Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Express Rifles and Big Bores Only Which Accubond in .375 H&H?

Hey all,

Need some advice from those with ACTUAL EXPERIENCE pertaining to the question.

In one of my earlier posts this year I mentioned how much I loved my 1A in .35 Whelen and how it made me realize I most likely now "needed" one in .375 H&H. Now, I am pretty sure I'll never make to Africa but there is just something about the H&H in a single shot that really, really spoke to me (and normally I'm a very practical sort of guy).

Anyway, I started 'just looking' at #1's in .375 thinking it would be next year before I could take the plunge when, lo and behold, I found one at a great price on Gunbroker being sold by my local dealer. Therefore, I ignored WYOJOE's 'advice' to me and acquired my first .375 posthaste (3 weeks ago). Needless to say, I love the damn thing and hope to harvest an elk or deer (preferably both) this year.

All of that to say I have shot the Horn and Speer 270 grainers and the Sierra, Hornady, and Nosler (Accubond) 300 grainers already. The gun will shoot all them quite well if I do my part. Almost all loads will put the best 3, and usually 4, out of 5 shots in an inch or better at 100 yds. I usually manage to mess up at least one shot.

The rifle does love the Accubonds and I am leaning toward using them for a combo elk/deer hunt in a month. I have shot the 300 gr AB's and just got a box of the 260's but haven't had a chance to shoot those yet. I am assuming (I know, I know) that the rifle will shoot the 260's just as well.

I always tend to shoot heavy-for-caliber bullets in my other rifles so I was leaning toward the 300's. I know either packs more than enough punch and for my needs and trajectory is not a concern as I won't shoot beyond 300 yds.

The reason I want responses from actual experience is I am fully aware of all the 'paper ballistics' between the two so when someone says "I would use . . ." without actually having done so, it means nothing to me.

Will the 300 gr be 'too tough' to open decently on a muley? Do I want the extra penetration and energy for a possible steep quartering elk shot? Let me know your experiences. I appreciate it.

Sorry for the long post ('diarrhea of the word processor' as Stephen King calls it). BTW, even though this post is specifically about the Accubonds I am not averse to using something else.

The new 235 Barnes is a deadly killer on Elk & Moose from the 375 H&H. You can approach 3000 FPS.
Don't forget cast bullets either, the 375 is one of the best ones.

FWIW, the Nosler factory ammo with 260gr ABs shoots wonders out the 24" barrel on my .375 Wby DGR. My NP groups generally ranged from 3/4" to 1-1/2". My 260gr AB groups ranged from 1/2" to 1". It almost made me want to switch from the Wby factory 300gr NPs for my September AK hunt. But I was hunting brown bear. Once, I got my brown bear (if you are bored, long story here), though, I switched to the ABs (based on tons of range time, I just clicked the windage 8 clicks to the left). I really wanted to try them out on black bear. But we didn't see any. I really want to try the 260gr ABs on deer, elk, and/or brown bear. The weird thing about the 260gr ABs is that they have almost the same B.C. as the 300gr ABs. In contacts Nosler about six months ago to confirm that this was not a missprint. They said it wasn't (they didn't say, but I think I know why). In any event, my .375 Wby with the 260gr ABs shoots almost as flat as the best loads in my .340 Wby. I think the same can be said for the .375 H&H vs. .338 Win Mag comparison.

In short, if the 260gr ABs shoot well in your .375 H&H, they ought to make an awesome elk bullet: flat shooting at long range and in a much bigger bullet than most elk rifles shoot.

If you were shooting an elk with a .270, I would think you might want a stouter style of bullet, but with 260 grains out of an H&H, it ought to make two holes.

Pick the most accurate bullet that shoots in your gun..There is no such thing as bullet failure in a .375 H&H as a matter of fact. I have not seen a failure in many years..One of the local favorite bullets for elk is the 250 or 300 gr. The locals at the coffee shop show me these perfectly expanded Sierras every year that they recovered from elk..I am not an avid Sierra fan, most of their bullets are on the soft side, but they work on soft skin game every time as far as I know...Todays bullets are as good as I have ever seen, and I remember the days when most all bullets failed by our standards, but you know what, they killed the animal 99% of the time, even when they came apart, and when they didn't open very much. Most of us today are living in the past over what we read, and its not applicable anymore, todays bullets just flat work, some a little better than others, but they all do OK..

Have only used the 260 Accubond from my .375 H&H, not the 300 grainer. The 260 shoots great, expands well and penetrates well. I loaded them over a conservative 69 gr of RL-15, and got great accuracy and a muzzle velocity of 2620 fps from the 24" Ruger Number One. Slammed some water-filled jugs at 20 yards to test the bullet:


Then took it hunting and slammed a black bear at just over 300 yards, hammering him very dead, very quickly. Penetration was complete through the chest cavity and the exit wound indicated good expansion:


I strongly suspect that either the 260 or the 300 gr Accubond would work very well for you. If I get out for elk this year, I'll be using the same load, the 260's at an easy-shooting 2620 fps.

Regards, Guy

I used the 260g AB from a 375 ruger at 2860fps in africa 2 years ago. 5 one shot kills including zebra, gemsbok, and a 55" kudu. Recovered one bullet from the kudu under the skin on the other side after a quartering away shot. The bullet was mushroomed nicely and looked good. One bullet came apart on a facing shot on a blesbok but put it right down and fragments were found towards the back of the animal. It impacted a lot of bone as I hit to one side and took out several ribs going back. I wouldn't hesitate to use the 260 for elk.

Bb

I have taken two large bull elk and five species of Plains Game in Namibia (oryx, kudu, waterbuck, impala and black wildebeest) with the 260 AB. All of the African game were one-shot kills at ranges from about 80 meters (kudu) to almost 300 meters (impala). One of the elk stood around, dead on his feet, long enough to get a second shot. I only recovered two bullets, from the kudu and the waterbuck. Both mushroomed nicely and both retained around 70 percent of their starting weight. The trajectory was about like 180s from a .30-06 in my rifle with my handloads.

I have shot the 260 grain Accubond in my one .375H&H with good results! I got 3 inch groups (100 yds) standing, freehanded at the range and am positive they would be down in the 1.5 inch or 2 inch groups from the bench. The bullet seems to hold together well and mushroom out without jacket loss.

I've shot the 260 grain Accubond in my Ruger Number One Tropical .375 H&H and it shoots very well. It is the most accurate factory load I've shot in this rifle. I've not handloaded the 260, but I have loaded 220s, 270s and 300s. Of these, the 270 is the most accurate in my rifle, but we're talking about small differences here. All loads I've tried in it have been accurate. The 300 is my favorite. Like you, I like the heavier bullets. I also like the 300 loaded down to 1,775 fps. It works well on deer and hogs and is a good round for knocking around in the woods. I accomplish this with IMR SR-4759. This load is accurate too.