Help! - Need A Few Boxes Of Factory Ammunition .375 H&h 300 Gr Solid For Upcoming Elephant Hunt

One Day...

Gold supporter
AH elite
Joined
Jan 7, 2018
Messages
1,721
Reaction score
6,218
Media
398
Articles
1
Hunting reports
Africa
3
Member of
PHASA
Hunted
Europe, America, Canada, Africa
Hello;

I will be hunting trophy elephant in Zimbabwe in the Zambezi valley, just north of Hwange National Park this coming August 2021.

My primary rifle will be my Krieghoff double .470 NE. The hunting area includes both dense bush where the .470 will be perfect at 15 to 50 yards, but also more open areas where it may not be possible to get within 50 yards. For this, I would also like to take along my scoped R8 .375 H&H. I discussed with the PH and he recommends that I carry the .470 while one of the trackers carries the .375 so that we can face any situation and decide as appropriate.

While I have .375 H&H 300 gr factory ammo PPU (practice), Federal Partition (cats) and Barnes TSX (Buff), I do not have any solid for Ele...

The ammo situation in the US being currently what it is, I am not sure shelves will be replenished on time for the hunt (and re-sighting the .375 before the hunt). I know that it is still 5 months away, but I would rather be safe than sorry...

Would any AH inmate living in the US have 40 (or 60 if available) rounds to spare of either:

1613770516801.png


1613770525359.png


I am of course willing to pay a premium over typical store price.

Thanks in advance
Pascal
 
Last edited:
No clue the quality of this stuff but they claim they can load your round with whatever bullets you want. Worth a try if no luck elsewhere. I just searched all over the internet including other hunting forums and not looking good.

 

Attachments

  • Screen Shot 2021-02-20 at 8.48.21 AM.png
    Screen Shot 2021-02-20 at 8.48.21 AM.png
    982.1 KB · Views: 109
  • Screen Shot 2021-02-20 at 8.48.22 AM.png
    Screen Shot 2021-02-20 at 8.48.22 AM.png
    467.8 KB · Views: 114
  • Screen Shot 2021-02-20 at 8.48.24 AM.png
    Screen Shot 2021-02-20 at 8.48.24 AM.png
    669.2 KB · Views: 109
I was looking for soft point ammo couple days ago for same reasons, I looked at solids too, this is what I found. There are also DGS available on gunbroker but not sure I would trust. The sledgehammer solid, I listened to Kevin Robertson’s podcast on bullets and he recommended against it due to deformation. There is an elephant report from Namibia last fall and you could clearly see the 375 sledgehammer bullet was bent so your choice on that.

 

Attachments

  • Screen Shot 2021-02-20 at 8.49.10 AM.png
    Screen Shot 2021-02-20 at 8.49.10 AM.png
    1.3 MB · Views: 111
  • Screen Shot 2021-02-20 at 8.49.15 AM.png
    Screen Shot 2021-02-20 at 8.49.15 AM.png
    641.1 KB · Views: 116
  • Screen Shot 2021-02-20 at 8.49.24 AM.png
    Screen Shot 2021-02-20 at 8.49.24 AM.png
    919.2 KB · Views: 109
  • Screen Shot 2021-02-20 at 8.49.25 AM.png
    Screen Shot 2021-02-20 at 8.49.25 AM.png
    783 KB · Views: 112
Thank you so much for the replies :)

No clue the quality of this stuff but they claim they can load your round with whatever bullets you want. Worth a try if no luck elsewhere. I just searched all over the internet including other hunting forums and not looking good.


I know Lance Hendershot and have already purchased custom loaded ammo from him. I also know other AH members who buy from him and who are fully satisfied. One of Lance's services is that he will develop loads that group in a double that you send to him for load development. I highly recommend him (y)

I already contacted him on this, he was my first "go to." The challenge is that, like all custom (re)loaders, he can only load components that are available. Apparently there is also a penury of component solid bullets...

I was looking for soft point ammo couple days ago for same reasons, I looked at solids too, this is what I found. There are also DGS available on gunbroker but not sure I would trust. The sledgehammer solid, I listened to Kevin Robertson’s podcast on bullets and he recommended against it due to deformation. There is an elephant report from Namibia last fall and you could clearly see the 375 sledgehammer bullet was bent so your choice on that.

Yep, the sledge hammer "solid" is not a solid in the sense of monometal solid construction. It is a lead core bonded to a heavy jacket. It has indeed be known to bend.

This is the reason why I identified the Nosler or Norma solids, that are true monometal solids :)

As the the box of Swift solid, it sold between your post and me trying to buy them :cry: My cynical self does not exclude the possibility of someone seeing this post a few minutes before me...

PM sent regarding some A-Square solids.

I am well familiar with the A-Square Monolith Solids. They were made of naval bronze, which proved too hard for bullet making, especially with the A Square design which left a long shank on the rear of the bullet without grooves to allow material flow under the rifling lands.

I have damaged the barrels of a double 450 #2 with them. After about 6 shots, the rifling was pushed out, meaning that if you held the barrels to the light and looked at them lengthwise, you could see the shadow of the rifling on the outside of the barrel. Sure, you could not feel it when touching the barrel, but the metal stress had been enough that it showed under tangential light.

The search goes on...
 
Last edited:
This is the reason why I identified the Nosler or Norma solids, that are true monometal solids :)

As the the box of Swift solid, it sold between your post and me trying to buy them :cry: My cynical self does not exclude the possibility of someone seeing this post a few minutes before me...
A little suspicious it listed 1 in stock all week until 1 hour after my post. I’ll send a PM next time.

Do you possibly know what type of solid PMP loads into their ammo in South Africa? That has been my only good experience with solids. The first shot was a Swift a frame I brought. The second shot with PMP solid entered Buffalo’s left hip and exited right chest, really impressive straight line penetration. I also shot DGS for back up shots into giraffe on a different hunt and performance was less than impressive, no visible deformation but poor penetration.
 
Sent you a pm also.
Gordy and Sons in Houston has Norma PH 350 gr FMJ solid in stock and will ship. If that helps.
Mark, thank you, thank you, thank you :)

350 gr was my best-case scenario, but I was not daring dreaming finding some...
The 350 gr Woodleigh FMJ is not a monolithic, but it has proved itself time & again and is good to go.
I just ordered and paid for 8 boxes from Gordy & Sons.
Hopefully I will not get an email Monday along the lines "Sorry we are out of stock"..............
Thank you for caring and posting
P
 
Mark, thank you, thank you, thank you :)

350 gr was my best-case scenario, but I was not daring dreaming finding some...
The 350 gr Woodleigh FMJ is not a monolithic, but it has proved itself time & again and is good to go.
I just ordered and paid for 8 boxes from Gordy & Sons.
Hopefully I will not get an email Monday along the lines "Sorry we are out of stock"..............
Thank you for caring and posting
P

Gordys has been good about if it’s listed it’s in stock. I have called and phone ordered ammo from them several times. Glad I could help.
 
@One Day...
I wish you good hunting, and look forward to your report on the forum! I know that this report, with your style and narrative will be fantastic!

On separate note,
I am always surprised, how the sporting firearms capital of the World, USA - has so often shortages of various ammo.
 
Thank you so much for the replies :)



I know Lance Hendershot and have already purchased custom loaded ammo from him. I also know other AH members who buy from him and who are fully satisfied. One of Lance's services is that he will develop loads that group in a double that you send to him for load development. I highly recommend him (y)

I already contacted him on this, he was my first "go to." The challenge is that, like all custom (re)loaders, he can only load components that are available. Apparently there is also a penury of component solid bullets...



Yep, the sledge hammer "solid" is not a solid in the sense of monometal solid construction. It is a lead core bonded to a heavy jacket. It has indeed be known to bend.

This is the reason why I identified the Nosler or Norma solids, that are true monometal solids :)

As the the box of Swift solid, it sold between your post and me trying to buy them :cry: My cynical self does not exclude the possibility of someone seeing this post a few minutes before me...



I am well familiar with the A-Square Monolith Solids. They were made of naval bronze, which proved too hard for bullet making, especially with the A Square design which left a long shank on the rear of the bullet without grooves to allow material flow under the rifling lands.

I have damaged the barrels of a double 450 #2 with them. After about 6 shots, the rifling was pushed out, meaning that if you held the barrels to the light and looked at them lengthwise, you could see the shadow of the rifling on the outside of the barrel. Sure, you could not feel it when touching the barrel, but the metal stress had been enough that it showed under tangential light.

The search goes on...
I had read different warnings through the years about using Monolith Solids and had heard that it was possible to push rifling to the outside of a barrel. Is it possible to get a picture of your barrels? How did it effect the accuracy of your double. It would be a shame to loose a good double. It makes me appreciate the fact that only Woodleigh softs and solid made the journey down my barrels.

Cheers, Lon
 
i sent you a pm for a box of woodleigh break away solids 300 gr, let me know
 
Warranty on Krieghoff will be voided if you use monometal bullets in their double rifles....
 
One Day, you might be able to get your outfitter / PH to pick up a couple of boxes of 375 H&H loaded with Peregrine bullets. Just a thought. Looks like Mark Biggerstaff got you hooked up with a source for now.
 
Pascal - If I had any 375 H&H ammo, I would send it gratis. I am so happy that you are getting to hunt elephant this year. I cannot wait to read your hunt report!
 
Thank you all, this is really heart warming.

The search is over, Gordy & Sons just shipped this morning 8 boxes of Norma African PH .375 H&H Mag Woodleigh FMJ 350GR. That should be enough for a few years...

There may be a better .375 factory load out there for elephant, but I do not know which it would be :)

I had read different warnings through the years about using Monolith Solids and had heard that it was possible to push rifling to the outside of a barrel. Is it possible to get a picture of your barrels? How did it effect the accuracy of your double. It would be a shame to loose a good double. It makes me appreciate the fact that only Woodleigh softs and solid made the journey down my barrels.

Cheers, Lon

Lon, I did not think about shooting a picture at the time (phones did not have a camera on board then LOL). I had the rifle inspected by George Caswell & JJ Perodeau at Champlin Arms, and they confirmed that I stopped shooting the A Square slugs in time to prevent serious damage to the rifle (typically breaking the barrels solder joints).
Actually, George bought the rifle for me (he has always had a weakness for the 450 #2, this one was a very nice pre-WWII Jules Berry out of Belgium, and I was tired of the endless search for ammo for it). I believe that JJ re-blued the barrels and it eliminated the shadow rifling stress marks. George later told me that he used the rifle in Africa with full satisfaction.
I was pretty unhappy at ASquare at the time and was lucky to spot the issue before permanent damage. I still have some of this 450 #2 ammo... I am personally aware of at least 2 rifles whose barrels had to be completely re-soldered. One Chapuis, and if memory serves one Merkel, and a friend of mine swore that his Heym rifling was worn some, and his groups doubled in size after a couple boxes...
 
Maybe call chucks Firearms in Atlanta, Ga.

There is a local outdoors place that has some 375 ammo. I’ll check it out Monday to see what they have.
 

Forum statistics

Threads
53,624
Messages
1,131,355
Members
92,679
Latest member
HongPilgri
 

 

 

Latest profile posts

Impact shots from the last hunt

Early morning Impala hunt, previous link was wrong video

Headshot on jackal this morning

Mature Eland Bull taken in Tanzania, at 100 yards, with 375 H&H, 300gr, Federal Premium Expanding bullet.

20231012_145809~2.jpg
 
Top