Barnes Original 375 H&H 350 gr

[Nomore606]

I have reloaded for the 375 H&H for several years in my father's Sako L61R with great results in many bullet weights. I bought my own Sako AV but my rifle didn't group as well with the 235 to 300 grain loads that were developed for the L61R rifle. I bought two unopened boxes of 350 gr Barnes original a year ago and got around to reloading them this past week. I found a load at 2300 fps with 69 grains of H4350. They shoot with less than 10 SD and my rifle will shoot these consistantly with less than 1 MOA groups. The recoil is more of a push rather than a sharp jolt. I really enjoy shooting these. Would these bullets do great for a future PG hunt, within reasonable range, or would the weight cause delayed kills? Does anyone have any experience with these bullets?

 

[greyfox]

Weight does nat cause "delayed kills" poor shot placement and or a poorly performing bullet does.
If your rifle likes 350 gr Barnes, let her eat!!! Shoot them!! Enjoy!! Don't overthink it.

 

[BenKK]

I’d worry about them not opening adequately on plainsgame.

 

[Ridgewalker]

I haven’t used the 350, but have used the Barnes 235, 250 and 300. The 300 worked fine on Cape buffalo, bushbuck, and bushpig, but the 250 expanded much better the only one I recovered on an eland. I suspect you will only get full pass through on everything, thus lose a lot of energy in anything behind the animal (trees, dirt, other game animals).
Personally I like the 250 TTSX for any PG and if an emergency it would suffice on Cape buffalo.
All that said, as Greyfox said, it’s where you put the bullet that is the most critical. JMO

 

[Luvthunt]

I am assuming that when you said Barnes Orginals you mean the lead bullet. If that is right I would call Barnes and ask them the velocity range for these bullets.

 

[Bullthrower338]

I’d worry about them not opening adequately on plainsgame.

The original Barnes never had a problem opening up. I always thought it was a great deer/elk bullet, especially in the larger calibers.

 

[Nomore606]

I am assuming that when you said Barnes Orginals you mean the lead bullet. If that is right I would call Barnes and ask them the velocity range for these bullets.

Yes these are the old lead bullets not the new all copper

 

[Ray B]

I haven't any experience with the Barnes .375 bullet but back in the day I did use some of their 308 bullets. They were 180, 225 & 250 grain, all with .032" jackets. even out of 30-06 they performed well on deer. I was never able to recover either 225 or 250 grain bullets, but nothing that I shot with them did anything but fall down. Part of this was that none of the deer were alarmed prior to being shot. I did use the 180s, 300 Wby on a spike elk and the bullet lost its core, but it did so after it had caused fatal damage to the elks lungs. the empty jacket was against the skin, far side. I recall the .375 were available in .032 and .049" jackets. I'd have confidence in the .049, not so much in the .032.

 

[Nomore606]

I haven't any experience with the Barnes .375 bullet but back in the day I did use some of their 308 bullets. They were 180, 225 & 250 grain, all with .032" jackets. even out of 30-06 they performed well on deer. I was never able to recover either 225 or 250 grain bullets, but nothing that I shot with them did anything but fall down. Part of this was that none of the deer were alarmed prior to being shot. I did use the 180s, 300 Wby on a spike elk and the bullet lost its core, but it did so after it had caused fatal damage to the elks lungs. the empty jacket was against the skin, far side. I recall the .375 were available in .032 and .049" jackets. I'd have confidence in the .049, not so much in the .032.

These are the .049 jackets. I do have a ballistic gel block that I picked up a few years ago for pennies that I could shoot them into. What materials should I use to mimic striking bone for African style game? Plywood?

 

[Hogpatrol]

^^^^What greyfox posted^^^^. Hit 'em in the right spot. A 3/8 diameter bullet doesn't need to expand on plains game. It's already big enough.

 

[Ray B]

What materials should I use to mimic striking bone for African style game? Plywood?

the best medium that I have found for testing bullets is gallon size milk jugs, filled with water. By keeping variables such as things that mimic bone to a minimum it gives a more consistent comparison of bullets. firing a bullet into a bunch of milk jugs won't tell you how a bullet will perform when it hits the side of a buffalo or a shoulder bone, but it does give a comparison of the bullets performance compared to another bullet. So if you have a bullet with known performance on game. For example, on this site much has been written favorably about the Swift A-Frame. So if you load a Swift and your Barnes to equal performance levels and shoot them into either the ballistic gel or jugs, note which jugs get damaged, penetration, core and weight retention and whatever else seems relevant, you will have an idea as to how the Barnes compares to the Swift or other bullet on known performance.

 

[CoElkHunter]

Yes these are the old lead bullets not the new all copper

Do these bullets have a cannelure? Cause the 400gr Barnes originals in .416 I recently acquired don’t have one? Just curious?

 

[Nomore606]

Do these bullets have a cannelure? Cause the 400gr Barnes originals in .416 I recently acquired don’t have one? Just curious?

These dont have a cannelure. I dont crimp beyond the slight roll crimp from the seating die so I dont see a reason for it on these bullets.