I have been contemplating building a 376 Steyr for awhile and would appreciate any info on experiences with one. I would probably be using 250-270 grain bullets the most and it would be doubtful if it would ever be used outside the U.S. for anything. It would probably shoot more paper than anything but probably would be used on deer, black bear, elk or possibly moose.

Anyone have some favorite recipes for loading? Any chronographed loads would be appreciated including the barrel length when observed.

Many thanks

Idared,

There is a small flock of .376 Steyr users and shooters on AR, I think most of the posts have been in the Big Bore Forum.

Several folks have built them on Mauser actions, and are happy. Others are shooting the Steyr rifles (I shoot a ProHunter, but am building a
Mauser).

A lot of bears have been shot with them, and a modest amount of African game too. If you search the forums you should recover the past posts.

There is good handloading data available, and I don't know of any issues.

Welcome to Club 376!

jim

here's one I am working on for Mike
https://forums.accuratereloading.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/9411043/m/268102253

I built my first one on a mexican mauser with english walnut, this is a brazilan 1908 with turkish walnut


jeffe

How do you guys compare this to the 9.3x62. THese look pretty similar in performance to me. Better bullet selection in the 9.3 camp, cheaper brass in the Steyr camp using Hornady.

THoughts?

I have a 375 barrel threaded and turned ready to go into a M98 24/47 action but can't find anyone local that has a reamer. I plan to use mine at less than top velocities for hogs and a blackbear hunt.

One of our party to Africa last year used a .376 Steyr Scout rifle for just about everything, eland, Buffalo, zebra, kudu, waterbuck, warthog, impala, gemsbok, and the .376 did everything that he wanted, usually with just one shot too. That was with factory ammo too.
LLS

quote:

Originally posted by schromf:
How do you guys compare this to the 9.3x62. THese look pretty similar in performance to me. Better bullet selection in the 9.3 camp, cheaper brass in the Steyr camp using Hornady.

THoughts?

Perhaps a better comparison would be to the 9.3x64 as I believe the Steyr case is based on the larger case.

quote:

Originally posted by rickt300:
I have a 375 barrel threaded and turned ready to go into a M98 24/47 action but can't find anyone local that has a reamer. I plan to use mine at less than top velocities for hogs and a blackbear hunt.

I'll loan you mine.. email me off list

schromf

quote:

How do you guys compare this to the 9.3x62. THese look pretty similar in performance to me. Better bullet selection in the 9.3 camp, cheaper brass in the Steyr camp using Hornady.

.375 bullets far outnumber 9,3 bullets, in weight, makers, and selection, etc etc etc

376 steyr brass is fairly cheap.

I have told Steyr factory people more than once that they should market the .376 Steyr as the 21st Cenmtury replacement for the 9.3X62.

You get near .375 H&H ballistics in an intermediate length cartridge (60 mm length), and you get to use all those great .375" bullets that are available everywhere.

Personally I think if you use the .376 Steyr with the 270 grain FailSafe bullet or the 270 North Fork depending on how much penetration you want, that you could whack dangerous game with aplomb.

quote:

bullet selection in the 9.3 camp

I was in a hurry this AM when I typed this and that is a for sure brain fart on my part. The 375's have bullet selection all over the 9.3mm

I was thinking better brass selection with Norma, and Lapua on the 9.3 x 62.

How is the Hornady brass quality in the 376?

Hodgdon lists 2750 fps with a 250 grain bullet in a 24 inch barrel with a couple different powders. From those who have tried the 376 is this realistic? with 65 or 66 grains of powder that is not to shabby. They also lists a 270 grainer at 2600 fps plus. I just wonder if they are a bit optimistic. Anyone tried the 270 grainers?

schromf,
The 376 Steyr brass is just fine. I bought 500 pieces for not much money. Should last a lifetime.

Idared,
That is a touch optimistic. I use 270 grainers exclusively; Hornady for practice, failsafe for real. I have flattened a couple of bison with the failsafes. The best powder is BLC-2; Varget is a close second, and probably my first choice for hunting in hot weather. With the expansion ratio and powder burn rates with this cartridge you can do very well with a shorter barrel (ideal for bear and hogs in the thick stuff). My Pro-Hunter has a 20" barrel. When I build a Mauser I don't plan on going much past 22" for barrel length.

I plan to try the Swift A Frame in 250 grains in the future.

lawndart

Dear Lawndart,

What sort of velocities are you getting with the 270 gr bullets out of your Pro-Hunter? Also, are you using the Hornady Spire Points or Round Nose?

Thanks,
Washougal Chris

I used the factory Hornady 270 grain ammo on a hunt in Zim in '01. Here is the link to the story in the AFrican Hunter archive, you will need to cut an paste this one because of the wrap.

http://www.african-hunter.com/eland,_shangaan_hunters_and_the__376_steyr.htm

Early on Hornady had a problem with either the relaoding die spec or the factory shoulder on their ammo, and reloading those cases with those dies yielded case head separations. I understand the problem was fixed.

I bought 100 rounds of factory ammo, and then 300 cartridge cases for pretty cheap. The quality seems to be very good.

Hornady tells me they are going to load a harder bullet in their factory loads, I expect the InterBond.

jim

That link makes me want to complete my 376 even sooner. I am leaving for a Wyoming elk hunt, then theres deer in Oklahoma, deer in Texas and several feral hog trips coming up. I love the fall.

quote:

What sort of velocities are you getting with the 270 gr bullets out of your Pro-Hunter? Also, are you using the Hornady Spire Points or Round Nose?

Subtract 125 fps from 375 H&H velocities and you will be within a few fps. I have been getting 2,550 fps with 65 grains of BL-C2. I picked up some factory ammo cheap from CDNN ($23.00) to plink with. It has the spire point. For reloading I have been using the round nose bullets because I had a pile for a Mannlicher Schoenauer in 9.5 x 57.

I really like the round nose out of the Steyr.
It makes a nice big hole through and through without the dreaded "exploding deer syndrome".

The one problem with the Steyr plastic Pro-Hunter in 376 is that the iron sights are unusable (for me at least). I can't get my head down on the stock hard enough to line up the sights. A Leupold 1.5 x 5 in Talley mounts works great, so it is not a big deal.

I use RCBS dies. At the time the Hornady dies were setting the shoulder back too far and cases were failing, IIRC.

One thing about this cartridge that I probably have already mentioned is that it really feeds and extracts nicely, even on hot days.

Dear Lawndart,

Thanks for the info. I started reloading for my 376 Pro-hunter using the 270gr round nose bullets (like you, I also shoot the 9.5x57). I was using CMR100, which is a Canadian surplus powder with a burn rate in the 4895 range. A load of 56 gr gave me 2310 fps, and a load of 57 gr gave me 2350 fps.

I finally got a box of the Hornady 270gr Spire Point loads, and they chronographed right at 2500 fps. I loaded up some more rounds, adding another grain of powder, but also switched to the 270 gr Spire points. When I chronographed these loads (58 grs CMR100, 270gr Spire Point) I got 2515 fps. Quite an increase!

Thinking about it, the Spire Points should have a lot less bearing surface, so the increase in velocity isn't really that surprising. I'm just curious if anyone else has seen this big of a velocity difference between the round nose and spire points.

I agree with you about the iron sights - I get whacked too much in the cheek if I try and get down that low.

Thanks,
Washougal Chris

Idared

A Hodgdon book max load of Varget pushes a 300 grn Partition 2380 fps avg. from my 20" Prohunter, with no obvious pressure problems. And I'm not one to try to push the envelope and hotrod my loads.

Lawndart and Chris

I hear ya on that iron site problem. All this time I was thinking it was my big fat head.
I'm thinking what we have here is a manufactoring error. Did you guys get yours from CDNN? Maybe Steyr put out a bad batch of rifles and they want us to send them back so they can fix this problem (free of charge of course!)

HunterJim
What's the current status of Steyr Mannlicher?

I'd like to hear from all the Prohunter owners concerning their iron sites. Are they all like this?

Regards
Elmo

I have the Steyr Scout rifle with a 19 inch barrel, and the factory hornady 270 grain spire points chrono at 2420 fps. (I cant imagine using open sights after having used this 2.5X IER leupold).

Elmo,

Steyr Mannlicher is still building some guns, but so far has not learned to market them in North America. I mean seriously brain dead.

The stock on the ProHunter is built for scope use, and I cannot use the iron sights either. One guy I met had his sights replaced with Jim Brockman's Generation III sights.

jim