Hi all, this is going to be my mule deer, elk and black bear load, so if anyone has any load data or experience (good or bad) with the 250g A-Frames in a 375, please let me know. I was thinking of pushing them to a leisurely 2700 fps. My reloading bench is finally back together so I'll be working up some loads for the 350g Woodleighs also.

Regards,
Chuck

I have messed with several .375 H&H rifles and all have shot the 300 grain Swift A-Frame very well, indeed. I do not have any experience with the 250 grain version.

The Swift reloading manual number one has the following data for the 250 grain bullets:

H 4895 65.1 grains for 2595 fps
H 4895 70.0 grains for 2814 fps (Max)

Varget 67.0 grains for 2627 fps
Varget 72.0 grains for 2828 fps (Max)

RL-15 66.5 grains for 2607 fps
RL-15 71.5 grains for 2832 fps (Max)

IMR4064 66.5 grains for 2621 fps
IMR4064 71.5 grains for 2826 fps (Max)

There is more data in that manual, but this should get you started.

Thanks much, It will be my light load for deer and elk. I think I'll start with RL 15.

Chuck

I have to tell you that I have had the best of experiences with Swift A-Frames in every caliber in which I have used them. My avatar to the left is a 400grain .416 SAF that went through an Elk from left shoulder to right hip breaking bones and taking out vitals all the way through. You can't go wrong with them. Good luck.

Thanks Paul, it's one of the reasons I'm strongly considering moving up to 470 Capstick. Just a rebarrel job to my 375 and really minor work to make it feed, not a caliber you can buy a CZ550 in, excellent performance, cases can be easily formed, and last but not least 500 Swift A-Frames available.

Chuck

Chuck,

Try 4064, I've had great luck with 250gr SAF with that powder in several 375s.

Brett

Thanks Brett, I was thinking of 4064. I'll definitely give it a go.

Chuck

.375 H&H Magnum, 24" barrel
250 grain Swift A-Frame seated to 3.56" and crimped with a Lee Factory Crimp Die
Remington brass
CCI 250 primer
75.0 grains BL-C(2) START
80.0 grains BL-C(2) MAXIMUM 2835 fps

Thanks Jackfish,

Chuck

I have been happy with the 250 grain Swift recommended loads. 4064 and RL15 worked best for me.



Varget and H4895 seemed to burn faster than indicated in my rifle.

Pictured is 250 grain Swift at 2,950 fps from my 375 improved.

Andy

I can't imagine a better (or more powerful) load for plains game or even elk, moose in Grizzly country that the .375 H&H and a 250 swift A-Frame.

That said....I'm moving to accubonds slowly as they seem to do the same thing as an A-frame and at half the cost.

Thanks Andy and vapodog, first I'm working up my 350g Woodleigh PP load then next comes the 250g Swift A-Frames. I have a box of 250g A-Frames sitting on my shelf. A nice leisurely 2700 fps for the A-Frames would suit me fine. I'm looking for a solid 2400 fps or better out of the 350g Woodleighs.

Chuck

Chuck,

you should be able to get 2,800 fps or a bit more easily w your 250 grain Swift.

2,400 fps might be a bit much for the std case with a 350 grain.

Andy

Yeah Andy, 2300fps is probably more realistic. We'll find out tomorrow. I've loaded the 350g Woodleighs with 68g, 70g, 72g, 73g and 74g of H4350. If one shoots hot I'll stop and pull the bullets and make sure I'm backed off a couple of grains. I couldn't find IMR 4064 for the 250 Swifts, so I bought IMR4320 and will try out loads of 69g 71g and 73g tomorrow as well if the weather permits.

Regards,
Chuck

quote:

Originally posted by Andy:

Pictured is 250 grain Swift at 2,950 fps from my 375 improved. Andy

Sterling performance !!!

Warrior

I like the Swifts or the real big stuff like Buffalo, but I don't care for them on deer size animals as they are simply too smooth after expansion. The do expand perfectly, but too much of a good thing and I have seen a lot of animals make too many tracks and leave little blood to many times with them...I don't judge a bullet by a couple of kills, I like to see 30 or 40 kills before I make a judgement...

I will add to the above, 270 grs. or 300 grs. of bullets is hard to create failures on deer size game, even if they explode or fail to expand, but sometimes you have a tracking job that can be a little trying.

I do like the the 350 gr. RN Woodleighs on elk, they certainly put those big bulls down in a hurry...

Had a successful Father's day with my youngest son Eric (15) at the range this afternoon. He shot his .270 and my Springfield V16 Long Slide in .45 Super. He even took 2 shots with the 375 H&H using factory loads. I had good results with both the 350g Woodleigh PPs and 250g Swift A-Frames

CZ 550 Safari Classic in 375 H&H 25" barrel. Rem Brass, CCI Large Rifle Magnum Primers and Lee Factory crimp die used for all loads.

350g Woodleigh PP 68g H4350 3.60" OAL (.100 freebore) 2260 fps 1.25" 3 shot groups 100 yards
350g Woodleigh PP 70g H4350 3.60" OAL (.100 freebore) 2310 fps 0.75" 3 shot groups 100 yards
350g Woodleigh PP 72g H4350 3.60" OAL (.100 freebore) 2360 fps 0.65" 3 shot groups 100 yards

All of these loads fed and extracted flawlessly, recoil at 72g H4350 was stouter than 300g factory loads but still very mild. 72g of H4350 will be my load for the 350g Woodleigh PPs, it may be too hot for your rifle so start up slowly.


Note: 72g of H4350 is MAX in my reloading manuals and proved so in my testing! I shot two more groups at 73, and 74g and this is NOT RECOMMENDED. Velocities exceeded 2500 fps, recoil got increasingly stout, extraction began to get a little sticky and the beginning of extractor marks appeared on the cases. I threw those cases away.


250g Swift A-Frame 69g IMR 4320 3.54" OAL (.50 freebore) 2710 fps 1.10" 3 shot groups 100 yards
250g Swift A-Frame 71g IMR 4320 3.54" OAL (.50 freebore) 2860 fps 0.90" 3 shot groups 100 yards
250g Swift A-Frame 73g IMR 4320 3.54" OAL (.50 freebore) 2910 fps 0.50" 3 shot groups 100 yards

All of these loads fed and extracted flawlessly. Recoil was very mild compared with 300g factory loads. The last 250g Swift A-Frame load with 73g IMR 4320 which is the stated MAX in the Swift reloading manual will be my Colorado elk, deer, bear hunting load.



Regards,
Chuck

The 250gr Swift was the first bullet I hunted with in my 375. I used a mild load of 69gr of R15 with excellent accuracy. It works great for mule deer and elk.

Chuck,

Do us all a favor and shoot your 350 grain PP into 3 or 4 5 gallon nylon buckets (with lids) and let us know what the bullet looks like.

It will pretty much look that way when you use it on cape buffalo.

You can buy them at any Home Depot.

Andy

Hi Andy, a fellow on who's username is 9ThreeFifty7 on the NitroExpress forum did a test of a bunch of 375 bullets with a really neat test setup. I sent him 25 350g Woodleigh PPs to test because my rifle was still on it's way and he was doing such an awesome job. He only loaded them to 2150 fps using 4831. But here's a link on another forum of his results.


http://forums.gunboards.com/showthread.php?p=122864#post122864

For what a 350g Woodleigh from a 375 H&H looks like after hitting a cape buffalo, I wish I could tell you, but I'm hoping Ray Atkinson has some photos ...

Regards,
Chuck