Need a load: 375 H&H

[dubber123]

I have a mould that casts a 265 gr flat point. I want to try these in my Ruger #1 in .375 H&H. It is a plain base bullet, and the only cast loads I found are pretty hot. I mostly just want to see if it will shoot cast at all. I have Bullseye, Trailboss,Unique, Power Pistol, Herco,Blue Dot, 2400,H-4227, Hs-7, AA-9,H-110, H-4198, Winchester 748,H-4350, H-4831, and a few others. Any suggestions? Thanks.

[Adam10mm]

From Lyman with 375296:

Unique 13-17.5gr 1220-1460fps
Blue Dot 17-23.5gr 1355-1645fps

Win 8 1/2 primers 3.4" OAL

[Ed K]

Recently got the same Ruger. I'll be following anything you post on this as I've not even fired mine yet. I've heard their throats are not too cast-friendly. Don't know if ther's any truth to that though.

[leftiye]

I've got that boolit. Out of a Winklemeister Model 70 African .375 Ackley improved it shoots about 1200 fps with about 12 grs 2400 (IIRC). About 44Mag energy, and recoil is noticeable. Went rabbit hunting a time of two, and after about 40 rounds it (my shoulder) was a little tender. Quite destructive for a popper load. Pressures shouldn't be too much higher out of a standard .375, maybe somewhat faster. Shoots 3" higher than full house loads.

[Adam10mm]

More data from Lyman's Cast Bullet Handbook:
Same OAL and primer as my previous post
Red Dot 10.5-14.5gr 1115-1335fps
700X 10.5-14.5gr 1110-1335fps
Green Dot 11.5-15.5gr 1165-1370fps
PB 11-15.5gr 1075-1330fps
Herco 15--19.5gr 1295-1515fps
SR4756 17-23.5gr 1350-1640fps
630 19-25gr 1345-1620fps

From Lyman #48 (page 274)
3.44" OAL using WLRM primer

SR4759 21-32gr 1372-1858fps
XMP5744 27-34gr 1491-1736fps
IMR4198 24-35gr 1387-1813fps Listed bold at 35gr for most accurate load
Rel #7 26-34gr 1422-1698fps

Hope that helps. These are the 264gr FNGC bullet from Lyman.

[dubber123]

Well, guys, I posted a thank you to you all, and said I had just enough time to assemble a few for a group. I was in such a hurry, I didn't hit the "post" button. I hand lubed 5, sized some cases, and went with a slightly higher charge than Freakshow10mm recommended, I rounded up to 18 grains of Unique. This mould casts very fat, and none too round. It's an old Herters mould, and had a ton of misalignment new. After some filing and peening, I have a semi round bullet. I can probably get it a little closer. Anyways, it runs from .381" to .384". I wasn't even sure they would chamber. They did, and made a 1-5/8" group at 50 yds. Not great, but everything considered, I'm elated. The biggest problem is I forgot I have a Leupold fixed 2.5X scope on it and it has the "heavy" crosshairs. I made a 1-1/2" target, and the crosshairs completely covered it. I was shooting when it seemed to just cover the square. Not very precise. I will try to seat these out, and if they fit, I'd say at least this sample has a huge throat, possibly the source of some of the "lead unfriendly" rumors.

[dubber123]

Well, guys, the throats definately NOT big enough to seat these bullets out. Seated in the crimp groove, I think the ogives right up against the leade. I can't seat out a bit, the bullets just too big. I'll either have to do a bunch of sizing, or get a mould that fits. I have some more loaded with H-4198 for tomorrow after work, weather permitting.

[AlaskaMike]

Don't worry about seating the bullet out real far--just as long as you seat it out into the leade. You've got a *lot* of room in that case.

I would think that 4198 would do really well. I've had good luck with 4227 and 4895.

Mike

[dubber123]

Don't worry about seating the bullet out real far--just as long as you seat it out into the leade. You've got a *lot* of room in that case.

I would think that 4198 would do really well. I've had good luck with 4227 and 4895.

Mike

I'm headed out momentarily to try some 4198 loads. I don't have alot of faith, these bullets are really too fat, I'm surprised they chamber at all. I'm having a real hard time seating them straight. We'll see. I need another mould, and some sizers.

[dubber123]

I tried 35 grains of H-4198. A little more snap, a 1-1/2" 50 yard group, and some lead in the barrel. I'll fool with it some more, but this bullet is really oversized, and not very round. I'm not giving an accurate representation of what the rifle will do. It seems to show potential, enough so that I certainly wouldn't say it won't shoot cast. I need some better stuff to work with. At least if peaked my interest in this rifle again.

[Larry Gibson]

dubber123

I've a M70 classic stainless 375 H&H with a Weaver new 2.5X scope on it. For cast bullets I use two moulds, Lyman's 3378248 (250 gr PB) and 375449 (275 gr GC), and .375 RBs. The PB 375248 shoots exremely well (2 moa at 100 yards) over Bullseye at 1150 fps. Recoil and noise are quite manageable. I'd suggest you start at 7 gr and work up in 1/2 gr increments until you hit between 100 and 1200 fps or until accuracy goes south. Stop at 11 gr Bullseye either way. No wad or filler is needed with light loads of Bullseye and it is not position sensitive in normal shooting situations.

I push the 375449 GC bullet to 2191 fps with 4895. This is a good hunting load and a great practice load as there is some recoil to deal with.

I lightly coat the Hornady .375 RBs and load them over 4 gr of Bullseye. Accuracy runs pretty consitant at 1 3/4" at 50 yards at a screaming 893 fps. Makes for a great plinking, small game, grouse or ptarmigan load. The 375248 PB bullet is a good jack rabbit load though and shoots much better at longer than 50 yards than the RB.

Larry Gibson

[AlaskaMike]

I tried 35 grains of H-4198. A little more snap, a 1-1/2" 50 yard group, and some lead in the barrel. I'll fool with it some more, but this bullet is really oversized, and not very round. I'm not giving an accurate representation of what the rifle will do. It seems to show potential, enough so that I certainly wouldn't say it won't shoot cast. I need some better stuff to work with. At least if peaked my interest in this rifle again.

If you're bullets are air-cooled wheel weight alloy, you might try water quenching them for a little more hardness. Others have had good luck with heat-treating, but I'm too lazy for that.

The location of the leading within the barrel will give some hints as to what's going on--is it throughout the entire lenght of the barrel, or only in the rear part?

From what I've read here by others with far more experience than myself, a slightly out of round bullet won't make that much difference. I'm guessing you're not sizing them when you lube them? Not that that's a problem--many here actually prefer not to size at all, and instead let the gun do the sizing.

I forgot you'd mentioned it was a plain base design--you may find that you're limited in how fast you can push them, but that's purely a guess. I only have two rifle moulds and they're both gas check designs.

Mike

[dubber123]

Mike, I don't have a sizer for the .375, so I'm just hand lubing them. With all the out of round, I'd hate to see what they'd look like after sizing! These were water dropped, about 2 weeks ago, so they are as hard as I can get them. I'm going to try Some of Larry Gibson's
Bullseye loads from his post above. This bullet is so fat, seating them straight is a big problem. Like I said, there are too many things wrong with what I'm doing to give an accurate representation of the rifles capabilities. Still fun though!

[dubber123]

I skipped right to 8 grains of Bullseye, I know, I'll have to go back to see what Larry's 7 grain start charge does, but anyways, The H4198 group I said was 1-1/2" was for 4 shots, the first was a bad flyer. I blamed it on a cleaned and lubed barrel. Well, all five of the 8 grain Bullseye loads went into the same 1-1/2" group at 50 yards, with the same lube in the barrel, plus the lead from the day before. I think thats significant. The load was a little sooty, as expected, but worked great at removing the lead. I will work on the mould some more, I looked at it again, and I think I can get anoter 1 or 2 thousandsths of out of round to go away. This bullet is way fat, they need a pretty good push to chamber.

[dubber123]

Well, I know you are supposed to only change one thing at a time, but I just don't listen well! I hammer and punched the mould last night until I got it within .003" of round. Thats as good as this one will get. I also dropped the charge to a whopping 7.5 grains of Bullseye. I had one flyer, but round #1 out of a clean barrel went off well before I was ready. (I'm not used to this rifle yet). Any ways, 4 rounds went into .770", a big improvement from 1-1/2". Not great, but all things considered, I bet with a good mould/sizer set up, it will shoot just fine.

[Adam10mm]

What mold are you using? I got a 375449 and 378674 but no gun yet.

[leftiye]

Dubber, git yerself one of them Lee push through sizer dies. (I don't know what size they make them, If there isn't one that's right PM me, and I'll see what I can do) That way, they'll be less out of round and some smaller (slug yer barrel and find out what size boolit you need, if you've got freebore see what size that is) and then they'll probly seat straighter. You don't say what lube yer usin, but at them speeds ya probly don't need anything special. With it shooting that good, things look good in the future.

[dubber123]

Freakshow10mm, and leftiye, In order, it's an old Herters mould marked 375255. It had (has) a pretty serious misalignment issue, which I have done my best to cure. I am hand lubing with LBT's Blue Soft, a lube which I have had good luck with. I'll slug the barrel, and get a Lyman/RCBS die, I just was ansy to try something new. Did I mention I'm using a .357 mag decapper to flare the case mouths? Yeah, I have so many wrong things going, any accuracy at all gives me an indication of what a correct set up should have. I have my heart set on a new Marlin lever, and if I can swing that with any left, I will probably order the Lyman 378674.

[725]

This thread is giving me some good starting points. I will be loading for a friend's Sako .375 H&H and the only mould I have is a 251 (with my alloy) gr. flat nosed Lee. It's a bevel based mould that casts beautifully. Once I slug the barrel, I'll know which sizer to look for, but a measure at the muzzle seems to indicate .3755. Any suggestions? .376 or .377? With no gas check the speeds will have to be down. Was happy to "look over" dubber's shoulder, so to speak, at the suggested loads for his project.

[dubber123]

This thread is giving me some good starting points. I will be loading for a friend's Sako .375 H&H and the only mould I have is a 251 (with my alloy) gr. flat nosed Lee. It's a bevel based mould that casts beautifully. Once I slug the barrel, I'll know which sizer to look for, but a measure at the muzzle seems to indicate .3755. Any suggestions? .376 or .377? With no gas check the speeds will have to be down. Was happy to "look over" dubber's shoulder, so to speak, at the suggested loads for his project.

Well, I'll be peeking over your shoulder at how well the Lee bullet does. For under 20$, I will likely be trying that one out too. Bullseye seems to be a good powder to start with. I am deliberately not paying any attention to charge position in the case, and with Bullseye, It doesn't appear to matter much. I'm thinking 1/2" 50 yard groups will be within reason when I get set up a little better.

[dubber123]

Oh, and 725, I'd definately go with the .377" sizer. I would also hand lube a few unsized and see how they chamber and shoot. That will tell you if even larger than .377" is in order.

[dubber123]

Cruising Evil Bay after work today, I saw a Lyman mould, #37583, a plain base .375. Hey! I bought one of those! Sure enough, I had bought one, cast some, and promptly forgot about it. I located the bullets, and measured one. About .377"-.378". Pretty nice. I hand lubed some, (still no sizer), and loaded over 7 grains of Bullseye. I managed to get 3 different lengths getting the die set. At 50 yds:, group is .422" wide, X 1.645" high, lots of vertical stringing. The narrowness was inspirng, so back in the house to load five more, 8 grains of Bullseye this time. Group at 50 yds: 1.430" wide, X .924" 4 in just over 1"

[725]

dubber123,
Not earth shaking, but I got 3/4 inch group at 50 yards with 13.5 gr unique and the Lee bevel base, 251 gr boolit. I think I'm going to grind off the bevel base feature and make it into a flat based boolit to improve accuracy. Might even add a grain or two to the weight in doing so. Now I'm in the market for a Lyman 375449 or a Lyman 378674. What the heck, any gas checked boolit that will be good for deer and black bear.