Holland and Holland .240 Apex reloading info/help/info sought

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Cyres

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Last week I was talking to the proud owner of his fathers .240 H@H. Unfortunately ammunition is becoming v scarce and he has only 23 rounds left. H@H used to have them loaded by Norma: 100 grn soft point but apparently no longer available. I said if we could source some dies and bullets (.245 dia) then we could reload them.

I had a look on the internet and it appears that Sinclair may produce dies but I assume we could contact a custom die maker in the US to get some made. The main issue will be sourcing brass and bullets.

Any info members might have on this calibre along with reloading date would be gratefully received.

Thanks

D
 
Have you tried the Accurate Reloading Forum? It is more USA-centric but there are usually quite a few "collectors" of these more esoteric cartridges on there who might be able to help you.
 
Well, here's the good news.....RCBS make the dies. Indeed the gunshop that used to be near Witney, or somewhere there, it was in an old car showroom I think, had a set. So they are out there.

The next good news is that, in fact, there was an "issue" with some H & H barrels for the .240 Apex.

The issue is somewhat complicated. Nevertheless what it does mean is that using a bullet for the common or garden .243 in a .240 Apex should, in fact, give reasonable accuracy.

It is also possible that .240 Weatherby Magnum cases can be sized down through .240 Apex sizing dies to emerge as .240 Apex cases.

View attachment 94760

Hope it helps.
 
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I have an old box of 50 Kynoch, 100grn SP bullets for that cartridge. I bought them in an auction lot amongst some .243 bullets. £25, posted sound ok?
 
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I think so, yes. It was in what looked like an old fashioned type car showroom or village hall type humungous...well..shed! They had a set of .244 H & H dies too. I nearly bought a .240 Apex so that is how I was told, by Holland's themselves, that in some rifles .243" bullets will work reasonably OK. Although you'd need to just polish down the expander ball to get the correct neck tension.
 
Have you tried contacting Lee? They make custom dies or contact Kynoch they might still make them? If they’re still going?
 
A few years ago a friend who has a .240 apex also got low on ammunition.
We spoke to Norman Clarke who had some brass in stock (might have been the last),
he suggested a certain hornady 100 grain bullet and IMR4350.
We worked up a load that shot better than the factory ammo in his rifle.
It may be worth ringing Norman Clarke and I will try to get the data we used,
from memory it was listed in 'Cartridges of the World'.
 
Guys,

Thanks for all the replies and PM's looks like we may be able to get something sorted out. I will post the final outcome.

D
 
enfieldspares said:
Well, here's the good news.....RCBS make the dies. Indeed the gunshop that used to be near Witney, or somewhere there, it was in an old car showroom I think, had a set. So they are out there.

The next good news is that, in fact, there was an "issue" with some H & H barrels for the .240 Apex.

The issue is somewhat complicated. Nevertheless what it does mean is that using a bullet for the common or garden .243 in a .240 Apex should, in fact, give reasonable accuracy.

It is also possible that .240 Weatherby Magnum cases can be sized down through .240 Apex sizing dies to emerge as .240 Apex cases.

View attachment 94760

Hope it helps.
Click to expand...
enfieldspares said:
I think so, yes. It was in what looked like an old fashioned type car showroom or village hall type humungous...well..shed! They had a set of .244 H & H dies too. I nearly bought a .240 Apex so that is how I was told, by Holland's themselves, that in some rifles .243" bullets will work reasonably OK. Although you'd need to just polish down the expander ball to get the correct neck tension.
Click to expand...
I have been using .243 bullets with this round from a batch I had made up 15 years ago, nearly all used now but I have some Kynoch old stock...
 
Cyres said:
Last week I was talking to the proud owner of his fathers .240 H@H. Unfortunately ammunition is becoming v scarce and he has only 23 rounds left. H@H used to have them loaded by Norma: 100 grn soft point but apparently no longer available. I said if we could source some dies and bullets (.245 dia) then we could reload them.

I had a look on the internet and it appears that Sinclair may produce dies but I assume we could contact a custom die maker in the US to get some made. The main issue will be sourcing brass and bullets.

Any info members might have on this calibre along with reloading date would be gratefully received.

Thanks

D
Click to expand...
You need to speak to my mate peter, he has a ruger no1 in .244 HH, he’s really really into reloading for it.

Just spokes to him, he’s gonna check this thread out tonight when he gets back from work, but he did ask is it a .244 H&H or a .240 H&H ?
 
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We are just completing the regulation and production of some custom ammunition for a H&H 240 Flanged Double rifle
Customer requested non lead so we had Peregrine make some VLR4 and VRG3 in 91gr and 100gr in .245
The Kynoch ammo with 100gr SP didnt shoot for **** and barely managed a 4-5" spread of the shots at 50yds

The major issue is brass quality
The H&H and Kynoch brass was very poor, variable in thickness an brittle as hell
I had a case let go at the web during development
very few options on that though and New Bertram seems the best option but it is pricey
 

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Guys,

The owner has sourced 100 rnds for his rifle so is not needing to reload at present. If the opportunity arises I will get 3 fired cases and send to Lee to get a set of dies made. I have a box of 50 Kynoch .240 .244 100 grns soft points. Made 08/1954! I understand brass is made in USA.

D
 
Cyres said:
Last week I was talking to the proud owner of his fathers .240 H@H. Unfortunately ammunition is becoming v scarce and he has only 23 rounds left. H@H used to have them loaded by Norma: 100 grn soft point but apparently no longer available. I said if we could source some dies and bullets (.245 dia) then we could reload them.

I had a look on the internet and it appears that Sinclair may produce dies but I assume we could contact a custom die maker in the US to get some made. The main issue will be sourcing brass and bullets.

Any info members might have on this calibre along with reloading date would be gratefully received.

Thanks

D
Click to expand...
Old thread, but my local shooting club has had a flood in one of the ranges between Christmas and New Year.

Anyway I took my de-humidifier down there. And, to cut a long story short, was told, "You know when soft-point bullets became s5..and now they're not..well perhaps you like to take back the still sealed box of FIFTY Kynoch .240" 100 grain bullets that have been with us since then?"

So they are now back with me as I write. I'd be happy to open the box if you wanted to buy but wanted to look a a sample selection as I've no idea if they are copper jacket or steel jacket. But they are the real McCoy. Your, Sir, for £30 including 2nd Class Recorded Delivery postage. I've also PM'd you this.

And happy to say the ammunition store didn't flood so these are dry and fine!
 
Edinburgh Rifles said:
We are just completing the regulation and production of some custom ammunition for a H&H 240 Flanged Double rifle
Customer requested non lead so we had Peregrine make some VLR4 and VRG3 in 91gr and 100gr in .245
The Kynoch ammo with 100gr SP didnt shoot for **** and barely managed a 4-5" spread of the shots at 50yds

The major issue is brass quality
The H&H and Kynoch brass was very poor, variable in thickness an brittle as hell
I had a case let go at the web during development
very few options on that though and New Bertram seems the best option but it is pricey
Click to expand...
I have a falling block Dakota in .240 H&H flanged. Running low on ammo but have cases, can you help?
 
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