**.375 Bullet Test Results**(lots of pics!)

The last couple times I even got near the subject on a forum people of a sensitive nature get into excrement spraying cases of the vapours. You have been warned.

My experience with them is far more in the .458 than .375s, and far more on thick skinned game than thin. At close range (All I've got with thin skinned) they are vicious. You wouldn't think an animal could bleed so much. A black bear my son shot after I passed him the rifle turned into a blood geyser on the way down. A whitetail got ripped up pretty good, but did take a jump or two. Blood like it got poured out of a pail. My interest in the 235 ESP Raptor is how it duplicates the 500 yard trajectory of a .300, and as of yet I have no experience on game at those ranges with that bullet.

Jump ahead to the .458 where I have got more experience. Pigs, running or not make a sodden plop sound and pile up. Good as that is, pigs aren't that hard to kill with a .458. TSXs and A-Frames did about the same. There may not be a bad way to kill a pig with a .458.

Thick skinned; (read the buffalo) is different. At close range I'd put them a bit ahead of the TSX for visual impact and drops. It doesn't seem to be any better than an A-Frame. It may or may not be as good. Trees eat them. On asiatics exits are practically unheard of with softs, so bullet recovery is easy. You might shot through one out of twenty. Inevitably every good bullet would be on the hide on the far side. They looked like the advertisements and BC Steve's pictures. The A Frames looked like the advertisements too, and so did the TSXs. I think if I manufactured bullets or sold them for a living I'd claim whatever my bullets looked like or weighed was perfect too. Anyway, an interesting thing happened when the ranges got longer. The Safari Raptors without the tips have about the same BC as a bag of leaves and they go downhill fast. They still look the same. The TSXs didn't open near as much as at closer range but killed better than the CEBs. The A-Frames look the same as they always do and pulled out way in front. One was about as effective for taking out the sub-structure as the others.
 
sniper58 said:
Thanks for taking the time to do the tests.


I have 150 Speer 235's and 200 Hornady 270's in stock already. Glad that they should work!
Click to expand...

I have a box of 235gr Speer and about 400 270gr Hornady in my stash. But I'm a bullet snob, I'll be hunting moose with either the 250gr TTSX (like the last two moose I shot) or I may have to try the GMX next year.
 
Bullet snobbery...lol. I really dont see it that way. It is nice to make the big dog bark. Shooting some loads that one doesnt need a bank loan to afford. I got a bunch of 270 interlocks, but have shot the 260 Partition for years. Play with the 270's and hunt with the 260's. It is nice to know that the 270's will work well though. Component price and availability is a huge issue, given the upcoming "executive action" from Barry and our new government....that is unlikely to improve.
 
How fast was the interlock moving?

I use those bullets, 250 grain, in my .338 but I have never recovered one.

Interesting that the 300 grain bullets didn't do so well. Wonder if Dogleg can chime in about if bullets of the same weight in .458 cal hold up better.

Thanks for the test. Would be interesting to see how core-lokts and federal blue box compare to the premium bullets.
 
conor_90 said:
How fast was the interlock moving?

I use those bullets, 250 grain, in my .338 but I have never recovered one.

Interesting that the 300 grain bullets didn't do so well. Wonder if Dogleg can chime in about if bullets of the same weight in .458 cal hold up better.

Thanks for the test. Would be interesting to see how core-lokts and federal blue box compare to the premium bullets.
Click to expand...

YES indeed. The core-lokt and Fed. blue box would be interesting to throw in there.
 
madashell said:
YES indeed. The core-lokt and Fed. blue box would be interesting to throw in there.
Click to expand...

Fed blue box is the Hornady that bcsteve had in the test. Not a great bullet but doesn't appear to matter in .375 H&H, I've taken lion, wood bison, moose, gemsbok, wildebeest, bears, and others with them and not one failure to kill quickly. As guns get bigger it seems to matter slightly less which bullet is used.
 
Great job, Steve...

Geez... the GMX is prettier in the after shot than the before shot... Glad to see that since I shoot them in three or four cartridges.

Always liked heavy for caliber Speer HC's.

Won't mention the obvious disappointments.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom