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For the last couple of months I've been testing bullets and powders for some longer range 375 H&H Magnum loads. I'm going to be hunting Nyala in Kwa Zulu Natal (South Africa) this April and my outfitter says that I need to be able to shoot out to 300 yards.
I'm working with the Cutting Edge Bullets (CEB) 235 grain Raptor ER and the Australian Copper Projectiles (ACP) 200 grain Sidewinder bullets and thought that I'd share some results. (All the groups were shot at 100 yards, (except a couple of 300 yard groups) off the tailgate of my truck using a front rest and rear sandbag.
My Winchester Model 70 really likes the CEB 235 grain Raptor ER bullet:
The ACP200 grain Sidewinder showed some early promise:
I tried some different powders to see how much velocity I could get:
As velocity went up, I started to lose accuracy with the ACP bullets:
But as I got velocity up to 3200 fps the accuracy seemed to come right back:
I shot the CEB Raptors at 300 yards and they performed fantastic but at lower velocities:
Last week I tried some of the new Hodgdon CFE 223 powder and got great velocities with the promise of good accuracy but it is the dirtiest powder that I've ever used. I could see loose powder fouling laying in the barrel after every shot.
Today, I added some Barnes 235 grain TSX bullets into the mix but the 235 grain Raptor ER still shoots the best even when pushed above 3100 fps (corrected velocity for the 3099 fps load is 3106 fps).
I'm working with the Cutting Edge Bullets (CEB) 235 grain Raptor ER and the Australian Copper Projectiles (ACP) 200 grain Sidewinder bullets and thought that I'd share some results. (All the groups were shot at 100 yards, (except a couple of 300 yard groups) off the tailgate of my truck using a front rest and rear sandbag.
My Winchester Model 70 really likes the CEB 235 grain Raptor ER bullet:
The ACP200 grain Sidewinder showed some early promise:
I tried some different powders to see how much velocity I could get:
As velocity went up, I started to lose accuracy with the ACP bullets:
But as I got velocity up to 3200 fps the accuracy seemed to come right back:
I shot the CEB Raptors at 300 yards and they performed fantastic but at lower velocities:
Last week I tried some of the new Hodgdon CFE 223 powder and got great velocities with the promise of good accuracy but it is the dirtiest powder that I've ever used. I could see loose powder fouling laying in the barrel after every shot.
Today, I added some Barnes 235 grain TSX bullets into the mix but the 235 grain Raptor ER still shoots the best even when pushed above 3100 fps (corrected velocity for the 3099 fps load is 3106 fps).
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