I still have both my left and right hands! Just kidding, all went well with the mixtures. All performed with the 375H&H 380g rhino superbly (31g S335/31gS365). The bullet flies between 2150 and 2250 depending on load. It seems that when you pack the faster powder at the back the bullet slows. I chronographed 4 shots at 100 yds and clocked 1950, 2050,1990,1995. Looks pretty good overall. Now, can anyone tell me what the single powder equivelent would be? I can order (at great expense) american powders.

cheers,

Lee

Berger,
Again a tough question, for very little 380 grain loading data is floating around out there.

Sounds like the duplex load has a pretty big spread on the velocities. A single powder of the right speed will work wonders for consistency, no doubt.

I surmise that Reloder 15 by Alliant is about midway between your two powders. You might try that.

Anyway, it is surely one of the best powders for the 375 H&H with 300 grain bullets. It is temperature insensitive, consistent, accurate, and meters well. The U.S. Army, after extensive testing and research, chose it for their big contract to build 308 sniper loads.

I prefer to use it in any cartridge where it is appropriate. For me that is 308 Win., 30-06, 35 Whelen, 35 Brown Whelen, 375 H&H, 416 Taylor, 416 Barnes Supreme, 416 Remington, 458 Lott, 470 Capstick, 470 NE, 500 A-Square, and more to be sure. One can load most of the Nitro Express cartridges with it by using packing foam or fiber wad fillers.

Anyway, you won't go wrong with RL-15 I am sure. I always keep an eight pound container of it handy and prefer to use it if possible.

I will hazard a guess of 60 grains of it as a starting load for the 380 grain Rhino bullet in the 375 H&H, but that is just a guess, I assume no liability. Use the Winchester brass or something of similar weight/internal capacity and you will likely get better loads.

Good luck: Reloder 15.

Varget is usually a good substitute for RL15. One thing you might think about is that normally when you go to a heavier bullet for a specific cartridge you will get better results (velocity) using a slower powder...the problem always is you tend to run out of room. With the big 380gr bullet RL15 may be to fast for you.

Berger, glad you survived your tests in spite of my dire predictions of trouble. I'm usually happy when I'm wrong. I think your velocity spread is very low for what you were doing. I would call those numbers more than acceptable for any hunting load.

I plugged some of your numbers into my Calculoader program to see what other powders you might try and came up with the following:

Alliant RL-19 seemed about the best with 380 gr bullet. 64.0 to 71.0 grains of powder and a projected muzzle velocity of about 2,170.

Varget did well as did the VihtaVouri 550

Hope these options give you something new to think about. I'm not sure what powders you have access to. If you will email me a list of what you can get easily, I'll try to help further.

Regards - Pecos45

Berger,
Good comments from DB Bill and Pecos45, that can be backed up by general reloading experience and "intuition," as well as the computer software, though I wonder if anybody would need the length and shape data on the bullet to fine tune any computer generated data for the 380 grainer in a 375 H&H.

Varget or something slower such as RL-19 also would be good candidates.

Indeed, larger quantities of a slower powder than RL-15 might produce top velocities, if that is desired, but with the limited case capacity of the 375 H&H combined with the longer 380 grain bullet, it will be tough to pack enough of the slower powders in the 375 H&H case.

But this brings up the S365, the slower of your two powders. Using a drop tube and slightly compressed charges of it might be the ticket. I do not believe you have stated whether this has been done, or whether you got excessive pressure or odd behavior out of your max S365 load tried thus far, or was it just slow velocity for a full case of S365?

I think the RL-15 would allow a good load with no need for drop tubes or much compression.

I would be happy with whatever velocity the RL-15 gave me with that monster 380 grain bullet, as I think it should surely beat 2150 fps, and be reassuringly uniform and accurate. It would not be hard to beat the S335/S365 duplex load with any of several different single powders at safe pressures, no doubt.

The added benefit with RL-15 is that you have one of the best powders to load with 300 grain all purpose bullets in a 375 H&H, and lighter and heavier rifles too.

At my point in life as a reloader, I am trying to simplify my powder inventory.

If I were an RSA resident, I would make do with your four rifle powders and an occasional large shipment of RL-15. That would nicely simplify life.

It seems obvious that you have quite a gap between S335 and S365. RL-15 falls midway between those two and would allow many other applications as well.

[ 07-09-2002, 17:48: Message edited by: DaggaRon ]

Someone has suggested to me that it might be the brass I am using that is causing the problems. I have ordered some winchester brass and will try that out.

Berger,
That was me that suggested Winchester brass. It will give more internal capacity, yet is good brass. My favorite for the 375 H&H.

[ 07-14-2002, 01:00: Message edited by: DaggaRon ]

Berger,
Again: Have you truly maxed out the S365 with a drop tube, compression, and excess pressure signs?

I do not recall whether you just quit at a submaximum load of S365 alone, or what?

[ 07-14-2002, 01:04: Message edited by: DaggaRon ]

How about the Olive? On top or down under?

Hermann