Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Express Rifles and Big Bores Only .375 H&H reloading Crimping and Bullet questions

Gentlemen; I am just getting ready to do some reloading for the .375 H&H.

My immediate concern relates to the bullets I have on hand; the 235 grain TSX and 350 grain TSX what are your suggestions are far as crimping?

My thoughts are to use the 235 grain for my local hunting and work up a load for cape buffalo to be used on my next and final trip to Africa which likely be 2020 or 2021.

Is the 250 grain TTSX a better choice for a deer bullet than the 235 grain TSX?

My intermediate concern is selecting a bullet for Cape Buffalo.

I have checked out getting the 380 grain Rhino bullet from South Africa, mainly due to Kevin Robertson's comments in his Perfect Shot 2 book. They are expensive mainly due to shipping to Canada and there is no real cost advantage to doing a bulk buy. Despite the cost the comments from Robertson are intriguing. Any thoughts or comments?

One of the PHs I am investigating suggested against using the 350 grain Barnes TSX as he had a case of the bullet travelling through a buffalo and killing another beyond, obviously creating a problem.

What are your thoughts on the 350 grain Woodleighs, 300 grain TSX, A-Frame, Woodleighs or 270 grain TSX for use as expanding bullets for Cape Buffalo?

For solids what are your thoughts on the Woodleigh Hydrostatically stabilised bullets? I know the Barnes banded solids will work well. If I can get them to a correct point of impact would the 350 grain TSX be suitable as a deep penetrating follow up bullet or would you stick with solids?

My easy access to bullets are limited to the Barnes, Swifts and Woodleighs.

Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

George

This is also posted in the Africa forum.

Most PHs love the 300 & 350 TSX. Obviously you don't take the shot if there is one behind yours. The goal with Buff is to break the animal down on the spot and TSXs have a great record of doing that, breaking one or both shoulders. Opinions vary but with TSXs solids can be left home. The 235 is also a great bullet and can be pushed to 3000 fps with the right loads. It shoots as flat as a 180 in an 06'.

I have killed Deer, Elk and Antelope with the old X 210 bullet, all 1 shot kills.

This would be a good purchase as it's contemporary information rather than stuff from back when.

http://www.safaripress.com/dvds/boddington-on-buffalo-2.html

Sound like a great hunt !

Thanks Kaz!

I agree with a TSX no need for solids they will go thru a buffalo skull. I have no experience with the 350 but the 300 work wonders.

Crimping is fine; however, select a powder that will result in seating whatever bullet to a compressed or semi-compressed overall length. Keeps the bullet from being driven into the case in the magazine under repeated recoil. (You do NOT want to experience the result!)
I have a .375 Weatherby and the 380-grain RHINO is too long for anything but W 760 (H414). I will shoot, instead, the 250-grain TTSX over RL-15 in August.
(You really have too many questions for one post.)

The problem with 235-grainers is the powders run out of gas at longer ranges -- 4064, 4320, etc. Only RL-15 keeps things going, but accuracy may suffer past 200 yards.
With 250-grainers I basically have a +3" @ 100 yards to -3" @ 300 yards load and can just hold the same aimpoint on a red hartebeeste regardless of distance.

350-grain Woodleighs give you far more leeway in loading -- IMR 4831 works for me.. The cannelure and overall shape make crimping a cinch, and the "soft" will help keep you from hitting more than one buffalo in herd situations. Why would you not wait to shoot until sure the path beyond your target buffalo is clear?

YMMV

Barry

thanks

Not the same but with the 235Barnes in a 375 Ruger, Im not trying to max load, but Ive found crimping is essential. Im using the Lee factory crimp die to crimp in the top relief groove. Works well. I believe These dies are available for the H&H. Have the Hornady set which was the first ones available and Ive found them lacking for my uses.

I never had a need to crimp but several experienced hunters do and usually there is not a down side to it. I would be tempted to use the Woodleigh or A Frame as a first shot and the TSX for the rest of the magazine. This assuming they shot the same. The 235 gr. TSX is a good deer bullet usually without a lot of meat damage. I have been using the Speer 235 lately and it has worked well too. Both 235s were loaded to around 2800 fps with R15. The 250 is not needed for deer but is a great all around choice for any thin skinned game. The 270s are a do everything load and can be slightly flatter than the heavier slugs. Some hunters never use anything other than 300 gr. bullets for everything. I have not tried the 350s.

I would not use the 350gr TSX's simply because it is a very long bullet and cuts your velocity way back. Even the 300gr TSXs are long bullets. This might not be an issue with buff, but if you happen to have the rifle and need to reach out for some other animal, say kudu, I'd rather have a lighter bullet and a bit flatter trajectory. Crimping shouldn't be an issue. I crimped just to make sure I didn't have to worry about bullets setting back in the case. Crimping had no effect on accuracy.

As for which bullet to select, I would personally talk to the PH if at all possible to find out what he prefers. Often, these guys are quite opinionated about bullets (although they may not be well educated about them) and I've seen hunters scoffed at by the PH when they tell them what wonder bullet they have loaded. The PH, in a lot of cases, has never heard of that bullet or had one bad experience with them so thinks they are trash and says so. That puts a bad taste in the hunters mouth from the get go. I've also encountered PH's who would insist that you have solids, whether or not you have TSXs loaded or not. Of course, I suppose if you only have TSXs, then he can't force you to go find solids, but you get my drift. You want your PH to have confidence that when you shoot, the bullet will do what you both want it to do. I personally prefer the 300 gr. A-frames and then would bring solids in case the PH wanted me to have them. With A-frames, you usually don't have to worry about pass-throughs. And, if you have solids loaded behind your soft, you don't have to worry about lacking penetration if you need to break him down on the run.