opinions 8mmRM vs 300 H&H

I am looking at two different rifles.
the 8mm Rem Mag and the .300 H&H...
the ballistics look very similiar.....I would like your opinions as to which one I should lean toward, and why
thanks
atr

I'd go for the H&H, just for the nostalgia. I will own a 375 H&H some day too, but not because I need it. I've got a 45-70 and a 45 Colt for the same reasons. I think the 300 H&H will do well on anything in North America if you pick the right bullet.

Neither one is very common anymore, so I doubt you will find loaded ammo for either one at the local hardware store. The 8mm Rem Mag is supposed to be able to push many of the cup and core 8mm bullets past there design speeds. There is a plethora of .30 caliber bullets that will work well with the H&H.

I have to believe that the H&H with its sloping shoulders will feed much smoother than the improved shaped of the 8mm.

I would go for the .300 H&H, but I am also a nostalgic kind of guy.

Robert

I like them both . I had an 8mm REM Mag in the first three or four years it was out and liked it quite a bit . I've also played with a couple 300 H&H Mags . The 8 Mag is better compared to the 338 Win Mag which I've also owned and like . The 300 H&H is a skoosh under the 300 Win Mag and 300 Weatherby again both of which I've owned as well . I suppose of the two I'd more then likely take the 8mm if in s nice old 700 BDL and then again the 300 H&H in a nice old Pre 64 Model 70 or a semi recent manufacture Ruger #1B would be fine as well .

There's a broader selection of bullets for the .30 caliber. Beyond that, I'd call it a tossup.

Nostalgia says the 300 H&H hands down. Always wanted one, sort of. I do remember Ken Waters commenting on the recoil of the 8mm mag, which he did not do very often. I suspect that either would do the job for which they are intended. Ditto on C. Latch that there is a greater variety of bullets for the 300, cast and jacketed. However, I cant' think you would go wrong with either rifle.

thanks guys...
the 8mmRM I am looking at has a 24" barrel on a Rem700 action
the .300H&H has a 26 inch barrel on a Rem 721 action....
I am leaning toward the .300 H&H
atr

I owned both, in fact 7mg- 300win mg -300H&H mg- 8mg-338mg- 375h&h- 460Wthby. If I had
to keep 2 out of the bunch would have been the H&Hs. I have owned most of the other magnums
too and still like the H&H cartridges. 2 years ago started selling off my big game magnums, to old
to use them and they had been gathering dust. The 300h&h is only one left and I wish I had kept
the 375h&h. The 300h&h is a little less gun on paper than the other 300 mags, but was the most
accurate of the mid bore mags. The 8 mag was a Rem 700 and it was brutal recoil and a disappointment on accuracy. Like another poster said, bullet choice on 30cal is endless. I shoot
180g RNs out of mine for bear & moose. 150s for deer, gun has never let me down. I will have to
say I still miss my 375h&h, even though I haven't a use for it anymore. Still have the dies for all
the mags, just in case.

8mm has never been a popular caliber, with that said, I do like the 8mm R.M. as it converts nicely to the 358 STA.
If your a reloader, Brass is hard to find but obtainable for both, But, component selection in general will put the advantage to the 300 H&H.
That and nostalgia should be reason enough for the decision.
Also, if your liking the ballistics of each, I would lean more so on the rifle, which one do you like/want/need the most?
Crash87

My pick would be the 721 .300 H&H. Better bullet selection and less vicious recoil.
Best, Thomas.

I have both. The 300 H&H I consider a slightly souped up o6. It falls about half way between a 06 and a 300 win mag. That's with book loads. It can be run to match the 300 mag. The 8 mag is more powerful then any of the 30 mags except for the 300 ultra. Its basically a 300 weatherby necked up to 8mm. It will shoot 200 grain bullets as fast as a 300 wby will shoot a 180. With a 200 grain partition its hits like a freight train. I consider it more of a flatter shooting 338 then I compare it to the 30 mags. All that said if push came to shove and I had to keep only one it would be the H&H just because I think its cool and for no other reason. As to brass either can be made from 300 wby brass in a pinch.

As this is a cast boolit site, I suppose you are going to shoot lead boolits through the successful contender. If that is the case, there is no real difference in them, apart from the fact that there are a lot more moulds available for the 30 cal.

Case life with the 8mm Rem Mag would be superior I would think.

The 8mm should run rings around the 300 with jacketed bullets, but either will handle anything from big nasty biters, scratchers and stompers in Africa and you wouldn't be able to use them anyway.

I'd go with the one that presses my buttons.

The H&H will FPS with the 300 WM, and that (30 caliber) is where bullet development is these days. The only reason Win brought out the 300 WM was to save a few bucks over production cost of the Holland. I bought an 8 Mag in summer of 1978, in preparation for moving to Idaho. Been here ever since. A year later, the 8 Mag got rebarreled to 300 H&H. The next year I got it set up to switch that barrel back and forth with one in 375 H&H.

atr,

BEFORE purchasing either, I suggest that you consider either the 9.3x62 or the mighty 9.3x74.
(My choice is the 9.3x62. - I have a Remington Model 760 in that chambering & would take neither love nor money for it.= Every species on Planet Earth has fallen to the 9.3x62 & I regard the 74mm loading as OVERKILL.)

just my OPINION, tex

Not much love for the 8mm RM above; no big suprise either.
I'd go for the .300H&H as well, my two cents.

With the capabilities of the very popular.300WM & .338WM, some of the many reasons why the 8mm RM lost favor as it did.

My older brother has a /lot/ of experience & has hunted moose in bear country all his life; he's a bit of a cartridge nut so he had to try out the 'new' 8mm RM after his 338-06AI. Only a few test shots and then he traded/sold off that particular Rem700 due to the excessive recoil - I think he went to a .338WM after that.
Edit: and back to the .30-06 after that - where he started ~35 yrs ago lol - there's a message in there somewhere. :-)

Put them in externally identical rifles and give somebody a chance to boresight and zero with the cartridges hidden, and I don't think many people could detect the slightest practical difference. Ammunition for either is going to be an uncommon stock item, but you will be able to get brass adaptable to those rounds for about as long as guns exist, and when you have found a good 8mm. bullet, you have a good bullet.

I did go for the .300H&H out of nostalgia, in my own converted P14 Enfield heavy sporter, and got pretty close to .300 Weatherby performance, at about 3050ft./sec. with 73gr. of Reloder 22 and 190gr. MatchKings, after working up to acceptable primer deformation. I found no head expansion and brass stretching and life were pretty much like anything else.

But rifles vary, including in ways we don't fully understand. It was accurate with the above load, but at least as good, 1⅛in. at 200 yards, with 125gr. Sierra spire point softpoints. I think it is important not to set out with a specific ballistic performance you want to equal.

I would go with the 8 mag, will do everything the 300 will do but cases last longer. Would add though neither would be in my top 10

With the 8mmRM using cast boolits, a box of 20 brass will probably see you out and flatten just about anything you want flattened.