Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Express Rifles and Big Bores Only 375 ruger

Woods,

No movement of the bullet after recoil? Are you single loading in the magazine or loading the magazine up, and then checking the last round for COL?

I guess what I'm getting at is, are you getting any bullet creep with the amount of recoil those loads are generating? I have put a decent crimp into the groove as I was concerned about the last round in the mag moving out and changing col,...but if you are not having that problem...

Thanks,

Manny

Another trip to the range today, this time with the chronograph. These are an average of 5 shots out of my rifle with 20" barrel.

Hornady factory 270 grain loads ave. 2867 fps
235 TSX 72 grains of RL-15 WLMR primers, ave. 2819 fps
270 TSX 72 grains of RL-15 WLMR primers ave. 2725 fps

Does this seem a bit fast for the load to you guys? The avergages read about 50 fps more than what I was expecting. Maybe because of my crimp, while others are not crimping? I also chronographed some .22 lr loads out of my Marlin 39a (made in 1959) which were consistent with prior readings from that lot of ammo and that rifle...so I don't know. The chronograph seemed to be working fine. (I took the Marlin to shoot between groups allowing my Ruger to cool down.)

I guess a few fps either way is not going to make a difference for what I plan on doing with this rifle. I'm going to use the 235 TSX for a black bear hunt the last week of April. The 270 load will be used down the road for my 2nd trip to Africa, this time for a Cape Buffalo. I wanted to reach a load level about like a .338 magnum from the 235 grain, and a 375 H&H load out of the 270 grain, and it looks like I got there. The 235 TSX load is a moderate load, the 270 TSX load is a 1.5 grains short of max, according to Barnes older data.

The rifle is still shooting well. Most 235 grn. groups are still around an inch, but here is a 235 TSX group from today:




The 270 TSX load is still under an inch, like this one from today:



Both of these groups were with the same sight setting at 100 yards.

After chronographing and shooting a few groups off the bench, I started shooting off the sticks. Yeah, the groups opened up a bit, but at least I know that it is me and not the rifle or load. Both loads were still under 1.5" at 100 yds. off the sticks. I never thought I would say this, but the recoil level was almost "pleasant" off the sticks. Way better than the bench!

The next trip to the range, it will be all off the sticks, from 200 to 300 yards.

Manny

Finally got to shoot my new .375 Ruger #1 yesterday. I'm using RL-15 and 300 grain Hornady RN Interbonds loaded to 2600 fps. My rifle seems to prefer heavier bullets. The 270's didn't group as well. Recoil is substantial, but controllable. It will be my new hog gun for bustin' thru palmetto heads this fall.

"Recoil is substantial, but controllable."

I got to shoot my Talo Limited Edition #1 for the first time yesterday, as well.
Only mine were Hornady factory 300 gr loads. They are a handful, to be honest.
Going to load up some 250s w/RL-15, and see how they do. Put a Falcon Meanace 1.5-5x on her last night. Will shoot some groups and take pics.

Later...

manny - no, it doesn't seem like too hot of a load to me. i run my 300's at 2688 f/s with no pressure problems, and good primer pocket life.

here s the datas i have from Ruger. revised 02/2010 so you re in the perfect area.

Barrel 24" primer fed GM215M

RL15 69.0 grains 2732 fps mini 76.0 grains 2988 fps load density 93% maxi 235 grains TSX FB
RL15 66.5 grains 2556 fps mini 73.5 grains 2772 fps load density 94% maxi 270 grains TSX FB

Big time and ruger375,

That news is good to hear. The cases are not stretching, primer pockets are tight, no pressure ring, it all looks good.

Time to go hunting!

Manny

Another trip to the range today. These groups were at 200 yards, off the sticks, using the 235 TSX load described in previous posts.





A quick sight adjustment, and I was right where I want to be at 200 yards:





My next target will be Idaho black bear the last week of April.


Manny

When I was working up a load for my 23" bbld african, I settled on 75 gr of RL 15, Fed 215 mag primer, and 235 tsx's. A weird thing happened when I got to 76 gr, the max load in the barnes book. I loaded 3 each from 70 gr to 76 and chrono'd them. As expected, each increase brought slightly more velocity, each grain gaining approx 30-50 fps, w/ accuracy improving as I went up. 75 grains seemed to be the sweet spot, avg 2932 fps w/ good accuracy and no visible pressure signs. Here's where it got weird, at 76 gr, I lost 130 fps over the 75, accuracy opened up to 3", and the bullets in the magazine were starting to push into the case from recoil. still no visible pressure signs, but I didn't want to crimp, so I quit at 75 gr, and called it good. Anyone else ever LOSE velocity w/ more powder? I'm leaving in 12 days to try mine out on PG in Namibia!

Manyspd1,
that is some pretty impressive velocities and better than I get from my 375 H&H by a little..Speaks well for the .375 Ruger and it does have more powder space than a 375 H&H so I am not surprised and your loads are not even max..

I have built a couple of 416 Rugers and one 404 Ruger and they are hot numbers and really cook...conversion of the Mauser 98 to a Ruger case is a snap. Unfortunatly they are popular wildcats for the time being and I sell them faster than I can make them. It's just a nice case.

wyoguide,

I do crimp my loads into the bottom of the first relief groove and it seems to work well. Please report when you get back from your trip. I wonder if you will recover any bullets, maybe not but of course give us a full report on how the rifle performs.

Mr. Atkinson,

What you have previously mentioned about a few fps more won't make much of a difference rang true for me. If I did think I needed to squeak out a few more fps than I probably should have went with a .416 instead of a .375, at least that is the way I am looking at it. I did want a certain threshold of power, once I met that I wanted good accuracy. The rifle is shooting well from the bench or sticks, with enough fps to do the job using the 235 grain for lighter game and the 270 grain TSX for heavier game.

Thanks for the pm by the way and I am looking forward to looking at the material.

Manny

Update, finally got out to try the next set of loads with the 260 gr Accubond and RL17

AB 260 RL17 82.5 3.350 2859
AB 260 RL17 83.0 3.350 2872
AB 260 RL17 83.5 3.350 2896
AB 260 RL17 84.0 3.350 2916


No signs of pressure, here is a pic of the primers before and after on the 84 gr load



It was a bad day for shooting with gusty winds quartering from 10:00 o'clock from 10 to 20 mph. Here are pics of the 1st string and the last string



Do you think I should keep going up to see if I can hit 3000 fps?

Woods!...............Very well done! What is your barrel length?....Keep going to see if you can hit 3000 fps. Another 1 1/2 grs or so, up to 85.5 to 85.7 just may do it.

RL17 seems to work EXTREMELY well in the 375 Ruger. The best velocity with the Horn SP 270s and H-4350 was 2808 fps from my 20" Alaskan.

Looks like its time for me to get busy trying some RL17.

Hey bigsqueeze, 24" 3-groove PacNor #5 contour

Data for the 375 Ruger is not easy to find. I asked Alliant for some info on their Reloader powders and they sent me a Nosler load of 72 to 76 grains RL 15. The max velocity was 2883 fps for the 76 gr load.

They gave no info on barrel length or pressure.

I'm curious if you can get more, but I would not do it myself. I haven't chrono'd my RL 15 loads yet, but I'd be more than happy with the velocities you're getting w/ RL 17, correspondingly reduced for my 20" barrel.

SUspect you're at or beyond the 62psi limit.

BTW...primer shape means nada, unless it's just not there anymore!

Link below is from Nosler's site...good luck!

http://www.nosler.com/index.php?p=15&b=375cal&s=345

My .375 Ruger is built on a JC Higgins M50(FN) action with a 21.5" McGowan barrel.

I've done some chronographing with the following results(all velocities are a three shot average):

Nosler 260 gr AB with RL15
72 gr - 2726 fps
74 gr - 2811 fps
76 gr - 2873 fps

pretty much the same velocities as the Nosler Manual. Interestingly, my best accuracy was with the 72 gr load - same as the Nosler results.

I've also done a bit of testing with the Hornady 270 gr SPIL and RL17. Alliant states that RL17 has a similar burn speed as IMR4350 so I started well below Hodgdon's minimum load for IMR4350 and worked up to just below Hodgdons maximum load.

75 gr - 2494 fps
76 gr - 2546 fps
77 gr - 2595 fps
78 gr - 2656 fps
79 gr - 2673 fps
80 gr - 2698 fps
81 gr - 2751 fps
82 gr - 2801 fps

Latest update: 375 Ruger 260 Accubond RL17


AB 260 0.473 RL17 84.5 3.350 2938
AB 260 0.473 RL17 85.0 3.350 2941
AB 260 0.473 RL17 85.5 3.350 2956
AB 260 0.473 RL17 86.0 3.350 2978

Pic of primers on the 86 gr load


no hard bolt lift, no flattened primers, no shiny spots

Last update. I hit 3000 fps with 86.5 gr RL17. Velocities for 5 shots: 3003, 2976, 2976, 3009 & 3016 fps. Here is what the primers looked like


no hard bolt lift. However, recoil is getting extreme so I'm calling that tops for now.

This load for the 270 TSX at 2900 fps seemed more tolerable


I think if I could get rid of my flinch this gun would be a shooter !

Just chronoed some of my first RL 17 loads from my Ruger Alaskan w/ 20" barrel.

270 gr Hornady bullets:

80.0 gr Rl 17...2654 fps
81.0 ""........2700 fps
82.0 ""........2734 fps
83.0 ""........2763 fps
84.0 ""........2809 fps

All spent cartridges looked similar...flattened primers, but no other apparrent pressure signs. Bolt lift did not seem heavy.

Base measurements were 0.532" for the lower four loads and 0.533" for the top load. Recoil is tolerable, but would not care to shoot more than a dozen rounds at any one sitting.

Temp was in the mid 40's. Rl 17 is supposed to be temp stable, but I would back these loads down for warmer weather shooting.

This thread is a bit old, but I'd like to point out a couple of safety concerns and factoids regarding the load development that Woods did:

Woods has an extremely different rifle-build then ANYONE looking to develop/duplicate a load for a factory-built Ruger Alaskan or African. (3-groove, 24" Pac-Nor, et al...)

Hornady, who developed the cartridge AND tested it in a "20 Ruger Alaskan has a MAX published load of RL-17 for a 270 gr bullet of 81.3 gr. (8th & 9th additions)

Woods load may be safe enough in his unique rifle, but in my experience RL-17 doesn't show traditional pressure signs like most handloaders are used to seeing, yet I would bet that Hornady's ballistic lab actually MEASURED the pressures to come up with the max safe load or 81 grains in their reloading manual.

That being said, if I recall correctly, Woods had worked up to 86 grains of RL-17 without any (traditional)pressure signs behind 260-270 gr bullets - anyone want to bet that 5 GRAINS over book max is actually at a safe pressure level - even in his custom rig?

Anyone care enough to run those numbers through Quickload?

I do appreciate how thorough Woods was with his documentation, and he did back down to a less-outrageous (and very accurate) load of 84 grains,but his loads aren't even close to realistic for us Ruger shooters and probably are way over-pressure even in his rifle.

IMO RL-17 is a good powder that only LOOKS like a wonder-powder to those used to seeing the traditional pressure signs that us seat-of-the-pants handloaders are used to looking for.

My $.02,
-Joe