375 JDJ - bullet thoughts...

[RLS@home]

Gonna blow the dust off my 375 JDJ barrel, haven't done anything with it in probably 10 years.
Used to shoot some of the lightweights (200 grainers) and heavyweights (300 grainers), mostly target shooting & never got into the middleweight bullets.
Now I'd like to tune it up with some decent whitetail / bear rounds and I'm looking at either the 225 gr. Hornady spire point or the Speer 235 gr. round nose.
Anyone with any experience with these bullets in this cartridge? I've got updated load data from SSK and will probably go with H322 for a powder as it should meter well.
Any thoughts / recommendations appreciated!
RLS

[Ladobe]

Got my first SSK 375JDJ barrel early 80's, had 4 of them total over the years, but only shot the lightweight bullets rarely years ago, didn't care for them much.   So can't be much help on the lightweights.
 
The do all bullets for my barrels for many years was the 270's, and sometimes I shot the 285's and 300's.   322, 4895, 4064 and 2520 all drive the 270's just fine, the latter two as far as you want to shoot it.   I mostly used 2520 or a compressed load of 4064 for longer range, 4895 as a standard load for a time for use here on the desert.   But I liked having just one load at a time to use for anything, so mostly I shot 2520/4064.    Had a couple of 8# jugs of 322 for other cartridges, so did shoot some 270's, 285's and 300's with it too the last few years I still had a 375 barrel in use.

[Ken ONeill]

Unfortunately, I have no game killing experience with either of the 2 bullets you mention, so I may not be much help. I have 2 .375 JDJ barrels, and have owned the oldest one 23 years, having hunted with it on 4 continents.

I long ago settled on the 220 FN, 270 Spire and 300 gr. FMJ Hornadys for my use, depending upon the game being hunted. I use H 4895 with the 220, and AA 2520 with the 270 and 300.

For small thin skinned game like deer, I recommend the 220 Hornady. A friend with a great deal of experience claims the 225 is too hard for small animals, but as I said, I have no personal experience with it.
In Africa, where one may encounter a 20 lb. steenbok or an 1800 lb. buffalo, I use and have been satisfied with the 270 on animals throughout that weight range.
I also have used and would recommend the 270 gr. for bears. I have only used the 300 gr. FMJ for follow-up shots on Australian buffalo, where it worked fine.

[donkey445]

My Dad has been using his 375JDJ quite a bit.  He has has really good results with the Speer 235's.  He used 270gr bullets for a while but the expansion wasn't there, most of the bullets looked like they could have been reloaded and shot again.  But the 235's have been expanding well.  All his results were on elk.

[Slowpoke Slim]

Just to muddy the waters for you some more...

I haven't had my JDJ for very long, only a year or 2. My experiences are more like Ladobe's. I wasn't very happy with the accuracy I got from the light weight bullets. I never got any of the Speer's 235's or 285's to shoot well. My best bullet by far has been the Hornady 270 gr spire points. Accuracy has been outstanding. I'm also using IMR 4064 powder, my best groups have come in a grain under Jones's listed max load.

I have not shot any game with mine yet, sadly. But, Jones-his-own-self prefers that Hornady bullet as "best", and that's the bullet he took to Africa on safari. That was all the convincing I needed, especially when looking at the groups I was getting on paper. I wouldn't hesitate to shoot something from either hamster size all the way up to brown bear with that load. There is no critter in N. America that can withstand one of those bullets poked through the right place.

Good luck.

[Ladobe]

To reiterate what Chris said... JD's favorite bullet for the 375JD is (or at least was) the Hornaday SP 270 gr, and was the most versatile.  I totally agree, short of a custom use specific bullet they are the premier 375JDJ bullet for almost anything.   TC's barrels would be serviceable, but I have always consider JD's barrels the best of the best, and they always will be in my book.
 
I still have SSK flyers going way back that JD sent me, in part maybe because I joined the ranks of the JDJ loyalists in the very early 80's with my first SSK 375JDJ Contender barrel, and owned a bunch of them since until a few years ago when I stopped hunting/shooting.   Only the Super Bower's and Ackley Improved cartridges even came close to my preferrance for the JDJ's.   Anyway, I only have a later flyer handy from the early 90's, but it will suffice with 375JDJ info in it.   The earlier one(s) of his first African Safari with the 375JDJ, if I remember Larry Kelly (Mag-na-port) et al along, is in storage someplace, as are those in between and after.   If memory serves in those early ones there was mention of something like 14 bull elephants that had been taken with the 375JDJ to a point, and I don't remember how many Cape Buffalo.    There is nothing that walks on earth a 375JDJ can't dispatch with authority.
 
Hopefully JD won't mind, but here are some quick photo crop's from the flyer I have in hand.
 
I agree fully with the first one because of having owned so many of his hand cannons, including four SSK 375JDJ barrels that I've actually shot from ground squirrels at very long range to big game at any range I felt confident of making a very good hit at (further than my rifles BTW).   JD's comments are why I chuckle when a noob calls a 44MAG or 30-30 Win a hand cannon, because I agree.   The shorter range 45/70 easily qualifies, a few others as well, but not a 44MAG, 30-30 or most also ran rifle cartridges on a TC Contender.   My Encore 10" 416 Rigby qualitifed though. 

 

 

 
OK, back to retirement.