Just as an aside. I have struggled with getting the new 380g rhino to perform well in my ruger. Trying all loads I kept getting excessive pressur signs. However, just downloading slightly on the recommneded load I have now achieved very satisfactory results. I have used a mix of 31g S335 and 31g s365 and achieved a velocity of 2350 at five meters from the barrel which is faster than expected but I'm not complaining. No pressure problems so very satisfactory results. I'm going to try this round on something big soon and I'll report back.

Do the rhino bullets have driving bands like the GS Custom bullets?

By the way, is GS out of business? They will not respond to my emails any more and I have not received my bullets after nearly 8 months.

Nope, they are smooth all the way down. I am not sure if GS is out of business but will check.

Thanks for checking.

Do you know if Rhinos are available in the US? I have not seen them advertised anywhere.

I don't think so, I get them for about $20 for 50 here but they are still pretty uncommen and untested.

I read an interresting article on them in Man Magnum recently...I've opted for the 350 gr. Woodligh in my 375's as I think thats a little more practicle, but a 380 at 2300 plus is mighty interresting if they perform on game. I'd like to see them used on Buffalo or read some good reports on them and Buff...bullets that long tend to tip a bit on contact and that would be my main concern. I suppose time will tell.

The magnum article is what turned me on to the 380g rhino. It took me so long to get a load that worked for this bullet that I have yet to try it out. I'm certainly not going to start with buff though, even though the bullet seems extremely accurate and flat shooting and the magnum article indicated they had worked any bugs out of the bullet tipping. I get very good deals on eland and gemsbok and will try one of my new 375 loads I described above. I suspect that the bullets will do ok and if so I might get brave later this year after the World Summit.

I've been getting hell in the reloading forum when I asked whether one should mix powders or leave them stacked whilst referring to using S335 and S365 as recomended for the 380g Rhino. I was following the recomendations in Magnum magazine in the release article on the 380g Rhino and in fact the mixture was the only way to achieve acceptable results. While I know one must be catious when mixing powders, it surely is common practice and can be done? Or have I been given bad/dangerous advice?? As I said, my results with the mixture outlined above were good. Are the guys in reloading just giving me hell for nothing?

Berger,
I think most of us just don't know anything about it and always try to avoid the complication if at all possible.

Thanks for an honest answer Daggaron,

i must say I had good results and was just looking for some additional info. Not such a happy experience in the reloading section!

I have no experience mixing powders.

However, consider that the 2 powders have different burn rates and will generate peak pressure at different times.

Also consider that the timing between the 2 pressure peaks will depend on whether both powders are ignited at once or whether one is ignited before the other.

Even if you mix the powders before loading your shells, vibrating around in the Land Cruiser will cause the powder with the smaller granule size to tend to sink downward in the case. The smaller granule will tend to accumulate toward the end of the case facing the ground. So eventually the powder that ignites first will depend on which way your bullets point in the LandCruiser.

I am exaggerating a bit, but you get the idea.

Graeme Wright's book about Shooting British Double Rifles lists lots of duplex loads. But he used a small amount of pistol powder to get a large charge of slow burning rifle powder ignited. He did not mix 2 powders of somewhat comparable burn rates. He tried to keep the pistol powder down next to the primer.

So 500grains, what do you think? The recomendation was 31.5g S335/365. When I've tried it it works fine (give or take the landrover experiment even though I drive one!). What I think I will do is try and pack the powder three ways, slow in front, medium in front and mixed and then try the load out. since its the only one I can get to shoot in my Ruger on the 380g, I've got no choice, but I do get your point and will keep that in mind when shooting.

Will report back unless you read in the news I've blown my hand off...just kidding....

Berger,

S335 = IMR 3031
and
S365 = IMR 4350

Is this the approximate equivalency in burn rate?

If so, this sounds like IMR 4064, Varget, or Reloder 15 would be good powders to use. That still sounds pretty fast for such a heavy bullet. Maybe IMR 4320 would work? With such a heavy bullet I would have guessed one of the IMR/H 4350/4831 powders would have been ideal, yet straight S365 was no good?

Did you use a drop tubed and compressed load of the S365? If not, you might be surprised how much more powder you might get in the case.

Is there no other data from Man Magnum on some of these other powders?

Graeme Wright's duplex loads were mainly for black powder cartridges, and reading his book gave me the opinion that he did not like them due to occasional pressure spike problems. He was of the opinion that the old black powders were better than the ones available today, and he just couldn't get original ballistics with modern black powder without the shotgun or pistol powder duplexing.

It doesn't sound dangerous to me as long as you keep things straight ... I would be sure to have only one powder on the work bench at a time, load it then stow it and bring out the other powder.

I am sure Walter would find a way to load two charges of S335 in one shell, then two charges of S365 in the next, if he were helping.

I hope you can get some chronograph data, and let us hear the results. Should be interesting. To stack (and in what order) or to mix? Gee I dunno!

Berger,

No need to duplex load for the 380gr 375 Rhino. I use 67gr S365 straight. and get very good accuracy in my Mauser. I achive 2270fps with mild recoil and no pressure signs.

These loads were first given to me by Dr.Mauritz Coetzee at VLT arms in Pretoria. He is the original designer of these bullets. Kobus v/d Westhuizen is the co-developer and manufacturer.

I know of more that 35 Buffalo that have been shot with these bullets and everyone has been a one shot kill. This form all angles. For further information and input on these bullets contact Kobus on rhbullet@mweb.co.za .

Kobus also exports his bullets so ask him about them.

I will be using them on Buffalo during a safari between 15th and 25th July and will report back on them after that. Hopefully with photos of the recovered bullets.