Which would be better downloaded 375?

[Kevin Peacocke]

@Kevin Peacocke did an extensive post on the issues with his VC. I wish I was able to find it and I'm sure all your questions would be answered there.

Have you tried the 260 grs Accubond? I believe that would give you the best of both world, and somewhere in the middle of the 300 & 235. The Accubond are very accurate bullets.

I am pretty limited by what I can get Para, right now 235's are it. So I'll start with those and be on the lookout for 250's.

 

[rookhawk]

Hi dchamp, yes this is for the 375 Flanged double. After many tries at sorting out my VC the conclusion is that this petite little action just can't handle the full power, it simply opens every shot when using a 300 grain bullet at 2400 fps. So we tried 235 gr at reduced load, being 64.5 grains of Norma 203b giving a calculated 2465fps and that worked just fine. We have downloaded some 300 grain Woodleigs too, but I haven't shot them yet.
i have just decided to accept the little Verney as a nice light little PG double, and thats ok.

Hi @Kevin Peacocke . I have a lot of thoughts about your VC and a lot of open questions.

First thought, it would not suprise me to learn that the gun is regulated to the original Kynoch / ICI specifications of regulation. The type of powder could have great effect on whether its truly "too hot" to use a "standard load". IMR3031 (with dacron stuffing to ensure proper ignition) will reproduce the Kynamco/Kynoch/ICI/Stranded Cordite behavior of the rifle.

Second thought, generally speaking, doubles hate being loaded with a smaller bullet than the "regulating load". In your case, we think it was regulated for a 270gr or 300gr bullet. Therefore, if you are going to use a lighter bullet, regulation will be off. The starting solution is to have a bullet of the same VOLUME as a lead-core 270gr or 300gr bullet. Put another way, all-copper bullets are 22% lighter by volume than a lead-core bullet so a 225gr-235gr all copper soft or solid is going to be likely to regulate like a 270-300gr lead-core. I'd give that a go too.

Third thought, I've seen the "expert" reloaders of Zimbabwe's work handloading. I don't know if its lack of knowledge or lack of tools, but it isn't pretty. It is entirely possible they are sizing your 375 flanged brass to a point where you're not getting minimum shoulder bump and that in turn is creating high pressure signs with normal loads. I would at least consider that those developing these loads might be working the brass in a manner that is creating the illusion that your VC cannot handle a full load. I can tell you that I saw handloads in Zim that were by the "top guy that 50 PHs use" and there were at least 10 very dangerous aspects to the physical properties of the cartridges. I tried to persuade my PHs to stop using him and consider the risks I was pointing out to them but they said "he knows what he's doing and the guns go bang". Yeah, they do. Someday they will go bang much louder than usual too.

In the States, we try to use IMR3031, IMR4350, IMR4831, H4350, H4831, and RL15 to get large bore doubles to regulate. It just seems that those powders usually do the trick with strong preference to 3031 and RL15 if trying to keep recoil to a minimum.

 

[Newboomer]

Hi @Kevin Peacocke . I have a lot of thoughts about your VC and a lot of open questions.

First thought, it would not suprise me to learn that the gun is regulated to the original Kynoch / ICI specifications of regulation. The type of powder could have great effect on whether its truly "too hot" to use a "standard load". IMR3031 (with dacron stuffing to ensure proper ignition) will reproduce the Kynamco/Kynoch/ICI/Stranded Cordite behavior of the rifle.

Second thought, generally speaking, doubles hate being loaded with a smaller bullet than the "regulating load". In your case, we think it was regulated for a 270gr or 300gr bullet. Therefore, if you are going to use a lighter bullet, regulation will be off. The starting solution is to have a bullet of the same VOLUME as a lead-core 270gr or 300gr bullet. Put another way, all-copper bullets are 22% lighter by volume than a lead-core bullet so a 225gr-235gr all copper soft or solid is going to be likely to regulate like a 270-300gr lead-core. I'd give that a go too.

Third thought, I've seen the "expert" reloaders of Zimbabwe's work handloading. I don't know if its lack of knowledge or lack of tools, but it isn't pretty. It is entirely possible they are sizing your 375 flanged brass to a point where you're not getting minimum shoulder bump and that in turn is creating high pressure signs with normal loads. I would at least consider that those developing these loads might be working the brass in a manner that is creating the illusion that your VC cannot handle a full load. I can tell you that I saw handloads in Zim that were by the "top guy that 50 PHs use" and there were at least 10 very dangerous aspects to the physical properties of the cartridges. I tried to persuade my PHs to stop using him and consider the risks I was pointing out to them but they said "he knows what he's doing and the guns go bang". Yeah, they do. Someday they will go bang much louder than usual too.

In the States, we try to use IMR3031, IMR4350, IMR4831, H4350, H4831, and RL15 to get large bore doubles to regulate. It just seems that those powders usually do the trick with strong preference to 3031 and RL15 if trying to keep recoil to a minimum.

Kevin,
Are you loading these rounds or is someone else loading for you? That could make a difference unless you know for sure what he's putting in them.

 

[Marc Ret]

@Kevin Peacocke did an extensive post on the issues with his VC. I wish I was able to find it and I'm sure all your questions would be answered there.

Fairly certain this is the thread you're thinking of, Para.

Am I being silly?

You may have seen on various posts and replies I have made that I bought a new Verney Carron 375 Flanged Magnum O/U. This is/was my dream rifle, it fits perfectly, it is well regulated and I shoot it well. Nice wood, light, finnesseful. Problem is it has excess head spacing, the top barrel more...

www.africahunting.com

 

[C.W. Richter]

300 at 2000 and 230 at 2400, so 260-270 at 2200. That would be the happy medium between optimal V, SD and E, and based upon what works in your gun, it should! Good Luck. My son has a 1903 double shotgun with similar peculiarities!!

 

[PARA45]

Fairly certain this is the thread you're thinking of, Para.

Am I being silly?

You may have seen on various posts and replies I have made that I bought a new Verney Carron 375 Flanged Magnum O/U. This is/was my dream rifle, it fits perfectly, it is well regulated and I shoot it well. Nice wood, light, finnesseful. Problem is it has excess head spacing, the top barrel more...

www.africahunting.com

Yes sir that is one. Thank you!

 

[C.W. Richter]

300 at 2000 and 230 at 2400, so 260-270 at 2200. That would be the happy medium between optimal V, SD and E, and based upon what works in your gun, it should! Good Luck. My son has a 1903 double shotgun with similar peculiarities!!

I couldn't resist looked on a hand loading forum i belong to they had a very short list for the flange so this is standard 375 data which of course is very similar. The slowest load they had posted for the 235s was 2,600 the 270s 2300 and the 300 just under 2,000. So for your purposes the energy of the 235 is overcooked here but you can see the vast energy increase with increasing velocity at the 2000s range. You say PG so all would work but the energies and trajectories of the 260 270 would be very good and the 235s are okay but the SD of that bullet is quite low translating to less penetration and quicker expansion. I'm not familiar with the one bullet you mentioned but if you used a mono metal 235 that would probably counteract the aforementioned. And if a lion tries to bite you you I think either of the two lower tier weight ranges are a better selection! Oh almost forgot and you may be aware of this be careful with under loading large capacity cartridges as dangerous hang fires and other undesirable situations can arise!!

 

[C.W. Richter]

Never turn down a 375

 

[KJE81]

N

No, action opens up.

Ouch, that sounds dangerous.

 

[Kevin Peacocke]

300 at 2000 and 230 at 2400, so 260-270 at 2200. That would be the happy medium between optimal V, SD and E, and based upon what works in your gun, it should! Good Luck. My son has a 1903 double shotgun with similar peculiarities!!

Thanks CW

 

[Forrest Halley]

Ohh this infuriates me. I'd keep calling VC until they made it right. This is such neglect on their part. To have a man reduced to tailoring his loads so the rifle doesn't open up. I think the answer is to talk to government regulatory bodies and make it difficult for them to export any more firearms until yours gets squared away.