Armory Sponsor
Posted: 2/11/2013 3:23:45 PM EDT
| I have decided that at some point, I will have to purchase a .375 H&H bolt action rifle for elk/moose/bear and maybe an Africa trip someday. I have generally read online that CZ and Winchester are top choices, but Kimber and Dakota make them as well. Does anyone have practical experience with medium bore rifles and are there any pitfalls I should avoid? |
| Depends on your budget. Buying the CZ550 and sending to Wayne at American Hunting Rifles for a few upgrades gets you a pretty damn fine rifle at a reasonable price. The Winchester M70 is a good entry level that will work. The Caprivi is very nice. Was suprised at how well it fit me when I handled one. Very good balance. Kimber's CS sucks. Look at Hill Country Rifles too. They market tweeked M70's. |
|
Depends on your budget, prices get higher as you go down the list....
Apparently Blaser really likes this round, lol http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=329120868 http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=328594994 http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=328852961 http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=329245580 |
|
Quoted:
Ditch the 375 H&H and get the 375 ruger. I have a Howa in 375 Ruger...excellent rifle. The only issue I have with this advice is that while the .375 Ruger is a fine cartridge, the H&H has staying power. The Ruger has only been out a few years while the H&H has been around more than 100. I expect I'll be able to find H&H cartridges 100 years from now. The Ruger I'm curious how available it will be in 30 years. |
|
Quoted:
Depends on your budget, prices get higher as you go down the list.... Apparently Blaser really likes this round, lol http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=329120868 http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=328594994 http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=328852961 http://www.gunbroker.com/Auction/ViewItem.aspx?Item=329245580 Heh. I'd just about decided not to post in this thread until seeing that. I really like both of my Blasers (the old Camex Blaser Ultimate) and the .375 barrel shoots fine on either one. Only two round magazine, though, and a little lightweight for doing much shooting at the range (especially since neither wears a pad), but a hunting rifle is generally carried a lot more than it's shot... |
|
Quoted:
Quoted:
Ditch the 375 H&H and get the 375 ruger. I have a Howa in 375 Ruger...excellent rifle. The only issue I have with this advice is that while the .375 Ruger is a fine cartridge, the H&H has staying power. The Ruger has only been out a few years while the H&H has been around more than 100. I expect I'll be able to find H&H cartridges 100 years from now. The Ruger I'm curious how available it will be in 30 years. Good points ...... The advantage of the 375 Ruger is that it has as good or better ballistics than the H&H but in a shorter barrel and long verses magnum action. Here's my 20" Ruger Hawkeye Alaskan in 375 Ruger with a Leupold 2-7x40 Vari-X ....... 
Here's a cartridge comparison (223/308/30-06/375Ruger/458WinMag) ..... 
|
|
375 H&H is perhaps the best most versatile round out there with stiff competition from 30-06. Remington is making a 100 year commemorative this year. It is suppose to have a strait stock. CZ and win 70s are nicer with controlled round fed but I must admit I hate a monte carlo stock on a hard kicking gun like a 375 H&H So I went with a rem 700 classic with a strait stock and love it plus i got it for $300 NIB  but many here will recommend the controlled round feed for obvious reasosns.
check the safari forum in the outdoor section too. |
|
Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
on a hard kicking gun like a 375 H&H Hark kicking gun!?!? The 375 is a pussycat. Especially in a 10lb+ rifle like the CZ 550 or Winchester M70. I have to agree; I don't find mine to be any harder to shoot than a 30-06. My rem 700 clssic weighs in around 6lbs I use a 300 grain bullet on 72 grains of powder it has some kick it's a shove but it is enough that after 12 shots it can get uncomfortable. The point I was making was I prefer to have a strait comb stock not a monte carlo stock this helps me keep my cheek away from the recoil and allows me to use my very low mounted bushnell holoscope to its best effect. I hope I clarified that for you. |
|
Quoted:
Quoted:
Quoted:
That's an interesting observation, but it needs some explanation as it really depends on what loads you're using and how heavy the respective rifles are.
Quoted:
on a hard kicking gun like a 375 H&H Hark kicking gun!?!? The 375 is a pussycat. Especially in a 10lb+ rifle like the CZ 550 or Winchester M70. I have to agree; I don't find mine to be any harder to shoot than a 30-06. All things being equal, the .375 H&H or .375 Ruger will have a lot more recoil than a .30-06. 1) With a .30-06 and 220 grain bullet at 2500 fps in an 8 pound rifle, you'll have 3.7 lb.sec of recoil impulse, a recoil velocity of 14.8 fps, and a recoil energy of 27.3 ft pounds. 2) With a .375 H&H with a 200 grain bullet at 3200 fps in an 8.5 pound rifle, you'll have 4.6 lb.sec of recoil impulse, a recoil velocity of 17.5 fps, and a recoil energy of 40.4 ft pounds. 3) With a .375 H&H and 300 grain bullet at 2650 fps in an 8.5 pound rifle, you'll have 5.1 lb.sec of recoil impulse, a recoil velocity of 18.4 fps, and a recoil energy of 47.0 ft pounds. However, if you add in a large discrepancy in rifle weight, you can even it out a bit. 4) With a .30-06 and 220 grain bullets at 2500 fps in a 6 pound rifle, you'll now have the same 3.7 lb.sec of recoil impulse, but a recoil velocity of 18.9 fps, and a recoil energy of 35.0 ft pounds, and 5) With a .375 H&H with a 200 grain bullet at 3200 fps in a 10 pound rifle, you'll have 4.6 lb.sec of recoil impulse, a recoil velocity of 14.9 fps, and a recoil energy of 34.3 ft pounds. So in effect, if I shoot a very light, un-scoped .30-06 with 220 grain bullets I can get recoil numbers in the same ball park as the .375 H&H shooting 200gr bullets in a larger, more generously wooded and large scoped 10 pound rifle. But I am at the extreme upper end of .30-06 recoil possibilities while I am also at the extreme low end of the recoil possibilities for the .375 H&H. If I were to suggest they recoil about the same in general it would be a very misleading statement unless I attach all the significant qualifications to it, and when I do that it's pretty obvious that it is not reflective of the real world uses for either caliber. The real world problem of course is that if a 200 grain bullet will get the job done, then I'm probably better off with a .30-06 or .35 Whelen and don't really need a .375 H&H. I probably also don't want one either as the smaller cartridges will let me carry a much lighter rifle all day long and not get beat any harder when I finally shoot it. So...load your .375 H&H up like Holland and Holland intended with a 300 grain bullet and then put it in a realistic "walk and hunt all day" weight rifle with iron sights and you'll note a significant difference between it and your .30-06. |
| I use a max load with a 300gr.in my 375H&H, never shot a lighter bullet in it. Now the 375 is 9lbs but the 30-06's are not that far behind it. Perhaps it's mostly because I shoot heavier recoiling rifles than that 375 as well and it just doesn't seem bad at all compared to a few of the others. I've never had a session with the 375H&H that bothered me at all; and I did at least have my 416Rigby well before the 375, if not other thumpers as well. Geometry of the rifles involved could play a part as well. As for iron sights; I used to be able to see them. |
|
Well this thread has gone the way my mindset has. I see competitor cartridges out there for the .375 H&H that would be fun to shoot and they tempt me away from time to time. .35 Whelen seems like it would be an awesome and versatile cartridge, but isn't too flat. .338 WM is another round that delivers punch and is indeed flatter than the Whelen or the H&H.
I think the cool factor and versatility of the .375 H&H is why I keep coming back to it. The more time I spend pondering it, the more I like the Winchester, if only for style above any other reason. So now do I go Alaskan or Safari Express? Pertaining to recoil, I think people on this site are too sensitive to it. My friend had me sight in his .338 WM and I put maybe 25-30 rounds through it that day. I was sore by the end, but even 10 rounds in, I felt fairly comfortable. People on this site post all the time that they think that round is a major bruiser. I am sure .375 will tap me, but I am not afraid of it at all. The least comfortable gun I ever shot was a 7mm Rem Mag, though 
|
|
http://www.ar15.com/forums/t_6_2/351668_Four_Five_Eight.html
8.5lbs 458WM 
You'll have fun. $$$ but very nice. Winny M70 based. http://www.hillcountryrifles.com/catalog/harvester-rifles_3/Harvester-Safari-Rifle_118 |
| I have a stainless Winchester with a straight comb synthetic stock from the old New Haven factory. It is a nice rifle, and the new ones from South Carolina are better in just about every respect (excepting maybe the trigger). If I were looking for another, I would probably get the Safari Express. |
|
Check out Wayne at AHR before choosing the Winchester over the CZ.
http://hunting-rifles.com/CZ/CZowners.htm |
|
People on this site post all the time that they think that round is a major bruiser.
I hear you. but I really think it comes down to what someones experience is. If their only HPR experience is with a .243 - the 375 is going to really feel like something. If someone else has plenty of trigger time on 458's and 416's - the 375 is a big nothing. I don't care for the 7Mag either; owned one and I've shot a friend's; probably just the particular guns involved but I'd rather shoot any of my heavier recoiling rifles than either of them. The really odd thing is I really like a friend's 300WinMag Ruger Hawkeye Sporter; It's pretty darn accurate (180gr reloads; ~1.5 grains below max charge) I look forward to trigger time on it - makes no sense. |
Armory Sponsor