300 H&H for arthritic spine?

R

Rusty S

New member
My spine in the neck and upper back has almost fused. It's a decades long problem only recently diagnosed. What it tells me is that there are few medium bore calibers I can shoot ten rounds of before getting an absolutely splitting headache.

The 25-06 is wonderful. The 270 and 30-06 SHOULDN'T, but apparently a high recoil velocity over a shorter time gives me a "slap" recoil that just does me in rapidly - like 3 to 5 rounds. The 308 has not bothered me, but I've only shot it in a heavy M1A or an even heavier 40XBR. And even muzzle braked, a single round of 458 hurt for days. So it looks like the 25-06, that lovely little underloaded 7x57,
or the one Magnum that didn't bother me, the 300 H&H.

The old Holland 300 shoves me. I can roll with it. Not the 30-06. So I'm looking at the 25-06 and an H&H for the bigger stuff. What I'm wondering is if the long tapered case with greater capacity than the '06 can be safely loaded thru a wide power range. ( A detonation, or secondary explosion effect, or flashover or whatever they are calling it, would really tick me off and give me a rottweiler with hemorrhoids and a toothache type attitude. ) I'd be looking to develop loads from Krag or 300 Savage level up to ( for sparing useage ) the 3400 ft. lb. level, but mostly load and shoot around the 2500 ft. lb. level.

It sounds like that would be a good idea, but am I going to get the slap instead of shove effect by dropping load levels? Will probably end up porting or putting muzzle break on the thing. Am I missing something?
 
The burning rate of the powder would be one variable...

faster burning would provide a faster recoil all other things being equal.
 
But in larger cases don't you have to stay away from the ultra slow powders in reduced loads to reduce the chance of detonation?

I know it sounds crazy, using more powder in a bigger case to get the same velocity with the same bullet, which increases the ejecta, especially at the velocities the powder gasses reach, but I've always felt the funnel shaped H&H case might make for a smoother flow of the gasses into the barrel and more powder burned in the barrel than with the PPC shaped cartridges.

Wasn't it the 285 OKH that had the long flash tube from the primer to nearly the bullet base so the powder would ignite at the front of the case instead of the rear?

Again, it's a SWAG on my part that something about the H&H makes for a slower recoil velocity I can roll with while the '06 hits faster and more jarringly to me. If anyone knows why, please elucidate.
 
I don't know what "big stuff" you're hunting. A .270 will handle anything in North America, with the possible exception of brownies, and how often do you hunt them?

If you still want a magnum, I'd look into a Browning BAR II with a BOSS. You could have a gunsmith add a little weight to soften it up even more. I believe a .300 WM or a .338 WM would do the job.


Yr. Obt. Svnt.
 
Thanks for the suggestion, Pampers, I love the 25-06 but the 270 crosses over the line. Likewise I can handle a full charge 4" 41 mag with diligent practice, but not a 4" 44 loaded the same way. There may be only 12% or 16% greater recoil, but whatever it is is just more than I can handle.

I've got a 7x57 and in another's hands, ( such as W.D.M. Bell ) I have no doubt it would still kill elephants with 175 fmj ball. I'm sure I could do all the tricks ( synthetic stock for some compressibility, mercury filled tubes in the butt, multiple expansion chambered muzzle break, etc. ) but if I use factory wimp ammo, then I don't need that.

The H&H gives you just a bit more flat trajectory and higher energy than the 30-06. But the 06, like the 44, has a faster more abrupt recoil that jars my bones but leaves me standing where I was when I pulled the trigger. The H&H shoves me back, and I let the muzzle rise, I give and my shoulder rocks back, and my lead foot sometimes rolls into a step back. I don't know the reason it doesn't bother me like the 06, but it doesn't.
 
Shifting context a bit, what sort of hunting will be your primary usage? And, do you do much serious target shooting?

Art
 
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