300 h&h

[Hdskip]

One of last year"s projects was to turn a Savage 30/06 barreled action into something with more character. 30/06 held little interest for me so 300 H&H became the project. The work was completed and after loads were worked up my interest turned to cast loads in this chambering . I had cast bullets in 3 weights on hand. 150, 170, 190. all were gas checked. Unique powder was utilized and best accuracy at 100yds was achieved with the 150s. The load ended up thusly: Winchester brass, federal large rifle primers, 19.0 gr of Unique, 150 gr gas checked bullet (mold unknown). 100 yds groups are hovering around 1.5".
My intentions are to hunt deer some with this rifle this fall. Shots from my blind will not exceed 140 yds. so this will be entirely sufficient in my experience.
I would be interested to know if others on this forum have tried this chambering with cast bullets.

[Lloyd Smale]

i have a rem classic chambered in it and love it. at one time i had 7 rem classics and this is the last and will never leave here. never shot a cast bullet through it though so i cant help you there

[versa-06]

That rifle pushed to its max is a real monster. I can only push cast so fast so I try to use smaller brass.30-06 is my max, usually using 30-30 & 308, with a 1:12 twist. About 2200 fps. is my limit with powder coated bullets. For best accuracy it's around 1950 fps. But Hey in this game the sky is the limit. Keep us in touch with your progress, we'd like to know! Thanks. -06

[35 Rem]

The 300 H&H is one of those classics that can start me daydreaming about exotic hunts from long ago. I've never owned one but love all the history behind the cartridge. For my cast bullet hunting I've stuck with less powerful cartridges that operate at velocities more in line with lead bullets and pushed them to full power. (30-30, 7.62x39, 32 Win Special, 35 Remington) All loads above 2,000 ft/sec. I'm guessing your load with Unique is something like 1,700 ft/sec? From reading on this forum lots of hunters have success with those velocities so I'm sure your load will work. The accuracy sure sounds more than adequate.

I intend to do some more water jug testing at ranges beyond 100 yards to see how expansion tapers off with range since my current goal is to be able to shoot deer out as far as 200 yards with my 32 Special. I may very well rein that back to 150 though.

[Hdskip]

I shot 5 shots across the Magnetospeed and came up with this result. Needless to say I'm pretty happy with it. This is a load consisting of 19.0 grs of Unique, federal large rifle primer, 150gr. gas check bullet. Groups with this load have been around 1.5" at 100 yds. I'll get a couple pictures of the gun in case anyone would be interested in seeing them.

[35 Rem]

Oh wow, that is definitely faster than I was expecting! Yeah, should work good on deer. How did the accuracy of the heavier bullets compare? Personally, I like heavy-for-caliber for hunting when velocity is limited such as it is with lead bullets. For broadside hits most anything will do but if you need to take a raking shot more penetration might be needed.

Did the 300 H&H fit the action as is or did you have to modify something to squeeze it in?

[Beerd]

I shot 5 shots across the Magnetospeed and came up with this result. Needless to say I'm pretty happy with it. This is a load consisting of 19.0 grs of Unique, federal large rifle primer, 150gr. gas check bullet. Groups with this load have been around 1.5" at 100 yds. I'll get a couple pictures of the gun in case anyone would be interested in seeing them.

also curious to see pics of your bullet
..

[Hdskip]

Heavier bullets I tried were in 2- 2.5" range. Acceptable but as has been said " Only accurate rifles are interesting". As far as fitting the action no modifications were done. Ive only had 2 in the magazine though.Obviously with the length of this cartridge bullets need to be deep seated unless single fed. I doubt for my purposes I will ever load more than 2 at a time. 130- 140 lb. Whitetail deer don't constitute dangerous game

[15meter]

I've got a Model 1917 that has been sporterized into a 300 H&H. I shoot a 150 grain G/C'd boolit in it it shoots decent not wonderful. I think the biggest problem is the 27 pound trigger that is in it. If my arms were long enough I think I could twirl it like a single action Colt and not have it go off. Need to do something about that.

I don't remember the loads I've tried, I'll have to dig out the load book to see what I've tried.

I've also loaded for an original Rigby in 300 H&H, that rifle did shoot well. Beautiful rifle that belonged to a buddy. When I first started loading for it, there was almost no brass to be found. I learned in a hurry how to convert most of the Weatherby cases back into the parent case.

The 150 grain boolit I use is from a NOE mold, very pointy. With the long Model 1917 action I can seat the boolit loooong. Looks like a ferocious cruise missle.

[Hdskip]

I have a p17 action that has been converted into an inline muzzle loader. it too had a horrible trigger. Timney used to make a replacement trigger for it . I solved that problem with the replacement

[Randy Bohannon]

300 H&H is still on my “Gotta Have One of Those” list. I missed out on a Sako rifle in that chambering, shouldn’t have hesitated.

[15meter]

Dug out the load book, I've loaded H-4198 and Red Dot behind RCBS 30-180, Saeco 305 and my favorite, NOE 311-152SP:


Also loaded it with jacketed for the buddy with the Rigby to get this:


That took a Bunch of 4831 and a Nosler 180 grain bullet. Just 1.

If I remember correctly, there is a fair amount of cast boolit data in the Lyman Cast manuals.

[sukivel]

Heavier bullets I tried were in 2- 2.5" range. Acceptable but as has been said " Only accurate rifles are interesting". As far as fitting the action no modifications were done. Ive only had 2 in the magazine though.Obviously with the length of this cartridge bullets need to be deep seated unless single fed. I doubt for my purposes I will ever load more than 2 at a time. 130- 140 lb. Whitetail deer don't constitute dangerous game

So all you did was rechamber the barrel, screw it back on, and then open up the bolt head a bit?

I have always wanted a 300 H&H as well and there aren’t many out there available.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Texas by God]

The Savage 110 has an easily replaced bolt head.
I used a Lee 150gr flat nose at 1800 fps for my first cast bullet buck- but from a 30-30.
One shot at 60 yards worked perfectly.
Yours should work just fine.
You said something about rifle pictures?


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[Hdskip]

Here are pics of the bullet I'm using. These were acquired in a trade so I was just utilizing what was on hand. I was unable to find a magnum bolt head at the time so I did open the head up to magnum size on my lathe. The ejector cavity was plugged and repositioned as well. Dave Manson supplied one of his Reamers in 300 H&H. After chambering the barrel was headspaced and bolt was reassembled. With the action/barrel work complete the search for a suitable stock began. Numrich arms supplied a roughed in walnut blank that was made by Fajen years ago. I will describe the effort that took in another installment later today and provide more pictures. Thanks for looking.



The standard savage trigger guard nowhere to be found so I milled a base and adapted a spare SKB shotgun trigger guard to it . It took a little effort but I like the effect and it was worth it.

[Rapier]

Over the years of going to shows, never met a single 300 H&H rifle owner that did not love the cartridge and chambering. The cartridge has been described by many owners as being just enough, but not too much.

[Texas by God]

Good looking rifle! I like the trigger guard, the blind magazine, the straight grain, the vintage Redfield, and even the left handed cheek piece. Thanks for sharing!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[405grain]

Beautiful rifle in a classic caliber. It looks very nice. FYI; you can get parts for older Savage rifles from Numrich gun parts. For modern Savage rifles I get my parts from Gun Shack at https://www.gunshack.com/savage-parts I've seen that PTG reamers makes custom Savage bolt heads, but I haven't tried any of those.

[Hdskip]

Thanks for the information and sources. Most of the needed parts for this project came from Numrich including the stock. I have not tried the PTG bolt heads either. I have used shotgun trigger guards on a couple other builds I've done (Mausers mainly). This barreled action was purchased for the action but as with many projects it sort of took off in another direction. The 2 goals in this project were, make it into something not so average and achieve it at a low money expenditure. Improvising as needed was the name of the game.

[nekshot]

I really feel warm fuzzy with your project. You answered a number of questions I had concerning this rifle and cartridge combination. I have a 111 savage lefty magnum and a 300 Bo barrel for the gun. I have multiple bolts for gun. My barrel 8 inch twist and 24 inches long so I was hoping to get the real heavy boolits traveling briskly down the tube instead of slow lane loads. Do you envision heavier boolits in future?