375 bullet advice

[FLINT]

Hey guys,

I now have correct brass and have dies on order. Sounds like RL-7 and 1680 will get me where I want to go. The only thing left is bullets.

I'm only interested in shooting 250gr+ bullets in this gun.

I cannot locate any barnes original 255gr. so I've emailed Hawk and they are currently out of their 250gr flatnose with 0.025 thickness jackets but have some .035 jacketed bullets. Does anyone know if the .035 jacket bullets will be too thick for the relatively slower velocities (1900-2000fps) of the 375 winchester. My ultimate goal is to take this gun on a moose hunt, but until then, va. whitetails will be on the menu. Hawk also sells .377 diameter bullets for the 38-55 that have thin jackets but I'm guessing that .377 is too fat for the 375 correct.

Second bullet I'm going to try is the Lyman 375449 FNGC 264gr. I don't cast but Montana bullet works sells this bullet for a good price. My only question is diameter. Does anyone have experience with what cast bullet diameter should work best in the Winchester big bore? I'm assuming .376 or .377 right? Isn't the bore of the winchester actually .375?

Thanks!

[TedH]

Out of the bullets you mention, I would try the .377" Hawk. I size my cast bullets in my Winchester and Marlin 375's to .379" for best accuracy. A Winchester that I owned previously I sized cast bullets to .377". As long as it's a soft lead bullet with a thin jacket, I think you'd be a-ok.
That Lyman cast bullet has a relatively small meplat, it wouldn't be my first choice for a hunting cast bullet.
If you want to go with commercial cast bullets for hunting, take a look at Beartooth bullets.

[Griff]

The .377 with a thin jacket should work fine. As long as they will chamber. I really like the 220 grain Hornady FN for the 375Win. I load mine up to around 2200 fps. Makes a nice hard punching, good penetrating round. But, I haven't shot any at larger game... so that's only a guesstimate.

[FLINT]

ok, I checked out beartooth bullets and found this one:

does this have a more appropriate meplat?

http://www.beartoothbullets.com/bullets ... php?id=114

[FLINT]

or if anyone knows of a better one let me know. seems like id want the one with the longest possible nose to crimp groove length

[TedH]

I know you said that you only wanted to shoot 250 gr. or heavier bullets, but I will still recommend the Ranch Dog bullet. It's got a huge meplat, and is a deer slayer of the highest order. The deer in my avatar was killed with this bullet. When cast properly I can't imagine it wouldn't knock the stuffing out of an elk or moose too. I cast mine pretty hard, and they come out at 235 gr., that's almost 250 gr. It has 3 crimp grooves to accomadate any 375 or 38-55.

375 RD.jpg

I did a little digging around and found you can buy these bullets from Carolina Cast Bullets.

http://www.carolinacastbullets.com/Ranc ... doors.html

[handirifle]

Did you recover that bullet? Wondering if it expanded or if it acts more like a solid.

[TedH]

Did you recover that bullet? Wondering if it expanded or if it acts more like a solid.

No, it plowed on through. The path it left didn't look like a solid, but it could have been the wide meplat doing it's thing. The damage was comparable to expanding soft point jacketed bullets I've seen.

[BigSky56]

Beartooth bullets makes a 250 HCGC, of all the cast out there they are the best, a jacketed bullet cant even stand in their shadow when you compare performance and Ive tested them in elk, bears and on the anvil they arent brittle as he only uses 2% antimony in his mix means they dont shatter if you hit pin bone. I run them in a 348 at about 2300 fps. danny

[FLINT]

I keep going back and forth on trying cast bullets. it sounds like it takes a lot more trial and error to get good results with cast. finding the right diameter and all. especially since I don't cast myself. I don't want to buy 100 of each possible diameter. Maybe I'll try some jacketed first and see if I can get what I'm looking for.

anyone have any good experience with the sierra 200 grain. Its about the only thing available right now. looks like the 220 hornady has not been in production for a while. barnes 255 not available. man, we really took things for granted 10 years ago when you could pretty much get anything anytime and for a fraction the cost.

Maybe I'll just stick with hawk. they are pricey, but once I get a load worked up I'm not going to be shooting this rifle a ton just for the heck of it.

[JFE]

There is nothing wrong with using cast bullets in your 375BB and that's about all I use in mine. In case you are not aware 375BB chambers have quite a large throat. Groove diameter tends to be 375/376 however I would suggest you use as large a diameter cast bullet that can still be chambered. This will centralize the bullet in the chamber and help accuracy.

A lot of cast designs are meant for the 38/55 and the crimp groove is not in the right location for the 375BB, however you can crimp into one of the lube grooves to then load it to the correct OAL. Another item you should acquire if you don't have it already, is a Lee FCD. They are very useful for securing bullets where normal crimping won't work.

[6pt-sika]

In the 38-55, 38-56 and 375 WIN I've had very very good luck with home cast bullets !

I've used the following .

RCBS 37-250GC
Lyman 375449
Lyman 375296
Ranch Dog 379-210GC
Ranch Dog 379-235GC

The Ranch Dog 379-210GC was only available to 4 or 5 folks when he was deciding on the correct weight and I think I was the only one that got it to work very well . RD also made a 381-250GC version as well I think , when that came out I was out of 38-55 , 38-56 and 375 WIN rifles .

As to jacketed I only shot them in a 375 WIN . I used the Hornady 220 grainer and the Sierra 200 grainer . Killed deer with both one shot each but I gotta say I prefer home cast .

[oldgerboy]

I've used the 220 Hornaday, the 200 Sierra, and the 265 Beartooth with all being one-shot, drop where they stood results. All were heart shots.