300 h&h, 30-06, 338-06

1899 said:
Felt recoil will vary with weight of the rifle plus the style/design of the stock. If the rifles are identical the .338-06 will provide quite a bit more felt recoil than the .270 Win. - it is important to compare apples to apples.

By way of example comparing a 210gr Partition at 2700 to a 130gr @ 3100 in the .338/06 vs .270 Win respectively in an identical 8lb rifle, the .338/06 has 47% more recoil.
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I do agree, however the 270 and 338-06 were identical rifles, 338 has a slightly heavier barrel, but 270 had a heavier scope. Even so the felt recoil was lighter in the 338-06.
 
Tagged for interest as I've always heard & read that the 338's were heavy recoil units.
Are the defenders of 338 the same as the M44 defenders ( um, guilty here...); do-able is not the same as reality compared to conventional calibers?
Like "you can handle it; but yeah, it's a bad recoiling piece"
 
Well I've had all three and by far I prefer the 300 H&H. It recoils on par with the 338-06 in same weight rifles and its benefits are more my style. I can shoot 200gr bullets at 2925fps, with a BC of .550, but I stop at 220's........
The .338-06 I had was great to shoot and 225gr Accubonds at 2600fps would handle a lot of situations.
I use Hornady's H&H brass right now, and so far so good.
 
FWIW, I have a custom Remington 700LH in .300 H&H with a Pac-Nor match bbl and it shoots like a house on fire. It also gets points for being cool. Think of it as a .300 Win Mag with more style and a shape more conducive to feeding when it counts.

Hard to go wrong with the H&H rounds... ;)





 
The 300 H&H is without a doubt the best choice of the 3 you have named, by light years. The readily available bullet choice, the ability to load to 30-30 ballistics if you choose and the ability to load to grizzly crushing ballistics on the other end with 220+ gn bullets if you want. Forget about cost of components as you can easily make all the brass you need from several less expensive cases. The 338-06 is much more a niche rifle and a long ways from all around, it gives up much in the way of BC and range to the 30 cals and it is an unreliable expander with the heavy for caliber bullets. The 30-06 is a hard to argue against cartridge but the H&H has more panache and will out perform the 06 with all weights if you so choose to load it thus. The reality is there is nothing the 06 will do that the H&H won't do better but the reverse can't be said. In equal weight rifles you will not notice the recoil being any worse with an H&H as with the 06, the same cannot be said of the 338-06...........
My vote hands down would be a 300 H&H or have you considered a 308 Norma, another fine old classic which is very easy to make brass for.................It holds all the attributes of the 300 H&H and would be much less expensive to gear up for. It too can be loaded to 06 levels or even 308 levels and is noted as one of the most accurate 30s ever built. Finally as a handloader I would urge you to reconsider the 300 Win Mag, especially as an heirloom. The 300 H&H could in the years to come be almost defunked and future generations may curse you for handing down a rifle they cannot buy ammo for. The 300 WM will be around until the end of time and one will be able to buy factory ammo until hell freezes over, which should be a consideration when designing a rifle for future generations. For yourself as a handloader you can load it to whatever your comfort level is and be happy with it.............just a thought you may want to consider.
 
I'd agree with the chorus of guys advocating for the 300 H&H. It's got all the legs you need for open country but is still very mild mannered. It will handle a wide range of bullet weights which opens the door to a wide variety of game.

Now, you could also look at the 9.3x62. Old World/dark continent charm coupled with relatively good manners and extreme beast smashing ability. Hard to argue with that.
 
BigUglyMan said:
I'd agree with the chorus of guys advocating for the 300 H&H. It's got all the legs you need for open country but is still very mild mannered. It will handle a wide range of bullet weights which opens the door to a wide variety of game.

Now, you could also look at the 9.3x62. Old World/dark continent charm coupled with relatively good manners and extreme beast smashing ability. Hard to argue with that.
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Exactly!! More than pleased with the first results of my fairly recently acquired M70 Zastava in,;) ".366 Wagner".









So much so, I called up Anthony at Tradex and ordered a match in 7x57.
 
Definitely!

Just got home from shooting the 300 H&H for the first time. I really, really like it. It's more of a push like a 30-06 on steroids than a punch like a win mag. I shot it, my 303 Parker-Hale No4 and a Ruger in 300 Win Mag tonight. Of course the 303 feels like an old sneaker, but I felt at home with the H&H right away. I watched my pop can bounce on the first shot. The rifle was a Mod 70 XTR with a synthetic stock. The 300 Win Mag was exactly as I remembered, just a little much. I liked the 300H&H enough that I asked its owner if he would part with it. I'll maybe part with another safe queen or two and pick it up. Any idea of a value? It's in pretty nice shape, I'd give it a solid VG overall with an excellent bore. This rifle would hold me over and let me make sure it's what I want before I dump the big bucks on a Cooper.
 
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Oh man, only you can decide. The 300 Win mag was not one of your three cartridge choices thou. Not the same cool factor as the 300 H&H. You did say you really, really liked the 300 H&H.
 
Good you edited post #32. It sounded like you were leaning towards the 300 Win. I'm not sure on the value of the Mod 70 XTR in 300 H&H but I'm sure others will provide you with at least a ballpark figure.
 
You guys think $500 would be fair for rifle less scope? It's in good shape but does show signs of use, some of the bluing is thinning a bit, couple marks in the stock etc.
 
Here is my thinking on the matter. A Cooper 56 in .300 H&H will cost considerably more money than the other two options in a model 52. Unless your heart is set on the H&H save yourself the cost difference and put the money towards a nice scope. Your two remaining options will do mostly the same work. I would go shopping and buy whichever one had the nicest walnut. In fact that was what I did. I could've happily has a .270, .280 or .30-06 for my uses so I went shopping and bought the one with the nicest wood. My Cooper is a 52 Classic in .30-06 and while I would love to have the H&H the velocities from the 24" barrel are impressive enough to keep me happy.
 
Prophet river had a 300H&H on a model 52, (couple months ago) i even rang and checked to confirm, it sold pretty quick, or was I too slow, I don't know if the 300H&H would be ideal in that action, it might be a bit strangled for long heavy bullets.
I have a 300 H&H on a ruger number 1, and am very happy with rifle and cal,

Like you I plan on treating myself, my mortgage will be done this winter sum time, and i am going to get a nice cooper or Montana rifle in either 300H&H or .375 H&H,
CZ also has the 300H&H for order in the Safari custom.
Seen as how you said you weren't keen on heavy recoil, the two .30 cal are a better choice,
 
Just a note on the .300 H&H. Case capacity is just ever so slightly less than the WM. Loaded to equal pressures it is essentially a .300 WM in both performance and recoil. Factory H&H is just loaded to lower pressures than WM, hence the lower recoil you felt.

My .300 H&H spits out 200 grain bullets at 2900, and that load isn't maxed out. Recoil feels just like any other .300 mag.
 
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