Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles Getting a 375 H&H to shoot better

I have a new FN Winchester 70 Safari Grade 375 H&H. This rifle has a heavy wood stock, barrel recoil lug, and the MOA trigger.

I put talley ringmounts on it, lapped the hell out of them, and mounted a trusted Zeiss Conquest 3-9x40. The trigger breaks at a crisp 4#, so for now left that alone for now. I have not bedded it yet, it has the winchester "hot glue" bedding in it.

I have a McMillan on order, but I want to have the wood stock and the synthetic stock for it (Alaska and Africa) assuming I could get both to shoot well.

I loaded up 5 different Reloader 15 loads with 260 accubonds and headed to the range. Groups ranged from 2.0-3.5 inches at a 100 yards. Realized I really probably should get this thing bedded and also possible lighten the trigger. Also, the next time out I will be playing with 270 TSX's. I checked the guard screws and they were at the right torque, also removed stock and verified no cracks in the wood.

Couple questions I have though - what is an approximate round count to break in a big bore barrel like this? Secondly, with the barrel lug - what is the best option for bedding? Fully Length, Action Only, should the barrel be floated to the lug?

Should I just give up on the wood stock and wait for the McMillan?

Any other accuracy hints for a 375? Not looking for one hole groups, but this is a $1200 rifle, it should shoot better than it initially did.

I would not waste any more time and money on it until the McMillan shows up. I'd send it to Redneck on here for stock bedding, trigger, and to fix the infernal feeding problem.

Might as well kill ALL birds with one stone,and make it flawless.

After the McMillan it should shoot. never seen a 375 that wouldn't unless there was something seriously wrong with it.

Today, $1200 bucks does not guarantee us great accuracy and flawless function,unfortunately. In many cases, it's just the price of admission.

Excuse me for asking, but who exactly is Redneck? Does he own a gunsmithing shop?

Hiaring yes he is a gunsmith who posts on here. He is a good smith, a good guy,and knows M70's,and keeps his promises on delivery times as well.

I,and others who post here,have had Redneck (Lee) do M70 work and have been happy with results.

I will certainly vouch for him as well.
On the barrel lug--keep it free floated; you don't need it on a 375 H&H if the rest is bedded right. Leave the factory stock alone for now. On the chance that there is something wrong with the barreled action that bedding it correctly in the McMillan does not fix, you want to send it back in the unaltered stock for the warranty work.

I would try IMR/H-4350 or VarGet with the 260's before anything else. Then if it still does not shoot the way you want it too,you can do the trigger,bedding.....

Try 70.0 grains of Reloader 15 with a 260, 270, or 300 grain bullet; Hornadys are as good as any for figuring it out. 70 grains seems to be kind of magic, though you might need to adjust it a bit for your particular rifle. (Some people have noted other 'magic' quantities of the same.)

All good suggestions. If I didn't know how to work on my own rifles, I'd probably send mine to redneck as well.

First off, if the OP has any kind of intelligence he can install an erniethegunsmith spring in the MOA trigger. It will help tremmndously. redneck can't stand the things and that would be one less "POS" (according to him) MOA trigger he'd have to mess with.

If the OP wants to try his hand at glass bedding, the wood stock would be a great place to start. There are tons of how to's here on the fire and I can think of a few model 70 bedding threads in particular.... . Also as far as bedding goes, I'd bed it tight to the secondary recoil lug and the whole action/receiver. Free float the barrel forward of the barrel recoil lug. I did this with my CZ 550 American 9.3x62mm and it shoots with the best of them.

I still say RL 15 or Varget is your friend with lightish bullets (260gr.) in the 375 H&H. Mine loves 72grains, but I'd do like someone else mentioned and start at 70 and work up. Find the sweet spot. Quit fu cking around with those accubombs and try some partitions... They may just shoot better for you...

Something to think about, if you wait for a Mcmillan, that could be a 5 month wait. If you glass bed your stock and work on loads, you'll be that much further ahead and may have that barrel broke in by the time you get the Mcmillan. My buddy has a newer 300 WSM Extreme weather and he's had a hell of a time getting good accuracy out of it, but it's shooting better and better with some barrel break in. I've seen some of these newer FN BACO rifles act this way. They are by no means a Pre 64. Hint... Good luck with your new 375 H&H...

What BSA said. Bed it. Stick with RL15. Get some Ernies springs. The 270TSX's may work better. FWIW my P64 375 did not like 250TTSX or GMX but shoots sub MOA with anything else from 235 to 350.
You will get there.

Good replies. RL15 should be giving good results, but don't be afraid to try IMR4064 if you reach an end with the 15.

I own the same rifle. I tried Sierra 250s and 300s with shotgun results. I bit the bullet and tried the overhyped Barnes bullets and ended up eating a bit of humble pie when the RE15/270 TSX combo shot like a varmint rig. What I found even better was the 250 TTSXs shot virtually to the same point of impact (but with a slightly reduced charge due to the long bullet length). The only issue I experienced with the Barnes bullets was poor feeding. This problem was remedied by using a Lee crimp die - no more feeding issues. I settled on the 270gr TSX for a hunting load and although it is slightly compressed the accuracy is pretty impressive. I would try working up to the top end Barnes data with RE15/250 and 270gr bullets and see what happens. You may not have to mess with anything else.
Cheers
Brian

Before I do anything else, I am sending the rifle back to Winchester. As I mentioned on another thread, the rifle wont feed the second round and as you can see below, it is tearing up brass. These two dummy rounds each had been fed into the chamber about 20 times - unacceptable.

Once I get that part repaired, I will be getting back to working on getting a load for it. I am a Winchester Die Hard, but it is kind of frustrating to have this from a brand new $1200 rifle...

I have the exact same rifle. I went thru the 260 Accubonds also with poor results. I restocked into a McMillan (unbedded) then tried the Barnes 270s and 300s with RL 15 and a Lee crimp die with excellent results. 2 trips to Africa later and I'm pretty much shooting only 300 grainers. Knocks the thunder outta stuff !!

Looks like the feed rails in the receiver may be very sharp. Digging up the brass and not letting it slide out from under and not letting it go up the feed ramp.

Headache

Looks like the QC guy was gone that day...

F* THAT! Absolutely NOT ok. I'd send that back to Winchester post haste. I have your exact same rifle, purchased a few years ago (on the 75th year anniversary of the Model 70 and the 100th year of the .375 H&H cartridge, incidentally) and it cycles cartridges, cases, you name it with no drama at all. The only finding I had with mine is that shooting once-fired Remington brass (which I believe may be a bit softer?) I had to trim it to length or the bolt was very stiff closing.

Regarding load development, I found that stuffing as much RL15 as possible (within the safety limits outlined in reputable reloading manuals) into the case, even using a tall drop tube, I had OUTSTANDING accuracy results with every bullet I tried. I ended up on a max (plus X%) load of RL15 with a Barnes 250 grain TTSX on top of it shooting into a less-than 3/4" group at 100 yards. This load PROVED SAFE IN MY GUN, and may not be safe in any others.

In summary, send that rifle back to Winchester to get the cycling straightened out, then get it back and slap it in a McMillan on it, and let us know how it shoots. And share photos of which stock you purchase. I'm really dying to get a McMillan for mine as it is both heavy and cumbersome with the factory wood, and about 2" short in the LOP department for my ape-hanger arms...

-John

The Mcmillan stock I have ordered is a Winchester 70 super grade pattern in olive green with black speckles. Should look really good with the contrasting Matte black factory finish.

I hope you get your feeding issue fixed..

I talked to Winchester today and they said they would take care of it. There is an authorized Winchester Service Dealer a few miles away so I'm taking it over in the morning to get this addressed.

Good luck. A good Winchester model 70 375 H&H should feed better than any rifle in your gunsafe.