375 Ruger-Barnes bullets- Need a sanity check

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pacobillie

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Edit: Range results are in-See post #6

I have a new (to me) Ruger Hawkeye African in 375 Ruger, and plan on reloading 270 Gr. Barnes LRX bullets.

Barnes recommends some 5 powders for that bullet: H380, W760, A2700, Big Game, and RL15

See: https://barnesbullets.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/10/375-Ruger.pdf


Of the five listed powders, I have a good quantity of H380 on hand.

Here are my concerns:

1. The recommended powders appear to be on the fast burning side, relative to Hodgdon recommendations for a traditional bullet of similar weight. Hodgdon slowest recommended powder is H414/W760
2. The Barnes loads also appear to be on the high side: Barnes recommends 74 to 81 gr. of W760 with the 270 gr. Barnes LRX, whereas Hodgdon lists 80.5 gr. as a maximum of W760, with a traditional bullet. Barnes recommends 76 to 83 grains of H380 for the 270 Gr. LRX, whereas Hodgdon lists 78.5 grains as a max load of H380, with a 250 gr. traditional bullet.

A heavier and harder bullet with a longer bearing surface should mean a lower max load, not a higher one.

I am not sure if I can trust the Barnes data or not.

Before I blow myself or my gun up, can anyone tell me whether they have used H380 behind a 270 gr. Barnes in a 375 Ruger and if so, what was the optimal load?
 
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I've shot the 270gr LRX, but only with Ramshot BigGame. I went up to 78.8grs for 2670 fps from my 19.6" m77

H380 is right close to RS BigGame on burn rate chart

I would start at the Barnes minimum and work up with a chrony in 1 grain increments until you hit 2700 fps from your 20" barrel, then stop. The 270 LRX is a long bullet, you likely will not be able to get enough of a slower burning powder like W760, H4350, inside the case to get decent pressure/speeds

I use Win760 with 300gr Partitions
 
Barnes bullets don't have any give to them really so they're pretty fast in the bore. As in, they don't squish and cause a lot of bore friction. At least, this is my interpretation of why they use fast powder at higher charges. Could also be just minimal surface engagement since they have relief cuts as well.

Personally I load 300gr tsx in 375 h&h using 69gr of h4895 which is faster than most books will list(nosler had it iirc). Really accurate loading, but never bothered to chrony. I wouldn't load this with a lead bullet. Also, if I had to do it again I'd use the 270gr or the 250gr.
 
Barnes data has changed a lot over the years. They've flipped back and forth from loads being the same as C&C to a bit less; and for awhile after the TSX first came out were going with a couple grains over standards. Interestingly my own results were similar; all over the map.

Use the latest data, start at the starting loads, believe your pressure signs and give what your chronograph says some serious consideration. Don't be shocked if you get your pressure and velocity at the starting loads; and don't be too disappointed if you can't get them at all.
 
So, I went to the range yesterday, to test the Barnes loads. I was a bit nervous at first, but quickly saw that the velocities were reasonable and there were no pressure signs. 79 grs of H380 yielded the best accuracy, with bullet holes touching at 75 meters, and very consistent velocities of between 2661 to 266 fps, measured about 12 feet in front of the muzzle. My gun has a 23 inch barrel. I went up to 80 grs and my grpoups were just slightly over 1 MOA, but I realized that I started flinching slightly at 79.5 grs and again at 80 grains.
So, since my shoulder can only take so much punishment, I called it a day. Velocities at 80 gr. averaged 2725 fps and at 79.5 gr. I was right around 2700 fps. Again, no pressure signs whatsoever.
 
I use W760 with the 270gr TSX in my Ruger Alaskan, I recall loading and shooting up to 81.0 or maybe 81.5gr loads without any obvious pressure signs, so perhaps the Barnes data isn't too far out?
 
pacobillie said:
So, I went to the range yesterday, to test the Barnes loads. I was a bit nervous at first, but quickly saw that the velocities were reasonable and there were no pressure signs. 79 grs of H380 yielded the best accuracy, with bullet holes touching at 75 meters, and very consistent velocities of between 2661 to 266 fps, measured about 12 feet in front of the muzzle. My gun has a 23 inch barrel. I went up to 80 grs and my grpoups were just slightly over 1 MOA, but I realized that I started flinching slightly at 79.5 grs and again at 80 grains.
So, since my shoulder can only take so much punishment, I called it a day. Velocities at 80 gr. averaged 2725 fps and at 79.5 gr. I was right around 2700 fps. Again, no pressure signs whatsoever.
Click to expand...

Is that with the 270 tsx? I'm about to load some of these up and I've got a lot of h380
 
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