doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion DoubleGun BBS @ doublegunshop.com Original Kynoch Ammo

I shot some original 375 H&H flanged ammo recently. Boxes are yellow and red and suspect it dates to late next 50's or early 60's . I wanted to see what velocity they measured at so I could duplicate with my reloads.
I fired 12 rounds of 300 grain metal covered soft nose bullets (non corrosive) through my Holland & Holland Dominion grade double rifle. Average velocity was 2340 fps with standard deviation of 28 which is pretty good considering the age of the ammo. Every round fired perfectly with no hang fires etc.
I did some research which indicated that rimless ammo of this type would give about 2400 fps and the rimmed version was loaded to an unspecified lesser velocity.
From an accuracy perspective it shot as well as my aging eyes would allow with open sights.
Anyway, I felt that I should share this information. I had second thoughts about firing this ammo but on the other hand collector value is limited and hunters would most likely not want to use old ammo. However, the ammo worked great and I have velocity values to use. I'm not sure how much velocity has been lost through deterioration but guess it to be no more than 50 fps.
My barrels were very dirty after 6 shots per barrel with both powder (presumably cordite) and copper. But they cleaned up nicely.
Anyone have comments etc?

Thank you for sharing

AND looks like brass is available

https://www.grafs.com/retail/catalog/product/productId/7392

https://www.grafs.com/retail/catalog/product/productId/25184

Many thanks for the info on the effort. I have always wondered how that old 375 ammo(Nitro Express 2 1/2, etc.) would perform. Are you confident that some of it was indeed Cordite?

Cheers,

Raimey
rse

Yes, I think so. A few years ago I dis-assembled a Kynoch round ( think it was 400/350 ) and it was indeed cordite--- neat stuff.
I think all original Kynoch ammo used Cordite but can't be sure.

I'm told that original Kynoch brass should not be reloaded. I have some Bell brass that I reload. Fortunately, there is modern brass is available which precludes reforming the Bell brass.
Of, course loaded modern ammo is available from the new Kynoch.
Bill

Cordite and 3031 pretty close in performance?????

Kynoch brass can be reloaded, but most of the older stuff is Berdan primed. So it will require different equipment and Berdan primers, which are harder to find.

I had always heard that if those cordite strands were broken and piled up @ one end or the other that there would be issues. Would be nice to confirm that 3031 & Cordite were some type of equivalent.


Cheers,

Raimey
rse

3031 may have a similar burn rate to cordite. That would be about the only similarity I believe. 3031 is a single base Nitro Cellulose powder while Cordite was a double base powder with a very high Nitro Glycerin content. I have never used Cordite, but it had a reputation of being quite errosive due to the high burn temps from the Nitro-Glycerin.

For reference, I have used the book by Graeme Wright titled Shooting the British Double Rifle. For 375 flanged he gives a number of recipes---I chose IMR 4831 because I had it on hand.
I plan to shoot some reloads in the next few weeks, depending on weather and will post the results.