Speer didn't think so when I talked to them last week and suggested 1,000 ft-lbs (1,375fps) for deer and 1,500 ft-lbs (1,517fps) for elk.
In any case, I now have two boxes to play with. Will try them in water jugs at different velocities.
My rifle loved the discontinued Hornady 220g. I like the velocity I get with the Sierra 200g but the accuracy is not as good.
I have been wanting to load for a 94 Big Bore in .375 Winchester, so I've been playing with this one (Speer 235s) for several months and I think I've achieved a modicum of success. The one thing out of the ordinary I am doing is to remove the exposed lead at the meplat and flatten it uniformly on a sheet of sandpaper after the round is loaded. I'd like to come up with a better way of doing this since it's a bit rough for old arthritic hands and fingers.
One thing I noticed when looking at Vollmer's website was the meplat diameter of his .375 bullets, which he lists as being .175 inch. Interestingly enough, if the tip of the Speer 235 is flattened the meplat diameter is .175 inch. Not being satisfied with mere dimensions for the sake of safety for use in a tube magazine, I loaded one dummy cartridge with a live primer and a seated 235 over NO charge. I kept this in the front of my tube magazine throughout testing with one loaded round right behind it. After 54 rounds had been fired with that dummy cartridge up front in the tube, the primer showed no evidence of impact. I also used this dummy cartridge to evaluate the need for crimping, After 30 firings, the bullet had not moved. After 24 more firings, the bullet had moved 0.007" deeper into the case. Based on this, my opinion is that no crimping is necessary. My loading OAL is 2.509 inches, BTW. That length seems to work fine in my 94.
I selected Re7 for my project. I was able to push just a tad over 2100 fps without any apparent problem, but the load that seems to shoot best launches at about 2085 fps. The rifle wears no scope, but is equipped with a Williams peep sight. Having had perfect vision the first 50 years of my life, it is frustrating to deal with poor vision but the Williams sight seems to work well enough for my purposes and I was able to put five shots into 1-1/2 inch at fifty yards. As to my intended purposes...that is to use this as a walking around rifle in the mesquite thickets on my lease, and dispatch any hogs I might encounter.
So, if 1500 fps with this bullet is good enough for elk, I am pretty sure my load will take care of any hog I might ever see. Hopefully I will
know before too long!
