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Old March 20, 2000, 03:19 PM   #1
Erik
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Join Date: December 24, 1999
Location: America
Posts: 3,479
I have a friend:

He doesn't own a computer, but does own a 375 H&H. So I am asking for him:

"Does anyone reload the 375 H&H? How versatile is it? What performance can he expect?"

Thanks,
Erik and his friend
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Old March 20, 2000, 08:52 PM   #2
dundee
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Join Date: December 6, 1998
Location: mytown,mi,usa
Posts: 162
The 375 H&H mag has been called the queen of calibers. A current writer, Paul Matthues has a book called "40 years with the 375 H&H". Reading almost any book about african hunting that is from the period the 375 was around (the 1920's??) until today will have reference to the 375 as THE caliber for all game not requiring a 40+ caliber. Probably all reloading manuals have data for this caliber. Quoting from the Hodgdon #26 manual "until recently the 375 suffered from lack of bullet variety for handloading, but the reintro of the Nostler Partition, the intro of Speer Africian Grand Slam and the Barnes X-bullets + custom bullets has put new life into this old cartridge."

Your friend has a rifle in a good caliber.
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Old March 20, 2000, 09:26 PM   #3
Art Eatman
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Join Date: November 13, 1998
Location: Terlingua, TX; Thomasville, GA
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Well, it ain't really what you'd call a varmint gun!

For North America, it is more than sufficient for Brown Bear and moose--our largest game animals. Probably shoot through two or three meese.

Now, if he's considering an African trip, he's got a good start on weaponry.

Levity aside, handloading to lower performance with "lighter" bullets makes it at least usable for deer and elk...

Regards, Art
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Old March 22, 2000, 11:21 AM   #4
Hueco
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Join Date: December 7, 1999
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This is from the 375 H&H Magnum homepage. The link is http://www.zebra.net/~jskindawg/load.html

Hope this helps you out a bit and has what you are looking for. The entire homepage has great general info on the calibre, check it out if you get the chance.

Ammunition Overview Index

This is a great page for the novice reloader as it discusses, in detail, all of the various aspects of reloading.

Information on Handloading the .375 H&H Magnum

If you want a good and fairly detailed overview of handloading for the .375 H&H Magnum, then you need to get a copy of Handloader No. 200 (August 1999). In Ken Waters' "Pet Loads" section, he revisits the .375 H&H Magnum for the first time since 1978. All of the new bullets, powders and so forth are discussed. This is a great article and a most for any handloaders of the .375 H&H Magnum. For more information, go to Handloader Online. Also, almost everybody has a webpage these days. Since you can surf the internet, go buy a copy of Handloader or any other hunting or shooting magazine and just look for the webpage addresses at the bottom of the ads. That will give you something to do next time you're on the internet.

Hornady Bullets

Hornady is a well-known American bullet manufacturer, but in regards to the .375 H&H magnum, Hornady is probably the leader when it comes to the so-called "solid" bullets. Hornady's 300-grain Round Nose-Full Metal Jacket (RN-FMJ) bullet is considered by many to be the best "solid" bullet for the .375. These massive bullets are designed to do one thing: penetrate. And that they will, through the super tough hide of the Cape buffalo to the massive skull of the African elephant. Hornady also makes several other .375 caliber bullets including a 220-grain Flat Point, 270-grain Soft Points and Round Noses, 300-grain Round Noses, Boat-Tailed Soft Points and the RN-FMJ's.

Here is some of the loading data for the Hornady 300-grain RN-FMJ that has worked for me (Remember, ALWAYS start with the lowest published load and work up!):



Hornady #3727 300 gr. RN-FMJ (.375")
Sectional Density - .305
Ballistic Coefficient - .275
C.O.L. - 3.560"


Bullet Powder Primer Case Velocity
Hornady 300 gr.
RN-FMJ IMR 4350
77.2 gr. (Max. Load) WLRM Winchester 2,500 fps

Check out the new ballistic table and summary for this load by following this link:
Hornady 300 grain RN-FMJ

Nosler Bullets

Nosler makes one of the greatest bullets of all-time: the Partition. The Partition is a controlled expansion soft-point bullet designed to provide reliable expansion with sufficient weight retention to continue penetration. Partitions are regarded by many as the best all around bullet for any game in any caliber. For the .375, Nosler produces the Partition in two bullet weights: 260-grains for large animals such as elk and certain African plains game and a massive 300-grain bullet for large, dangerous game such as North America's great bears and the African Big Five (elephant, white rhino, Cape buffalo, lion and leopard).

But what about .375 caliber Ballistic Tips? In short, don't hold your breath. One of my visitors wrote and asked if I knew whether or not Nosler planned on producing .375 caliber Ballistic Tips. Since I did not, I wrote Nosler to find out. My letter was promptly answered by Matt Smith, Nosler's Ballistics Supervisor. Matt stated that by design, Ballistic Tips are designed for use on smaller animals (up to about 400 pounds). Also, stability issues are a concern on heavy caliber Ballistic Tips because of the light weight and sharp profile of the polycarbonate tip. Matt did mention that a Ballistic Tip should not be indefinitely ruled out as Nosler's R&D department is always trying out new bullets. My thanks to Matt Smith for his help on this question.

Here is my loading data for Nosler's 260-grain and 300-grain Partitions. These loads have worked for me, but remember, ALWAYS start with the lowest published load and work up!:

260 gr. Nosler Partition (.375")
Sectional Density - .264
Ballistic Coefficient - .314


Bullet Powder Primer Case Velocity
Nosler 260 gr.
Partition IMR 4350
78.5 gr. (Max. Load) WLRM Winchester 2,707 fps

Check out the new ballistic table and summary for this load by following this link:
Nosler 260 grain Partition



300 gr. Nosler Partition (.375")
Sectional Density - .305
Ballistic Coefficient - .398


Bullet Powder Primer Case Velocity
Nosler 300 gr.
Partition IMR 4831
78.0 gr. (Max. Load) WLRM Winchester 2,500 fps

Check out the new ballistic table and summary for this load by following this link:
Nosler 300 grain Partition

Sierra Bullets

I'll be honest with you, I have not worked with many Sierra bullets in .375. In fact, my experiene is limited to only one bullet: Sierra's 200-grain Flat Nose. This bullet was originally designed for the Winchester .375, but if loaded to say around 3,000 fps (yes, that is 3,000 fps for a 200-grain bullet!), it packs a nice wallop that could be used for deer hunting. I, however, use it for just "plinking" (for lack of a better term) with my .375 H&H. Mind you, when loaded to maximum levels where the bullet is being pushed something around 3,200 fps, your .375 H&H can become quite a mule! (Remember, ALWAYS start with the lowest published load and work up!):

200 gr. Sierra Flat Nose (.375")
Sectional Density - .203
Ballistic Coefficient - .245
C.O.L. - 3.350"


Bullet Powder Primer Case Velocity
Sierra 200 gr.
Flat Nose IMR 4320
73.2 gr. WLRM Winchester 3,000 fps

Sierra does offer a bigger bullet in the form of a 300-grain spitzer boat-tail which would be satisfactory for most African game as well as North America's great bears. One of the page's visitors, a big game guide from Wyoming, recommends the 300-grain spitzer boat-tail. His load uses Win 760 as the powder and pushes the bullet to about 2,560 fps. While he notes that Sierra bullets do have a reputation for making "soft" bullets (I have heard of this in their .270 bullets also), he has had nothing but outstanding performance -- including an end-to-end penetration shot on a large bull Elk at 40 yards! This is also his most accurate .375 H&H Magnum load.

Speer Bullets

Speer makes one of the only 235-grain .375 caliber bullets on the market. Please recall that the 235-grain bullet was one of Holland & Holland's original offerings back in 1912. Today, this bullet is excellent for deer and other game of similar size and damage to edible meat is claimed to be less than that caused by smaller, higher velocity bullets! Speer's other offerings include a 270-grain Boat-Tailed Spitzer-Soft Point for elk hunting, a 285-grain Grand Slam Spitzer and a massive 300-grain African Grand Slam Tungsten Solid.

I have not tested loads for the 285-grain Speer Grand Slam (I hope to in the near future), but here is some of the loading data for the Speer 235-grain semi-Spitzer Soft Point that has worked for me. I have been trying to take a Whitetail deer with this load for three seasons, but I always seem to have a shot with one of my other rifles. Oh, well . . . There is always next year! (Remember, ALWAYS start with the lowest published load and work up!):



235 gr. Speer Semi-Spitzer Soft Point (.375")
Sectional Density - .239
Ballistic Coefficient - .317


Bullet Powder Primer Case Velocity
Speer 235 gr.
S-Spitzer Soft Point IMR 4064
74.5 gr. WLRM Winchester 2,850 fps

Check out the new ballistic table and summary for this load by following this link:
Speer 235 grain SSpitz-SP

Others

All of my reloading is conducted on an RCBS Rock Chucker single stage press. This is a very strong and well-built press that is a great purchase for the money. RCBS also makes a starter kit to go with the press. Contact RCBS at their website.

There are numerous other bullet manufacturers who produce bullets for the .375 H&H magnum. Some of these manufacturers include Barnes Bullets, Inc. Barnes makes an "X" bullet (a solid-copper bullet designed to retain as close to 100% of its weight as possible) in the 235-grain weight class as well as a 300-grain "X" bullet. Barnes bullets are highly praised by those whose rifles will shoot them, but many riflemen claim that their rifle will not shoot them to any degree of consistent accuracy.

Trophy Bonded offers several .375 caliber bullets including a 240-grain Bearclaw (softpoint) which is reputed to be awesome for longer range Elk, a 300-grain Bearclaw, and a 300-grain Sledgehammer solid. One of the page's visitors, the same Wyoming guide who is fond of the Sierra 300-grain BTSP, is a huge fan of Trophy Bonded bullets. In fact, our guide has even had the opportunity to meet with Jack Carter of Trophy Bonded! Our guide recommends Win 760 and RWS 5333 primers to drive both the 240-grain and the 300-grain Bearclaws to about 2,560 fps with almost the same point of aim in his rifle.

Other manufacturers include Swift, makers of the famous "A-Frame" bullet which is claimed to have a 98%+ weight retention. Swift offers .375 caliber bullets as does A-Square who offers their "Triad" of bullets - "Dead Tough Soft Point," "Lion Load," and "Monolithic Solid". For commercial ammunition, you may want to try Winchester Ammunition and Federal Cartridge Company. Federal loads Nosler Partitions and Trophy Bonded Bearclaws in their premium line of cartridges. Also, Remington loads Swift A-Frames in their Safari line of cartridges.

Cast Bullets and the .375 H&H Magnum

Unfortunately, I don't know anything about using cast .375 bullets. I understand that they can provide outstanding accuracy and even be used for hunting, but I simply do not have any experience with them. There are many .375 fans out there who use and love cast bullets, and may be one of the .375 cast bullet fans can prepare an outline of how they are made and used that I can put on the page to educate the rest of us! In the meantime, sorry! I have been able to put together some comments others have provided about cast bullets. To view this information, please follow this link for Cast Bullets.

Miscellaneous

A good overview of reloading for the .375 H&H Magnum can be found in Petersen's Big Book of Cartridges, Vol. 1, pp. 84-85. This is another one of Petersen's excellent special publications that they put out so often. General information and load data for many of the bullet and poweder manufacturers is included. This publication makes for an excellent additional to any reloader's library.

Also, Midway, the reloading and shooter supplier, is now online. Check out their website for information on supplies for reloading, bullets, shooting accessories, etc.

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