I'll be recieving my first .375 H&H in about a week. I want to start ordering components for it.

I'll get some RCBS dies and some Winchester brass, and I'll probably use Fed 215 Mag primers.

What are your favorite powders/bullets/ loads?

Gatehouse my .375 H&H likes 77 gr's of reloder 15 under a 235gr barnes "X" bullet. This is Remington brass using Fed GM215M primers. I'm getting 2900 FPS.

The heavy bullets bring out the best in the 375. From my rifle the Hornady 300 BTSP and the Sierra 250gr BT Gameking gives the best groups .
Ben

Full power load: 270-gr. Hornady (bought 1000 of 'em, haven't tried any premiums yet), 74.0 gr. of RL-15 for about 2700 fps.

Reduced load: 235-gr. Speer SP, 62.0 gr. IMR 3031 for about 2500 fps. Scary accurate.

Both in Remington brass, CCI 250 primers, fired in a 24" Whitworth Express.

With powders available down under following is most accurate in my Sako L691 H&H with 24 inch factory barrel:

WW Brass WLR Primer 83.0gn W760 Woodleigh 270gn PP 2600fps

WW Brass WLR Primer 78.0gn W760 Woodleigh 300gn RN 2650fps

Both loads are listed as Max so approach at least 3 gns below. They show no pressure signs that I can discern (but that means nothing really) and most importantly very accurate - 3 shots in 1/2 inch or less 100 yards.

Could not get the 235gn speer to shoot any good but we have very limited range of powders available.

A good reduced load was the 220gn Hornady FP with 42.0gn of AR2205(H4227)low recoil low muzzle blast. Sounds almost like a blackpowder gun going off. Anyway this load chronos at 2200fps but more importantly hits dead on at 100 yards when I set my 270gn load to shoot 2 inches high at 100. Accuracy is acceptable.

For deer, black bear, hogs and elk.
375 H&H Magnum
.375" 225 grain Hornady Spire Points seated to and crimped into the cannelure
Remington brass
CCI 250 primers
67 grains of H4895 STARTING LOAD
74.8 grains of H4895 MAXIMUM LOAD
70 grains of H4895 HUNTING LOAD which yields 2850 fps from my 24" barrel

375 H&H:

72 grs. of RL-15 and a 300 gr. Nosler, Woodleigh or Swift A-Frame...

69 grs. RL-15 and a 350 RN Woodleigh soft and solid has to be a great Buffalo load....I will be using it this year I suspect.

The 285 gr. North Fork bullet behind 73 grs. of RL-15 is the all time most accurate load that I have shot and it seems to be that way in every 375 that I have tried it in...It is also an awesome killer of game.

Reloder 15 is the best powder that I've found for bullets in the 260-270 weights, and does quite nice with all bullets from 225 to 300 gr. I've had good luck with H4350 pushing 300 gr, Bear Claw bullets, but it's a bit of overkill for anything in my neck of the woods. For plinking, the 225 gr. Hornady SP pushed by anywhere between 60 and 65 grains of H-322 shoots well and runs through a powder measure like a charm.

74 grains of RL15 and the 270 Hornady shoots nice and goes 2770 in my rifle. For my next trip, I'm shooting 270 North Forks and again RL15, but 72 grains gives me the same velocity. Unfortunately they don't impact the same in mine.

Barnes 235 gr. X over 83 gr of IMR 4350 with Winchester Cases.

Two of my rifles preferred 76gr of RL15 and a 270gr bullet in Norma brass. Work up carefully as always.

I generally use the Hornady 270gr spire point for practice. I had to reduce this a couple of grains with the Barnes X-bullet.

I've chronographed this load, and it averaged 2799fps from a 25 inch barrel (Hornady 270gr bullet).

jpb

[ 04-11-2003, 13:21: Message edited by: jpb ]

Mike375 has mentioned several times that 78 gr of WW 760 under a Hornaday 300 gr round nose is a load that will shoot very well in alot of 375 s . I tried it in my push feed M-70 (except I substituted H414) , and sure enough , was rewarded with cloverleaf groups . Velocity in my rifle was 2480 fps and recoil is moderate.

69.9 grs. of RL-15 and a 300 gr. Hornaday RN for plinking. 300 grain Nosler, or Swift A-Frame for game.

R-15 seems to be the new magic powder for the 375 H&H but I have always used IMR 4350 with great results. You won't find this load in the modern manuals: 80 gr. IMR 4350, 300 gr. Swift, W-W cases, Fed 215M primers. This is a compressed load so you will need a drop tube to get it in the case. This load gives 2540fps out of my current rifle's 23" barrel.

The above load has been boringly consistent in 3 different 375's with good accuracy and up to nearly 2600 fps in the longest barrel.

Interestly in an article that Bob Hagel wrote for BIG BORE Rifles and Cartridges he mentions using 84 gr. of IMR 4350 with the 300 Hornady for 2700fps out of a M-70 with 24" barrel.

I'm not advising you to go way above published data but perhaps starting about 75 gr. and going up a grain at a time until you get bolt lift and then backing off might give you some surprising results.

Well this is great info.

I see I have to pick up some RL-15. I've always got some IMR 4350 around, so I'll try them both.

Thanks for all the replies

Gatehouse:

I used 69.9 grains of R-15 with my 300 grain Swift A frames for my
African plains game hunt. Accuracy was just under MOA which is as good
or better than I've had from the six factory loadings I've tried. I
have yet to test them on game but I shot my first 272 grain Groove
Bullets last night and had the best accuracy ever! I used Federal's
cases, CCI 200 LR primers and 66 grains of R-15 as a light plinking
load.

Here's a link to a photo of my results.

http://www.serveroptions.com/cgi-bin/ubbcgi/ultimatebb.cgi?ubb=get_topic;f=6;t=008210

Bullet: Sierra 300 Grain Spitzer Boat Tail
Powder: 78.6 grains of IMR-4350
Primer: Remington 9-1/2M Large Rifle Magnum
Case: Winchester
Firearm: Ruger
Velocity: 2595 FPS @ 15' from muzzle

300 gr Hornady RN in front of 78 gr of AR2209 (= to 73 gr of IMR 4350) WLR primer in a win case. Just great

Initially I feel to the most power syndrome and went with 80 grains of Win 760 with a 300 grain bullet. This is not as good as 68 grains of 4064 with 300 Swifts and Win brass and Fed 215's for my Sako Safari. The 760 load was fine in Alaskan cold for Olde Griz, but was sorely lacking in the Zambezi Valley for Buff and Leopard. I truely believe that if you need more power Just ask the Big bore forum members they'll direct you to the right combo. With light bullet (235 Speer) a 3031 charge of 60 grains was incredibly accurate, but I don't think very fast.

[ 05-20-2003, 18:14: Message edited by: 308Sako ]