.375 Cast bullets and H870

[dancingbear41]

I have been shooting a very comfortable load of 16 grains of Herco behind just about any cast bullets, 250 grains to 300 grains in my .375 H&H Magnum Ruger No.1. It shoots well and does not hurt, wimp that I am.

I was given several pounds of H870 recently. Not being an owner of a .50 BMG can I get away with using it in my .375? I am sure I read recently about just this combination and the suggestion was to simply fill the case and stuff a bullet in on top. Being as slow as it is I cannot see any problem with pressure, probably more like unburnt powder.

Any advice would be gratefully received.

Thanks.

Dancingbear41.

[Bass Ackward]

I have been shooting a very comfortable load of 16 grains of Herco behind just about any cast bullets, 250 grains to 300 grains in my .375 H&H Magnum Ruger No.1. It shoots well and does not hurt, wimp that I am.

I was given several pounds of H870 recently. Not being an owner of a .50 BMG can I get away with using it in my .375? I am sure I read recently about just this combination and the suggestion was to simply fill the case and stuff a bullet in on top. Being as slow as it is I cannot see any problem with pressure, probably more like unburnt powder.

Any advice would be gratefully received.

Thanks.

Dancingbear41.


DB,

H-870 is loadable, sure. As long as you can find the charge listed for a jacketed bullet of similar weight. One problem though, not for the comfort levels of the Herco. :grin: You will get .... slightly more velocity unless you cut charges back and use some filler to keep it back against the primer. I prefer solid filler like plastic shot buffer. And chances are, after it is all said and done, you will still have some unburned. SO watch out for the powder police. :grin:

There are advanced techniques described on this board called duplexing or duplex loads. Search for these topics if you are interested. Basically this technique uses 2-5 grains of a faster, more easily ignited powder, like 2400 to get the pressure up quicker and burn H-870 .... more consistently. But you must have compression to keep charges separate and next to the primer. This can be complicated and you have to have most other issues right like lube. But it can be very rewarding too when you see where you end up.

[AZ-Stew]

H-870 is a very slow powder that was originally developed, I believe, for 20mm military ammo. I don't think you'll get it to burn well in the .375 H&H due to the bore size. H870 works well in the 7mm Rem Mag with 160gr+ bullets, .25-06 with 120gr bullets and other such large case/small bore cartridges with heavy-for-bore-size bullets. I have a very good load for it in my 7MM Rem Mag, but I don't have much of it left and it's been discontinued. I've used it in the .25-06, but it's hard to get enough of it in the case to get maximum velocity from it.

And though it can give high velocities in the .25-06 with 120gr bullets, it will not produce optimum velocities in the .30-06 even with 200gr bullets due to the bore size vs case capacity issue. I believe this is what you will find with the .375 H&H. And since you're looking for moderate velicities with cast bullet loads, I don't believe you'll find it very useful. You'll load a lot of it and burn it poorly. Due to the additional powder weight in the load you'll actually encounter higher recoil from loads with it that produce the same velocity as those you've been creating with Herco.

For historical purposes, when I first started using it back in the mid-70s, Hodgdon was still selling it from WWII surplus stocks. I used to pay $2.50/lb for it. Ah, the good ol' days.

If you decide to get rid of it, please PM me [smilie=1: .

Regards,

Stew

[con10der]

Just bought a 375 H&H barrel for my Encore and i am thinking of where to stsrt with some cast boolits to check for accuracy and penetration on deer sized game.sounds like what you are using sounds like a real good starting point.thanks for the info,J.R.

[nelsonted1]

I don't understand why no one chimed in with the wonders of the slowest powders and cast bullets. I use several of the powders in six or seven military calibers and love them- 308, 3006, 8mm ...

[felix]

DB41, shoot a case full, no compression, in fact, take out about 5 grains for air space to allow the primer to fire mo'betta. Compare that to your Herco load on paper at 50 yards for impact differences. Let us know how much difference and location of each, and describe the amount of left over powder. ... felix