Powder for .375 H&H

[AlaskaMike]

I just bought a Ruger M77 RSM in .375 H&H, and I'm starting to go over load data to see where I want to start. My only other loading experience for bottlenecked rifle cartriges has been with .30-06. Because of that, I have some IMR-4895 and some H4350. Both appear to work okay for .375 H&H based on what I've seen, but I'm wondering what might be better.

Reloader 15 appears to be a popular one for .375 H&H. Is this a stick or ball type powder? Alliant's site doesn't indicate. Although I've had good luck with 4895 and 4350 in .30-06, I'm interested in trying ball powders because I'm tired of trying to meter the stick powders.

Thanks for any suggestions,
Mike

[klausg]

Mike-
RL-15 is an extruded (stick) powder; my H&H seems to like it, though it prefers IMR 4064. As for ball powder, I've had fairly good results with Win 760, not as good as with the 4064, but still minute-of-moose. These results are with j-words, for cast I seem to do best with IMR 3031 or 4064. Hope this helps

-Klaus

[Larry Gibson]

Mike

While everyone raves about RL15 in the three six bits it has not given me the best performance in my M70. With 235 - 270 gr bullets 4895 (I use IMR or milsurp IMR) gives the best performance of accuracy and velocity. 4064 works as well but 4895 throws more accurately so I use it. With 285-300 gr bullets Varget gives very good performance. With cast bullets I use 4895 or 5744 and with RBs I use Bullseye.

Larry Gibson

[AlaskaMike]

Thanks guys--I loaded some up with 4895 and 4350, and I'll decide where to go based on how they do. I still might buy some H380 or H414 and play with that.

I didn't mention it, but for cast loads, I plan on using 4227 and possibly 4895. My .30-06 cast loads using 4895 seem to work pretty well.

Mike

[andrew375]

VV N140. Works well with both jacketed and cast.:coffeecom

[AlaskaMike]

Andrew, I haven't tried any VV powders yet, but I think I need to based on what I've been reading.

I loaded up some Speer 235 gr. semi-spitzers with 70, 72 and 74 grains of 4895, and although 74 grains was noticeably better than the others, all three loads were pretty inconsistent. Hodgdon says for some reason to always use magnum primers regardless of powder in this caliber, and that just didn't make sense to me--I always match the primer to the powder being used. I loaded some more at 74 grains using standard CCI primers, and those seemed to be a little better. I might even up the charge some.

I loaded up a few rounds with 80 grains of 4350 and the Speer 270 grain spitzer boat tail, and those were really nice. I may try some 4895 with that bullet based on Larry's recommendation.

I'd still like to play with some of the various ball powders, but this works for now. I can't wait for my new .375 mould to get here so I can start playing with cast loads.

Thanks!
Mike