I am planing a Brown Bear trip some of you might have read my other post and I might be borrowing a 375 H&H and I was wondering if this bullet would work well? I called Nosler and the guy I talked to said it would work fine but I was wondering if anyone has tried this bullet and what the results were.

I have the gun, I have the bullets, I'm hunting brownies in two weeks... and I'm NOT taking the gun and the bullets.

Elk, sure. Moose, sure. "Small" black bears... okay. Mule deer, all right. Brownies with attitude? No.

No, no, no.

No.

Others may differ, but that's the beauty of America. (Oh, wait. This website isn't IN America. Oops.)

Anyway... nothing against the gun, but I'd get a different bullet. By the way, those 260-grainers eat up a LOT of case capacity... much, much more than the 260-grain Partition. I know this for a fact. If you want to stay with Nosler, I'd recommend their Partition -- and, for brownies, I'd recommend the 300-grainer over the 260. If you've got time, get some of Mike Brady's North Fork slugs.

Good luck on the hunt, though.

Russ

I'd go with the 300 grain partition as well. It offers a much higher sectional density for better penetration.

i have taken a multiple award winning boone and crocket b.b. and would highly rec' the 300 gr. n.p.

using a 260 gr. defeats the purpose of using a larger caliber. use heavy gr. for caliber premium bullets.

good luck

cold zero

dakor: Like the others here, I would recommend using Nosler Partions, or Swift A-Frames, or Barnes-X, and there are some other bullets out there with similar construction that would fit the bill. And I think that is true for any animal. Not to muddy the waters here, but I bet any of the .375 cal bullets in the 260 grain NP, or 250/270grain SAF, or any of the below 300 grain Barnes-X options would work just fine. What they loose with less mass they make up for in velocity and foot-pounds of hole making energy. With these tougher bullets you can cause more damage with a smaller bullet. But I certainy do not think there is anything wrong with shooting 300 grain bullets.

Russell: Where are you hunting brown bears? Who are you hunting with?

Take a look at the down-range ballistics and trajectory of both the 260 and 300gr Noslers and you will see the 300gr is the winner in every category except muzzle velocity. The 300gr bullet is the 375-caliber bullet bar none....unless you get something heavier.

GMU 16B with Revelation Mountain Outfitters.

I agree, for big things with the .375 H&H Magnum, "the" bullet is the 300-grainer. The lighter bullets have their place, of course... but it isn't big brown bears.

Take care.

Russ

If I ever hunted Brown bears I reckon either the woodleigh 300 gr or even better the woodleigh 350 gr soft in the .375 is the way I would go...but hey I will most likely never have the experience so I am just dreaming about what ifs

I think I will try the 300 gr Partition and the 270gr Barnes and see what one shoots the best. Can anyone recommend a Powder to try? Looking in the Manual R-15 and IMR 4198 look pretty good what do you think of these?

Good powders, but their are many. Just remember it's all about shot placement; you don't need to drive these things at a gazillion miles an hour. Getting hit with that much weight at any speed is going to kill. Just find an accurate load that you can shoot well and you'll do fine. Any of the manuals will provide you good data -- just don't do any straight substitutions for Barnes "X" data with bullets having lead and jackets. Stick with the manuals... or at least use them as a crosscheck before using data off the Internet or elsewhere. Nothing wrong with using loads off the Internet as long as you crosscheck them against good manuals.

Keep us posted.

Take care.

Russ

If you are just borrowing the rifle why don't you just buy a couple boxes of factory ammo, the cost compared to your trip is hardly worth mentioning. Federal Premium, 300 gr. Nosler Partition (P375F) and 300 gr. Trophy Bonded Bear Claw (P375T1),or Winchester Supreme, 270 gr. Fail Safe (S375HX) and 300 gr. Fail Safe (S375HXA). If you want to limit you expenditure try just the 300 gr. Nolser and Fail Safe. The Fail Safes don't get much press, but in my .308 Win, the 150 gr. loads are just devastating on deer and feral hogs. I think some versions don't give great accuracy, but I'd try them. They are similar to Barnes Xs but have a steel encased lead rear core. I have never heard a bad word about the Federal Premiums.

I'm sure your guide wouldn't think twice about you showing up with two boxes of any of these as opposed to someone not really familar with a .375 H&H AND handloads. Check out which ones shoot the best and then shoot up what you are not going to be taking with you for practice (field positions of course). As someone just beginning to work with my first .375, it is a big step up from my .300 Win Mag in terms of recoil and requires a bit of getting use to. I would start out shooting just a magazine full (3-4 rounds) per session. I follow the same procedure when patterning turkey loads. More than just a few rounds leads to bruises and flinches.

RL-15 is normally "the" powder of choice for the 375 H&H but I have found that how good it is can vary quite a bit from lot to lot of powder. The other powder that I have found provides the most consistent, day in and day out, performance is Varget.

Good luck on your hunt.

Redlander what weight is your 300 Win Mag? Because I have heard just the opposite of the 375 H&H it is more of a push. The recoil calc I used with a 375 H&H weighing 10 lbs with a 270 gr bullet has 35lbs of recoil. My 300 win Mag now with 200 gr bullets has 32lbs of recoil the gun weighs 8.5 lbs. The reason I dont buy Ammo is because I load my own I dont buy factory. I like to get the most out of a gun as far as Accuracy and Speed and you dont get that with factory Ammo. I also agree with RL powders do vary lot to lot I shoot R-22 in my 300 and STW I was wondering about Varget I have a can I might as well try it.

dakor,

Glad to see you are staying with the 300gr. bullet. Your guide will not let you shoot at a bear that is more than a couple hundred yards away and that would be a long shot. A bullet that shoots slightly flatter is of no advantage.

I've literally loaded thousands of rounds of 375 ammo and I've found old IMR 4350 to be the ideal powder. To get the velocity you need the charge has to be poured slowly into the case through a drop tube and then it still will be a compressed load which negates the need of a crimp. R-15 and H-4895 work well also but need a heavy crimp since they don't come near to filling the case.

I've shot a bunch of big stuff with the 375. Stick with the 300gr. premium bullets and you'll be happy.

Regards,

Mark

Here's yet another vote for the 300 grain partition. It's all I use in my 375 Taylor.

Here's my problem with the 260 gr Accubond. You will get rapid expansion, with a large frontal diamter that will hold together. This large frontal diamter will cause damage and smash bone, but it will limit penetration. You will want all the penetration you can get on brownies. I like RL15, Varget and 4064.

My .300 Win Mag is a plain-jane 700 Remington ADL synthetic, with a 3x9 Vari-X II Leupold and with sling it weighs just a tad over 8.5 lbs. I did put one of the new R3 recoil pads on it and that makes a lot of difference.



My new-to-me .375 H&H is a stainless synthetic Model 70 (CRF for DG ) but I don't have a scope mounted yet and it's current weight is a tad under 8.5 lbs. It also has a muzzle break. So far I've shot a box of some older, plain Winchester 270 gr. stuff and I've got a box of 300 gr. Noslers waiting for the scope. BTW, I am surprise at how well it shoots with open sights - at 50 yards I am shooting 3-4 inch groups standing off-hand . I can say that without the muzzle break, it kicks a good deal more than the .300. The shoulder bone and cheek bone both feel it, I think Winchester must stamp their recoil pads out of old truck tires . To remedy that, I'm planning on getting a Boyds JRS laminate for a little straighter stock and put a Decelerator recoil pad on it as I really don't want to hunt with the muzzle break.



As far as the reloading vs. factory, I've reloaded in the past but seem to have less time (my wife is in school right now ) so I've been doing the factory thing lately. And if I was just going to be borrowing a rifle, factory would be the way I would go. I do know Federal Premiums are hard to beat.



Also, I've put in for .300 Win dies in Classifieds and when I get my .260 Rem put together reloading will be the only way to get what I really want out of that cartridge. So I'm in no way anti-reload. BTW, do you know anyone who would like to sell a set of .260 dies cheap would you?

A winchester now I know why you say it kicks. No offense to anyone but the Model 70 does kick alot more then most rifles I have shot. You need to get a good syn stock like a HS or something like it a good stock cuts recoil down. I would check Ebay for your dies I get some pretty good deals off of there. Another pad you might want to look at is the one made by SIMMS with the dual air chambers nice and soft.

Russell: 16B does have liberal bear regulations (one per regulatory year on brown bear) and the unit is on the west shore of Cook Inlet, which makes it easy to get to from Anchorage (it is just across the inlet). On a clear day you can see the mountians over there from downtown. I have been over there a couple of times recently...when the salmon are running, later in the year, there are lots of bears to see. A lot of visitors go over there for day trips to view bears and catch salmon. The rivers over there (like everywhere) can be treacherous, so be careful if you are hunting from a river.

As far as bullet weight goes, I'll stick with my theory that bullet construction trumps bullet weight. A 260 grain NP/SAF/BX .375 caliber bullet will out perform any 300 grain bullet of different construction and a 260 grain bullet will out perform any 300 grain bullet on shootability. I don't think we need to get too dramatic about hunting the mighty bb...there are plenty of risks attached to hunting in Alaska without turning every trip into an Alabama/California drama-queen event....(chances are you will drown without dignity in a river before some other more glamourous Alaskan tragedy visits you). And a 300 grain bullet will not save you. I think the theories based on down-range-tables are great, but I base my opinions on bullet performance on personal observation on animals I have shot. Most people can't shoot a medium bore rifle well enough and haven't killed enough animals to know the differnce between a 260 gr NP or a 300 gr NP or even a 300 gr RNSP Hornady. Many people cannot shoot a .338 with authority, much less a .375 H&H, and most of the people I know are afraid of both. I carry a .378 routinely and I have shot a bunch of stuff with that rifle, some big and some small, with bullets weighing between 260 and 300 grains, which I reload myself, and I have not noticed that much difference between the bigger and the smaller bullets. If there is a difference, it is that the big fast hard bullets (Swift A-Frames for example) are too much for large soft skinned animals, like moose and kudu. They shoot through the animals with a too-small wound channel. They kill but they kill slower. My .378 shoots 300 grain RNSP Hornadys at 3000+ fps and those bullets are deadly on soft skinned animals and I would shoot any thing with those bullets. But if I wanted to poke a big fast hole through a bear I would use a 260 grain NP.

But for those who want to shoot 300 bullets, I say go for it. I did.

dakor,

Thanks for the info. I think the stock on the M70 has too much drop and, as stated before, the recoil pad really just sucks. I got the M70 mainly because it is stainless and I wanted to take it to Alaska as well as Africa one day. Right now I'm trying to get the correct Leupold rear QR scope mount base , maybe this next one they send me will fit - the screw holes are only about .3" apart on the rear of the receiver. I will say that I bought the mounts at Bass Pro Shop in Grapevine, TX and Leupold sent a replacement (though still not right) rear base for the invoice price of $0.00, and they are sending the (hopefully) correct one out today. As an old saying goes, it beats a poke in the eye with a sharp stick.

Why using lightweight .375 bullets on the big bears? Use Nosler to Swift 300 grainers as a minimum. But I imagine that Barnes X or perhaps Fail Safe around 270 grains, or heavier, would be minimum.

Please forgive me, but I have to ask. What is the .375 AccuBond intended for? I'm not arguing with the consensus since I have zero experience to contribute. So what did Nosler have in mind when it brought these out.

Sectional Density is a major factor in penetration. With a large, potentially ornery critter like what you're after, I'd go with the heaviest bullet you can. Heavy-for-caliber bullets have the highest sectional density and this is what you're best advised to go with. Bullet construction is also important, so pick a Swift A-Frame or Nosler Partition, Woodleigh Weldcore, etc.

300gr bullet for sure!

Good luck. Let us know what you choose and how it goes!

Comparing the 300 gr. Nosler and 260 gr. Accubond on the Federal website, the new bullet yields a flatter trajectory and more retained energy downrange. And from some of the reports coming out, they are very accurate. The bullet also has a different performance, more terminal perfomance on target, ie. larger wound channer and less penetration. Should be a good one for non-dangerous game such as African plainsgame, moose, elk, caribou. There is a report in the African Big Game Hunting section about a .338, 225 gr. Accubond that is fairly glowing. I'm thinking seriously about using it on a trip to Alaska in 2006 - when you are of modest means you plan long term.

Now if Nosler would come out with a partition type bullet that has a bonded front core, plastic tip, and a steel-encased rear core (or solid tungsten insert) we could throw all the other bullets in the trash.

In all the shooting and testing I've done the 260 Accurabond or Ballistic tips perform virtually identical to the 260 partitions. Penetration, expansion and weight retention. So I'm sure they would work just fine on big bear
The question is WHY do you want to use them when there are so many other proven, reliable bullets avaliable? In my .375 I settled on the 270 Barnes X as my one all around bullet. I've used them in Africa and up here in Alaska on big bears. They work great in my rifle using RL-19 powder. The 285 grain North Fork and the 285 gr. Grand Slam are also great bullets in the .375. So are all Nosler partitions, Swifts, Woodleighs and Fail Safes.

I was told by Nolser that the Accubonds perform the same as a Partition with the same weight retention. The 260 I asked about they shot Bison with and he said they all dropped in their tracks and the bullets they used retained about 65% of their weight. A Bison is just as tough as a Cape Buffalo and also larger in weight. So now I am wondering how it would work on Brown Bears. As for weight I think I will use either the 275gr Barnes XLC or the 260gr Partition. I want a bullet that shoots a little flatter for other animals like Moose or black bear since I will only be carring one rifle. I am also hunting with my brother in law not a guide so if I cannot get a brown I will probably try get a moose or black since in Alaska you can use a Brown bear tag for one of the three.