Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Express Rifles and Big Bores Only AN UNUSUAL FIND!

Picked up this SWEET working rifle from my buddy Hatari over the weekend and I am very pleased! It's a Cogswell & Harrison in 375 H&H FLanged.... 2.5". The rifle is in great shape and with documentation. Ammo IS an issue, but I found brass and I'm having custom dies done by CH Tool & Die :custom die I have brass coming from Buffalo Arms and a friend of mine who had one says it shoots the 270gr Hornadys very well. I'm pretty excited to have my first British Double,

Posts like this is why I keep coming back. Very nice. Let us know how she shoots.

CONGRATULATIONS! Jorge

Awsome. Enjoy.

Wow……congrats! 👍 memtb

Nice Jorge!…. I hope you create some great hunting memories with her.

I had some original 375 flanged with cordite but I pulled the cordite and burned it for curiosity’s sake. I’ll keep my eyes open in some of the obscure LGS’s I haunt for brass, I find all kinds of weird stuff sometimes.

I’d be interested in the real velocities and data you work up once you get going with her. I’m always interested in real world performance of “old” cartridges versus real world performance of their “modern” counterparts…like the newcomer .375H&H. 😂

Very nice Jorge. What's on the critter menu?

Nice find. I like that one. Looks like a good project. 😁

Jorge,

You should be able to find smokeless equivalent loads in Graeme Wright’s ‘Shooting the British Double Rifle’ which should put you close to regulation. If you don’t have a copy I would be glad to look up the 375 H&H Flanged 2.5”.

Time to contact John Sharp and go back to the Bubye for another good buff. Perfect DRG and cartridge for that scenario.

Enjoy!!

Nothing planned as of yet, Ed. I've been doing a bit of reading on the caliber (remember it's a "short" 375 at 2.5" where the regular Magnum is 2.94") and it was very popular in India for the big cats and plains game. A friend of mine(JudgeG over on AR) had a H&H in the same caliber and he took over twenty species in Africa with it. I think it's too light for buffalo and I would much prefer the Magnum version, but I just could not pass up a Cogswell and Harrison at a very reasonable price. I have ordered custom dies and I emailed Woodleigh and they will be producing the 270gr 375 in about six weeks although the rifle regulates fine (I am told) with Hornadys. Also, Kynoch still makes the ammo, so I've been in contact with them for factory ammo. I'll keep you all posted.

I have the book, thank you, IMR 3031 is almost grain for grain the cordite equivalent and as you probably know, there are other ratios depending on powder. See my post above

William Clarke 7X57R.

Regulating the barrels is a chore for someone else. I got it to shoot OK, but the bullet weight stamped on the water table and corresponding Cordite, was a tough combination to capture. It did work well enough to shoot deer though…

Actual regulation (where they break the sodder IS for someone else (like JJ Perodeau or McFarlane, etc), but working loads to regulate is not that hard. My 450NE Verney was regulated with factory Hornadys, but I had little trouble in loading my own stuff with Woodleighs and North Forks..

Jorge,

CH makes good dies at a reasonable price. I bought my 460 G&A dies from them and they turn out excellent ammo.

If the die set you’re looking for is in stock, turn around time is also quite short.

Agree with you that finding a load/bullet combo that shoots to duplicate POI where the barrels were regulated is not difficult.

Spot and stalk nigai... Not easy, as it should be.

That is the epitome of "Express Rifle Light"
not at all to be confused with a Bud Lite.
Wright used Varget at the same ratio as used
with the old RL-15 charge weight = 1.15 X Cordite grains.
46 grains Varget is a better way to go than 46 grains RL-15.

Do they still make IMR-3031 ?
One grain Cordite equals one grain of Hodgden Benchmark in my experience,
though Benchmark might be a wee bit slower than IMR-3031 on the burn rate table.
I'd try 40.0 grains of Benchmark with the 270-gr. bullet
and +/- half grains looking for regulatory.
That would probably be the most temperature stable of all you could try.
So easy with foam wad filler.

Yes they still make IMR 3031 and your ratios are correct. I am going to start with that as well as RL-15 and Varget as I have plenty of all three powders. The die folks are telling me it's going to be months, but I contacted Lee and they can do it in about three months. Stay tuned.

Very nice!

Looks like a very fun little rifle. I've been intrigued by the shorter cased .375/9.5mm rifles. I've been half-heartedly looking for a 9.5x56MS for a few years now to toy with.

OK gents, some results finally. Managed to find some VERY pricey Bertram brass at Buffalo Arms (yikes, but hey, WTF), Used Hornady 270gr SP bullets (not my first choice as Woodleighs won't be available for a couple of months), 40gr of IMR 3013 and F-210 primers and 46gr of VARGET abd WLR primers, right out of the Wright book. These were fired at 40 yards. Not bad for right off the bat. I did not chrono, but it appears the numbers match close as they regulated quite well. The VGT had two two touching and two just right (I don't know if it was crossover) but the 3031 (if you look at the two targets seems the most consistent.

Getting there…..

Jorge

You’re killing me with those groups!

Sellers remorse🥲

Not really💪

Should we tell the guys the backstory??

Please do!

Guys

Story goes that we are both double rifle nuts, and I have a couple of Jeffery’s and recently got an addiction to O/U in 9.3x74R from various Euro makers.

Jorge shoots me a link to this lovely C&H at a remarkable price in pristine condition (for a 100 year old gun). “Is this deal too good to be true?

I call the seller, he describes the rifle and letter of origin and I ask directly is it a ..375 H&H flanged nitro express and he replies in the affirmative.

I decide if Jorge passes, I want it. Jorge passed, and I ordered it.

It is a beautifully made and balanced gun. Mounts like your favorite 20g SXS shotgun. Action tight and metal almost blemish free. There is a special feel of a British double, and this gun has it in spades.

I did the transfer and brought it home. Thrilled at the buy, all was roses until I got a .375 flanged shell from one of my other doubles and…. It doesn’t chamber. WTF???

Gun marked .375 Flanged Nitro express

I’m thinking that’s all good. Then I figure it out.
I wanted the .375 Flanged MAGNUM Nitro Express.🫣

I never knew that these were different. Never knew about the .375 2 1/2” Flanged NE. So I study up, decide I really wanted the Magnum version to go with my other.

I intended to move the gun at auction with Jorge’s help. I never told him I bought it. He took one look at it and assembled the gun, turned to me and “You know where this is going?”

I replied “Home with you??”

Yep.
So the gun found its rightful home. I’m still on the lookout for the magnum version that costs less than a new car.
Truth is I know Jorge wanted the rifle to begin with, and talked himself out of it. Call me an enabler. Been called worse!👍

Enabler! ...and thank you.

A story to warm the cockles of my heart. Well played, gents!

Great find and good on ya for buying CH dies!

Loooong wait...

Jorge- that is a sweet rifle. Very nice!

That is a great story and very cool rifle. Good luck on your search for the magnum Hatari.

Jorge, Id take that to a smith and have him bore the rifling out of itand turn it into a 410...

Damn! how i missed this i dont know! Great rifle Jorge, congrats Sir, I'd head on over to reloadinginternational.com and grab a couple boxes of 375 cal. 270gr North Fork bonded semi-spitzer soft points and call it more than good, with a couple hundred bucks and that Varget load you'll be set!

Yep, they're in stock, 12 boxes on hand, stock# NF375270SS

Congratulations on a neat rifle!

Simple but elegant. Thats what a double should look like.