300 H&H and 300 Mag Question

[Gun Nut 1]

Was the 300 H&H ever known as "300 Mag"? I bring this up as I have purchased a set of old rcbs dies labeled 300 mag and Remington brass with the 300 Mag head stamp. Both items match the 300 H&H size and shape. Looking for a little bit of historical knowledge here. Thanks in advance. Gun Nut 1

 

[farmerjohn]

Yes. Winchester before it produced it's own 300 Win Mag called the H&H a "300 Magnum". As the picture of my early mod 70 shows on the barrel, on the other hand Remington chose to call their mod 721 version "300 H&H MAG" since 1939 when a fellow by the name of Ben Comfort won the Wimbledon Cup with the cartridge. Remington was ahead of Winchester in making the old H&H "Super 30" an American chambering. Thinking H&H designed it about 1923 by simply necking down the 375 H&H. Hope this helps, John

 

[farmerjohn]

Sorry for messing up the pictures, here are both,

 

[SBS]

Don't think Remington beat Winchester to the punch on this caliber. Ben Comfort won the 1000 yd. Wimbledon in 1935 using a custom rifle built on the 1917 Enfield action. Western Cartridge Co. had been making this cartridge since 1925, but there had been no factory chamberings for it until Winchester made it one of their two new offerings the first year of Model 70 production in 1936. The other new offering was the .375 Mag; all the other 1st year chamberings had been offered before in the Model 54. The Remington Model 721 did not appear on the scene until 1948. The H&H designation was left out on early M70's simply because it was not needed, since it was the only factory made .300 magnum. I have owned early Sako's built on FN actions that were marked the same as the early Winchesters -- simply .300 Magnum and .375 Magnum. Still have the .375. To add, Holland and Holland brought the cartridge out in 1920, calling it the Super Thirty Belted Magnum, so it went by several names over the years.

 

[centerlineseal]

I found 4 or 5 "300 Magnum" marked cases in some brass I prepped for my son's 300 H&H. RP or UMC I think. They looked pretty funky and I have no idea how we got them. I put them aside as a curiosity.