looking for a 30-30 bullet, non gas-checked, with Unique maybe.

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Ken Campbell Iowa posted this 23 October 2019

... " a caseful of 4831 " ... hah, that was my favorite full power load in my magnums ... 

in suspect the biggest factor in finding a good load with short bullets would be a long throat for long magnum bullets.

keep us informed, i bet you can get a plinker load working ... 

hey, i have been shooting a lot of commercial 130 gr plain base from BadMan bullets ... i can send you a hunnert if you want. ... pm me ....

ken

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M3 Mitch posted this 23 October 2019

OK, it is looking like this one can't be treated as just a bigger 30-06, and probably will have to use some case fillers.  Case volume is more like 20% more than the '06.

I have read that most magnum rifles, taken as a group, don't usually shoot reduced loads very well.  One particular author that wrote that is Bob Hegel, I think he was talking store bought jacketed bullets.  But it seems to be an axiom that if a rifle won't shoot jacketed under a certain condition, it likely won't shoot cast under that condition either.

I would like a light plinker load, using the 3118 or similar.  I have had that shoot quite well in my 1948 '06 with light loads of Unique and 2400.  Perhaps that isn't in the cards. So far I have not come up with a "squib" load for my .348, part of that is the tendency of 2-piece stocked rifles to shoot very low with very light loads - couldn't get it on paper with very light loads.  But that's a different beast, most bolt guns have shot OK with a squib load.  The Lyman handbook has some Unique loads, in the 1700 FPS bracket with 150 grain bullets.  I guess for a plinking, as opposed to hunting load, having to raise the muzzle before every shot is not a deal-breaker (although Uncle Jeff would frown on it, being "negative training" - you don't want to train yourself to raise the muzzle before firing unless you want to be horribly slow.)

What about slower, more case-filling powders - 4350, 4831, etc?  I have heard of people loading a case full of 4831 back when you could buy it for a buck a pound in a paper bag.  That's even before my time, stone age almost.

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RicinYakima posted this 23 October 2019

Mike, I have only owned one, a 1930's BSA built on a 1914 Enfield action made by Winchester, and marked "30 Super". My notes say my best load was 45 grains of H4895 and the case filled with shot buffer under the #311284 sized .311" cast from Linotype. This is a full service load of about 2250 f/s. I never was able work up a light, fast powder load. Unless you tipped it up and hit the stock just before you shot it, it had bad vertical stringing. Sold it to a English sporting rifle collector and it found a good home. Ric

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admiral posted this 22 October 2019

My 300 H&H is a Rem 721. I own a fair number of rifles (lots of levers and single shots) but only three bolt actions. The 300 H&H is one rifle that I wouldn't give up. That old Remington is so accurate it's amazes me every time I shoot it. The cast load I shoot is 37.0gr. IMR 3031 and the remaining case volume filled with Precision Reloading shot shell buffer up to the bullet base. Bullet is the RCBS 30-180-FN sized .311". Norma #2 manual lists case volume of '06 as 68.4 gr. and the 300 H&H as 84.9 gr. (their brass of course).

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