.375 H&H Gallery or Reduced Loads

[JRD]

Has anyone ever experimented with the above?

Here's the reason I'm asking:
About 10 years ago I bought some commercial cast bullets for my .38-56WCF. They were advertised at .379". They were cast from a Lyman 375248 mould. The bullets actually were .375" and didn't shoot in my .38-56.

Fast forward 10 years now. Last year I got a nice Ruger #1 .375 H&H. I've been shooting it with j******d bullets. Then the thought occured to me that I had a bunch of .375 lead bullets that need to be shot.

I saw the article on Casting Fellows about cast in the .375, but they were gas check bullets.

I'm looking for a reduced or gallery load for a 255 grain plain base bullet. I've loaded gallery loads for the .303 British before with 6.0 grains of Unique and a 180 grain cast before, but the cavernous size of the .375 makes me a little leary or trying such a light load in it.

Any advice?
Jason

[onceabull]

:) Jason: my reduced loads for 250-275 gr boolits in the 375 H&H use either 13 gr of bullseye or Red Dot, both sourced from Ed Harris' writings..No filler, standard rifle primer,the bullseye load may be a tad hot for some plain base ,as Mr.Harris claimed it equaled original 38/55 velocity...I'm sure there is a load for Unique that would suffice,but haven't personally tried any as the above met my objectives..Enjoy,:) onceabull

[JRD]

Onceabull
That sounds like just the ticket. I've got Bullseye and Red Dot to work with.
Have you noticed any significant differences due to powder positioning?
Thanks,
Jason

[dubber123]

There is a fella on here using a aloxed round ball and 3 or 4 grains of Bullseye for I believe 850 fps. Says it will stay in an inch at 50 yds. I too have a # 1 in 375 H&H. I am gearing up to try some cast in it also. Good luck.

[Larry Gibson]

There is a fella on here using a aloxed round ball and 3 or 4 grains of Bullseye for I believe 850 fps. Says it will stay in an inch at 50 yds. I too have a # 1 in 375 H&H. I am gearing up to try some cast in it also. Good luck.

That's me and it's 4 gr of Bullseye. Great fun load and good for grouse, rabbits or ptarmigan. I recently picked up a Lyman 375248 mould but haven't cast any bullets yet. Probably will cast some of WWs and try them over Bullseye and Unique looking for a load in the 1050 fps range and possibly up in the 1400 fps range. Should be more accurate than the RBs past 50 yards and hold well to 150 yards for small game. I'll start with 6 gr of Bullseye and 8 gr of Unique and work up in 1gr increments until the desired accuracy and veloity are achieved. I've no problem with using either powder in the cavernous 375 case as I've used both powders before with the Lyman 377449 GC bullet.

Larry Gibson

[onceabull]

Jason: I have neither chrono'ed any of those loads,or deliberately tried varying positionings of the powder, as the purpose I intended using them for did not require serious accuracy research...good luck,& enjoy whatever effort you put into the project... Onceabull

[JRD]

Thanks for the help guys. Once I get some cases emptied, I'll try some with cast bullets.

Jason

[chasw]

Jason: I have a good reduced load for you, at least reduced from full power j**** bullet loads. The intention was a general purpose hunting load for my .375 Winchester M70 Super Express (left-hand action).

Bullet - 310 gr gas check DD-type from NEI, sized .378, lubed w/soft Lyman moly
Velocity - 1950 fps, ES about 20 fps
Powder - 56.0 gr of IMR 4064
Primer - WLRs
OAL - 3.450" is about right for my rifle, due to the blunt round nose

Although this rifle has not been hunting yet, this load's best did well at 100 yds, 3 rounds about 1.5" CTC, as best as I can recall (scoped from a rest). Leading has never been a problem in this rifle. - CW