Home Forums Reloading Bullet Casting Red Dot powder in 375H&H loads?

One of my 375 H&H plinker load is 15 grains of red dot behind a wad to hold the powder at the bottom of the case but I have always wondered if the wadding is necessary.

Does anyone here have experience loading Red Dot in 375 H&H without a wad or filler?

Range report:

I loaded up a handful of loads with Red Dot but without wad or filler.

"The Load" of 13 grains of red dot with my 255 grain cast bullet stayed in a 3 inch circle at 100 yards.
My old load of 15 grains of Red Dot with the same 255 grain cast bullet shrunk that group to well under 2 inches at 100 yards.
Any failure to get tighter groups is due to my shooting. I'm convinced that 15 grain load will do everything I need it to.

All the loads functioned perfectly well in my Winchester model 70.
I won't bother adding a wad over the powder anymore and I'll keep picking up more Red Dot when I find it.

Mssgn

You might want to look into PROMO to use when Red Dot is unobtanium!

Did you have to position the barrel skyward between shots to make sure the powder was at the rear of the case against the primer?

Thanks. I've stocked up on Red Dot for quite a while since I can load everything from 9mm to 12 gauge with it. But good to know that Promo may be another option if needed!

No. Previously I had used a wad to hold the powder against the primer but this experiment was specifically to test whether a wad or filler was needed. After reading many assertions that no filler was needed on the cast boolit forum, I decided to give it a try. My limited test results agree that no wad or filler is needed with 15 grains of Red Dot in the 375H&H case. I was using a magnum primer though to hedge my bets a little.

Next up, I'll try Ed Harris "The Load" of 13 grains of Red Dot without filler in 30-06.

Have used Red Dot, per Ed Harris's article, in a bunch of cartridges--though not the .375 H&H. However, in the .416 Rigby I once experimented with RD and 210-grain cast bullets I used in .41 Magnum revolvers. My theory was that the .410 cast bullets might "bump up" enough when being booted by fast-burning Red Dot enough to work for a practice load.

They did--and VERY well. I started out with 13.0 grains of powder--which actually proved to be a little bit much for the bullets, as they grouped so poorly I didn't even record the "group" size. So I started reducing the charge, and with 8.5 grains five-shot groups at 50 yards went into about 2"--and to the same place as full-power 400-grain jacketed loads.

The only trick involved was removing the expander-ball assembly while sizing the cases. This resulted in enough neck-tension to hold the .410 bullets firmly.

I never used any case filler, or wadding, and only used CCI 200 primers--not magnum LR primers.

And now for the opposite end of the spectrum: Tonight I loaded some .22 WCF (essentially .22 Hornet with oversized cast bullets), 45gr. bullet and 2.0 grains of Red Dot lit by small pistol primers. At 3500 shots per pound of powder I can shoot the Stevens 44 they're going into for a loooong time.

Frankly, I like Red Dot in lieu of Bullseye anymore for about anything the two are suited for.

I'd love to hear those 375 or 416 rounds.

FPS ?

The .416s were going right around 1000 fps.

I shot my chronograph ten years ago.... lol so no way to tell unless someone has software to estimate fps?

I shoot the same load, only with Bullseye. I have a lot more of Bullseye than Red dot at the moment. The bullet is a NOE plainbase that I don't size-just lube and shoot.