Its not too difficult to find 300 grain loads for the .375-338 wildcat; 2500 fps seems pretty common. But now I'm curious about what can be accomplished with 350 grain bullets like the Woodleigh.

Can one of you guys with Quickload do a quick look? I don't need load details, just velocities and pressures to satisfy my curiosity.

The Woodleigh 350 grain soft is listed as 1.351 inches long.

Thanks

Good day CouchTater,

Assuming the generic .375/.338 Chatfield-Taylor in QuickLoad cartridge list with:
87.63 gr H2O case capacity, overflow (default value supplied by QL)
2.500" brass length
24" barrel
350-grain Woodleigh of 1.351" length
3.340" C.O.L.

Pressure maximum of 63,817 psi selected by me.

MV tops out around 2450 fps:

105% fill (compressed) load with H4350 70.4 grains >>> 2456 fps @ 63,655 psi

97% fill (not compressed) load with RL-17 68.6 grains >>> 2444 fps @ 63,654 psi

Holy cow, that's more than I expected. That .338 case can really do a lot of work!

Thanks for the help. Man, if I bought QL, they'd find my dessicated body sitting at my desktop machine...

Couch: The 375 Ruger case does even more work at the same OAL length. Will a 375 Ruger chambering reamer clean up a 338 WM chamber? Your pressure would be less with more MV but your action would probably need some work on the feed rails. The 375 Ruger case capacity is 99 gr. H2O vs. 88 gr in the 375/338.

quote:

Originally posted by CouchTater:
.. if I bought QL, they'd find my dessicated body sitting at my desktop machine...

Sir, I resemble that remark!

bobmn's comments are right on, and an interesting case for trial of the old "25% Rule" of handloading algebra.

QL default case capacity for the .375 Ruger is 99.0 grains H20.
QL default case capacity for the .375/.338 Chatfield-Taylor is 87.63 grains H2O.

The .375 Ruger case capacity advantage is 99.0/87.63 = 1.130 or 13%.

Therefore the .375 Ruger has a quarter (25%) of this advantage in velocity: 0.25 X 13% = 3.25%

So if the .375/.338 Chatfield-Taylor can do roughly 2450 fps with 350-grain Woodleigh,
then the .375 Ruger can do 1.0325 X 2450 = 2530 fps.

But a different powder is required for the larger case according to QL.

I have set the same high max pressure of 63,817 for the .375 Ruger.
I noted that QL selected a case shape weighting factor of 0.65 for the .375 Ruger,
though it selected 0.50 default for the .375/.338 Chatfield-Taylor.
Otherwise no changes,
except .375 Ruger case length is 2.572",
and C.O.L. is same at 3.340".
24" barrel again, for .375 Ruger.

Also limiting this to 105% (compressed) load in addition to 63,817 psi maximums:

.375 Ruger with 350-grain Woodleigh:

MRP:
105% (compressed) load of 83.5 grains MRP >>> 2529 fps @ 61,471 psi

H4350:
100% (case full) load of 75.5 grains H4350 >>> 2473 fps @ 63,817 psi

Only a 17 fps advantage for the .375 Ruger, unless powder is changed.

Then if you want to allow a more compressed load with MRP and let pressure be the only limit here:

MRP:
106% (compressed) load of 84.3 grains MRP >>> 2552 fps @ 63,562 psi

That is about a 100 fps advantage for the .375 Ruger.
Of course QL can be spot on or 100 fps +/- and it seems the biggest variable is the powder lot variation.
Your mileage may vary.
And I just dried up and blowed away ...

Hey Ron,

Not sure if it’s the difference between two versions of the QL – I recently updated mine to v3.6 – but I get slightly different results with my program. But the difference can easily equal the difference between to barrels… Same case and bullet specs:

quote:

Assuming the generic .375/.338 Chatfield-Taylor in QuickLoad cartridge list with:
87.63 gr H2O case capacity, overflow (default value supplied by QL)
2.500" brass length
24" barrel
350-grain Woodleigh of 1.351" length
3.340" C.O.L.

Pressure maximum of 63,817 psi selected by me.

MV tops out around 2450 fps:

105% fill (compressed) load with H4350 70.4 grains >>> 2456 fps @ 63,655 psi

97% fill (not compressed) load with RL-17 68.6 grains >>> 2444 fps @ 63,654 psi

QL v3.6:
70.4grs H4350 (106.4% Fill) = 2392fps & 4448ft-lbs @ 63289psi.
68.6grs RL-17 (96.7% Fill) = 2406fps & 4498ft-lbs @ 56411psi

Yep,
I am running the v3.5. I need to update, again.

I do not have IMR 8208 in version 3.5.
Is it in v3.6?
Or do I need to wait for v3.7 for that? ... Oops, they are already on v3.8.

The problem you will run into with the CT is space...I have built and owned three or four of them and a few in the 416 Taylor, and I really liked them all, but I would advise staying within pressures of 55,000 PSI if you intend to hunt in the hot climes of Africa...

My standard load was 2250 FPS with 350s depending on the gun, barrel length etc with IMR-4320 and it was a real killer on buffalo, and PG, and it was a real warm load in my guns..... The 416 Taylor got me 2300 to 2350 with 400 gr. bullets and 2200 with 450s at max. and that suited me fine, recoil was mild by comparison and it killed buffalo very well indeed.

Those big long bullets and the 300 gr. Barnes's take up a lot of powder space. I could duplicate a 375 H&H with 250, 270 and 300 gr. bullets but 350 gr. Woodleighs changed all that as they are just too long..I only use them in the H&H. these days. Same with the 416 and 450 gr. bullets, its best in the 416 Rem or Rigby IMO..

I'm not a timid reloader, but that was the best I could do and feel comfortable with..and since they both killed well at those reduced velocity I was happy with the Chantfield Taylors, two great calibers with a lot to offer IMO.

BTW I have 40 new custom cases marked 375 Chatfield/Taylor if anyone is interested..I would trade these 40 marked cases for 80 WW new .338 cases.

quote:

Originally posted by bobmn:
Couch: The 375 Ruger case does even more work at the same OAL length. Will a 375 Ruger chambering reamer clean up a 338 WM chamber? Your pressure would be less with more MV but your action would probably need some work on the feed rails. The 375 Ruger case capacity is 99 gr. H2O vs. 88 gr in the 375/338.

Well, rather than trying to get the most horsepower, what interests me is milder cartridges that do their thing more with the bullet than the powder charge. And being a southpaw, I know I'll always be able to get a 3.34" action rigged for a .30-06 family cartridge or a American belted mag cartridge.

quote:

Originally posted by Atkinson:
I'm not a timid reloader, but that was the best I could do and feel comfortable with..and since they both killed well at those reduced velocity I was happy with the Chantfield Taylors, two great calibers with a lot to offer IMO.

That's the kind of philosophy that I'm interested in. Big bullet, moderate velocity, mild pressure, mild recoil, etc. Something that does what the 10.75x68 did, from a standard American rifle and brass, without the hassles. I was very interested in your posts many years ago about the Mauser, and I concluded that on paper that old timer would suit most Americans and Canadians for large game hunting than all the loudenboomers.

Surely somebody has done a .423-338, but I have never seen mention of it. With the resurgence of the .423 bore, seems like a slam dunk.

quote:

Originally posted by RIP:
Yep,
I am running the v3.5. I need to update, again.

I do not have IMR 8208 in version 3.5.
Is it in v3.6?
Or do I need to wait for v3.7 for that? ... Oops, they are already on v3.8.

Dang... Thanks for reminding me. I just purchased and loaded the v3.8 Update in March. Not sure why the program is still showing v3.6? Guess I need to work on this tomorrow...

Anyway, yes the latest update has IMR 8208; also has Alliant AR-Comp and IR-33 (or is it IR-50?), Hodgdon CFE223, Norma 217, and a couple of other powders that I don't recollect.