AccuBond 375 Cal 260 Grain Spitzer 54413

[Otakar]

The best bullet I have ever shot.
In 1999 There was a new cartridge developed called the 376 Steyr. Which I only recently learned about. Just gos to show how popular that cartridge is. Well, on 9/22/1993 I decided to take a 338 WinMag, shorten it to 2.255" and neck it to .375. Guess what, it has identical case capacity as the Steyr case, but 7 years before the advent of the Steyr. For many years I have been shooting Sierra 250gr SptzBT bullets in it, because I designed the rifle and case for 100-150 yard shooting with open sights and velocity to match the 375H&H with that weight bullet. Believe it or not, this is one of my "plinking" rifles at 100 yards. Well, the best I could ever do with this rifle was a 6.5" group at 100 yards, no matter what bullet I tried. Well, just recently, I found this Nosler bullet. It took me two trips to the club to develop a load for it. It is 60.3gr A-2460, Brass Federal .338 WinMag Sized cut & reamed to size, primer CCI-200 2660fps, 24" barrel. Action is a Parker-Hale 98 Mauser, sight is a Williams WGRS Peep style. Today was my second trip to the club to finalize the load. Gents (and ladies) this is the best bullet ever. With a 12mph crosswind from the right, I shot a 10 round group of 3.75" without any fancy optics. I guess I will have to put the 20 boxes of the Sierra bullets I have left on GunBroker to get rid of them because there will not be any other bullet for this rifle from now on, besides Nosler 54413 260gr Spitzer. I just ordered for more boxes. They are a bit expensive but worth every penny.
Here are some pictures of the hardware and a 10 shot group with a 12 mph crosswind from right, 100 Yards. BTW I call this cartridge "375 American T.R. In honor of Theodore Roosevelt. I think he would have liked this little 3/8" cartridge. I know I really do. Especially since I discovered this bullet.

 

[DrMike]

Welcome aboard, Otakar. Very neat. Yeah, the 376 Steyr is not terribly popular. It is, however, a great cartridge. My hunting partner (Blkram) uses one from time-to-time, having taken a few head of game here in northern BC with the cartridge. It is a fine cartridge. Funnily enough, he also shoots a 260 grain AccuBond as his preferred bullet. I can testify that it will drop a bull bison or a bull elk right smartly.

 

[Otakar]

The most interesting thing is that the Steyr cartridge only pushes 2500fps with the exact same load and a two inch longer barrel according to the Hornady book. I am about 80fps slower than the 375H&H and only 75% the amount of powder. I could and have pushed it faster to exactly match the H&H with no pressure problems but my accuracy started degrading. With this load I am developing 52000psi and 3300 lb/ft of energy at 100 yards and 2950lb/ft at 150 yards. The primer shows absolutely no evidence of deformation or flattening.

 

[gerry]

Welcome to the forum.

It looks like your round is not much different than the 350 Rem Mag necked up to 375 but with a bit more length to the case. The 260 gr AccuBond is one of the best 375 bullets out there, it expands wide but still penetrates far enough to do the job on heavy game. It was my go to bullet when I had a 375 Ruger and accounted for several bears both blacks and grizzly.

 

[Otakar]

You are right about the 350 RemMag. I originally used it to make the cases but they wound up too short and split at the base after two re-loads. The 350 case starts out at 2.17" and mine is 2.255". 85 thou is quite a bit. I love this bullet, cartridge and load combination. I doubt that there is anything in North America that would walk one more step once hit by this combo. I had a reamer made way back than and made a total of three rifles to this cartridge. Sold two of them.

 

[JD338]

Very nice. The 375 260 gr AB is a robust bullet that shoots flat and hits hard.

JD338

 

[Otakar]

Here is one question that I would like to get answered. Is this 54413 bullet a replacement for an older bullet 37260? That bullet was labeled. "Solid Base Ballistic Tip (Safari tip)". My newest Nosler Manual is dated 2002 in which that bullet is listed, and the largest bullet I have used from Nosler until this bullet was a .308cal.

 

[Otakar]

OK just went out today (one day later) to try again. Here is a new 8rd group with much less wind and also in comparison to a 5rd group of Sierra 150gr SptzBT. The new Nosler group is 3". The Sierra group we won't talk about and is just for reference. As we used to say in the Corps, "For instructional purposes only" I don't have to label the pictures because it is obvious which is which. BTW, the shots were taken center-mast, point of aim, point of impact.

Now I am anxious to see what the 300gr bullet can do shot with my 375JRS and with a scope. It will be REAL interesting what it will do at the 600Yard range.

 

[JD338]

Nice shooting.

JD338

 

[Otakar]

Don't ask me why, but I just LOVE shooting this rifle. Every time we go out it feels like I'm making out with some absolutely gorgeous Amazon. I am totally warn out exhausted when I'm done but I have a smile on my face and am completely satisfied. At the age of 56 that do not happen too often with or without your pants on.

 

[PJGunner]

Sounds interesting. My oddball is the .375 Taylor also known as the .375/338 Magnum. I easily duplicate the .375 H&H with that one but it's currently semi-retired. It weighs 7.5 pounds and my 77 year old should protests mightily after a couple of shots. Very accurate though. Had it made up when I was expecting a job transfer to Alaska in what was purported to be a big bear area. Rifle was built on a Ruger M77 Tang safety and sits in a Ramline stock. Scope is an all steel El Paso Weaver with post and crosshair. I like it. Plain and simple and it just works. Action came from a .338 Win. Mag. so feeding is excellent. What's not to like?
The OP's rifles sounds like more of the same fun.
Paul B.

 

[Otakar]

If the weather is good, I think I'll go out on Friday. Get in some more practice.

 

[Guy Miner]

It really is an excellent bullet. Yes, the 260 gr AccuBond replaced the 260 grain Ballistic Tip in Nosler's lineup.

I've used it on black bear, at ranges near and far, with excellent results from my .375 H&H. Really like the accuracy and on-game performance of the 260 gr Nosler AccuBond!

Guy

 

[Otakar]

Well, I managed to make it out yesterday. Unfortunately I did not check the club calendar and the 100y range was booked by one of the local PDs for their annual CQBc or what ever they do with their puny ARs. So I decided to try my luck at the 200y range. I never shot this at 200 yards because I designed it for 100-150 yard shooting. Well---- none the less I shot it at the 200. Here is a conundrum. I have the rifle sighted in at the 100 so I figured I will aim about 6" higher to compensate for the drop. This would make the point of aim at the top of the bulls-eye. I had a group which I never anticipated. 3.5"@200y, with open sights? BUT point of impact was 5.5" higher than I was aiming. This makes no sense to me. I also shot the Speer 135gr SP and that had the exact result I expected. It dropped down into the center of the bulls. I also shot the Sierra 250 Spitzer and it also shot high but only about 2.5". I can't figure it out. I never expected such accuracy with the distance and open sights and for it to impact higher? When sighted in at 100y? The only variable was the temperature. It was only in the low 40s. When I sighted in the rifle it was always in the 70 & 80s on the average. But this should impact it even more in the drop with the denser air. Because Midway had a sale on CCI primers, for two days only last week, with no Haz-Mat if you order $150 worth, I decided to buy some CCI #210 primers (LRMag) I have been using the Federal and CCI #200 (LR). I had them waiting for me when I got home. I figured that I may want to try them. One thing I have noticed in the past is that sometimes I thought I saw smoke after I shot. I figured that the powder was not burning efficiently. Last night I loaded some with the hotter primer and I will have to see what happens. Both on the 100 and 200. I decided in the past that because I originally based the cartridge on the 350 Rem Mag and that cartridge always uses a standard LR primer I always used Winchester LR primers in the Remington brass which I used in the past. I made a bunch of brass out of FC brass because I got my hands on 200 spent cases of FC 338WinMag. Unfortunately the primer pockets in the FC brass are larger and the Winchester primers are so loose you can slide them in with your finger. I bought some Federal and CCI primers because they are larger and press in fine. I will have to see if this makes a difference. But still I was comparing apples to apples with identical loads at the two ranges. about the primers; I always liked Win primers because they are hotter than other brands. The FC and CCI primers are not as hot and might be impacting the burn on the cartridge. Since I have increased the capacity of the cartridge by about 12% or so since its inception, this might be a factor. I am also using a ball powder which is much denser than extruded powder and may be causing ignition issues at the quantity of approximately 60gr. However I am not using a magnum, slow burning powder. On the contrary, I am using a faster burning, than average powder with Accurate 2460.

 

[Guy Miner]

I can't explain why that one load shot so high, but it does emphasize something I do for myself, and try to get others to do - which is to practice with the hunting loads, at various ranges.

You've just done that, and it was a bit of an eye-opener! Suppose you'd been in the field and HAD to make that shot... Maybe at fleeing, wounded game, about to escape into the treeline or make it over a big ridge, or across a river.... Any number of reasons why we might send a bullet, at a distance we were not planning to shoot.

And it inexplicably went high... Maybe missing?

Much better to do it your way, and see it for yourself at the range! Good job.

Regards, Guy

 

[Otakar]

Sounds interesting. My oddball is the .375 Taylor also known as the .375/338 Magnum. I easily duplicate the .375 H&H with that one but it's currently semi-retired. It weighs 7.5 pounds and my 77 year old should protests mightily after a couple of shots. Very accurate though. Had it made up when I was expecting a job transfer to Alaska in what was purported to be a big bear area. Rifle was built on a Ruger M77 Tang safety and sits in a Ramline stock. Scope is an all steel El Paso Weaver with post and crosshair. I like it. Plain and simple and it just works. Action came from a .338 Win. Mag. so feeding is excellent. What's not to like?
The OP's rifles sounds like more of the same fun.
Paul B.

I considered the Taylor at the time but I wanted to fit the cartridge into a standard Mauser action with the bullet placed only in the neck and not incurring into the case which reduces powder capacity anyway. This was my solution and I was fortunate that my calculations worked out perfectly. I can now also even use the Yougo M-48 short throw action and it still fits perfectly. The concept of the idea was to be no longer than a 8mm Mauser cartridge with an armor piercing 198gr bullet. This allows a maximum length of 83mm (3.25"). I can achieve that with the Taylor if I seat this particular bullet just a tad past the cannelure. With the diameter of the bullet and how much it would incur into the case, my capacity would have been the same. This is also the reason I would never use a heavier bullet in this case. It would serve no purpose. Besides that if I need a heavier bullet, for that I have a 375 JRS which is the 8mm Rem Mag blown out at the shoulder and necked up to .375. With that I can use 300+gr bullets and with these new longer polymer tips it makes it a perfect cartridge for them. I still have a couple of Parker Hale magnum actions in my stash for those extra long projects. You will notice the length variations in the picture. The 338 is based on the 30-06 length while my TR is based on the 8mm Mauser case length. Notice where the cannelure is on my cartridge. It is at the neck of the 338 case. My bullet is seated to where only the boat-tale is inside past the neck.
In order 375Am.T.R., 8mm Mauser, 30-06, 338Win

 

[Otakar]

OK I went out yesterday AM to re-set my sights which I had to replace the front blade on. I had to mount a taller blade because my rear sight was all the way down and so far back that the bolt handle was hitting the orifice of the peep sight when I opened the bolt.
It tool me three groups of 5 shots to set the sight. The reason I took five shot groups and not my usual three is because the wind was about 18mph gusts from the right. After I started placing them where I wanted them I just had to kill something. I just HAPPENED to set up something I could kill. A one quart milk bottle. Here is the result at 100y, yes it was the first shot. I think I'm ready for that Oklahoma Pig now. :grin: No I did not remove anything from the bottle. That is EXACTLY how I retrieved it. No back side left.

 

[Guy Miner]

Love it!

By the way - was just reading more from Barsness' new book "Gun Gack" and he has a good chapter on handloading and using the .375 H&H, including high praise for the 260 gr Nosler AccuBond.

He relates that a fellow went to Africa, using only the 260 gr bullet, and took Cape Buff, including stopping one charge! That's normally reserved for STOUT 300 gr bullets from the .375 - but Barsness said that the 260 worked very well.

It's certainly shooting well for you!

Regards, Guy

 

[gerry]

Got to get that book Guy, sounds good.

 

[DrMike]

Got to get that book Guy, sounds good.

It is an excellent book, Gerry. Be aware that shipping is near 50% of the cost of the book and the exchange right now is 36%. :shock: I'm on chapter eleven. When I'm finished, you're welcome to read my copy.