375 H&H bullet performance

[BC.Pat]

Like most experienced hunters here we tailor our bullet selection to our game, my "go to" for large non-dangerous is Norma oryx & Nosler partition a softer bullet that will expand at lower impact velocities. For DG or big tuff game I have had excellent performance from Swift A frame as previously mentioned ( followed by solids if required) . But I must admit those Rhino(s) look very impressive.
thanks for sharing,
cheers
Pat

 

[Shawn.54]

I know cinder blocks are not a good test medium but to me shooting bullets then recovering them is fun I will say that the 300gr blemish bullets were shredded after hitting lose shell backstop. I have told a couple of farmers in my area that if they have a cow expire I want it for ballistic testing so far no callers. I'm waiting with ammo loaded and a pre dug grave but now it's getting a warm would have to work quickly if I needed open one up.
Shawn

 

[BWH]

The rhinos seem to perform much like the TTSX from Barnes.

 

[rookhawk]

A 175gr 7mm Nosler partition pulled from a bear.

A 300gr .375 a-frame pulled from a buffalo.

Both perfect for their tasks: the partition for CXP2 and the a-frame for CXP3 and CXP4 class game.

The partition typically retains 68% weight although if it hits bone it will frange leaving only the base.

The a-frame typically retains 95%-98% even when hitting bone and heavy muscle.


Both of these are the way to go for their applications in my opinion. If you're using a one gun battery in Africa the a-frame will do it all.

 

[Nyati]

Trophy Bonded Bear Claw in .375 HH did a great job on my buffalo.

For my .338WM I use swift AFrames.

 

[Opposite Pole]

I have experienced poor performance from the following 375 H&H Federal Trophy Bonded Bear Claw load https://www.federalpremium.com/ammunition/rifle/family/cape-shok/cape-shok-trophy-bonded-bear-claw/p375t3

I was stalking a large cow Water Buffalo. The beast was feeding on the edge of a forest. I got to within approximately 50m (55yds) of it. It was as easy a shot as a hunter can hope for. Undisturbed animal, broadside presentation. Having kneeled I took a rest on a tree and fired. Upon receiving the shot the animal took off into the paperbark forest. Here I made a serious mistake. Being sure of the shot I did not fire again while I could have gone for the rear spinal shot or a hind leg shot – there was enough time to fire off at least one more aimed shot. There were two of us there and we both agreed the shot was true and waited a short while before following the animal. Had the bullet performed as expected it would have taken out the lungs and most likely the heart as well. However, the animal disappeared and initially we found no blood at all. The shot was fired at 8am and we spent the rest of the day trying to find and follow spoor. Hard going as we were tracking through wet, muddy paperbark forest late in the wet season with temperatures around 40C (100F) and 99% humidity. After several hours, we found minimal traces of blood in two spots. Did not manage to track down the animal that day and stared again the following morning. At 7am we spotted an animal about 100m away. It was standing broadside to us and looked healthy on its feet. However, close observation through binoculars revealed its sides were somewhat collapsed indicating that perhaps it did not drink and feed for some time. I fired one standing shot and several running ones until the beast fell, upon reaching the animal I fired a finishing shot into the base of the skull as the animal was still alive.

Trying to understand what happened we started looking for the bullet. Upon hitting bone, it failed to break it and instead deflected of its path by about 90 degrees and went straight into the gut cavity where it got lodged. I was quite keen to find that projectile but not keen enough to go through the content of its injured gut cavity. I’ve gone back to the place where I fired that first shot the previous day. The path of the bullet was clear, there were no branches it could have hit on its way.

I do not want to bad mouth a reputable projectile as perhaps my experience was just an isolated incident. I do not think any projectile on the market is going to perform 100% correctly 100% of the time but be that as it may this particular one did fail resulting in suffering animal and a long and stressful follow up.

View attachment 189236 View attachment 189237

 

[Dr Ray]

Bullet test comparison to determine performance. A few might find this interesting. The pills where shot out of a 375 H&H at close to max velocities at a distance of 50m shooting into 20ltr drums filled with water, the 168 Barnes is out of a 308. Although this doesn't show real life comparisons as when used on game due to meat and bone structures etc, it shows the difference between bonded, monolithic and conventional projectiles.
Cheers

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You sure have done some research and testing. Thank you for such enlightening data and photos.
Congratulations on your very good effort.

 

[enysse]

I'm sure the soft bullets would work better at more distance. I love the Swift-A Frame bullets though...

 

[EZRider]

.375 270 gr TSX recovered from a blue Wildebeest shot from 100 m @ a muzzle velocity of 2410 fps.
On the same trip I hunted Impala, kudu and hartebeest and all of the bullets looked almost identical.

 

[Opposite Pole]

.375 270 gr TSX recovered from a blue Wildebeest shot from 100 m @ a muzzle velocity of 2410 fps.
On the same trip I hunted Impala, kudu and hartebeest and all of the bullets looked almost identical.

View attachment 189562

That's a very moderate velocity for the bullet weight, are you shooting factory or handloads? Is the projectile length a limiting factor?

 

[EZRider]

That's a very moderate velocity for the bullet weight, are you shooting factory or handloads? Is the projectile length a limiting factor?

They are handloads with 63 gr S335. I can easily go up to 66 gr but these loads are very accurate, 1/2 MOA (I am a sucker for small groups on paper), soft shooting, expand very well and have yet to perform poorly on any plains game.

That being said, I probably would go heavier for buf.

 

[Opposite Pole]

Ok, thanks, am about to start handloading so keen to get all the info

 

[sheephunterab]

That being said, I probably would go heavier for buf.

No need from that picture. We've killed several buff of a variety of species with a 250 grain GMX with no issues. Nothing really to be gained with a heavier bullet. In fact you'd lose speed which could be a detriment.

 

[EZRider]

No need from that picture. We've killed several buff of a variety of species with a 250 grain GMX with no issues. Nothing really to be gained with a heavier bullet. In fact you'd lose speed which could be a detriment.

That's good to know, thanks.

 

[Mr. 16 gauge]

My .375 bullet testing from earlier this spring:

https://www.africahunting.com/threads/testing-some-375-handloads.36988/

However, I never thought to weigh the bullets after they were shot.....................

 

[Southwind]

Here are a couple of 270 grain tsx's from 2 oryx , one was about 100 yard shot the other 290 yards. One weighed in at 269 grain and the other with one lost pedal was 255 grains. On the same trip I loaned a buddy my rifle who also took an oryx at 280 yards and bullet was recovered fully intact like the 269 grain i recovered but I did not get it weighed. I am at 2625 fps on this load using Reloader 15

 

[Jarrod Todd]

The Barnes are certainly super reliable at reasonable velocities! I had not heard of one failure. Thanks for sharing.

 

[1dirthawker]

re: gs custom bullets,

i shot some for a couple years, killed a few animals with. worked good, but no crimp groove and recoil had them tamping down into the case. ended up using other bullets

 

[Southwind]

First let me say there are a lot of excellent bullets to choose from today and these other two examples are not 375 but .338 225 grain full retention and 168 grain from a 6x6 bull elk 300wsm full retention. I have been using the Barnes TSX family since 2004 now and they have performed excellent for me in calibers including 223, 264, 277, 284, 308,338,375, 458, 500. No failures. Like I said a ton of great bullets but these TSX's haven't given me a whisper of a reason to switch.