300 Holland & Holland ...anybody played with this one ?

[Caracal]

I'm after some advise about which bullet would be best suited to this calibre, it seems most guys prefer the 180gr but the 200gr seems to be the better option down range. Has anyone shot with this old gentleman on a regular basis ? If so how do you rate this calibre as a long range option considering all the newer calibres that are available to us nowdays ? Cheers.....

[liltank]

I'm not a user, but that old boy will keep up. You stuff a 208 A-Max or any of the 210 bullets on top of some of the new powders (H1000, Retumbo, RL25), you are going to get some nice results.

I just looked at the reloading manual. Compared to the 300RUM you are going to be about 50-100fps below the RUM with a 200grn bullet according to the manual. The RUM has more volume and the same length. The H&H has the same length, but has a severe taper. SOOOOO... I think with modern powder (RL25 being the accuracy powder and best velocity) you should be fine. I know that you should be able to outperform the manuals with good hand loading and depending on your set up and barrel length. I didn't check what they used for test barrels for both rifles. This info is from the Lyman 49th edition.

Tank

[azsugarbear]

You may also find that the 300 H&H is a very efficient magnum, meaning it can usually achieve the same velocity as the other 300 magnums (300 RUM excluded) while burning a couple grains less powder in the process.

[3fingervic]

I don't understand why a caliber that performs so well would lose favor.

[liltank]

300 H&H was an old time Safari rifle. Holland developed the cartridge in the 40's or 50's I believe to be a big gun for hunting. Weatherby got into the size mattes contest and kind of stole Hollands thunder. Since then Holland has kind of petered out. The market then was overwhelmed with the new and improved Weatherby cartridge's and Winchester Magnums took over. Everybody fell in love with the Win Mag stuff because it was cheaper. Most recently Remington started making the RUM's. Hence the Holland & Holland (H&H) has become the old man on the mountain. I suppose if some one were to really start playing with it and doing an improved version it could become a contender again. It was limited by the powders of the day. So that is the story in a nut shell. There are some really good reads. If you go to Shooting Times.com they have articles that can give you some idea of what's up with these old calibers.

Tank

[Caracal]

Thanks for the info guys. Actually is was sadly Winchester that put the 300 H&H on the map so to speak in 1937. I guess all us shooters really want is an honest calibre that does the business..

Tank you mention the severe taper, what sort of effect does this have/contribute to a rounds character on firing. After firing the 300 RUM and 300 Win Mag the 300 H&H seems to give you a shove in the shoulder as apposed to a sharp bump with the previous two. Could this be the result of the different angles of the shoulders of the cartridges ? All of them go bang, so all is good , right !!!!

Cheers

[liltank]

Well I wish I could give you a really educated answer... but I can not. I think the one advantage to its design is its length. It is a very long cartridge compared to the Winchester casings. It will be interesting if anybody can jump in to enlighten us.

Tank