Recommend a .375 bullet for North America

[Andrews]

For any North American hunting using a 375, I would no hesitate to use a 270 grain Hornady Interlock, whether it be whitetail, black bear, elk, moose. If I was stepping up to brown bear, I would find some of the older RN 300 gr Interlocks. I haven't played with the new DGX's enough to give an opinion on them, but reviews have been mixed. And for you next deer hunt, try some of the 220 gr FP. Talk about DRT They will NOT run lol

 

[High Desert Hunter]

The 160gr 7mm, 180gr .308, and 270gr .375 have similar sectional densities, one of the aspects to good penetration, of course bullet construction does play a key part. I shoot mostly 180 and 200gr from my 300 Win Mag, and mostly 300gr from my 375 Ruger, right now I have been "plinking" with Hornady 300gr FMJ, they have been on sale at the Hornady website for $25/50, so I bought a couple hundred. So far they have given good accuracy from my rifle, not quite as good as the 300gr Interlock, and about the same as the 300gr DGX blemished bullets that I bought 200 of as well. I sure hope it takes a lot of rounds to shoot out this barrel, because i really love loading for it, and shooting it. Growing up in Oregon, I have seen more elk killed with the 30'06 than any 2 other rounds, friend here in New Mexico killed an elk and an Oryx last week with his 30'06, one shot each, no tracking.

 

[matt85]

I recently found a old box of Hornady 300gr interlock BTSP bullets and love them! the 300 gr BTSP proved themselves today at 100, 200, and 300 yards with 1 MOA groups. but unfortunately it appears they no longer make this bullet as its not even listed on there website.

thanks for the heads up on the 300gr FMJ RN deal, but I think Hornady's 225gr spire points or Speer's 235gr SP make for better plinking bullets. not only are these two bullets gentler on the shoulder but they can provide great accuracy when pushed. I was achieving sub-moa at 100yrds with the 225gr spire points over 71 grains of H4895. both these bullets run around $40 per 100 which makes them very affordable plinking bullets.

I sucked it up today and bought two boxes of Barnes bullets, a box of 270gr tsx and a box of 300gr tsx. I hope these puppies are worth it cause the two boxes were over $100 but I figure I can count the number of bad reviews on these bullets on one hand so they must be pretty dang good. however, even if they are good I cant afford to shoot these puppies often!

-matt

 

[High Desert Hunter]

I only buy the 300gr so I know I won't need to make scope adjustments, they shoot within 1/2" of my hunting loads, for real plinking, I shoot cast with pistol powder, or rifle powders on the faster end of the burn chart. I have used the TSX in my 300 Win Mag, they are very accurate, and if deep penetration was necessary, and I didn't want to shoot solids, they would be my pick, I personally have never seen one fail to open. To date, the Hornady 300gr round nose soft points have been the most accurate, with the Sierra 300gr soft point boattails a very, very close second, loaded using RL 17 powder.

View attachment 25107

 

[High Desert Hunter]

Matt85, Brownells has the 300gr BTSP in stock, but I'm not sure if they are being discontinued until the craziness in the U.S. dies down some.

HONRADY INTERLOCK BULLETS | Brownells

Hornady Manufacturing Company :: Bullets :: Rifle :: Choose by Caliber :: .375 375 CAL :: 375 Cal .375 300 gr FMJ Encapsulated

 

[Stocky]

My vote for the 375 North American hooved species goes hands-down to Nosler.

You got the 260 grain Ballistic Tip for an inexpensive bullet, ideal for load development, sighting in or any thin-skinned non-dangerous big game, plus they shoot flat enough at 2800 fps to make 300 yard shots simple.

Ballistic tips are interchangeable with the Accubonds, same exact profile only difference is the bonding, so if the game is on the heavy side there you go. You can do the load development with the ballistic tips and then switch over to the Accubonds at the same point of impact.

Reloader 15, Reloader 17, and either of the 4350s make excellent powders for the 260s or 300s for that matter. I get really super accuracy with 4831 but just can't get enough of it into the case.

If I were going after moose or grizz I'd look at the 260 Partitions, or even the 300 grain Accubonds. Brown bear move up to the 300 gr. Partitions, or the venerable 300 TSX.

I've also used the 250 gamekings and 300 gamekings from Sierra. They're very accurate bullets and flat shooting too, but due to that pretty boattail they nearly always shed the jacket. Not a big problem on most game though, given the size of the bullet were talking about here. I think I still have a 300 Sierra somewhere I recovered from an elk that looks like an exploded cigar without the tobacco.

Let's face it though, just about anything out of the 375 will take anything that walks in the continental US and most of Alaska too. The only place I'd be careful is with a conventional jacketed bullet 250 grains or less on a big brown bear.

Back in my younger days I used to like to shoot
mule deer and antelope with that 235 Speer at 3000 fps. It laid them low. I have to confess, I shot a couple woodchucks and coyotes with it too.

 

[sestoppelman]

I recently found a old box of Hornady 300gr interlock BTSP bullets and love them! the 300 gr BTSP proved themselves today at 100, 200, and 300 yards with 1 MOA groups. but unfortunately it appears they no longer make this bullet as its not even listed on there website.

thanks for the heads up on the 300gr FMJ RN deal, but I think Hornady's 225gr spire points or Speer's 235gr SP make for better plinking bullets. not only are these two bullets gentler on the shoulder but they can provide great accuracy when pushed. I was achieving sub-moa at 100yrds with the 225gr spire points over 71 grains of H4895. both these bullets run around $40 per 100 which makes them very affordable plinking bullets.

I sucked it up today and bought two boxes of Barnes bullets, a box of 270gr tsx and a box of 300gr tsx. I hope these puppies are worth it cause the two boxes were over $100 but I figure I can count the number of bad reviews on these bullets on one hand so they must be pretty dang good. however, even if they are good I cant afford to shoot these puppies often!

-matt

I see some on Gunbroker for sale and also some of the RN IL as well.

 

[matt85]

Matt85, Brownells has the 300gr BTSP in stock, but I'm not sure if they are being discontinued until the craziness in the U.S. dies down some.

HONRADY INTERLOCK BULLETS | Brownells

Hornady Manufacturing Company :: Bullets :: Rifle :: Choose by Caliber :: .375 375 CAL :: 375 Cal .375 300 gr FMJ Encapsulated

thanks for the links! am broke at the moment so heres hopen they still have some in stock next week when I get paid.

the nosler tipped bullets are still out of my normal shooting price range. nosler tipped bullets run at the same price as Barnes TSX (about $1 each).

on an interesting note I took my 375 out for some shooting yesterday and had terrible luck with the sierra 250gr bullets. either im doing something wrong or my gun doesn't like em cause I couldn't get them to group worth beans.

thanks
-matt

 

[High Desert Hunter]

I know that feeling Matt! I try to stock up whenever I can afford to to get me through the lean times.

 

[matt85]

i would like to confirm my suspicions about the Hornady 300gr BTSP. they are indeed no longer in production according to an email i got from hornady. here is the email:

Thank you for your email. Unfortunately our SKU#3725 375cal 300gr BTSP bullet has been discontinued and we no longer have any left in stock.

Hornady Sales Team

sad news indeed as the performance (at least on paper) was very good with these bullets.

-matt

 

[High Desert Hunter]

Same with their 300gr RNSP, damn shame, relatively inexpensive bullets for the 375 are fading into oblivion. They are discontinuing the 300gr FMJ as well I have heard, which is why they are on sale, we will be left with their Dangerous Game line at double the price. Wish Remington would sell their Core-Lokt for reloading in .375.

 

[matt85]

at least it looks like they intend to keep the 225gr interlock SP going. ive had good success at the range with this bullet over 71gr of H4895. however the downside to the 225gr bullet is in order to get good accuracy you need lots of speed which the bullet is not designed to handle. this means its not a useful hunting bullet like the 300gr BTSP and 300gr SP RN would be. I haven't tried them personally but ive heard the 300gr SP RN were stellar performers on medium/large critters.

more people need to buy .375 caliber guns and bug Hornady to put these two bullets back into production. there are plenty of good .375 cartridges out there to work with these two 300gr bullets! 375 H&H, 375 Ruger, 375 RUM, 378 weatherby, 375 weatherby, 375 Dakota, and 376 steyr just to name a few.

-matt

 

[Grumulkin]

Fortunately, I bought a bunch of Hornady 300 gr. BTSP bullets so won't be hurting for a long time.

What happens is, that everyone drinks the Kool Aide and thinks one needs a "premium" bullet for everything. Then there is less demand for the more economical bullets that have killed stuff well for years and it therefore doesn't make business sense to keep on making them.

 

[Stocky]

Matt85, Brownells has the 300gr BTSP in stock, but I'm not sure if they are being discontinued until the craziness in the U.S. dies down some.

HONRADY INTERLOCK BULLETS | Brownells

Hornady Manufacturing Company :: Bullets :: Rifle :: Choose by Caliber :: .375 375 CAL :: 375 Cal .375 300 gr FMJ Encapsulated

Hornady "suspended" a bunch of bullets and ammo last year.

Who knows if they'll ever begin production on them again.

 

[High Desert Hunter]

I haven't found any 300gr RNSP bullets, but the BT bullets were in stock at Brownells. I am going to try and pick up at least 1 more box of the RN FMJ 300gr bullets. Going to buy a bullet mold so I can cast my own .375 bullets, I have 2K 375 gas checks.

 

[matt85]

I haven't found any 300gr RNSP bullets, but the BT bullets were in stock at Brownells. I am going to try and pick up at least 1 more box of the RN FMJ 300gr bullets. Going to buy a bullet mold so I can cast my own .375 bullets, I have 2K 375 gas checks.

here is a guy who sells cast bullets for a reasonable price: 375 Ruger and 375 H&H - 320 grain bullets : Reloading Supplies at GunBroker.com

i ended up ordering 6 boxes of 300gr BTSP from brownells this morning, if you buy 5 or more the price drops $1 per box. i figure that should last me a good while as i dont intend to use em for close range plinking. i suppose when those run out ill try sierra's 300gr BTSP or Speer's 270gr BTSP bullet.

-matt

 

[High Desert Hunter]

Funny, Dan is a good friend of mine, and I have shot hundreds of his bullets, his 350s are awesome, the ones in the link you posted also shoot very well. The Sierra 300gr BT bullet shoots superbly from my 375 Ruger, I have had good luck with the 270gr Hornady as well.

 

[Grumulkin]

i ended up ordering 6 boxes of 300gr BTSP from brownells this morning, if you buy 5 or more the price drops $1 per box. i figure that should last me a good while as i dont intend to use em for close range plinking. i suppose when those run out ill try sierra's 300gr BTSP or Speer's 270gr BTSP bullet.

What a Blue Wildebeest shot with a single 270 gr. Speer looks like.

Having to live with Speer bullets wouldn't be that bad.

 

[Rob404]

Ok, am I thinking wrong here,I thought a 235Gr Barnes TSX would be a good set-up for my 375hh for Plains game am I to light ?

 

[sestoppelman]

Ok, am I thinking wrong here,I thought a 235Gr Barnes TSX would be a good set-up for my 375hh for Plains game am I to light ?

No, not for plains game. Should hit like the hammer of Thor if you drive them a bit.