.375 H&H Magnum bullets : Light weight hunting bullets for longer hunting distances in the Kalahari

[Gert Odendaal]

Good to hear from members in regards to their experiences in regards to the bullet weight for the .375 cal. My aim is to try and zero out to 250 meters, and practice until I am able and confident to shoot a tight grouping , then use that confidence to actually hunt /shoot at a live game animal at 250 meters up to 300 meters.

 

[Mauser78]

First group, load recomended by Peregrine

 

[Mauser78]

Looks like a LR bullet as well.

 

[Gert Odendaal]

I assume it is the 230gr Peregrine VLR bullet? Accuracy looks great, how is it out to 200m? Will you see if you can reach out to 300meters with this grain bullet?? And what the accuracy and grouping will be?

I am looking at the VRL5 practice bullet as well , it seems quite affordable as well.

375, VLR5

The VLR5 is an accurate, high performance, top BC solid copper bullet for long range practise and competition shooting. Easy to reload, not temperature or jump sensitive. When flatter trajectories and consistent performance is important, this is the bullet to use. With identical ballistic...

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[Mauser78]

I just go to the range and and make sure the rifle is still zero’d on the 200m gong, then I play on the 250, 300 and 400m gongs, tight grouping on 200m, and if i can hit the 300m and 400m gongs the size of a paper plate repeatedly, i am happy for shoulder shots on Kudu and Gemsbok.

 

[Mauser78]

Yes it is the 230 gr VLR4

 

[Gert Odendaal]

I just go to the range and and make sure the rifle is still zero’d on the 200m gong, then I play on the 250, 300 and 400m gongs, tight grouping on 200m, and if i can hit the 300m and 400m gongs the size of a paper plate repeatedly, i am happy for shoulder shots on Kudu and Gemsbok.

It sounds great, what scope do you have on the .375 cal?
Do you make use of the Perigrine practice bullets as well?

 

[Mauser78]

VX3I 3,5-10x40. With the B&C recticle

 

[Gert Odendaal]

VX3I 3,5-10x40. With the B&C recticle

Pragtige geweer , teleskoop is meer as genoeg..beautiful rifle , great rifle scope

 

[Mauser78]

Recoil is less than with my 8x60 from the bench.

 

[Gert Odendaal]

Recoil is less than with my 8x60 from the bench.

I will be making it my mission after both eye surgery is completed and I commence practice shooting for the hunt in the Kalahari to only shoot from a shooting stick set up..no bench shooting ever again..this is a decision I made not long ago..I will never use the bench to shoot from ever again..I am building myself a quad leg shooting sticks and this will be the only shooting accessory I am using from now on until I stop hunting and shooting.

 

[Mauser78]

Pragtige geweer , teleskoop is meer as genoeg..beautiful rifle , great rifle scope

Baie dankie, was my droom, paar keer gegaan vir ander gewere, dan hou ek hom vas en stap maar weer uit. Na n hele paar jaar kon ek hom darm kry.

 

[Philip Glass]

Members, I will be going on a trip to the Kalahari this hunting season. I decided to take the .375 H &H Magnum . Usually I use the 270gn bullet weight while hunting in bushveld regions. Since this type of hunting will be totally the opposite of bushveld hunting...long open flat plains and streets between dunes I am contemplating using 200 -220 gn bullets . And will try to zero out to 250 meters ...the scope will be a Minox 4-10 x 42 it should be sufficient. I would like your opinons and suggestions ..

I’d use .270g Barnes. It’s so very versatile and deadly.

 

[MLindsay]

I’d use .270g Barnes. It’s so very versatile and deadly.

I also use 270 grn Barnes. The load was developed for my by Barnes. I sent the rifle to them and got the recipe. When I am using for plains game I sight it 3" high at 100m it is plus 4 at like 160 yards then starts dropping. I forget where it is minus 4"

 

[Gert Odendaal]

Phillip/MLindsay it seems every hunter I spoke with about the best bullet weight use in a .375 cal is the .270gn bullet the best to use. I will see how they group in my new barrel soon

 

[Gert Odendaal]

MLindsay, interesting concept to be able to ship your rifle to Barnes Company so they can tailor make a load for it..I think it is brilliant to be able to do what you did

 

[MLindsay]

MLindsay, interesting concept to be able to ship your rifle to Barnes Company so they can tailor make a load for it..I think it is brilliant to be able to do what you did

The problem I had was my reloader could not get a load to group. I was constantly talking to customer service at Barnes and they finally said ship us the rifle and we will design a load.

The load they designed I would never have developed. My rifle is a Sako M995. The load they developed has the bullet seated so that the overall length is much longer than factory spec, they also used large rifle primer instead of magnum primer.

 

[Gert Odendaal]

Company with a great service reputation for sure.

 

[Gert Odendaal]

I did some reading and made some inquiries in regards to Perigrine bullets...answering /feedback from Perigrine Comapany was fast, informative, re-loading data was provided immediately , options was suggested in regards to hunting plains-game in the Kalahari this July 2021 .

What was interesting is the fact that Perigrine provide a practice bullet option as well that shoots the same point of impact as the 230gn bullet, the practice bullet weight is 236gn ...

The representative of Perigrine whom I contacted pointed out that the 230gn bullets is more than capable out to 400 meters...since I will not take a shot further out than 300meters it seems still a good thing to remember and still keep perfect shot placement in the back of my mind..but I will be practicing extensively using these bullets for my upcoming trip. One rifle makes it less complicated.

Good, I decided to go this route , buying the Perigrine 230 gn bullets and the 236gn practice bullets for this trip.

Now it is re-loading as soon as my eye surgery is completed , then for sure I will be able to have some decent sights through the rifle scope on my .375H&H Magnum.

 

[Gert Odendaal]

It seems there is still opinions in regards to rather using 250 gn bullets for this upcoming Kalahari hunt/holiday. The rationale being the 230gn bullets will for sure loose momentum and cause lack of good , deep penetration to the vitals of game over longer distances than 150m to 250meters??

I really need you members to discuss this statement from your own perspective and previous hunting experiences in this regards???

Thank you for the time/afford you h ave spend already to assist me in making the correct bullet choice for my upcoming hunt in the Kalahari..keep in mind, my hunting grounds always was the bush..where I made use of walk/stalk techniques to get very, very near the game , like on the 1885 Era Black powder rifle hunts I did,

Now, the vast open spaces in the Kalahari and the long dune streets are something totally different to what I have done before...