Anyone have any experience with this cartridge on buffalo; or any reasons they would be concerned?

I used the standard load from federal on buffalo and it worked quite well. I personally dont think the high energy stuff is worth the recoil in 375 and above. Also I could never get it to shoot as well in my rifles.

I found the TBBC to be a little soft for my taste, but mostly they work, but will come apart on the spine of a Buffalo and that bothers me..I have not used them based on observation of some of our clients use of them..They really do expand to large size on lung shots and stop on the offside skin, and I like two holes..I don't condem them, I just prefer more penitration...

I have used them side by side in a comparison with Remington Premium Safari Grade and Hornaday Heavy Magnum for an article a while back. The accuracy was best with the Remington (300gr Swift A Frames), velocity was averaged (20 shots) higher with the Federal by 64fps, penetration was won by the Remington again. I will also state that I feel the Remingtons expanded more reliably and uniformly and had the highest retained weight. The HDY stuff came in last place in every category, but my gun may not have liked the stuff (and I find their brass to be a little soft-more extraction problems with it than either of the others. This is a quickie of what I found:

Barrel, 26" 3 groove PAC-NOR, 1:12" twist

..............................Remington....Federal....Hornaday
Speed@18"............2668avg......2604.......2489
Penetration*..........22"...............20"........14"
Avg retained wt......287gr...........279gr......254gr
Avg expanded dia....0.792".........0.764"......0.643"

*Penetration into stiffened parrafin media.

Hope that helps, and I'm not biased. I'm a handloader that uses Norma brass and Rhino bullets.

I have had accuracy problems with .375 HE as well as .300 win. mag.HE Stick with the regular .375 H&H TBBC, I got great results with them on my last Safari also they group very close to the Federal Solid which is very handy..Good Hunting.DD

My 375 shoots really, really well with the std Federal TBBC 300gr load. Honest cloverleafs at 100yds.

Unfortunately the the Sledgehammers print two inches lower and four inches to the left, and thats at 50yds.

I have no game experience with the 375 TBBC but it will be my do-all softpoint load in Zim this Oct.

JPK

I feel as though Hornady and Federal are trying to deliver too much with many of their HM & HE offerings. In my rifle, the Hornady HM 375 H&H ammo was simply off the chart in terms of velocity and pressure. Extreme spread was something like 75 (!), and accuracy was abysmal.

I haven't had any better luck with Federal's HE ammo, except their 180 gr. Trophy Bonded and 200 gr. Nosler loads for 300 Win. Mag., which have performed very well. I would NOT take any of the HE stuff to Africa, simply because if pressures run high at 55-60 degrees here in Oregon, I'm not going to trust pressures to run within acceptable limits in Africa. Yet, Federal says their HE ammo is safe to use at various temperatures........

I have used the regular Federal 300 gr. TB 375 H&H load in Africa with superb results, and superb accuracy off the bench. I would not hesitate to use it again in Africa.

AD

My experience - on paper - my M70 Super Express shoots 300 gr HE TBBC and Sledgehammers within 2"@100 yds. with 1 TBBC then 2 Solids in the magazine, time after time.
Dave

I think I'll look at both the Federal non-HE and the Remington when I get in this fall.

Someone posted that they don't shoot more than a few rounds a day with the 375 H&H. Surely a guy can take more than that, can't he? I expect to fire three to six from the bench at 100, then probably stand up and offhand another half dozen at 50 yds. just to get a feel for the thing. After that I'll take inventory and determine what to do next.

Kensco:
I shoot 20 rounds per session - usually weekly. I usually shoot in 3 or 4 round groups offhand and off the sticks. At the range I go to, if I get there right at opening I have the range to myself for at least an hour. I set targets at 80, 50, & 25 yrds. Then, I try to put a shot in the black of each within 10 seconds or better, starting with the farthest target (offhand).
OBTW, the barrel of a 375 is gonna get pretty hot in that hour!
And, unless I get careless while shouldering a shot am none the worse for wear. I really like shooting the 375!

Dave

I realize that this topic was on the .375. But after reading all of the points on the Federal HE stuff I just thought that I would put my two cents in even thugh it is based on a .338 using Federal Premium HE with 250 grain Nosler bullets.
In Michigan I found that the primers were VERY flat on spent rounds, the head stamps looked a little flattened, and the chronograph said 3214 FPS, very fast, a little too fast? At any rate with time having run out, it's off to Namibia late October, first of November, a lot hotter than in Michigan a few weeks earlier.
1. If more than one shot was needed the barrel was so hot that you could literaly not touch it without burning your hand.
2. On the second shot you had to force open the bolt, hitting it with the palm of your hand several times. Browning A-bolt stainless stalker, 3 year old gun.
3. P.H did not like the muzzle blast at all. Even my buddy who was shooting the .375 did not like the recoil of the .338.

4.When I returned I had the rifle checked out by three different gunsmiths. They all said the same thing, gun was within SAMMI specks, chamber, dia. of barrel etc. Other than a rough chamber they did not see any problems with the rifle.
5. An E-mail to Federal was next. They told me to pack up and send them back all new and spent cartridges, which I did, along with a summery of what I had done, and experienced with the rifle etc. After a few weeks I got a reply that they did not get the muzzle velocity that I reported, they said they got about 400 fps less than what I repported to them. They said there might be a problem with muzzle blast going into the chronograph throwing off the readings. I then said that a buddy was shooting his .375 at the same session and he did not have any unexplained velocity problems. That there was nothing wrong with their ammo, cases, velocity etc.
So I guess find out what your gun wants to shoot and leave it at that. I am not going to be using the HE stuff any longer.

quote:

Originally posted by allen day:
I feel as though Hornady and Federal are trying to deliver too much with many of their HM & HE offerings. In my rifle, the Hornady HM 375 H&H ammo was simply off the chart in terms of velocity and pressure. Extreme spread was something like 75 (!), and accuracy was abysmal.

I haven't had any better luck with Federal's HE ammo, except their 180 gr. Trophy Bonded and 200 gr. Nosler loads for 300 Win. Mag., which have performed very well. I would NOT take any of the HE stuff to Africa, simply because if pressures run high at 55-60 degrees here in Oregon, I'm not going to trust pressures to run within acceptable limits in Africa. Yet, Federal says their HE ammo is safe to use at various temperatures........

I have used the regular Federal 300 gr. TB 375 H&H load in Africa with superb results, and superb accuracy off the bench. I would not hesitate to use it again in Africa.

AD

Allen, I had almost the exact experience with the Hornady that you did. My extreme spread was 82. I'd get one group that would look promising, then the next one would be 4 or 5 inches. I also had a couple of stiff bolt openings with them.

Mike338,

I wished you hadn't mentioned Browning A-Bolt and extraction problems in the same breath. That is what I'll be shooting. Have you had any more problems after switching ammo?

I've had nothing but poor results from the Federal HE in 375 H&H, 300 Win, and a buddy had problems with 7 MM Rem. They were too hot for the respective guns with flat primers and hard extraction. I've had great luck with the standard Federal TBBC's in both 375 H&H and 300 Win.

My 375 was used to shoot a Buff with the standard Federal TBBC. The Buff had to be followed up because of poor shot placement.

Kenso, I have not had any problems either before or after sense I changed ammo. All of the gun smiths said my chamber was a little rough. Sticky brass? too much pressure?. At any rate it is cured for the time being.

In my MOd 70 the Federal HE TBBC's group the same place as the standard TBBC's and the Nosler Partitions at 100 yds.The Sledgehammers group the same also. All the above are 300 gr.I've decided to use the standard ammo due to the increased recoil of the HE rounds. I surely could handle the increased recoil, but with some bulging discs in my upper back and not hearing anything bad in regard to the standard ammo I decided to play it safe. I'll hopefully know a bit more after after returning from my first safari in August 2005!

In my .375 Proctor rifle the standard Federal 300 grain TBBC bullet ( and handloads to the same velocity) work just fine, whether they expand slightly quicker I cannot say. I have recovered them both from game and both in my case have worked just fine.

I am not certain where the extra 100 -150 fps will get you with the H.E format, other than cost you more per box and generate a little more recoil.

The .375 has been doing what it does best for 93 years, If it ain't broke don't mend it.

Go off and shoot some lead.

JT