375 H&H Loaded with BP

[missionary5155]

Good morning
Anyone ventured into shooting BP in the venerable 375 H&H ? Looking to give it a try next time up north there.
Plan to start with 2F and probably try 3F as pressure will be no concern in the rifle it will go through.
Any and all info will be appreciated.
Mike in Peru

[Don McDowell]

My neighbor calls it his 38-92 belted bottleneck express. It'll hold 92 grs of 3f, and spits a 255gr fn out of an original Ideal mould out really really fast..

[missionary5155]

Greetings and thank you !
92 grains of 3F would be a kicker. The 50-95 with 84 grains 3F under a 350 is moving at 1465 fps in a 26 inch barrel. Sounds like fun !
Mike in Peru

[Don McDowell]

It is a fun deal. His rifle is a Ruger #1 and he had talked about setting it up to take to some of the gong matches, but decided it wasn't worth the trouble. So when he wants to get the school girl giggles he loads up a batch of those and goes to work on his swinger target.

[missionary5155]

I am looking forward to the fun. Have an Interarms 375 but am going to get working on a single shot. CDNN has some 28 inch barreled 375's on the Browning 1885 frame. That would make a fine rifle to do anything with.
Mike in Peru

[Don McDowell]

Yes and the price on those keeps going lower....

[dave roelle]

Hey Mike:

I Paper Patch my 375 H&H groove diameter, shooting smokeless--Remington 700 Safari Grade Riflegun--its a hoot to take to the range---perhaps i'll stuff some swiss 1 1/2 in it THAT certainly would get some looks :)

It will hold a minute of angle with 52 grains of 3031

Dave

[missionary5155]

Howdy Dave
Have read several posts about PP with the 375. Have not tried it yet in that caliber. Been content for now shooting 300 - 340 grains up to 2200 - 2250 fps. Nothing really in ILLinois I can use it on but maybe one day will see a "big cat" that ILLinois officials used to claim did not exist. But I saw a pure black "panther" cross a cut bean field 100 yards from me during bow season while still sunny. But other than that "yotes" are all available.
Wrote down that load 3031. Will work up to it sometime. Thank you.
Mike in Peru

[Outpost75]

Also great fun in the .375 H&H, and MUCH easier cleanup is to use #375449 without the GC, cast 10-12 BHN, just tumbled in Lee Liquid Alox and sized to fit your rifle, .377 probably being good, and just load 12-13 grains of Bullseye, 13 grains of Red Dot, 700-X, WST, SR7625, etc. or 14-15 grains of Unique, WSF or PB or 16-18 grains of Herco. Ballistics similar to the .38-55 Winchester, works fine on any north American deer sized game up to moose. NO FILLER. Use the same magnum rifle primers you do in full loads.

[dave roelle]

Hi Mike---------this might help a bit on your PP work up

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?253794-375-Holland-amp-Holland-Paper-Patch&highlight=375+Holland+Holland

Where at in Illini land ?

Keep safe

Dave

[missionary5155]

Thank you Outpost. Writing that down also. Have several caliber 38 lever rifles so have not thought much about the big 375 as a plinker.


Dave When we are up north we live in Danville (east central) . I-74 goes right through. I hunt the North Fork river bottoms and the woodsy areas close by. Thanks for that link. Those sure make a fine looking load.
Mike

[dave roelle]

Hi Mike ------know that area well--------Ellisville in the Spoon river bottoms is good huntin as well :)

Dave

[missionary5155]

Howdy Dave My wife was some years in Canton growing up. Never been right there near Ellisville. But knowing a little of the ILLinois area that would have to be some good hunting. Been in the Bath Beardstown area several times.
Places I bow hunt is at a small cattle farm mostly along the North Fork. Lots of deer roaming through those bottoms especially after the corn gets cut. Mike

[Nobade]

I have been playing with my 375 H&H and black also. I have discovered I need to size the bullets (Lyman 265gr. gas check) to .375" or I have to wipe between shots - the throat is .377" and anything bigger gets too tight to chamber. Also found duplex loading helps a lot! Straight black and I have to wipe every two shots. Duplexed I can run 10 - 12 rounds before the accuracy starts to go away. It is quite accurate, very powerful, and kicks quite a bit. Great fun!

-Nobade

[missionary5155]

Good morning Nobade
Thank you for that. Are you using a single shot or bolt rifle ?
Mike in Peru

[Nobade]

Good morning Nobade
Thank you for that. Are you using a single shot or bolt rifle ?
Mike in Peru

Hello to you as well.
Bolt action - Remington 700.
This is one I built to see how a slower twist (1:18) would work with the 375, and to try out McGowan's barrels in order to see if I could recommend them to customers.

-Nobade

[Ballistics in Scotland]

It should work, but the short neck isn't ideal. I would prefer paper patch protruding ahead of the neck rather than lubed grooves, and I would prefer than neither protruded into the powder space. You should use the heaviest bullet you can get to fit the barrel throat that way. Such a heavy powder charge won't increase velocity beyond the usual black powder limits, but will increase the bullet weight you can do it with. I think the right black powder would be about as coarse as you can get for firearms use.

[rockrat]

Hmmm, I have a 416 Rem. #1, bought on a whim, but never shot it. Might have to try black powder in it.

[Don McDowell]

Yessir, grab a can of 1.5 F and some bp lubed bullets. It would be a lot like a 40-90 bn.

[missionary5155]

Greetings
At what point can a bottle neck become a hindrance with BP ? I shoot 43 Spanish and I know about the Sharps Bottlenecks and others. But what about something like a 338 Win Mag or worse the 300 Win Mag ?
Mike in Peru

[Good Cheer]

Glad you asked. Been wondering the same thing.
The big down side of modern cartridges would seem to be the difficulty in loading a grease cookie!

[missionary5155]

Howdy Good Cheer
If needed I am thinking smear some lube on the nose before firing. The experience I have had with shooting 3F in the 50-95 what the boolit carried was plenty. But if not nose smearing will work.
Mike in Peru

[30calflash]

Greetings
At what point can a bottle neck become a hindrance with BP ? I shoot 43 Spanish and I know about the Sharps Bottlenecks and others. But what about something like a 338 Win Mag or worse the 300 Win Mag ?
Mike in Peru

From what I've read it seems that many bottleneck cases have been used with BP. 303 had been in the late 19th century. Al Miller of Handloader magazine had used it in 30-30 loads also. I'll try to find the text on it. 32 Win Special was routinely reloaded with BP in the day as smokeless was new and not readily available for loading.

It looks like a long(er) sloping shoulder style case would be best, something like the short magnums less so.

[Good Cheer]

For a what-if and thanks to Christian Sharps for his breech loaders:
How about breech seating the boolit (lubed or patched), inserting a combustible cartridge of powder (smokeless, duplex or black), followed by the back half of a primed case (rimmed or belted)?

Indiana has this funny little reg about a .35 minimum bore and the brass not being over 1.8" in length...

[Don McDowell]

357 max case with a 250-300 gr bullet just barely seated in the case over 40 grains of 3f powder gas a small but persistent following in silhouette shooting.
Another short case that was very popular back in the day and has a few stubborn followers today, the 40-50 ss.
Either of those should make for a happy blackpowder deer hunter in Indiana.