“.375 Ouch and Ouch”

.375 Holland and Holland

 

By: John Goins/akabeagle

 

 

 

I’d always read articles about the great .375 H & H Magnum and it’s effectiveness in Africa on almost anything from termites to elephants.  The Army stationed me at Fort Campbell several years ago with an old Sergeant Major who had spent an extensive part of his career in Alaska, and he spoke reverently about the respect the .375 H & H had as a game rifle up there.  In fact, he placed the “.375 Ouch and Ouch” into my casting vocabulary, as he claimed it produced an ouch on both ends when fired at big game.

 

Several years passed and I was able to fire a friend’s old Remington .375 H & H with jacketed bullets and decided that no matter if I never went to Africa or Alaska, I had to have one.  About that time, the Number 1 Ruger bug bit me and a natural progression brought a .375 H & H into the safe.

 

I already had a good selection of .375 bullets from an earlier 38/55 project and ordered 400 once fired .375 H & H cases, a set of RCBS dies, and a neck sizing die.

 

From the beginning I decided on bullets weighing no less than 250 grains, and they had to be of gas check design.  My desired velocities would run from 1500-2000 feet per second.  Powders would be in the medium /intermediate burn rate range and no fillers were to be used.

 

The Bullets

L-R: #373 Saeco, 375296HP, 375449HP, 37-250-FNHP RCBS, #185 NEI, #187 NEI

 

 

#373 Saeco

 

This is my bullet for long range use.  It weighs 267.0 grains.  One summer, all the grass burned the 300 yard berm at my range.  There was a rock on the berm about the size of a football, and dusting that rock with cast became our favorite sport until the weeds grew back to cover it.  The #373 with 50.0 grains of 4064 in the .375 H & H was a leading contender in this “sport”.  With a spotter to call the first few shots, you could click on the rock and dust it with every shot afterwards.

 

#375296/HP

 

This is my favorite bullet for field use with the .375 H & H.  The solid version runs 275.8 grains and the hollow point version weighs 261.3 grains.  The hollow point version is my favorite.

 

#375449/HP

 

This is the bullet Lyman recommends for the .375 H & H, but for no reason I can remember, I selected different bullets when I started shooting the .375.  This bullet weighs 267.9 in the solid version and 264.0 grains as a hollow point.

 

37-250-FN/HP RCBS

 

This is my favorite plinking bullet in both the .38/55 Winchester and .375 H & H.  My mould drops bullets weighing 261.0 and 243.0 grains from the solid and the hollow point cavities.  If I had to settle for only one mould for the .375, the 37-250-FN would be my choice.

 

 

#185 NEI

 

This is a spire pointed, gas checked bullet weighing 338.7 grains.  It is supposed to be a 300 grain bullet, but what’s a few grains between friends?  This bullet shoots well in the Number 1 but I tend to lean towards the heavy side and prefer the #187.

 

 

#187 NEI

 

This is a round, flat nosed bullet intended to weigh 320 grains.  Mine weighs 354.3 grains. This would be my heavy weight selection if I ever wanted to get serious with something that bites back.

 

The Shooting

 

I picked the new Number 1, .375 up on a Friday, and the following Sunday was “sight in” day at the range for the deer hunters.  I hurriedly threw together 60 rounds with various cast loads out of the Lyman Cast manual and headed to the range with the Ruger wearing a 2-10X Weaver. 

 

The morning was damp and very chilly.  I set up targets, laid out my shooting stuff and proceeded to learn something about standard primers in cold weather with reduced loads.  Two of my carefully assembled loads would not fire at all.  The third load fired, but I could detect an occasional hang fire.  The nice part was that the one batch went into 2” groups once I got it on paper. 

 

Encouraged by these results, I headed back home to pull some bullets.

 

After replacing the standard primers with Federal 215 Magnum primers all of my loads went into 1 ½” or better without any signs of a misfire.  The initial loads used were the #373 Saeco and the 37-250-FN RCBS.  From the beginning, I was hooked on the .375 as a cast rifle.  In fact, I now regard the .375 rifles in all configurations as the best-kept secrets in the cast world.

 

After much shooting, I have settled on the loads listed in the table below as all around loads for regular use.

 

Caution – Use these loads at your own risk.  At no time during testing did I encounter any signs of pressure or abnormal pressure signs.  These loads are not maximum loads, but are provided for reference only.  Use the data at your own risk

 

           

Bullet

Weight

Powder

Weight

Velocity

SD

Sized

Primer

OAL

Comments

 

375296HP

261.3

4065

50

1930

75.9

.376

FMR

3.485

1.5”

 

37-250-FN

261.0

4895

40.0

1714

8.2

.376

FMR

3.384

2.0”

 

37-250-FN

261.0

4198

32.0

1606

4.8

.376

FMR

3.384

2.0”

10 shots

37-250-FN HP

243.0

Reloader 7

35.0

1784

20.7

.376

FMR

3.384

2.0

 

375449HP

264.0

4064

50.0

2154

19.7

.376

FMR

3.456

1.5”

 

375449HP

264.0

Reloader   7

35.0

1769

14.0

.376

FMR

3.456

2.0

 

373 Saeco

267.0

4064

50.0

1978

6.6

.376

FMR

3.420

2.0”

 

373 Saeco

267.0

Reloader 7

35.0

1746

16.9

.376

FMR

3.420

2.0

 

#187 NEI

354.3

4895

55.0

1942

15.4

.376

FMR

3.618

1.625”

 

#187 NEI

354.3

4895

50.0

1719

18.6

.376

FMR

3.618

2.0”

 

#187 NEI

354.3

4895

47.0

1578

18.2

.376

FMR

3.618

1.5”

 

#187 NEI

354.3

4895

45.0

1580

31.7

.376

FMR

3.618

2.0”

 

#187 NEI

354.3

4064

45.0

1526

7.4

.376

FMR

3.618

2.0”

 

#185 NEI

338.7

4895

45.0

1645

15.5

.376

FMR

3.588

2.0”

 

#185 NEI

338.7

4895

40.0

1598

54.1

.376

FMR

3.723

2.5”

 

FMR – Indicated use of a Federal 215 primer

 

All testing was done in the Ruger Number 1 .375 H & H with a 2-10X Weaver installed.  Overall lengths (OAL) given are based on what my Number 1 Ruger will digest and will probably have to be modified for use in a magazine rifle.

 

The 375 H & H is one of the best all around cast rifles.  It can be loaded with cast bullets to velocities that approach factory specifications.  With loads in the range I’m shooting, 60 rounds is a pleasant morning and I find the recoil with these loads to be no more abusive than a .45/70.  As stated, these were not maximum loads but were loaded to the level that I found most useful for my purposed of target shooting.  Even with these loads, the power is more than adequate for any eastern shooting on game.  The cartridge has the accuracy needed for hunting, and I have seldom shot a group that ran over 2” despite these old eyes of mine.

 

There are many good bullet designs out there for the .375.  These designs range from obsolete moulds to the latest custom numbers from about all of the makers so finding one that will fit your needs is not a problem.

 

If forced to level one complaint against the .375, it would be the amount of powder the big cartridge consumes.  On the other hand, my rifle appears to do well with about any powder I’ve attempted to use in it.

 

Try one, you’ll like it.

 

 

 

 

 

Recovered #375449HP at 1769 FPS

 

 

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