375/08 vs 375 raptor

[Alibiiv]

My experience has been these larger Caliber Wildcats like the .338-06 for instance, the .308 Caliber actually outperforms the larger Caliber bullet downrange. Unless of course you are seeking a subsonic Rifle.

No I am not into subsonic at all. I black bear hunt over bait. I have plenty of rifles to black bear hunt, but it is hard to find a really large caliber Ruger 77 short action in anything larger than a .358 Winchester, and...I already have one. This cartridge is a real thumper and what I am looking for. I know there are a lot of people who will say that killing a black bear with a .243 Winchester is quite easy, but...killing is one thing, the other is "finding" it after the bear is shot. In Maine a bear can disappear into some impenetrable, tough tracking growth that is almost impossible to track a bear in without a blood trail. Our experience has been that a through-and-through penetration is what is needed. This cartridge with a monolithic ought to do just that and it will be in a 6.5-7 pound rifle. I have already tried the Ruger gunsite scout, I do not like the box magazine. The last hunt that I was on I was sitting in the ground blind only to find the box magazine in my lap. Great rifle, not for me.

 

[Alibiiv]

This is some followup on this .375 Raptor thread. I just received my rifle back from the gunsmith this week. I am really happy with the rifle as far as cosmetics go. The rifle is a short action Ruger 77, tang safety, 18 inch X Caliber barrel threaded with an C Caliber brake. The rifle started life out as a 22-250. I replaced the magazine box and follower with a magazine follower and magazine box for a .308 Winchester. The rifle feeds flawlessly. I built the Raptor because I wanted a short range, relatively powerful cartridge for black bear hunting. I am using CH dies that I purchased used. I have formed my brass using annealed, Federal brass, full length resized without the expander plug and then used a Sinclair .374 mandrel to open the case mouths up. From there it was to the Foster case trimmer to trim to length and then I turned the necks. I have attached the load data that I was able to find on this cartridge. What I have found is that the powders that are listed in this data seem to be difficult to find. I would also like to say that if I had it to do over I would not go the Raptor route, I would prefer to have the case length of the .308 Winchester, so .375-08 would be my first choice. There is a lot of brass to be trimmed off and I see not reason for shortening the case neck. I went with the Raptor because I knew I could get the cartridge to feed in an enclosed box magazine instead of a regular detachable box magazine. I am curious what others on this thread have experienced with this cartridge. One last thing... the data that I have attached was taken from the internet, I have not loaded any ammunition using this data to date, and I will approach anything that I reload with this data cautiously. I totally recommend/caution anyone who is using this data to do the same.

 

[ShadowAviator]

This is some followup on this .375 Raptor thread. I just received my rifle back from the gunsmith this week. I am really happy with the rifle as far as cosmetics go. The rifle is a short action Ruger 77, tang safety, 18 inch X Caliber barrel threaded with an C Caliber brake. The rifle started life out as a 22-250. I replaced the magazine box and follower with a magazine follower and magazine box for a .308 Winchester. The rifle feeds flawlessly. I built the Raptor because I wanted a short range, relatively powerful cartridge for black bear hunting. I am using CH dies that I purchased used. I have formed my brass using annealed, Federal brass, full length resized without the expander plug and then used a Sinclair .374 mandrel to open the case mouths up. From there it was to the Foster case trimmer to trim to length and then I turned the necks. I have attached the load data that I was able to find on this cartridge. What I have found is that the powders that are listed in this data seem to be difficult to find. I would also like to say that if I had it to do over I would not go the Raptor route, I would prefer to have the case length of the .308 Winchester, so .375-08 would be my first choice. There is a lot of brass to be trimmed off and I see not reason for shortening the case neck. I went with the Raptor because I knew I could get the cartridge to feed in an enclosed box magazine instead of a regular detachable box magazine. I am curious what others on this thread have experienced with this cartridge. One last thing... the data that I have attached was taken from the internet, I have not loaded any ammunition using this data to date, and I will approach anything that I reload with this data cautiously. I totally recommend/caution anyone who is using this data to do the same.

MidwayUSA has reloder 10x last time I looked. 1200R is discontinued, I think.

With 10x and 270gr speers. I am not quite getting the velocities in the data you just posted. This could be due to me having a new barrel. I have heard a barrel can "speed up", after 100rds or so.

I will be trying magnum primers soon.

Regarding the case length and short neck, this is from the FAQ.

"Question – Why was the 375 RAPTOR neck shortened and not just left full length after resizing?

Answer – The 375 RAPTOR was designed to be able to shoot magazine length the full range of .375 caliber bullets including the Sierra 350-Grain Match King which has a .720 BC below 1700 fps. Why does that matter? If you shoot subsonic, the 350-Grain Match King has 60% more energy at 100 yards when fired subsonic than the 300 AAC BLACKOUT shooting a heavy OTM bullet subsonic. In addition, the 375 RAPTOR gives options like the Barnes 350-Grain TSX or Lehigh 295-Grain Controlled Fracture."

To ease the shortening of the brass, I have seen some use a small chop saw to cut most of the case neck off, then trim the rest.

What monolithic are you thinking of using?

 

[marksman1941]

Appreciate the follow up folks! I have been collecting .375 bullets but haven't sent my rifle off for a rebore just yet. I was curious if published velocities were actually obtainable.

ShadowAviator, what barrel length are you running?

 

[ShadowAviator]

Appreciate the follow up folks! I have been collecting .375 bullets but haven't sent my rifle off for a rebore just yet. I was curious if published velocities were actually obtainable.

ShadowAviator, what barrel length are you running?

18" barrel from Mos-Tek on a Tikka T3x. 1 in 10 twist.

 

[marksman1941]

Gotcha. My 308 is a 20". When I finally bore it out, I'll post some velocities and see if the extra length helps at all

 

[ShadowAviator]

Does anyone have any powder recommendations for the lighter bullets?

The load data shows they used 1680. I have some CFE BLK that might be close.

I was thinking of ordering some 1680, SW blackout, and when I can find it, H4198.

 

[marksman1941]

Does anyone have any powder recommendations for the lighter bullets?

The load data shows they used 1680. I have some CFE BLK that might be close.

I was thinking of ordering some 1680, SW blackout, and when I can find it, H4198.

A lot of people have used AA2200 as a replacement for 1200R it looks like. That and Re10x seem to be the primary powders for super sonic loads

 

[Alibiiv]

Appreciate the follow up folks! I have been collecting .375 bullets but haven't sent my rifle off for a rebore just yet. I was curious if published velocities were actually obtainable.

ShadowAviator, what barrel length are you running?

Jessie does a good work. I have a number of rifles that he has rebored, and all shoot well.

 

[ShadowAviator]

I said that I thought Alliant 1200-R had been discontinued, but that is apparently not true. I called them today to check and they said that they are still making it.

I can't seem to find any in stock, though. Its burn rate is similar to 10x (actually a touch faster), but you can fit more in the case. I believe this is key to using bullets like the 260gr Accubond.

 

[Alibiiv]

Gotcha. My 308 is a 20". When I finally bore it out, I'll post some velocities and see if the extra length helps at all

What I have read about the barrel length is that there really is not much to gain after 16 inches. It would be great of you would post your findings when you get them. I am almost done putting my Raptor together, just have to bed the receiver and barrel.

 

[marksman1941]

Well, sent out my rifle for re-boring finally. Should be a week or three before it's back. I picked up some reloder 10x, and a pile of 358win cases to expand out to .375 with a mandrel. I have some 270gr Hornady spire points and 300gr Norma oryx I'm going to load test, but will likely pick up a light bullet like a 200gr Sierra to test as well. I'll report back with results!

 

[Alibiiv]

Well, sent out my rifle for re-boring finally. Should be a week or three before it's back. I picked up some reloder 10x, and a pile of 358win cases to expand out to .375 with a mandrel. I have some 270gr Hornady spire points and 300gr Norma oryx I'm going to load test, but will likely pick up a light bullet like a 200gr Sierra to test as well. I'll report back with results!

Good luck with your build. Jesse does a great job, we have quite a few of his "rebore" barrels and we are all totally satisfied with hie work. Something that I have found with the .375 Raptor is a lack of load data. There is/was a lot for 1200R, but that was discontinued a year and a half ago. I did post on another forum and it was suggested that a good place to start would be with load data for the .358 Winchester. There are a number of good loads using powders that are available in today's market. It also was recommended to shy away from the monolitics due to the longer length of the bullets taking up case capacity. The photos are of the Raptor that I just finished. It has an 18 inch, 1:10, X Caliber barrel with their Maxterminator muzzle brake, and all the steel has been polished and cerakoted. The stock has been glass bedded/pillar bedded and the barrel has been floated. And... it might be going into the classifieds soon.

 

[marksman1941]

Good luck with your build. Jesse does a great job, we have quite a few of his "rebore" barrels and we are all totally satisfied with hie work. Something that I have found with the .375 Raptor is a lack of load data. There is/was a lot for 1200R, but that was discontinued a year and a half ago. I did post on another forum and it was suggested that a good place to start would be with load data for the .358 Winchester. There are a number of good loads using powders that are available in today's market. It also was recommended to shy away from the monolitics due to the longer length of the bullets taking up case capacity. The photos are of the Raptor that I just finished. It has an 18 inch, 1:10, X Caliber barrel with their Maxterminator muzzle brake, and all the steel has been polished and cerakoted. The stock has been glass bedded/pillar bedded and the barrel has been floated. And... it might be going into the classifieds soon.

I downloaded the load data from the 375 Raptor website before it went down. There's a fair bit of info in there for 10x powder, which I figured could be at least a safe starting point. How was the recoil on the rifle without the brake? Or have you always shot it in this configuration?

My goal was a close range stomper, and a brake isn't something I'd prefer to put on it. But, it's a relatively light rifle overall. I expect all told it'll be 7-7.5 pounds but I'll have it when it gets back to me. I would rather not get too broken by recoil, so we'll see how it feels. In theory, muzzle energy shouldn't be that much higher than a 30/06 so recoil should be comparable.