Has anyone shot this out of a 375H&H? Is it sturdy enough for elk? or is it of lighter construction?
I'm looking at a take off bbl to replace my 300win with. It's a push feed mod 70 action and won't be going to Afrika.

Count me in! I would very much like information about that bullet as well - plus possibly same question about the Hornady 220 grainers?? Reason: it would be nice to have some lighter loads to get used to the recoil of full power loads. All the better, if these loads could be used for driven hunts - on boars, say.

- mike

Works fine on larger Grassy's of around 150 odd pounds..........seems harder than the hornady 300 gr RN .375 bullet.

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Originally posted by mho:
plus possibly same question about the Hornady 220 grainers??

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mho

The Hornady 220 grs are flat point bullets designed for .375 Winchester velocities.

If loaded down as a lower recoiling load they should work fine for boar, as would a .375 Winchester.

If driven at full speed they will be a little soft and can be explosive. They work fine on Aussie pigs but European boar are more heavily constructed so I'm not sure for them.

Good cheap practice though compared to premium bullets. I have used Taipan 220 gr FP bullets which would be similar to the Hornadys.

(Edited: oops I kept referring to the .45/70 rather than the .375 Winchester. Brain meltdown)

PC I would agree mate. I got the 235gn speers thinking I may have found a ballistic tip equivalent, but they turned out to be tougher than I thought.

Karl.

I too am interested in any information on the 235 gr Speer bullet, since I want to put my 375 to more use than moose or the occasional elk (Africa is a future project).

I also came across some hornady 225 grain spire points. Product # 3706.

Any information is appreciated.

Thanks

Used 225 Horn. spire points on a 6.5 ft black bear. Unzipped him like you would expect with a .300 Weatherby and the old 180 grain Rem Bronze Point. Too thin in jacket, but okay on pratice. Used 235 Speers years ago on deer, worked fine, nothing recent, bullet could have changed.

African hunter I remember reading some thread a while back to that end, that they may have changed at some stage.
Seems a lot of bullets are being toughened up these days.

Lar you might want to do a search of the big game or reloading forum. Can't remember which.
Karl.

i use them in my steyr.. works great...

the hornady 225 is also a fun bullet

i shot a sow, behind the ribs, and recovered the jacket in her snout!!

jeffe

Jeffe was that the hornady or the speer?

Couple of years ago I hit a whitetail with a 235 Speer pushed at 2934 fps from a .375 H&H driven by 76 grains of RL-15 on Remington cases with Fed 215 primers. (The rifle is a Weatherby Weathermark Alaskan and so may have a little extra freebore.)

This load is very accurate having shot groups as small as 0.28" at 100 yards. ES was 34.5 and MAD was 11.7.

The bullet's wound canal was bent and showed strong evidence of the bullet having fragmented. I would not use so fast a load again.

At 80.0 grains of IMR 4350 the velocity is down to 2612 fps with only an ES of 27.3 and MAD of 9.1. Groups were still great at <1.5" at 200 yards.

I'd suggest the lower velocity load is better for hunting given the strength of the bullet.

I've had a friend load up some for me to try, but right now I'm just using them to get accustomed to the big gun (and they were cheap). I think the estimated velocity, from the tables in the reloading manual, is somewhere around 2850 fps. Everything I've heard puts this bullet in the "fragile" category. My friend also loads the 235 gr. Barnes XLC which he has used on whitetails, hogs, black-tailed deer, and wolves (in Alaska) to quite devestating effect. That would be the bullet I would use for light bullet loads in me .375 H&H - I've got 3 but haven't shot them yet.

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Originally posted by Karl:
Jeffe was that the hornady or the speer?

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I am driving the 225 about 2900 (25" barrel) and the 235 2850ish...

the Hornady 225 is designed to go fast, as light bullets for 375s, not for the 375 win/38-55.

The hornady blows through pigs, stem to stern, and holds together well in deer/antelope sized animals.

the speer, like i said, lost it's jacket after about 18" of pig


jeffe

Hornady makes two bullets that can be fun in the old .375 H&H....one a 220 flat point (as NitroX said) that is designed for the slower lever action .375 Winchester and should be driven about 2,300 '/sec for deer and such.....The other bullet the 225 grain spire point product # 3706 was made by mistake.....yes, a screw up at Hornady as it was made to be factory offered in the
.376 Steyr.....and it wasn't what steyr wanted and so Hornady is selling them because they had a wheel barrow full of them. They are the same as a 270 spire point except shorter...heavy jacket for shooting at faster speeds.....and they can be driven at least 2,800'/sec according to Hornady's loading manual and I suspect a bit faster if you wish. I haven't tried it but I suspect it'll reach 3,000 with the right powder and some prayers.

I have used the 225 grain for plinking at about 2,700 and find it light recoiling and devastating on whitetail as it penetrates well. I far prefer it over the shape of Speer's 235 grain but haven't shot anything with them.....

I have used the Speer 235 on whitetail and would not recommend it for larger game. At 2600 fps it will seperate on a 250 pound whitetail. I would not want to bee chasing a wounded elk over the mountains! If you want to use that weight-- practice with the speers and hunt with the Barnes X 235.

For what it's worth, I used them in my 375/444 double (that's a 375JDJ) at 2100 fps. When you hit bone, they perform very well. Bullet found under the skin on the off shoulder of kudu and hartebeest with jacket and core nested together but not bonded. However, if you DON'T hit a large bone, they act just like a solid. Shot a Wildebeest facing me angling slightly at 40 yards and the bullet exited the off flank ahead of the hip. Same thing with a quartering away Nyala and a frontal on an Impala. Drilled right through and kept on going. Almost no blood and no meat damage at all. So I guess the conclusion is they ought to be loaded up to at least 2500 to expand reliably in soft tissue.

I am going to use the Barnes soft point jacketed bullet (I think it's a 230gr, called the Classic or similar) for plains game next time. I want a decent blood trail, those thorns are hard on the knees.

I lost the auction on the barrel I was looking at. I'll have to look for another one.

Well, I may as well confess. I've shot two whitetails with .375s, one with a 300 gr. generic Hornady round nose soft point.

And one with the 235 gr. in question.

That's the only deer I've ever lost. I'm 99% sure it was a good hit, but no sign was found (it was pouring down rain though).

Maybe I missed; maybe the rain washed away the blood. But I'm back to using the 300 gr. bullets. Sure it's anecdotal, and bordering on superstition-- but deer #1 was mightily impressed with the 300 gr. bullet, and deer #2 was mightily unimpressed with the 235. No more 235s for me; I can't afford the time to perform a statistically significant experiment.

Load would have been light, but still around 2600-2700 fps. Lack of expansion might explain what happened. And, it's still possible that I missed.

Pertinax

I have used the Hornady 220 FP and the 235 Speer on deer at @ 2500fps. Both bullets killed deer very good.
I Would not use either bullet on elk.
I recommend Premium bullets for elk.