Anyone here shoot the 375 Ackley? I have a M70 classic stainless on layaway, and am planning on having it chambered to AI. What kind of velocities are all of you getting?

I have M 70 ss .375 on lay by as well but I will leave it as a .375 H&H the .standard .375 H&H will do everything you ask of it I reckon.

Try it out as is first and then if you require more perfromance ream it out then may be ??

What made you choose the M70 over it's rival the CZ 550, I may still swing that way yet.

I have not seen the irons up close on these rifles yet but what are they like and what style are they ??.

Just getting started, and the only loads I have chronographed are with the 270 Failsafe and IMR4350. 87 grains = 2720 f.p.s. That is not much faster than published factory H&H ballistics, but it you look at what guys actually get over a chronograph -- 2500's generally -- the Ackley is considerably more powerful.

[ 12-06-2002, 16:25: Message edited by: KLN ]

the444shooter,
I shoot a 375 Weatherby. I do not think there is any significant difference between the AI, JRS, or Wby 375's, in custom chambered rifles with similar throats.

88 grains of IMR 4350 gave me 2700 fps with 300 grain Swift A-Frame, and 90 grains of same gave 2900 fps with a 270 grain Hornady. 3000 fps with 250 grain bullets ought to be easy, but I have never done that. Work up from 10% below the above loads. Velocities are from my 24" barrel.

These "improved" versions of the 375 H&H only give about 150 to 200 fps over the 375 H&H, so PC may have a valid point above.

Firing the standard 375 H&H 300 grain ammo in any of the above improved versions will drop a 2500 fps standard load down to 2300 to 2350 fps. This is still a usable load, out of an "improved" 375, and a good way to fire form brass.

PC,
I chose the classic stainless over a .458 Win 550 safari because it was stainless. It had everything I wanted-CRF, open sights (very nice too, btw-better than the CZ's), and since a majority of the big bore cartridges I'm interested are based off of the .375H&H, if I ever want to go bigger, I can just buy a different barrel and do some minor work. Plus, I've kind of always had a soft spot for the .375 caliber. My boss has a .375AI and he loves it. He helped persuade me to get it...lol. I want to Ackley it because I would like to get a little flatter trajectory than the standard H&H for elk out at long range (300+yds), and I guess I'm just a velocity whore My question is, since you can fire .375 H&H ammo out of the improved and then have fireformed brass to boot, then why NOT get the .375 Ackley'd? Plus I just want a fairly oddball caliber that I will be able to get ammo for easily (see above sentence) and still have great ballistics. I hope you guys can see my logic...it makes sense in my mind, but then again, just the other day, I was pondering how much money I could get for selling plasma just so I could get more guns I know SOME of you guys understand...lol

[ 12-10-2002, 07:46: Message edited by: the444shooter ]

444 whatever floats your boat mate !!

I finished up deciding on the CZ 550 Just love those square bridges.

I see the sense in what your doing, do the .375 H&H rounds still give good accuarcy in the .375AI chamber ??

If I ever ream my .375 out I think I would go the whole hog and get the stallion the .378 weatherby. But I think the old .375 H&H will do evertything I will ask of it.....like mainly shooting grassy's, and I think it has enough torque for them

You will get more recoil for sure. I get the same velocity with a 25" .375 H&H as with a 22" .375 Improved.

Some say that you can't push the shoulder back on these 40 degree Ackley shoulders.

Over all I would say not to get an improved cartridge unless you have never had one. A rifle is not that big a deal one way or another.

The only good reason for getting an improved cartridge is because the boss likes them. That's reason enough. It would be good to have a boss that likes rifles.

Having looked into this myself, it seems to be one of the more "wasted" Ackley improvements. Typically, most guys report nothing more than about 150 FPS, if that. If you punch up some numbers with this information, you'll see you're not gaining a whole heck of a lot downrange.

IN FACT... I was in Montana recently, getting my foot crushed by a horse (long story), and I met a guy on my first day there who had gone the .375 AI route. He said he only got another 150 FPS... which, again, is typically what I've seen and heard reported on this particular "improved" cartridge. This guy, a nice chap, was saying that it just wasn't much of a gain in performance and that, in hindsight, he wished he hadn't bothered.

If you read much about the "improved" cartridges, you'll see that some are great leaps forward (in performance) and others just aren't hardly worth the bother.

In the end, the final decision rests with you, of course.

Russ

So really what your saying is that if you want significant improvement over the .375 H&H (if it can improved upon) then it is the .375 weatherby, .375 RUM or God Forbid the king of them all the .378 wetaherby

"Yes."

My 375 Ackley give me 110 fps more than when it was the "bread & butter" H&H. That's with 300 grain pills. I never tried for more speed, because it will group 1/2 to 3/4 inch, 3 shot groups at 100 yards every day. I'll take the accuracy over the extra speed. Was it worth the rechambering? Perhaps not, but it is a conversation piece. It RSA this past June, every rancher and P.H. I came in contact with wanted a shell for his collection. The mention of a .375 Ackley Improved had them all ooing and aahing like it was the greatest thing to ever come down the N1.

The Ackley and Weatherby 375s are so similar in performance that one is really as good as the other. The Weatherby is once again being factory loaded by Weatherby so in a sense it isn't a true wildcat any longer.
I have a 375Wby being finished up right now. Initial testing has shown velocities in the 2750fps range using 300gr bullets. This is with a 24" barrel. My old 375H&H M70 has the original 25" barrel and still struggles to get 2550fps with300gr bullets. Is 150-200fps worth the hassle? For me it is, because I like velocity, and I hate having something everyone else and their dog has too.

Thanks, Mike. No, that's okay, you don't need to pester your friend for the load data. I was just curious as to it's "stock" accuracy. I kind of had a hunch it was probably about the same, so I was right.

A POS Winchester? Really? Damn. I thought my Savages were the only rifles getting slammed by the "in" crowd.

"Welcome, BROTHER!" << hands out cup of coffee >>

Russ

[ 12-12-2002, 06:43: Message edited by: mikeh416Rigby ]

Russ,
That 150fps is good enough for me...whatever I can do to wring out that "extra bit" of performance from the .375HH. And, that way I'd be able to say I have a .375 Ackley...not TOO many people can say that Do I really NEED to improve on the .375HH? A thousand times NO! But, will it hurt to do so? I'm thinking 3000fps with the 260gr Nosler Partition should be sufficient for elk...what do you guys think? In all seriousness though, I just can't see why I SHOULDN'T Ackley it.

Well, I can respect that. I'm a wildcatter, I know the deal.

By the way, um... have you looked at 250-grain (yes, "250") Hodgdon data for BL-C(2)?

And although there's no data for it, I'm thinking N560 might do well in the .375 H&H Magnum... or your Ackley, if you go that route.

Russ

I would think carefully what you want this for before "improving" the std HH version. I thought I 'needed' one too and built up a 22" tube on a Dakota action. 300 gr at 2800+ was possible with IMR 4350 but the recoil was very sharp precluding 'great' control. Also consider... you will need to brush the inside of necks to prevent crumpling the shoulder while seating the bullet. The feeding is also inhibited with this shoulder angle and diameter. And yes, you will probably see a problem in the magazine due to the increased shoulder diameter. For a toy, go for it but for hunting I'd recommend no.

444;
I have a .375 AI,with a 24" barrel. I'am getting 2910 avg. fps with 270 grn. Barnes X's. R-P brass, Federal 215's, 96.5(very compressed)grn. of RL 19. I use the same load with 270 grn. Hornady SP. The Hornady's are a little more accurate ( 3 shots inside 3/4" the Barnes' run around 1 to 1 1/2" for 3 shots). I prefer the X's for hunting as they almost always exit, often the Hornady's would not( I like an exit wound).
Good luck with your AI,my AI is my only hunting rifle and has been since 1989!-memtb

Chamber it to 375 Weatherby & be done with it. The two are almost identical but with the Weatherby version factory ammo is available.

My 375 Wby is built on an P-14 Enfield. 26" barrel. It's kind of heavy for the caliber, but between the long mag and throat, as well as that Wby freebore, I can easily get more then 2800 fps with 300 gr bullets. The last H & H I had did 2550 fps with 300 gr bullets, so I think there is a very useful increase here. I haven't tried any of the new factory ammo (tough to find up here) but I will when I can. - Dan

I

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Originally posted by the444shooter:
Anyone here shoot the 375 Ackley? I have a M70 classic stainless on layaway, and am planning on having it chambered to AI. What kind of velocities are all of you getting?

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Go for the .375 A.I. you will not be disappointed I get 2800fps with a 24" bbl W/89g IMR4350/ WW Brass/Fed 215/ 300g spbt. Work up your own loads!!!
Have fun!!

Do a search in reloading on this forum. Back on 11/10/01 I was able to come up with some Data Thanks to SOONER!!!

444shooter. Before you rechamber that 375H&H why not shoot some Hornady 375 Heavy Magnum loads in it? They are available in 270SP and 300FMJ I think.

Dan Belisle's experience shows that 2800 fps is possible with 300 grainers in a 26" barreled 375 WBY.

I stopped at an easy 2700 fps in a 24" barrel.

Saeed usually limits his 375/404 300 grainers to 2650 to 2700 fps for best performance on game.

With the silly RSA law limiting a hunter to one rifle in a given chambering, a new use for the 375 WBY is suggested (or AI if you have properly headstamped brass ... at least the 375 WBY brass is easily obtainable):

Take a 375 H&H and a 375 WBY as redundant backup.
Two different guns that can both shoot the same 375 H&H ammo in a pinch.

A useful 375 WBY load, 300 grainer at 2700 fps, could be zeroed 3" high at 100 yards, and then a 375 H&H 2550 fps 300 grainer, would shoot to POA at 100 yards, and give an MV of 2400 fps from the WBY chamber, for DG use.

It works that way in my rifles.

Of course, you could use the 375 WBY load on everything and get the kind of performance that Saeed does with a good bullet placed well.

One should always have a 375 H&H along, as well as a pair of black shoes, they both work in any situation.

Now you can't take two 375 H&H's into some such African country as RSA.

[ 12-25-2002, 16:14: Message edited by: DaggaRon ]