.375 260gr loads?

[Biathlonman]

JJHACK, I recall you saying before that your favorite bullet for the .375 JDJ was the 260gr partition.  You even stated that you wrote and article on it once, but I haven't been able to locate it.

Any chance you could share some info with a new .375 JDJ shooter?  :grin:

[JJHACK]

The article I wrote was for JD Jones. He put it inthe paper called the sixgunner I believe?  Not 100% sure now, that was a whole lot of articles ago and many years now.

I used the 260 grain partition with tremendous success in the 375JDJ. I doubt there is a better bullet made. If hornady comes out with a 270 Interbond or Swift loads a 270 scirraco bullet then that may be flatter shooting and will certainly mushroom as well.

I'll bet I took well in excess of 100 head of big game with the 375JDJ and the 260 partition. I never had any problems. I did not like the 270 Hornady bullet as it was much to hard and rarely expanded on anything but big heavy bone.

The soft front half of the partition was just right for the low velocity of the JDJ cartridge.

[Biathlonman]

Well I am actually awaiting the arrival of the 260 Accubond from Nosler is why I asked.  Should be on the market very soon. I have started load development with the Ballistic Tip, because they are the same weight, BC, and are one of the cheapest .375 bullets I can find .

I have worked up to one grain over the data for the 270 Hornady, with the 260gr Nosler.  No signs of pressure, super easy opening and extraction.  I was hoping to find someone with experience with the 260 and see if my load data was out of line.  Velocity was higher then expected, but I'm not sure what velocity should be out of a 260 bullet in my 20" Carbine barrel.

I have made it up to 49 grains H4895, 53grains AA2520, and 53 grains R15.  (Please no one use this data without working up!)

Just looking for some thoughts on this data.  Thanks!

[JJHACK]

From Memory I was using 53 grains of 2520 and getting almost 2100fps with a 14" barrel. That load was too hot and I dropped it down to 51 grains which kept me right near 2000fps. Accuracy was what I was impressed with using this load and bullet.

I had a Snipepod on my TC and it was deadly accurate and steady from a seated position to well over 200 yards. Remember that you don;t need to spend a lot of money on expensive bullets with a cartridge this slow. The bullets are designed for a far greater velocity. The standard Hornady 270 grain bullets penetrated like solids much of the time becasue they were to hard to expand at the low impact velocities of the 375JDJ.

I think using a plain Ballistic tip in this cartridge is plenty for you. You have not mentioned what game your hunting? That would de what pushed my decision on bullet type. Anything under 500 pounds the ballistic tip would be near perfect in this cartridge. For game bigger then that I would move to the 260 partition or something with more bone breaking and exit power.

Are you planning to use this in Africa? If so we need to address a few other very important concerns.

[Biathlonman]

Nope,. Africa isn't in my future anytime soon .  I'm hoping to have a Winchester Model 70 CRF rebarreled to 9.3x62 when funds allow it...but thats another topic all together.  Sorry for using the forum inncorrectly, just knew that you had some experience with the 260gr. Nosler Partition.

Elk is the main animal I'm targeting.  I was really hoping for a bullet that would expand some even at the lower velocities and still get all the way through the animal.  I have read that the BT tend to suffer jacket core seperation at lower velocities, hence my thoughts of going with the Accubond when the come out.  The Nosler tech told me they would expand down to 1700 fps and hold together.  I am getting right at 2400 fps or a little better though with my current load in the 260 BT so maybe I've got it going fast enough not to have to worry about it.  The BT are about 13 dollars a box where the accubond will be about 25 so the cost between the two isn't a major factor.

Best I could get out of the Hornady was 2250 fps, at max, plus the Ballistic Coefficient of the BT (or accubond) is much higher.  I'm not a long range shooter, 200 seems a long ways to me, but I would like to be able to take 300 yard shots if all was perfect.

Thanks for entertaining my questions.  I am mostly concerened about load data, but I think I am just going to drop my Reloader 15 load
down half a grain and be done with it.  It clocked ~2450 fps at 53 so hopefully 52.5 keeps it right at 2400fps.  That should do all the killing I need from my rifle that weighs just under 6 lbs.  :lol: