300 H&H reload ?

[MMcLaughlin]

Does anyone have any good loads for the 300 H&H? I tried to use some IMR 4350 behind 165 gr. swift. They shot kind of erratic. Upon further investigation, I found that 4350 isn't the best for the H&H. Hopefully someone has a suggestion.

 

[George]

erratic 4350?

erratic 4350?

MMc, "erratic" is not specific enough and I don't have any loads to share- besides a good load in one of my guns or anyone's gun may be all wrong for any other gun. And, I can't find any reference as to IMR 4350 being a bad powder for the 300 H&H. And, my experience is that 4350 is one of the least erratic powders for many normal applications. As a matter of fact several manuals list 4350 as one of the powders of choice for the cartridge. Some troubleshooting may be in order if erratic refers to large groups/poor accuracy. The 300 H&H has a pretty good body taper in addition to it's very low shoulder angle. Based on my experience with that "type and shape" cartridge it could very well stretch quite a bit with full pressure loads. So I'd check the length and trim to the shortest length in your lot of brass. Next I'd set (or at least check to see) the sizing die to show about 3/4 sizing down the neck (not touching the shoulder). That cartridge has plenty of neck length so bullet tension and alignment won't be very much affected by slightly short sizing. Next, I'd check to see what "bullet jam" length your chamber/throat has. Set the bullet seating depth with that bullet maybe .020-.025" off the lands. A couple of manuals listed the stiffer loads of 4350 in that cartridge as being the most consistent. Makes sense because the body taper, and low shoulder angle don't favor best/efficient burning for medium to slow powders. Plus, the bullet weight is right in between light and heavy for the cartridge/powder combination so that may account for the more consistant burn with the heavier loads that the manuals indicate. However, I'd still begin at the recommended starting load and work up, regardless. Check the obvious- clean bore, bedding, barrel pressure in the stock?, scope, etc. Lastly, might try either REL 15- slightly faster than 4350 or REL 19- slightly slower than 4350. Again, follow known, published recipes for these and work up from the recommended starting loads. And, lastly...lastly might try a different bullet.

No magic "bullet" in those ideas but, hope it gets to shooting right anyways.

 

[mauserboy]

4350 correct

4350 correct

Just want to back up what George said; H4350 & IMR4350 should give good accuracy results in the H&H.

 

[MMcLaughlin]

The loads in question are ones my dad loaded up for his 300. When I say erratic, I mean they are not consistently shooting decent groups. My dad gave them to me to try, because he encountered the same issue. The gun is definately not an issue as I can get 1/2" groups @100 yds with other loads (4831&4320). The overall length was the same as the other loads. Thanks for the replies. I was just curious if anyone had any suggestions.

 

[mauserboy]

300 H&H loads

300 H&H loads

If that is the case, and no reflection on your dad's abilities, perhaps you could pull a couple of bullets and check the powder weight in the loads. You might also try loading yourself what he noted as the load that he loaded, just to see if the shooting results are the same.

 

[MMcLaughlin]

Good point. I doubt he messed up, but you never know.

 

[dmwood]

I had a hard time with my 300H&H also, but have had good luck with IMR 4350, I'm using Hornday 180gr SST, CCI 250 Primers and 59gr of 4350. Out of a TC Encore 26" 300H&H. Never put it through the chrono.