Gas checks or not?

[Nessmuk]

375 38-55 bullets.
Black powder or equivalent loads.
I'm thinking maybe a black bear able rifle.
Will I need gas checks or can I water quench the bullets?
It is old wheel weight lead.

[dondiego]

You most likely won't need to water quench. WW should be good enough by itself. If the boolit is a GC design, use it. Boolit size is going to be more important than the alloy hardness.

[centershot]

I've owned two .375's, a Win. 94 and a Marlin 375. I found the Lee 250 gr. PB to work just fine up to about 1500 fps, no gas checks needed. My boolits were cast of ACWW and dropped from the mould at 0.380". I lubed and sized them in a Lyman 450 woth a 0.380" die set. I settled on 10 grains of Unique as an easy to shoot, accurate load that proved deadly on deer. Yes, you can load a 250 grain boolit to around 2,000 fps but I found, as did the hunters of yesteryear who used the 38-55 hi-velocity loads, that accuracy suffered with PB boolits and recoil became........well....noticeable. If you exceed 1500 fps, you'll need a gas check. There's really no need to go that fast, 14-1500 fps will kill any deer or black bear. With black powder equivalent loads you'll be fine. The 38-55, in it's original loading, was considered a first rate hunting round. Have fun!

[mehavey]

375 38-55 bullets.
Black powder or equivalent loads.
The SOFTER, the better.
No gas check req'd at all.

[Nessmuk]

Thank you. I know my sidelock 50cal knocks things down out to a hundred yards. I use 100 grains ffg in it with a maxihunter. I'm glad to hear I can count on the same ease of use when I get a 375.

[Bazoo]

An interesting caliber you should share about it and your load development when ya get it.