I sent an email to Winchester inquiring about the timing of their next seasonal run of 300 H&H brass. Here is their response:

quote:

Winchester Has discontinued makeing the 300 H&H Cartridge and brass case

Thank you again for contacting us here at Winchester Ammunition. If you should require additional information, do not hesitate to contact us.

Sincerely,

Winchester Technical Department

I sure hope Norma, Jamison, and/or Nosler pick up production; otherwise, there are going to be a lot of sad 300 H&H owners - like ME.

Forrest: I got the same answer as you, and for the 375 H&H as well! But, when I spoke on the phone with them, they told me it was going to be a "seasonal" product, BUT they did not know when they were going to make another run. Bottom line is that I'll beleive it when I see it and thanks again for the brass Once these other folks start producing, I'll pay you back! jorge

I hate to see brass prices skyrocket, but oddly I'm O.K. with Winchester dropping 300 H&H production. Prices have climbed as of late, but quality has been lacking. As with the WSMs, WSSMs, inflated classic model 70 prices, and ill will in general, I say good riddance to Winchester.

Gosh sakes!
I have about ninety (left) new from Midway seven or eight years ago. Should I post them on Ebay as singles or five packs? I was going to use them to make my 280 Dubiel, but it does work to FL size 7STW...just lose one every now and then.

My net worth has just doubled...again.

Rich
DRSS & NRA Life Member

quote:

Originally posted by ForrestB:
I sure hope Norma, Jamison, and/or Nosler pick up production; otherwise, there are going to be a lot of sad 300 H&H owners - like ME.

I was lucky to set aside a small "stache" of brass for both the H&H rounds.....I'm confident that there's enough shooters wanting them that someone will make them.....even if it's a few bucks more!

quote:

Jamison

Who is this?

quote:

Originally posted by buckshot:
I hate to see brass prices skyrocket, but oddly I'm O.K. with Winchester dropping 300 H&H production.

Buckshot you're mixing up a bunch of trends and coming to odd conclusions.

Cartridge brass is about 70% copper and 30% Zinc (plus small amounts of other stuff). The market price of copper has more than tripled in the last three years and the market price of Zinc has about doubled in the same time frame. I'm not surprised that unprimed brass cases have gotten more expensive.


POP,
Jamison International bought Bell and some other assets and is getting big in brass case production. You'll be seeing a lot more of their products. Jamison invented the Chey Tec cartridges and the 500 S&W.

According to the WSJ, the US Mint is getting laws passed to prohibit melting down pennies and nickels and to limit amounts that can be exported because their cost of production and commodity components are now worth more than their face values.

A nickel is 25% nickel and 75% copper, now worth 6.99 cents, or 8.34 cents including the cost of production.

A penny is 2.5% copper with zinc making up most of the rest. The copper and zinc in a penny are worth 1.12 cents.

Hell, maybe a guy could make a decent living raking up range brass!

Nosler has announced they will be producing 300 H&H and 375 H&H brass early 2007. There's a lot of us really anticipating that.

quote:

Originally posted by ForrestB:

quote:

Originally posted by buckshot:
I hate to see brass prices skyrocket, but oddly I'm O.K. with Winchester dropping 300 H&H production.

Buckshot you're mixing up a bunch of trends and coming to odd conclusions.

Cartridge brass is about 70% copper and 30% Zinc (plus small amounts of other stuff). The market price of copper has more than tripled in the last three years and the market price of Zinc has about doubled in the same time frame. I'm not surprised that unprimed brass cases have gotten more expensive.


POP,
Jamison International bought Bell and some other assets and is getting big in brass case production. You'll be seeing a lot more of their products. Jamison invented the Chey Tec cartridges and the 500 S&W.

Forrest, your economics are indeed correct. The price increase to which I was referring was due to availability, not raw material. W-W 300 H&H brass of recent manufacture has always been more expensive than the more popular numbers, not just because of limited production, but because there was no competition. Remington dropped the 300 H&H years ago. My point holds true if one is talking about components only.

quote:

According to the WSJ, the US Mint is getting laws passed to prohibit melting down pennies and nickels and to limit amounts that can be exported

News flash:

U.S. Mint Bans Melting Pennies & Nickels
MARTIN CRUTSINGER, AP Economics Writer
Thu Dec 14, 12:26 AM ET

WASHINGTON - Given rising metal prices, the pennies and nickels in your pocket are worth more melted down than their face value — and that has the government worried.

U.S. Mint officials said Wednesday they were putting into place rules prohibiting the melting down of 1-cent and 5-cent coins. The rules also limit the number of coins that can be shipped out of the country.

"We are taking this action because the nation needs its coinage for commerce. We don't want to see our pennies and nickels melted down so a few individuals can take advantage of the American taxpayer," Mint Director Edmund Moy said in a statement.

Officials said they had received a number of inquiries from the public in recent months concerning the value of the metal in the coins and whether it was legal to melt them.

The new regulations prohibit the melting of 1-cent and 5-cent coins, with a penalty of up to five years in prison and a fine of up to $10,000 for people convicted of violating the rule.

The rules also require that shipments of the coins out of the country be for legitimate coinage and numismatic purposes and cap the size of any one shipment to $100 worth of the coins.

Because of the prevailing prices of copper, zinc and nickel, the cost of producing pennies and nickels exceeds the face value of the coins.

A nickel is 25 percent nickel and 75 percent copper. The metal in one coin costs 6.99 cents for each 5-cent coin. When the Mint's cost of producing the coins is added, the total cost for each nickel is 8.34 cents.

Modern pennies have 2.5 percent copper content with zinc making up the rest of the coin. The current copper and zinc in a penny are worth 1.12 cents. The cost of production drives the cost of each penny up to 1.73 cents.

Pennies made before 1982, which are still in circulation, would be even more lucrative to melt down because they contain 95 percent copper and only 5 percent zinc. The metal value in those coins is 2.13 cents per coin, Mint officials said.

The new regulations are being published in the Federal Register and will go into effect as interim rules which will not become final until the government has a chance to consider possible modifications based on public comments.

As with many of the less commonly used cartridges, Winchester (Olin, not the former gunmaker owned by FN Herstal) produces .300 H & H "seasonally". "Seasonal" doesn't mean "regular" or at "hog killin time", but rather whenever their orders stack up enough that it is worthwhile to rejigger one of their drawing machines to produce that particular size of brass. The same holds true of numbers like .264 Win Mag, .25-20, .257 Roberts, or any number of cartridges that are not .223/.243/.270/.308/.30-06. Just hold your horses and sometime in the next year or so they'll get around to cranking out a batch. In the meantime, if you're really desperate, run some 7mm STW or 8mm RMag through your H & H FL die and go shooting.

One of the problems in brass availability is Uncle Sam spraying much of Mesopotamia with small arms fire for three years solid and the demand for restocking of military ammunition. The prime military ammunition contractor, ATK (which owns Federal), has been subcontracting for brass with anyone who owns a mill. As a result, the "seasonal" runs of calibers like the H & H have been delayed while there's so much easy money to be picked up.

What goes up must come down. The bursting of the housing bubble combined with the impending abandoment of the Iraqi adventure will pressure copper prices downward. Brass prices will hopefully moderate accordingly (or at least quit going up.)

Hey guys! I just remembered that I have a stock of .300 H & H brass left over from when I sold a rifle a couple of years ago! It's all brand new unfired WW, plus a partial box of Federal nickeled factory loads.

I have 98 rounds of new, unprimed WW brass, 45 rounds of new unfired WW brass primed with unknown primers, and a box of 20 rounds -- 6 fired and 14 unfired -- of Federal Premium (nickel case) ammunition with 180 grain Nosler Partitions (box marked $39.89). That's a total of 163 cases, with 14 of them factory loaded with Noslers. Everything is bright and shiney.

If I break it up into smaller lots I'll need more, so if anybody can use the whole lot, I'll take $140 plus shipping. Otherwise, offers on smaller lots considered.

quote:

Originally posted by fla3006:

quote:

According to the WSJ, the US Mint is getting laws passed to prohibit melting down pennies and nickels and to limit amounts that can be exported

Interesting, last time we did this was at the tail-end of the 1970s inflation ( which was blamed on oil prices, with some success among the gullible ). Anybody still able to swallow the official 3% rate of inflation without gagging?

quote:

Anybody still able to swallow the official 3% rate of inflation without gagging?

"Excluding the volatile areas of food, health care, utilities, housing, transportation, and other basic necessities, the core rate of inflation was quite mild last month."-- U.S. Department of Commerce

Thank goodness the remaining 2% of your budget that's covered by the 'core rate of inflation' isn't suffering any strain.

It's okay, I have just placed WW and Olin on my do not buy list...if I'm going to have to put up with their asinine behaviour I will just look elsewhere, permanently.

Rich
NRA Life Member
DRSS