Anyone with experience using 375 H&H and 300 grain Swift Aframes on buffalo? Any suggested loads?
Thanks!

I've used them on two Cape buffaloes, and a lot of other African game.

I use a near-maximum charge of W760, Federal 215 primers, and Federal cases for ~2550fps.

George

They work great at 2500 to 2550 fps with IMR 4064 or RL 15 and magnum primers.

Jim

For what it is worth I had a couple of well known Brown Bear guides speak very highly of the 300gr 375 Swift A-Frame, at the recient DSC Show.

Hey guys,
Thanks for replies. My rifle seems to shoot 65.5 gr of IMR 4064 and 64.0 of RL 15 best. MV = 2450 and 2320 respectively. That seems a little slower than you are suggesting. Any thoughts as to terminal performance at these speeds?

As fine as can be - it will not disappoint you.
Instead, you may just be pleasantly surprised.
Pick the one that gives the best accuracy.

Warrior

Aaahh... My favorite subject... Tho by far not an expert, I've shot 4 Buff, 1 sable, 1 kudu Impala, ect. ect. You just can't go wrong with the combo you picked out. I use my 375 with the Swift 300grns as my do everything rifle.. I have shot my Buff from 70yds down to 30yds.. My wife last time we were in Zim bellied up to an old Buff bull and used my 375 to drill him with a one shot heart shot from about 12 yds! Just as we got up onto him, he laid down to take a nap! We used this time to get right on him, but had to wait an hour for him to get back up as the brush was in the way of a clear shot.. Anyway.. The point being, her recovered bullet looked the exact twin of bullets I recovered from 70yds, both examples busted thru the shoulder/heart/lungs and everything else to lodge in the off side.. My Sako Safari sends the Swift 300's at 2600fps pushed by Varget..

Killed 2 Buffalo bulls in the Chewore North and both were shot with the 3oo grain Swifts in my .375 H&H Sako Safari. Load with 68 grains of IMR 4064 to 2500 ft/secs, though I don't think that the exact speed will matter that much. The accuracy factor probably should not enter into this as Sir Mbogo has a large X-ring! Ideal performance and recovered bullets weighed 270+ grains. I hope to repeat this performance again.

Herewith some loads with SA powders, pertaining to Swift A-Frame bullets, as published in the Feb/Mar 2007 edition of African Hunter, using Norma cases and a CCI 200 primer:

Bullet ------------- Mass ----- Propellant ---- Velocity --- VC
Swift A-Frame -- 300gr ---- 63.5gr S335--- 2,425 fps - 38.19
Swift A-Frame -- 300gr ---- 66.5gr S355--- 2,430 fps - 36.54

S335 is the equivalent of H335 (ball) and is the South African favourite for downloading to still get a complete powder burn or for lighter bullets in the caliber. When S335 is combined with heavy bullets the pressure shoots up. IMR 4064 is quite a bit slower than the South African S335 and is thus more ideal to push 300 grain bullets to ensure lower peak pressures.

IMR specifies a MAX LOAD load of 67 grains of IMR 4064 for 2,525 fps (52 500 CUP)
VC = 37.69 fps/grain of powder
Go with 64 grains for 2,374 fps (49 360 CUP) and work upwards to your liking.
This should be a very comfortable load whilst not over-stretching Soft bullets.

Our S355 is a bit slower burning than Varget (extruded) and on par with R907 and Vihtaviouri N140.

Varget again is a tad slower than IMR 4064 - also a very good choice.
Hodgdon specifies a MAX LOAD load of 62 grains of Varget for 2,454 fps (49 300 CUP)
VC = 39.58 fps/grain of powder

Warrior