What's the optimum twist, barrel length and contour for this one. It'll go on a M 70 Classic action and I'll most likely use a Douglas barrel.

quote:

Originally posted by Skinner.:
What's the optimum twist, barrel length and contour for this one. It'll go on a M 70 Classic action and I'll most likely use a Douglas barrel.

12" twist, No.3 "at lightest" or No.4 "standard weight" or No.5 "at heaviest" of the standard Douglas sporter contours. Length 23" to 25" is what I would prefer, might just settle for 24" unless a shortie was called for for some reason.

My pet .375 H&H has a stainless Douglas No.3 sporter, 12" twist, 24" length, but it has a one pound stock, and weighs 6.75 lbs. bare/unloaded, and is well balanced with the skinny No.3.

A No.4 or even No.5 might be required to balance a walnut stock, depending on how bulky the stock is, and how long the barrel is, and how much other weight is hanging on the barrel, or you could use the skinny No.3 and put lead in the forearm of a wood stock.

The heavier barrel will be stiffer and easier to get shooting accurately. My skinny barrel requires forend tip pressure in the bedding but shoots 3/4 MOA for three shots, and heats up pretty fast after that.

A 10" twist would be good if you want to use heavier bullets, but 12" would be perfect twist for anything of 300 grains or less, in the 376 Steyr.

Rip said it.., other than I think 14 twist, but that's shades of red, rather than discussing if we like redheads

#3 is the lightest most will do one in.. i wish I could get a lighter one

jeffe

I've heard rumblings about the 376 Steyr being discontinued. Any truth to this?
Timan

One way to contgribute to its being discountinued is to not buy/build one because one is afraid it will be discontinued....another is to keep telling everyone considering it that it may be discontinued. Such prophecies tend to be self-fulfilling.

As Hornady brass is available by the 300-round case at relatively low rates, if anyone is afraid it will be discontinued I suggest they simply buy one or more cases of brass, then not worry about it in the rest of this lifetime.

And if enough do that, it WON'T be discontinued.

I think the cartridge is good enough to be well worth the risk.

the 358 winchester has been discontinued nearly 50 years ago...

and these two are my two favorite medium bores ... i've still built more 358s, but that's not going to last forever


jeffe

Call Hornady and ask! I did last fall when I was considering the .416 Aagaard (which uses .376 Brass) and they said there was no plans to drop the cartridge as sales were good.

Timan,

I haven't heard the reports it will be discontinued. When I talk to the Hornady folks, they say no. I talked to Nosler about adding it to their ammo line with a hard 270 gr. bullet, and they were receptive.

I also bought the box of 300 cases, just in case. I recommend you buy one if you are worried.

jim

quote:

A No.4 or even No.5 might be required to balance a walnut stock

Nope, it's going in a McMillan Supergrade stock so maybe the #4 contour at 24" with a banded front sight and one of the peeps integral with the rear scope mount.

Should be a good drag anywhere all around thumper.

quote:

Originally posted by Skinner.:
... it's going in a McMillan Supergrade stock so maybe the #4 contour at 24" with a banded front sight and one of the peeps integral with the rear scope mount.

Should be a good drag anywhere all around thumper.

Sounds like an excellent plan, my kind of rifle.

10", 12", or 14" twist?

Hint: If you use a 12" twist the bullet revolutions per second will be numerically the same as the muzzle velocity in fps. This is always a good thing with every .375 caliber bullet I have ever used, whether at 2000 fps or 3000 fps MV.

I would add something about the barrel length. I have the 376 Steyr Prohunter with 20 inch barrel and it meets the list velocity for 24 inch test barrels in the Hodgdon manual and shades the Hornady manual's 25 inch test barrel by a little with the Varget and RL-15 loads I've tried. Of course, you get a potential 100+ fps with another 4 inches of barrel. I personally like the short, fast, between the hands carbine potential with this cartridge and leave the longer barrel for my CZ 550 Safari Magnum in .375 H&H. I suspect a 300 grain premium bullet at 2400 fps may be "enough gun" but 2550 fps is nice too.

376Steyr,

Interestingly enough Kevin ("Doktari") Robertson has been beating the 2,400 fps drum for the .375 H&H. Kevin opines that dropping the velocity works "better" with buff and such.

Personally I use 270 grain bullets more often than 300 grain bullets in my .376.

The .375 H&H often shows too much penetration, so it is interesting that Kevin recommends turning it into a .376 Steyr-equivalent.

jim

I must admit I have Unfairly ignored the .376steyr. Pardon my ignorance.

I would imagine the 376Steyr with a great bonded bullet like the 270gnNF@2550 http://www.northforkbullets.com/375-270.htm is up to anything the well regarded 375H*H-unbonded300gnNP@2550 has achieved. Pressures for both seem about the same. If you disagree with the above, please tell us why.

The 270NF is 1.26"in length.loaded at 3.150"oal, it is .110"below the neck.

You could make a compact IntermediateM98 23" tube,for an awsome little safariRifle.without the Hassles of the WSM wildcats limited mag capacity,feeding and headstamp issues.

The donor M 70 action for this was originally a .270 Win. so is it reasonable to think of 4 down in the magazine. Anyone built one on a M 70 ?

I am leaning toward a 22" barrel for my next one. (#3, #4, flip a coin.)

No if only one of those illegal aliens would bring a 1936 Mex action with him I'll be all set.

LD

Lawndart, & everyone else,

Does this configured rifle tickle your fancy?
376Steyr IntermediateLargeRingM98 approx. 23" tube


With a rig like that, and a270gnNF up the spout,I could confidently (and rather pleasurably) go anywhere in the world.

Woodjack,

Now that you have us hooked, how about the details fo the bait?

thanks...jim

My action and barrel are stainless so I'm gonna give em' a shot of BBQ paint, should look good with the McMillan dark camo stock