.377" cast bullets for .375" H&H magnum?

You're making up reduced velocity rounds? A .375 H&H Magnum normally shoots at way over the upper limits for cast or GC bullets.

.377 is fine. But if that is the "as dropped" size are the raw cast bullets consistent enough for good accuracy? Sizing to .376 may be worth while just for the consistency you get compared to using them "as cast".
 
I'm wanting to buy gas checked .375 Winchester bullets at .377" from jethunter.
Not for reduced loads but not for screamers either. Would just like to target shoot my Sako Barvarian for reasonably low cost.
I'll load jacketed bullets when I need to make hunting cartridges.
 
Thanks for your answers all.

I read that jethunter is getting set up to produce bullets for the .375 H&H magnum.
This is great news.
 
I thought about what you asked, and I'm assuming that you don't have bullets and are thinking about buying 377 bullets (38-55). That's a good place to start, most bullets from casters are hard, BHN 15 > 18, or perhaps more. Ideally a bullet works best if not sized down too much. I had a batch that I cast up for my 38-55, sized to 377, that I gave to a friend to shoot in his 375 H&H. They would not shoot in my 94.

Don't buy too many before you figure out what works best.

There are many factors that come into play for cast bullets. Although I have no experience with cast in the 375 H&H, I do shoot cast in my 38-55.

Actual bore (groove) size needs to be measured in most cases, the grooves may be 376, 377 or ???

Cast bullet hardness comes into play also. If cast of pure lino, BHN 22, groove sized cast bullets work, slightly under ok as well. Softer alloys work better at groove or slightly larger.

One of my bucket list guns is a 375 H&H, I would load them with a gas checked bullet, and my goal would be a 1600 fps load minimum, and up to 2200 fps if possible. With cast, heavier bullets have an advantage, so 250 gr bullets would be the lightest I'd try. In my 38-55, a 270 gr (app) hard cast gas checked bullet works well at 1500 fps. A softer bullet, 285 gr. is good at 1300 fps.

Fortunately there is a lot of good cast bullet data for the 375 H&H.
 
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In my experience you want to shoot the fattest cast bullet that your rifle will chamber.

.002" over is not huge at all, I've heard of guys shooting .004" regularly, particularly if a rifle's bore is worn at all.

I regularly shoot .311" gas checked in .308" bores and they love it and I have no problems.

With cast bullets, I worry less about a whole bunch of front end work like measuring bores and measuring bullet hardness and all that; best just to load up whatever you want to test and get out there and see if it does what you want.

Experiment more later if you are not getting the results you want, instead of fretting ahead of time. You'll usually be ahead this way.
 
The real bible of cast bullets, The Lyman Handbook of Cast bullets, show the 375 H&H, gas check 250 grain bullets at up to 2250 fps.
Also, I am now pouring bullets for the 38-55, using the original Winchester one piece mold. The handles and the mold are one piece, meaning each handle has one half of the mold as one piece.
They are marked as Winchester and 38-55 WCF.
The bullets come out of that cast at a maximum of .377", actually under bore size.
 
Northman999 said:
In my experience you want to shoot the fattest cast bullet that your rifle will chamber.

.002" over is not huge at all, I've heard of guys shooting .004" regularly, particularly if a rifle's bore is worn at all.

I regularly shoot .311" gas checked in .308" bores and they love it and I have no problems.

With cast bullets, I worry less about a whole bunch of front end work like measuring bores and measuring bullet hardness and all that; best just to load up whatever you want to test and get out there and see if it does what you want.

Experiment more later if you are not getting the results you want, instead of fretting ahead of time. You'll usually be ahead this way.
Click to expand...

This has been my experience as well. The fattest cast bullet that you can fit in the chamber is usually more accurate than skinnier bullets. Fit is more important than hardness IMO, and bullets that are undersize will tend to leave lead in the barrel regardless of how hard they are.

In the older M94 Winchester 38-55 rifles I have good results with a softer .379" bullet. In some I have gone as big as .381 and to get some accuracy. If the bore is heavily pitted then usually jacketed bullets will work better.

.377" will work well in the "newer" Winchester M94 38-55 commemoratives and the .375 Winchester rifles, but doesn't work well in the older M94s.

I've found that softer bullets (BHN 14-16) usually shoot better in 32-40, 38-55, & 32-20 and are less prone to leading than hard bullets, everything else being equal. In fact the super hard bullets are in my experience more likely to cause leading issues. Fit is the first consideration - sealing the bore keeps hot burning gases away from the sides of the bullet.
 
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