Home Forums Reloading Big Game Rifles Pet 375 Win Loads with 200 grain Sierras?

Looking for a little info. I've got a cobbled together rifle I've wanted to reload for for years, and finally I've got all I'll need, hopefully. First off the gun is a 98 Mauser action, with a Ruger #3 barrel. Set into a Bishop stock with a palmswell that makes shoulder and point more naturally than anything else I've got. I bought it at a gunshow in Kalispell 7-8 years ago. Shot it with the irons, till I got some bases, and put a red dot on it, using the factory holes on the barrel it makes for a sweet scout set-up. With factory ammo it'll go 1.5" @ 100y all day. It'accounted for a couple white tails, to include a nice coues. When I was going to start reloading for it a few years ago I took it Jensens in Tucson, when they still did gunsmithing, to get it checked out. The head space was so off he had to use several layers of masking tape in order for the no-go guage to no go. I didn't have the dough to fix it, so I shot it with factory ammo, and it got put on the back burner. But, last year I finally had a local gunsmith in Chinook correct the headspace issue, and it was more tricky than just screwing it in a turn and recutting the chamber, but I digress. Every time I placed an order for other supplies, everyone has always been out of the 220 Hornadys and the 200 Sierras. But the UPS chick just dropped off a couple hundred of the Sierras. Woohoo! From what I've gathered off the internet, FWIW, not of the spitzers will reliably open at Win velocities. Besides, this isn't exactly a long range set-up, and the drop at longer ranges would probably be moot anyway.

Took a long time to get here, but here's the real question. Given the strength of the action, I'd like to push it a little, but I'm not interested in making it something it's not. I've got several rifle powders on hand, but IMR 4198 seems to be the most natural fit. But I'm not married to it. The only published data I can find is for H4198 and H322. Sorry for the long read, but thought it might help. Thanks.

The 200-grain Sierra and the 255-grain Lee cast bullet are favorites of mine for the 375 Winchester. I find the 220-grain Hornady just a bit tough for our light weight West Texas deer.
I have found the 200-grain Sierra to be a very tough bullet which opens up quickly on our light framed animals. I have also found the Sierra to be a tough bullet in that it will penetrate deeply on a frontal shot and will retain its weight while penetrating deeply and straight. I am very pleased to see someone looking at the 200-grain Sierra as most shooters go for the heavier bullets. With the heavier bullets I find I am running out of powder capacity before I have reached my desired velocity with my 20� barrel.

In my Winchester I like 38.0 grains of IMR 4198 for both accuracy and power. This load gives me 2,530 fps in the 20� Winchester. With 2,600 ft-lb of muzzle energy and a bullet which opens up quickly the 375 Winchester is a very effective deer and pig cartridge.

If you want to do any low velocity (under 1,000 fps) cast bullet shooting I have had quite a bit of fun with the low velocity loads.

I should have mentioned:
41.0 grains of Hodgdon Benchmark gives me 2,295 fps with good accuracy. The problem with Benchmark in the 375 Winchester is it seems to leave a few hard kernels of powder in the chamber. The next round fired will have small dimples imprinted on the case from these hard kernels. This is a small criticism of a fine powder and bullet combination.

42.0 grains of Alliant Reloder 10 gives me 2,285 fps and is a very good load in my rifle. I see no draw back to Reloder 10 in the 375 Winchester.

42.0 brains of Hodgdon 322 will give me 2,275 fps and this is a load worth looking at.

Thank you, that is exactly what I was looking for. I don't know how the Sierras compare to the factory 200 grainers from Winchester, but I've been very pleased with how those have performed for me in the past.

If you are using an exterior ballistics program the 200-grain Winchester bullet has a BC of .213
The Sierra 200-grain bullet has a BC of .212.

I believe the Winchester Power Points are a good tough bullet also. They have a good reputation on pigs around here.