Here's a heads up for those wantng to shoot the 375 caliber 350gr Woodleigh bullets in your 375 H&H Pre-64 factory magazine boxes.Dependent on the overall length of your 375 case if you seat and crimp the Woodleigh to the current canalure groove the OAL length of the loaded round will run around 3.615 and will be to long to properly feed into and out of the factory box that has a standard ID length of 3.625. You'll need about .030 clearance between the OAL of the nose of the bullet and the front of the box. The way the W spring collapses could also make a big difference with the loaded rounds at the max limit for the box ID. One round down is no problem however we couldn't get three into the box without a complete jam.

We just had a client return from Botswana that killed a 76lb Ele and a 44" buffalo with these 350gr softs and solids and was very pleased with the preformence. Vel was 2400fps in 90 degree heat. Both bullets, three each shots each into .650 at 100 yards which seemed plenty accurate to us

DArcy

If a person wanted to use these bullets in such a rifle would you suggest maybe trimming back the cases so you could still crimp and maintain the proper case length?

My M-98 Mauser handles them well and after inspection I found the magazine had been opened in the rear just a tad.

On a M-70 pre 64 in 416 Rem I use a powder that fills the case to half way up the neck, and I have cut down the button in my reloading die several thousands, then I seat the bullets a tad deep and crimp very lightly above the cannalure using the 450 gr. Woodleighs, both RN and SP..It also worked on a pre 64 M-70 in .375..Both shot extremely accuratly..So far not a problem, and I have used this method extensively over the last few years since the introduction of the heavy Woodleighs, mostly out of necessity testing the bullets when they first came out as Geoff sent me about 8 boxes to shoot Buffalo with and test fire. A great bullet for buffalo btw.

I am sure magazine modification is the better of the two options, and I have a lot of faith in anything gun wise that D'Arcy sez.

My pre 64 M70 handled the softs fine crimped in the cannalure groove. However, when I loaded the solids crimped in the cannalure, they were a bit too long for the mag. As D'arcy says, it's only about .030 clearance that you need so I seated them as deep as I could while still being in the groove. COL has to be 3.585.
Another good reason to cycle every round you intend to use on dangerous game through your rifle, mag and chamber!

The real fix would be to turn the .375 H&H Legend rifle built on a Pre-64 M70 into a .375 Ruger. Then rebarrel it to .395 Ruger Max and use the 340-grain Trio of bullets from GSC ... and never look back.

Just FYI. Mine's a M70 classic, but my loaded rounds with the 350 solids and PP's are both coming in at around 3.595. I trim the cases to 2.84 and crimp into the front edge of cannelure. I'm using 71 and 72 grs. of H4350 with Fed 215's and getting around 2365 out of my Super Express w/24" tube. I'm still trying to get my hands on the 350 round nose bullets. When Midway finally gets their shipment, I'm stocking up. I assume Woodleigh is probably behind due to supplying Norma. Just my guess on that. Thanks for the infor D'Arcy.

David Walker