I live and hunt in alaska with a .375 h&h. I, and my brother's would like to find the heaviest bullets possible for our .375's. We will stick with the .375 and are not interested in going to the .416 or bigger.

[ 12-17-2002, 06:41: Message edited by: greg p ]

380 gr from Rhino bullets in South Africa. Checkout www.rhinobullets.co.za they should be able to help you. Hope you are not in too much of a rush.

Greg,

Huntington's carries the Woodleigh bullet line, including three .375"/350 grain bullets.

http://www.huntingtons.com/Bullet-Woodleigh.html

Rhino bullet availability in the US may not be all you could wish for, so the 350 is probably the heaviest bullet "available".

jim dodd

Greg P,
I'm afraid that you and your brothers better go to the 416 cal. rifles ASAP...everyone else her in Alaska already know that puny .375 cal bullets of any weight will just bounce off of Alaskan animals! Just a piece of advice to the unknowing and unwary. You men are in the gravest of dangers!
Take heed!
best,
bhtr

Since you have a .416 i think this is a tactic to scare us into taking you hunting "for our protection" of course, good luck, i have a 30.06 now.

[ 12-20-2002, 04:04: Message edited by: greg p ]

greg p,

If you should find a 400 grain somewhere, let me know. Doesn't matter if it's jacketed or cast.

Thanks,

Roger QSL

Presuming the reason you are looking for the heavier bullets is for greater penetration, there is another option you may consider. I believe it was Ross Seyfried who said the Failsafe bullets accomplish the same thing -- full penetration -- with standard weight bullets, and make the rifle as effective as the next larger class of rifle. I know Ross says the .338 250 grain Failsafe consistently goes all the way through both shoulders of "Cape" buffalo. For buffalo, he recommended that I use the .375 270 grain Failsafe bullet rather than the 300. He also said the bullet can be shot at higher velocity and still give complete penetration, unlike some other designs.

So far, my experience is limited to .308 180 grain bullets at 2550 fps from a .308. The Failsafes went through what I shot, and my PH said he had never seen anything like it. Complete penetration, breaking shoulders on the way, with plenty of damage inside. My Gemsbok managed to get about 80 yards from the shot with one shoulder broken, but tracking was no problem. The blood trail was sprayed waist high on the trees from the exit wound.

I get 2850fps from a Barnes 270 grain XLC bullet from 84 grains of Win 760 powder pushing a 270 Barnes bullet. The Barnes 300 grainer gets me 2600fps with 71grains of RL-15. Super penetration with this bullet. I don't really think a hunter needs a heavier bullet if the above bullets shoot well in your gun.

The reason we are considering heavier bullets than the 300 grain hornadys we are currently using is because of the brown bears. A 300 grain round nose should be plenty of weight -but- we think,the more the better. Also, i shot my my moose this year in the chest from 20 yards and could not recover the bullet. I believe the bullet must have exploded because i found a few specks of copper but nothing else. Had this been a brown bear i'm not sure that the outcome would be the same.I will look for the failsafe bullets,mabey they make a heavy,300 plus round.

I do not know how a brown bear will equate to a cape buff or hippo, but here are some things to consider that we draw from shooting of these in Africa.

The terminal performance of any bullet depends on three things. After the bullet has struck and deformed: How much momentum is left to carry it forwards? How much kinetic energy is available? What is the nose shape like?

Momentum and energy can be calculated and should be based on the likely weight retention of the style and construction of the bullet. Nose shape is taken from what is seen in practise from bullets recovered from animals over a period of time.

The most effective nose shape (after impact) for a big wound channel is a flat front. The least effective is a smooth, long, tapered shape. Everything else falls in between these two.

So we compare the momentum and energy of three bullet weights that have broken to 85% weight retention. A 350 gr solid shank bullet at MV 2250fps, a 300 gr solid shank bullet at MV 2550fps and a hollow point solid copper bullet of 270 gr at a muzzle velocity of 2750 fps.

Weight 100m lb-f/s ft/lb and 200m lb-f/s ft/lb
350gr ------ 85.3 - 2641 --------- 75 --- 2043
300gr ------ 82.8 - 2923 --------- 73.3 - 2291
270gr ------ 86.4 - 3533 --------- 82.5 - 3222

If two bullets have similar momentum values, the bullet with the higher energy value will kill more effectively. Add to this the fact that the longer bullet will be more prone to tumbling or turning in the target, and there is not really much to discuss, other than what type of construction the bullet should have to yield the most effective post impact nose shape.

Gerard Schultz!

I have a question for you: Does a arrow kill like a bullet??? I have think a lot on that question and I think you will be the right man to ask???

Thanks!

Nope, an arrow kills like an arrow.

Failsafe does not make a .375 heavier than 300, since it would accomplish nothing. Heavier bullets are for penetration, and the Failsafe already penetrates just about anything. It won't come apart. In this case, heavier is not better. That is why Seyfried recommended the 270 instead of the 300 grain. If the 270 will go through anything, why choose a heavier bullet?

Gerard schultz!

How does a arrow kill? And how does a high speed bullet kill? I have asked many questions about that and ervery one says that they both kill game the same way. ???

Thanks!

I am no expert on arrows and from that layman's point of view I would imagine an arrow kills because it pokes a hole in the animal. This probably makes it bleed and when it has bled enough, it dies. Sort of like when you slit your wrists and nobody finds you in time to stop the bleeding.

you are right a arrow kill by two way
you hit a vital part as brain , spin ( very difficult with a arrow) or the hearth and you get instant kill
you hit other organ and you just make hole able to drip the blood and as soon as your game is drip enought of its blood it died sometime that very very long and not a nice kill for me .

with hevy bullet that often the same if you shoot too heavy bullet with low or not expansion at all
you just drill a hole in your game and if you not reach a vital organ that make the same as a full metal jacket bullet

if you shoot lighter bullet than the heaviest one and at highter velovity you get often more energy more velocity and better bullet stability ( in the same barrel pitch ) for penetration and also better trajectory .
the sectional sensity is a good point but a real answer to the bullet efficiency.

the best way to choose a bullet is to load test ammo and to shhot in carcass and check bullet expansion on several impact angle and with or without bones , bullet hole is not the same in a dryed blood carcass than in a live game but you can get an idea of your bullet effect , if your bullet pass throught nd is able to kill another game behind the first one , change your choice , your bullet must exit to make another blood hole but must loose energy in the game body .

I have never shoot brown bear but I am sure that the choose of a bullet ready to do the right job is a bit more difficult than to choose the heavy one , my personnal idea of a danderous game bullet short medium range is a medium weight ( for the caliber ) with a meplat or a round nose to get maximum impact surface and to be able to have straight penetration without too much primary expansion ( the big problem of most modern bullet ) you get a nice big mushroom but not enought penetration and mushroom push meat and smash and not ''cut''meat to create a big hole to make a fast emoragy in the case you not reach vital organ .

good shooting
DAN TEC