9.3x57
(.450 member)
25/07/07 06:40 AM
Re: Finally...My Holy Grail! (Savage 99 .375 Win)

Congrats on a successful mining operation!

Yes, coming up with one of them is like coming up with a 2 oz. nugget of gold in the trout stream. Though I don't own one, I've always liked them a lot. I had no idea they cost that much.

A good friend of mine has a Marlin in .375. With it he experienced one of the weirdest ballistic occurrences I've heard of.

He shot a broadside-standing deer at about 30 yards. At the shot the critter dropped and when he approached it he saw something shiney lying on the ground near its hind feet. He stooped down and picked up...the bullet, barely expanded and shaped like a banana!

The shot struck at the shoulder, veered, travelled the length of the critter and exited the ham that was facing him, and actually flew several feet toward him before it petered out and dropped!

I believe the round was the old 250 Winchester factory load {he doesn't handload}. Very strange!

The .375 Win would be a prime candidate for a flatpoint .375 cast bullet {better yet, a heavyweight hollow pointed cast bullet like a scaled-down version of my Lee 402 grain .45 caliber} and the load you intend to hunt with {this applies to any new load in any caliber, really} might benefit from some prehunt testing in ballistic media like my boards and jugs. I have a hunch that due to the relatively low velocities you might see a wide variance in expansion from the various bullets available.

You have THE GUN tho for that caliber, as you can load pointed bullets or flats due to the magazine, and if you want to use a heavy bullet, you might find that hollowpointing it gives you fast opening and deep penetration. I have found that using my Forster Hollow Pointer allows me to radically alter the performance of a variety of bullets, particularly "hard ones" intended for higher velocities than they are used in. You might try the Hornady 225 SP when you get to handloading it. This is not the 220 FP and is made for .375 H&H Mag velocities I believe. I generally prefer RN's but that bullet just might be a winner at topend velocity in the .375 Win.

Keep us posted on your load development, and when you send a picture in after hunting season we hope to see some bluing wear and a rack on the wall to-boot!!



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