.375 H&H 300g bullets best velocity

[TCFELK2]

nice thing about this form...it suits & fits everyone not just high power and long range, but all aspects of shooting...so get a grip and realize their is more to shooting than your thoughts

 

[benchracer]

From the beginning, the subject of this thread has involved maximizing the performance of the .375 H&H for long range purposes. If that is not what you want to talk about, that's fine. Why not start your own thread about close up smashers, rather than interjecting something completely irrelevant?

 

[TCFELK2]

their are two sides to every equation...if i offended you take solace in the fact that by sometimes looking at a larger picture will sometimes open your eyes to a larger picture...a thru z is still functional, but don't forget to look at everything in between to see and understand the whole picture with all of shooting!!!

 

[benchracer]

Not offended. Just trying to gently tell you that you obviously don't get the point of the discussion and that you are adding nothing useful to said discussion. You are failing to get the hint.

 

[benchracer]

Well, I finally got my rifle back from the smith, who did an excellent job of sorting out the bedding issue. The CE 300 MTH's are finally showing the promise that I had hoped for. I fired two 3-shot groups @ 100 yards across my Magnetospeed chrono. I badly pulled one shot on the first group, with the other two shots going into the same hole. The second 3-shot series printed a 3/4"ish group.

CE 300 MTH
OAL 4.002"
Norma Brass
CCI 250
79.5 RL-17

For 6 shots:

MIN 2770
MAX 2801
AVG 2783
ES 31
SD 10

This rifle is a handful to shoot from the bench and my shooting technique needs some work. I definitely need some trigger time to get the nut behind the trigger sorted out. The good news is that the rifle seems to be doing well.

 

[MagnumManiac]

Have been following this thread for some time.
In my own 375, prior to re-chambering to 375 Weatherby, the best performing powder with 300gr pills has been Win 760, in both the H&H version and Bee version.
In the Bee version, I can safely reach 2850fps with 300gr Woodleigh PP's.

Have you found a powder that satisfies your velocity needs yet?

Cheers.
gun)

 

[benchracer]

With 300 grain bullets, RL-17 has done the best for me. There is more speed to be had, but the node is around 2800. I am happy with how the 79.5 grain load is shooting @ 2783. Not worth messing with for an extra 20 fps. Being in the vicinity of 2800 fps with a 300 grain bullet from a 375 H&H is pretty good in my book. If CE's stated bc is anywhere near accurate, this is game changing performance for the H&H.

With the 350's, RL-22 is hard to beat. It is capable of pushing the 350's above 2600, but the accuracy node shows up around 2560ish in my rifle.

 

[RevJim]

I shot a 375 H&H a lot, back in the late 90's, both Mod 700s and one Mod 70. I only used the 300SBT in the Mod 700 and it shot very well right at 2600fps also with WW760 ( I tried Boddington's recipe) However, at 200yds the it was still "too soft" on a cow elk, lots of damage. I was pressed fror time for an African PG hunt, and the then available Winchester factory load ( 270 Failsafe) shot very well, we killed lots of game with it in several 375's, Winchester, Mod 700 and a Whitworth Express....but nothing even close to long range. Upon return, for grins, I had that Mod 700 reamed to the 375 Weatherby. (I liked reading about Hal Waughs "Big Nan") man oh man, what a screamer with the 270X. In fireformed Win brass I got some wonderful velocities. I got in a bind, wanted a hunt for aoudad and traded the rifle to my outfitter on the hunt. However, in my limited experience, I saw great advantage in the 375 Bee. I'm sure the 375 RUM and ilk are great too, but that Bee was very simple to load for. I can see the advantage of a heavy bullet for bucking the wind and terminal "thump", I am not sure a standard weight hunting rifle will do what a specialized LRH set up properly can do. But a CZ550 is pretty heavy, so may work just fine, I don't know. I am still impressed with how well the old H&H case design has held up in this modern world of new powders/bullets/primers/scopes. Its an old Honey.

 

[benchracer]

I shot a 375 H&H a lot, back in the late 90's, both Mod 700s and one Mod 70. I only used the 300SBT in the Mod 700 and it shot very well right at 2600fps also with WW760 ( I tried Boddington's recipe) However, at 200yds the it was still "too soft" on a cow elk, lots of damage. I was pressed fror time for an African PG hunt, and the then available Winchester factory load ( 270 Failsafe) shot very well, we killed lots of game with it in several 375's, Winchester, Mod 700 and a Whitworth Express....but nothing even close to long range. Upon return, for grins, I had that Mod 700 reamed to the 375 Weatherby. (I liked reading about Hal Waughs "Big Nan") man oh man, what a screamer with the 270X. In fireformed Win brass I got some wonderful velocities. I got in a bind, wanted a hunt for aoudad and traded the rifle to my outfitter on the hunt. However, in my limited experience, I saw great advantage in the 375 Bee. I'm sure the 375 RUM and ilk are great too, but that Bee was very simple to load for. I can see the advantage of a heavy bullet for bucking the wind and terminal "thump", I am not sure a standard weight hunting rifle will do what a specialized LRH set up properly can do. But a CZ550 is pretty heavy, so may work just fine, I don't know. I am still impressed with how well the old H&H case design has held up in this modern world of new powders/bullets/primers/scopes. Its an old Honey.

I have read similar reports to yours, regarding the terminal performance of the 300 SGK. My understanding is that Sierra has gone with a thicker jacket to alleviate the problem. I can't back that up with any kind of actual experience, though.

If a person is looking to step up from the H&H, the Weatherby seems like an easy upgrade. I am using compressed loads of RL-22 to get pretty decent velocity (relative to the case capacity of the H&H) from the 350's. If the Weatherby were to offer enough capacity to allow the use of RL-26, it could provide a pretty good jump in performance.

You make an excellent point about the overall performance of a standard weight rifle vs a more specialized rig for LRH. There is no question that I am making a lot of compromises by going the standard weight rifle route and that has added some layers of difficulty to what I am doing.

I am pretty happy with where the rifle and loads are. Now I just need to work on tuning the shooter!

I enjoyed reading your comments. Thank you for sharing your experience with the .375's!

 

[Big Jake Duke]

Awesome post, great work.

When you have that all sorted out and want a new challenge- improve your 375.

You will get 375 wby ballistics and give that ancient missile a new rocket like look!

I have one now, love it and i am putting a 26" #6 barrel on it.

I'll let you know how that comes outafter this season.

I love the open mindedness on this forum. On other websites somebody would have chimed in that all you need is a 308 so why bother!

Keep it up

 

[fiftybmg]

GS Custom make a 291 grain spire point monolithic with a BC of .707 .

Considered it myself for the model 70 .375 I bought recently, not sure if it will feed from a mag, but single-shot should be no problem.

 

[stretchitout]

After following this thread ,and finding it so interesting i joined up. Nice to find this as i am going to get my CZ 375 H H set up for long range.The information is what i was looking for ,Thanks

 

[benchracer]

I'm glad this thread has been both interesting and helpful to you. The CZ 550 Magnums are wonderful rifles. I hope you enjoy yours!

When I bought my .375, it was with African hunting in mind. Long range shooting with it was not even on my radar. If I had it to do again, I would definitely spend the extra money and look for the synthetic stocked model, with American style stock dimensions. I think that would go a long way toward recoil management and improving shooter consistency. At some point, I will probably upgrade to the synthetic stock.

 

[benchracer]

BTW, Bryan Litz's testing of the CE 300 MTH shows a .331 G7 bc, which corresponds to a G1 bc in the mid .6's. That is significantly lower than the .750 G1 bc listed by Cutting Edge, but it is still well above anything else currently available in this weight range.

Being able to sling a 300 grain .375 bullet @ 2800 is, by itself, a significant upgrade over standard H&H loadings. Adding a .650ish G1 bc bullet to the mix makes it that much better, making the old H&H both a close-in smasher and a legitimate Long Range cartridge.