OK, guys, a few weeks ago I did end up getting my 1st .375, I decided on the CZ 550. Anyway, I've bought a few boxes of shells and shot some, I'm hooked. I never thought the gun would be as fun to shoot as it is! I'm thinking very seriously about selling my trapguns to get some more big bores and just start shooting them instead of clay targets! Anyway, I was wondering what you guys do to cut down on costs of shooting the big bores? I know clay target shooters reload to save money on their ammo, can you save much by reloading for the .375 H&H? There was a post on here a few days ago saying there was .375 ammo at Cheaper than Dirt for around $30 a box, can that price be beat? I do not reload for a rifle yet, but I do have some people that will show me what to do (and for some reason I have 2 rifle presses in my house, so all I need is the dies and components). I'm not hunting anything big and nasty with it, yet, so all I'm shooting is paper, ground hogs, and whitetails. Also, anything in particular you guys would suggest for practicing with the big bores for me (I'm completely new and don't really know anyone that has experience with guns like this) would be greatly appreciated. Thanks, guys, I wish I would've done this a long time ago!

I reload, but it's hard to beat $30 a box if you don't need premium bullets. If you shoot premium bullets, TSX, A-Frames, Woodleighs, etc. it's either reload or pay $80 a box and you can load the premiums for about $30 a box.

Regards,

Chuck

If you thought Trapshooting was expensive then wait until you get in the Big Bores like the .416's. Then come the Double Rifles. Yes, you need to reload. Factory ammo for the .470 NE can retail for over $300.00/ 20 rds. And it goes up from there. It is a very addictive sport. Check the Midway USA website for prices. If you persue this then you better get a passport as a trip to Africa seems to follow.
Enjoy.
Larry

.375 is the least expensive of the big bores to load for. Components get more expensive at the .416 level.

I have a spare scope I use with the big rifles I practice with when getting ready to travel, and I find cast bullets are the cheapest way to load for larger rifles where projectile cost can be very significant (9,3x62, 9,3x74R, .375 H&H, .376 Steyr, 376/416 Steyr, .416 Rigby, .458 AR. and .470 NE). Does not take long to pay for a good mold and sizing dies. I use them in the much of the practice ammo.

For .375 H&H (and will use for the .376 Steyr) I use a 285 gr gas checked bullet cast from wheel weights with a 375449 GC Lyman mold. They are sized to 0.377" and lubed with Carnauba Red lube. I use AA 5744 powder to achieve about 2000 fps with this bullet and see virtually no barrel fouling.

I usually figure $10/100 for the cost of casting .375 bullets. Is a bit high but allows me to replace the lube and add a little to the casting fund. Brass lasts forever. If I figure that in:


Gas checks = $5.00/100
Primers $3.00/100
AA 5744 powder at $20/pound from Powdervalleyinc = $11/100 rnds

=$29/100 rds or $6.00/box of 20


The other cheap practice bullets available for the .375 are the 235 gr Speer and the .225 gr Hornady. The very soft Speer is not really usable on game but can easily be propelled at velocities between 2,600 (w IMR 4350) and 2,900 (RL-15) fps. They are very accurate. The Hornady is a much tougher bullet. Am experimenting with it for use on smaller game such as piggies and deer.

Here is the breakdown of my favorite cheap load for my 375 Ruger.

Speer 235gr Hot Core: $19/50 = ~$0.40
Federal LRM primer: $3/100 = $0.03
72gr either Varget or R15: $20/lb = ~77 loads/lb = $0.26
Hornady 375 Ruger Case: ~$1 each/~10 reloads = $0.10

Total: $0.79 per shot or ~$16 per box

Hope this helps

Matt

Reloading is the only way to go.

Check the volume supply houses like Natchez Shooters Supply, Midsouth, Midway USA, etc. It seems like someone is always having a sale of some sort. I bought Speer 235 grain "hot core" .375 bullets for about $17.50 per box of 50; Rem .375 H&H brass was around $32 for a bag of 50.

A good .375 H&H reduced load for practice and fun shooting is 28-30 grains of SR4759 powder over any magnum large rifle primer. This is cheap to load and easy on the shoulder to shoot. That same bullet with a full charge of RL15 or something similar is a great whitetail slayer.

If and when you step up to larger trophy-sized game, you can invest in premium bullets such as Barnes, Woodleigh, GS, A-Square, etc. Don't waste your money on them for deer-sized game.

Another alternative that I've never tried is loading/shooting cast lead bullets. I know a guy who shoots them in his .458 Win Mag for fun at the local range. Keeps him happy.

quote:

The other cheap practice bullets available for the .375 are the 235 gr Speer and the .225 gr Hornady. The very soft Speer is not really usable on game but can easily be propelled at velocities between 2,600 (w IMR 4350) and 2,900 (RL-15) fps. They are very accurate. The Hornady is a much tougher bullet. Am experimenting with it for use on smaller game such as piggies and deer.

Mike,
I have had good luck with the 235gr Speer on blacktail and feral hogs. However, I have now switched to Barnes 235gr Tsx since lead was banned in this part of Kalifornia.

I've shot several of the light jacketed bullets. For fun now I simply shoot cast.

http://www.montanabulletworks.com/wst_page5.html

Little over 2000fps take care of milk jugs and hogs.

Don't waste money on top flight slugs for practice. I have settled on the follow 2 for my practice:

Heavy load; 300gr Hornady RN ($23/50), 74gr H414 (starting load out of Hodgden book), Fed Mag Prim. Shoots well with reasonable recoil. Good accuracy; 1.5" @ 100yds. I am planning on using on a Nilgai hunt.

Light load; 235gr Speer ($19/50), 30gr XMR 5744, Fed Std prim. Killed 2 pigs this fall with it @ 80yds. Recoil aprox 30-06 level. My oldest son loves shooting these who is 16 but small for his age.

I tried the cast bullet route but with slugs + gas checks + swaging dies it got too expensive quick.

Both loads hit within 1" at 50yds. Thus I often start with 2 light & one heavy to keep the ole flinch down whn practicing at 50yds.

Good luck.

Pete

what mstarling said, plus one!
I figure my cast loads run me about 16-cents a round with some milsurp powder I got. Only about 2" 5-shot groups at 50 yds; but that is a 310gr GC rfn slug moving at over 2200fps!

Rich
Buff Killer

Thanks, guys, you're all loading for much cheaper than I thought possible with a rifle like this. As to being more expensive than trapshooting, I don't know, I used to shoot 20,000 targets a year, and when you count in ammo, targets, hotel rooms and other miscellaneous costs, this isn't tooooo much worst. But, like all of you have probably already done, I want more big(er) guns already, so I can see I'm not going to get rich quitting trapshooting! Thanks again, and keep the advice coming guys!

quote:

Originally posted by Pete A.:
Don't waste money on top flight slugs for practice. I have settled on the follow 2 for my practice:

Heavy load; 300gr Hornady RN ($23/50), 74gr H414 (starting load out of Hodgden book), Fed Mag Prim. Shoots well with reasonable recoil. Good accuracy; 1.5" @ 100yds. I am planning on using on a Nilgai hunt.


Pete

I also use the Hornady 300gr rn interlock with 62gr S335 i dont know the american equvalent gives me 2400feet/sec and groups under an inch in my cz550 i have given it to 4 guys with Bruno/cz rifles and the performance is the same, the speed depends on their barrel lenghts but in a 21" barrel we get 2340 feet/sec the groups doesn't change

I also hunt plainsgame with this load and it works like a bomb. it works me out R8 a shot so its less than a dollar a shot so it will be less for you because we pay 36$ for the bullets

JustinL01,

Practice isn't too expensive ... it's traveling to find African game targets that gets to be costly

I too started with a .375 H&H. Have 9,3s, .375s, .416s, a .458 and a .470 now. Working on the third trip to Africa. Has not been a cheap ride, but sure has been fun.

Enjoy!

.375 H&H Magnum
Hornady 225gr Spire Point: $31/100 = $0.31
CCI 250 primer: $30/1000 = $0.03
70gr H4895: $20/lb = ≈100 loads/lb = $0.20
Remington 375 H&H Case: $0.70 each/10 reloads = $0.07

Total: $0.61 per shot or ≈$12.20 per box

Go the cast bullet route, real cheap, and if you do it right accuracey is on par with jacketed bullets...the only problem is that lead wheel weights are going to be getting scarce, as alloy wheel weights are being increasingly used and lead is being phased out
Daniel

guys we did a buff hunt today and my friend used hornady interlocks 300gr bullets at 2400feet/sec i can only say they worked like a bomb and we had a one shot kill

you learn something everyday i always thought they wont be upto it on buffalo but was I wrong

Anybody used IMR Trail Boss powder for their light loads and cast bullets. You see the IMR loading data for the .458 Win Mag on their website, but nothing for .375.

Jerry

Midway had 300 grain jacketed round nose and spire point blemished bullets on sale last month for $15/50 = 30 cents per round.

67.5 grains of IMR4064 at $20/Lb= 19.4 cents per round

Primers are $24/1000 = 2.4 cents

I'm down to 52 cents per round excluding brass.

I got some Remington brass from some store in OK last year and paid $35/50 and they are lasting more that 10 reloads so far.

Even at 10 uses out of them they would cost 7 cents a load, so my total cost would be 59 cents per round or $11.80 per box

FYI Justin, this is the only site on Al Gore's internet where any .375 caliber cartridge is considered a 'big bore.' Saeed, this site's owner, shoots a 375\404 wildcat and decided to include 375's in the big bore category.

I cast lead bullets for my 338-06, 35 Whelen, 375 H&H and 416 Rem mag. It is the least expensive way to target shoot that I know of. Oh sure, you might luck into somebody's special deal here or there on factory overstocked or blems. But for the long haul, cast lead boolits is THE way to go.

One question I have to ask is: there isn't much, if any, big bore competition going on that I know of. Trap shooting is intensely competitive. Won't you miss that? Shooting a rifle all by yourself might get old real fast if you're used to shooting with the gang.

Dave,

I've been fortunate to make a ton of friends while trapshooting over the last 14 years (for a 23-year old that's a LONG time!). But, when I was really competitive, I was shooting 5 days a week when the weather was decent. It was almost like another job. Now, I've cut way back on my shooting, and I'm not winning as much as I used to, and trapshooting just doesn't have the flair it used to for me. I enjoy hunting more. For something I might do once every week or two, I think rifle shooting is a good escape me for. Plus, whenever I shoot at a range by my house, there's always someone there to BS with if I really needed to. I've thought it out, trapshooting just isn't for me anymore, and if I miss the guys, I'll just shoot a league or 2 a year just to stay in contact with them all.

I've farted around with the Hornady 36 cal roundball and a fellow's homemade 80gr round balls (they have a sprue.)

10-11 gr of W231 and I've gotten 1" groups at 30 yds. Best results were with a TP wad and dacron filler.

I should note that this was with a 375 Taylor (aka 375-338) - not the larger H&H case.

The other option is to buy 38-55 cast boolits. They come in .376-.379" diameter IIRC. Shoot with W231, Unique or SR-4759.

quote:

Originally posted by M 98:
...the only problem is that lead wheel weights are going to be getting scarce, as alloy wheel weights are being increasingly used and lead is being phased out
Daniel

Your point is well taken. I also expect the EPA in our new commie administration to issue emission restrictions applying to any casting process to go along with lead bans in several states. It was under Bush I that they issued airborne lead restrictions that essentially closed all the National Guard indoor ranges and ending our local Winter pistol league.

So you just have to be creative. A retired Marine down the street spent a few mornings at the outdoor pistol range with a shovel and screen, recovering 3,600 pounds of lead. Sold a ton to a junk dealer, donated the proceeds to the club, and ended up with a supply to feed his habit. I'm in line for 1,000 pounds if he starts up the mining operation again. There's also a fellow that hits the local trap range with a giant vacuum cleaner device and sucks up all the fallen shot. Some use it for reloads but I restrict it to snake loads with Speer shot capsules.

Please don't construe this as a hijack, I'm just looking for alternatives. 1) .357 might be too big a jump to .375, but has anyone paper patched pistol bullets for rifle loads? I'm thinking of the various .50 bullets to fit a .505 Gibbs or .452 to .458. 2) Any possibility someone like Rainier would do a batch of, say, 250 grain plated .375 grain bullets? Based on their pistol bullets of similar weight, and discounting scale of magnitude, we might be looking at $25 per 100. I'd be in for 1,000 if they'd do a special run.

Some where in my stash of old gun books, I have a copy of an annual that the author of one article used a Ruger #1 Tropical in .375 H&H and he paper patched his wheel weight bullets. He hunted deer and pigs with this setup and did quite well. So, paper patching .375 cal. lead bullets is an option for cheap and useful bullet production for a .375 H&H.

to get the best of cast bullets you need to get accurate bore dimensions so your mould can be made to drop bullets that fit your chamber, unless you can order a certain bullet diam from the maker
Daniel

[QUOTE]... paper patching .375 cal. lead bullets is an option ...QUOTE]


Thanks Grove.

As a follow up, I called Rainier Friday afternoon to ask about possible production of inexpensive plinking bullets in .375, .416, .458, and .505. First, their bullets are designed for a max velocity of 1,100 - 1,200 fps, so a harder lead alloy and possibly a thicker plating would be required. Perhaps do-able, but... Second, as you might suspect, their production is maxed out these days and it would be some time before they could evaluate a design and then 4 to 6 months out to completion. Finally, such a run would require about 66,000 to be profitable.

====

~FUBO~