Q: Can you tell me why the Browning X-Bolt in .375 H&H magnum will not cycle 300gn factory cartridges? I have had two of these rifles with the same problem.
I am loading Woodleigh 300gn Hydrostatic projectiles over 72gn of AR2209 for a buffalo hunting September and these will cycle.
Rod Maddox
A: I’ve never had anything to do with the Browning X-Bolt in .375 H&H but I am surprised to hear that it won’t feed factory 300gn cartridges.
However, I am not surprised to hear the X-Bolt will feed your reloads with Woodleigh 300gn Hydrostatic bullets.
In the early stages of their development Woodleigh did encounter some feeding problems wIth Hydrostatic bullets which was why they added the plastic cap, which resulted in totally reliable feeding.
Without actually being able to see what is happening, it is difficult for me to say what is causing the problem, but if they load easily into the rotary magazine, I’d get a gunsmith to check if there’s a problem with the feed ramp. It may be easy to modify the ramp.
By the way, 72gn of AR2209 is light load in the .375, which gets a velocity of about 2400fps. A compressed charge of 78gn of AR2209 turns up 2600fps.
I loaded 225gn Hydrostatic bullets in my .338 Win Mag with the same charge I use with other brands of bullets of the same weight and struck no problems. Maybe you should shovel a little more coal on the fire?
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