Hi
@Kevin Peacocke we’ve been researching this a ton over here and we went to the range yesterday to test it all out. Our plot was aided by two of the top largebore ballistics experts in the nation, Ken Owen and Lance Hendershot.
I’m parroting back what I learned on the journey that will hopefully help you out. I’m not an expert, but these guys are and the results were astounding.
The facts. We were told to use fast burning powders. Get all that powder/recoil to incinerate close the chamber and the perceived recoil will be less. We also were following the scientific fact that all things being equal, the powder that requires the fewest grains to achieve the desired velocity will have the lowest recoil. Just the brand of powder and type can make a huge difference.
Due to typos and errors, please double, then triple check everything below without relying on its accuracy.
IMR4895 is a great powder because it can be loaded to as little as 60% of published load data safely. I believe it was 67gr of IMR4198 in a 375HH case that will send a 260gr Solid at 2400fps. If you think this is a diminished load for a 375HH, it is and it isn’t. Rather than putting out 38lbs of recoil, it puts out 26lbs of recoil. By coincidence, this load is nearly identical to a full 9.3x62mm load. So if you felt comfortable killing an animal with a 9.3x62mm factory solid load, this is the same thing in a 375HH. My 11 year old tried it at the range off shooting sticks and put his first three shots into about 1.5”, regretting that he pulled one shot or it would have been less than an inch. He said the recoil was easy and he weighs about 110lbs, but he has been shooting big game rifles since he was 6.
Another great load is IMR3031, the closest replica to the original stranded cordite all our guns were designed to use a century ago.
270gr standard soft, 59gr to 66gr of IMR3031
59gr is 2369fps (27.7ft lbs of recoil)
300gr starts at 57gr and goes to 63gr of IMR3031
57gr is 2150fps (27.43ft lbs of recoil)
63gr is 2386fps (33.7 ft. lbs of recoil)
300gr most accurate is IMR4350 at 80gr at 2500fps (Ouch, and 42lbs of felt recoil)
73gr of imr4350 with a 300gr nosler partition at 2350fps (36.31 ft. Lbs of felt recoil)
Now to your load question with 235gr bullets. As you’re aware, the 235gr bullets are fairly soft jacketed, so regardless of speed the purpose Is to do devstating damage to thin skinned game. Zebra, Kudu, Croc, Wildebeest, Waterbuck, Tsessebe, Gemsbok…all those 400-800lb animals would do great with the soft jacketed 235gr bullets. At 2500FPS the bullets will operate well and the recoil will be very light. I *think* a 235gr bullet with 62gr of IMR4895 should get the bullet running at about 2500fps and 25.5ft lbs of recoil.
All the data above approximate for anecdotal, not official purposes.
Your proposed load would be literally in the 30-06 recoil class and would do a lot more damage than any 30-06 load you could dream up. The big question would be “why”? I think for most Africa situations you’d be happier with the 260gr and 270gr loads at 2400fps putting out nearly the same recoil as the 235gr at 2500fps. The exception to that would certainly be the flat shooting bonus you get from the 235gr, but the BC of the 235gr lead softs would be terrible for longer range shooting. The 235gr copper loads would be the same volume as a 280gr lead soft so you would get a better BC and the flat shooting.
Planning a shoot in the lowveldt or Kalahari? Your proposal would be perfect.
