I'm wondering which bullet I should pick up for deer to my .376 Steyr. I know, I mean, have heard that Hornady 220FP is soft and perform well at low speeds, but in finnish forum someone told that it feeds badly from magazine. We hunt deers mostly from sheds or from stands at evenings and even at nights if there is a moon. Well, I have a 308win for deers but just want to do it with 376 Steyr too. Load must be less-recoil.

So I'm wondering between Hornady 220gr FP, Sierra Proh. 200gr and Speer 235gr HC. Do you have experience, in which range of speeds those performs best in deer? Someone has told that Speer is for H&H and doesn't perform proberly at low speeds, so what is lowest speed for it? I think muzzle velocity will be at least 2000fps and max near 2300fps, but lower is better IF bullet performs like... SPLAT.

I would probably use a spitzer type bullet. If you think about it, with a .375 caliber bullet, you are starting with a large diameter bullet and if it only expands a little, you are still better off than with an expanded .308 caliber bullet.

I've used Speer 270 gr. soft nosed boat tailed spitzers in a 375 H&H Magnum. It dropped 2 Warthogs, an Impala and a Blesbok in their tracks and made quick work on a Blue Wildebeest and Zebra. I recovered the bullet from the Blue Wildebeest and it had expanded beautifully. There wasn't excessive meat damage on the smaller animals either; I think it would work well for your purposes.

Hi Harppa

I use the Hornady 220gn flatpoints @ 2350 fps. THis produces very little recoil. If it hits heavy bone it will fragment but otherwise fine. I head shot a fallow deer at 40m and the bullet lodged under the skin of the neck on the opposite side. Weight retention was about 20%.
Overall an excellent deer round IMHO as there is reduced risk of the bullet exiting and travelling on a great distance.
I also use 260gn accubonds @ 2650fps for longer range UK deer

regards

Mark

I have never understood this desire to use all these light-for-caliber bullets.

From my experience 300 gr. Nosler Partitions are devastating on deer sized critters.

quote:

Originally posted by Will:
I have never understood this desire to use all these light-for-caliber bullets.

From my experience 300 gr. Nosler Partitions are devastating on deer sized critters.

I agree, the Nosler partition will open just like a regular soft point, on deer, but the difference is, the aft section will hang together to poke a hole out the other side!

Like Will, I've never understood the light bullt idea either. I shoot a 375 H&H a lot, and I only use one bullet weight no matter the target. This means no matter what i'm hunting the hold-over will be the same, with the only difference in bullets being a NP, or a solid, of the same weight! I do this with all rifles, and there is some sense in the old saying, "Beware the man who only owns one gun, he likely knows how to use it!" That saying could as well apply to the bullets used, "Beware the man who only uses one bullet weight, he is likely to know where it will hit the target!"

Just get some 300 gr Nosler Partitions, and shoot your deer!

I like the 225gr hornady SP, which is designed for the steyr, and is VERY VERY accurate in my 376 (and a couple i've built) .. if you run it at the factory 2600 FPS, it is simply amazing on deer/pig sized game.

jeffe

Any of you guys ever experience feeding issues with the extended (8-shot) magazine on your .376 Steyr? The Hornady 270 gr. Spire Points were deforming in the magazine after the first shot and then hanging on the lip of the magazine. I relieved the magazine a bit with a rotary tool so the point would clear. Now it won't feed at all. The bullet is hanging on the face of the chamber. There is no cant or tilt and thus the round is not aligned with the chamber. I have a three round mag that works fine.

Hornady 225 spitzers at about 2500 should be great and not too much meat damage. they shoot good out of mine with BLC-2.

Well, I do have few rifles for different use and I reload more than one loads each... so maybe I can't hit anywhere...

Or maybe it is just different laws, culture and habits. Will and Mac, I know what you mean I thinko so too, but...

Until now, I have used Marlin 45-70gov't with Aimpoint for mooses and for deers sometimes too and now I cast my own so there is only one load for it anymore. Except for the final shot, if needed, there is low pressure and under the speed of sound load with 300gr HP with soundsuppressor because of dog's ears. But, as I said, we hunt deers mostly in low light circumstance so we need low-light scopes. In that kind of scopes eye relief is not enough for me with heavy recoil rifle. That's why I have 308win. Deer, while standing and eating, is enough large animal that it is hard to miss from stands or sheds at range 30-80yds. Even for me. Well, I have to see it (there is no limit in Finland, if you can see, just shoot). With .308win I also hunt black and wood grouses. They need a different type of bullet. Shooting range usually is 100-200yds.

Now I have .376 Steyr Prohunter too. For mooses mostly and maybe for something else in future... I hope. We (23 persons) hunts mooses (now license for 30 adult, 1 adult=2 x fawn) in group with one dog (laika or Norwegian) or part of us drive them out to chain of shooters. Earlier I shot mostly in woods, but now I have to be ready to shoot from longer distances and even moving animals at same time too. Well, 45-70 is awesome in woods and bushes, but only at short range or animal standing in place. IMO. Okay, maybe there is the reason or perhaps I souldn't bought Marlin about twenty years ago at all. 376 is new to me and Norma Oryx is waiting about 20†deep inside barrel ready to go. But it kicks more than it have to when going to shoot a deer from a shed in our circumstances. Sometimes it's nice to go hunt deers right after we stops hunting mooses, but I don't like to take .308 along just in case. Reloading for that is easy and few different ammo don't weight much. And I'm considering to put a soundsuppressor to .376 Steyr too so there could be place for lowpressure load also (dog's ears).

I'm really sorry to say: I'm asking experience and knowledge, not opinions what and how to do.

Jeffeosso, have you noticed at which range of speeds that 225gr SP works properly? For now it seems to me that Hornady's 220gr FP or Sierra's 200gr is most likely way to go. I usually shoot deers just behind shoulder and there isn't matter about meat loss. Just reaching for one big hole through the animal.

For mooses I'm trying to offer that Oryx. I made a little test (http://www.eralle.net/forum/viewtopic.php?t=21836) and it worked great there. If it won't work at field, then I will consider between Rhinos, A-Frames and Partitions.

â€One shot, you got it. Two shots, maybe you got it. Three shots, you missed it.â€

Sounds like you're trying to use a suppressor for night time deer hunting and want a deer load for the moose rifle?

I'd pick the 300gr Nosler partition, it'll still expand at low speed as the nose is fairly soft and probably get complete penetration due to the partition. Hodgdon's data shows starting loads at around 2,200 fps. The NP's shape should feed well too.

FWIW, I'm shooting the 225gr Hornady in my .376 at two grains under the starting load and still getting 2,650fps from a 24" barrel. Haven't shot any game yet, but deer season's just around the corner...
Recoil and blast from my 6.5# rifle is about like a .30-06 with heavy bullets using the 225gr load.