.375 H&H Case Head Separation-pics added

When your sizing die is set in the press to just touch the shell holder, this will FL re-size your brass.

If you turn the die to back off by 1/4 turn, this will neck size. You will be able to see on the neck of the brass the extent of the re-sizing.


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Note that this fellow is shooting a ruger #1. They have almost no camming to force cartridge into chamber. Also this one appears to have a large chamber. Neck sizing is prob. not an option. I have some #1 and I f/l size them all. As usual Bill has the dent thing cased. Mark
 
SuperCub said:
When your sizing die is set in the press to just touch the shell holder, this will FL re-size your brass.

If you turn the die to back off by 1/4 turn, this will neck size. You will be able to see on the neck of the brass the extent of the re-sizing.


.
Click to expand...

There are neck-size-only dies, but why bother when the quarter-turn works quite well.
I thought of another reason for case head separation. It happened to a veteran shooter and reloader I know. He was testing loads in a bolt action rifle chambered for 7.62x39. Really did a number on the rifle. He even got some splinters in his face. Would have been worse had he not been wearing protective glasses.
Anyways, according to him, the case had only been neck sized a couple of times. He thinks he may have been distracted when reloading and put far too little powder in, thus causing a detonation.
Don't know if that's what happened here, but it's a possibility, I suppose.
 
YEs on the "partial-full length-sizing"
Start by unscrewing the size die about 1 full turn, size a fired case and try to chamber it. If it chambers effortlessly, you've got your new setting.
However, it's likely to need a bit more sizing than that, so screw the die in about 1/8 of a turn and try again. What you want is just a little bit of resitance on closing, so that instead of headpasing on just the belt, you want it to headspace on the shoulder. but not too much effort or you'll be using the chamber for your final sizing.
 
Sorry to interrupt, but a very interesting thread with lots of awesome information. I don't mind saying that there is a lot to be learned here....OK, carry on :)
 
I spoke with my gunsmith and he believes that it's a headspacing issue and that he may need to do some chamber work. If I have to have the chamber redone, maybe I should go to a .375 RUM or .375 Ruger? Or should I just stick with the good old .375 H&H? What to do you guys think?

Best regards,

Slooshark1
 
Slooshark1 said:
I spoke with my gunsmith and he believes that it's a headspacing issue and that he may need to do some chamber work. If I have to have the chamber redone, maybe I should go to a .375 RUM or .375 Ruger? Or should I just stick with the good old .375 H&H? What to do you guys think?

Best regards,

Slooshark1
Click to expand...

By all means, go for the 375 Ruger.;)

Although it may be a simpler solution to get a 375 Weatherby or RUM. (I think those woudl allow the barrel to not get set back as much) I am sure Leeper coudl tell you.:)
 
What is the case length on the .375 Ruger? Years ago, I had a Ruger Number 1 rechambered from .300 Win Mag to .300 RUM. I was too wimpy to handle the recoil. I only had the standard Ruger hockey puck recoil pad and it was too much for me. I just had a Pachmayer installed on this Ruger and I can shoot all day with it.

Now that I reload, If I did find the bigger .375s to be too much recoil, I could always download them to the hot .375 loads.

If I decided to rechamber, I think I would go with a non-belted magnum as I don't like the feature of a belt. It would either be .375 RUM or .375 Ruger.

Also, this Ruger only has a 24" barrel. In a medium bore like the .375, how much velocity loss would there be as compared to a 26" barrel?

Best regards,

Slooshark1
 
Slooshark1 said:
I spoke with my gunsmith and he believes that it's a headspacing issue and that he may need to do some chamber work.
Click to expand...
Did he personally measure the chamber or was this diagnosis done over the phone?

I would want to be 110% sure it was a headspace problem before proceeding with the re-chamber and custom dies route.


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Slooshark1 said:
What is the case length on the .375 Ruger? Also, this Ruger only has a 24" barrel. In a medium bore like the .375, how much velocity loss would there be as compared to a 26" barrel?

Best regards,

Slooshark1
Click to expand...

375RugerCTGspecs1-copy-copy.jpg



I don't think velocity loss woudl be great, although one of th enice things about single shots is getting "free velocity" since the barrel can be longerbut still shorter overall than a bolt gun.:)
 
Just my opinion, but a classy rifle like the #1 deserves to be in a classic chambering like the 375 H&H.

Interesting read on the brass, resizing and chamber dimensions here.
 
Quote:
Originally Posted by rgv
buy a drop tube, you'd be surprised how much 4350 a 375 H&H case will hold

Not when the max is listed as 78grs by the powder company
__________________
Click to expand...

83gr H4350 260/270 gr bullet (Hodgdon Manual) ;)

I shoot a 260 gr Accubond with that load.
 
I'm still scraching my head... in my M70 I can go for way more than 15 reloads with my brass without any sign of head sep. In my case, none of my rifles can give me more brass life than that Safari Express 375. I'm doing partial sizing (7/8), I use 76.5 gr of H4350 with a 300 Horn. Rn. If you think that a 375 H&H is inevitably hard on brass think again, there's something wrong with the rifle or with the load (just my opinion).
 
Any .375 with a reasonable sized chamber will work like any other belted magnum. If your chamber is oversize you've got an uphill battle. I currently and have previously loaded for many H&Hs and never have any brass issues of any kind other than possibly a little extra trimming.
 
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