.375 H&H barrel length comparison ... 24" vs 19.5"

[MCMXI]

I shot three rounds this morning over the CED M2 using the same 250gr TTSX handload listed above that shot 2,762 fps a couple of weeks ago. Here are the results.

2,762 fps
2,756 fps
2,760 fps

I shot two groups last night which were ok but I think I'll be doing a bit more load development for the "new" rifle. Here's the rifle as it now sits and I'll post photos of it after dipping. I've also shown a couple of photos of the "coned" rear Talley ring which worked out great.

 

[horsemen61]

Looks nice

 

[Scrumbag]

Surprised you ditched the barrel band but enjoy!!!

 

[Robert]

Man that is nice looking. I want to drop my Safari Express in a McMillin stock and maybe have the barrel cut down to 22" as well and remove the sights. Now you have me drooling...

 

[jim in Anchorage]

MCMXL-
Neat gun but way to shiny for me. I'd be afraid to scare every moose out of the valley with that thing.

 

[MCMXI]

Surprised you ditched the barrel band but enjoy!!!

I never liked the barrel band from day one so getting rid of that was an easy decision. I don't want to blow my own trumpet but I did an awesome job of installing the front sling swivel stud which took quite a bit of work to do properly. The stock has a very hard carbon fiber/fiberglass shell but the inside is filled with a low density foam. You would need to break the stock to have the front stud come out so I'm very pleased with how it turned out.

Robert,
So far I'm loving the look and balance of the rifle. The rifle weighs 9lb give or take an ounce as shown with the scope, rings and sling. Here are before and after photos on the same page to give you a better idea of the changes.

 

[MCMXI]

Neat gun but way to shiny for me. I'd be afraid to scare every moose out of the valley with that thing.

Ha! Ha! That's why it's going out to be dipped today using the pattern shown below. The lightest color on the image below is the clear part on the film so the base coat will really affect how the pattern looks. I've chosen a light sandy color (almost off white) which is just a little darker than the white shown for the base coat so hopefully it'll look great and blend in well with the surroundings up here in MT.

 

[jim in Anchorage]

So that's what dipped means! I would go dark gray on the base.

 

[MCMXI]

I've tried all kinds of base colors by laying the film over different items around the house. A black base looks good, a gray base is ok but the color I chose works very well. I'll show photos next week when the rifle is finished.

 

[Gtscotty]

MCMXL-
Neat gun but way to shiny for me. I'd be afraid to scare every moose out of the valley with that thing.

The funny thing is, it would probably blend in pretty well in the sage brush around here, and not look too out of place up in an oak stand down south.... There's a surprising amount of natural silver gray colors in a lot of places. I like it.

So you didn't lose any velocity at all cutting the barrel from 22 in to 20 in? I think the OP mentioned that H&Hunter said he wouldn't go under 22in barrel length on another .375, why is that? It would seem that the .375 works pretty well in a 20 in barrel.

 

[MCMXI]

So you didn't lose any velocity at all cutting the barrel from 22 in to 20 in? I think the OP mentioned that H&Hunter said he wouldn't go under 22in barrel length on another .375, why is that? It would seem that the .375 works pretty well in a 20 in barrel.

My handloads use VV N540 powder and I've noticed a slight increase in muzzle flash, although I've been shooting later in the evening when it's starting to get near dusk so maybe I never noticed it in the past . Anyway, I don't seem to have lost any velocity with my handloads but now am thinking about working up a new load using Reloder 15 with the same 250gr TTSX bullet. H&Hhunter will have to answer the question as to why he wouldn't go less than 22".

 

[horsemen61]

Cool

 

[CraigC]

Neat gun but way to shiny for me. I'd be afraid to scare every moose out of the valley with that thing.

That's an interesting comment. Perception is a funny thing. It's not shiny, it's a bead blasted matte finish. Even in the pic shown, you can see the same colors in the logs and rocks behind it. You don't have trees and rocks in Alaska? Folks head to the hills with stainless guns every year. Sometimes black is more out of place.

 

[jim in Anchorage]

That's an interesting comment. Perception is a funny thing. It's not shiny, it's a bead blasted matte finish. Even in the pic shown, you can see the same colors in the logs and rocks behind it. You don't have trees and rocks in Alaska? Folks head to the hills with stainless guns every year. Sometimes black is more out of place.

No we have no rocks in Alaska It just looks shiny to me. Guess the owner agrees since he is having it dipped.

 

[jim in Anchorage]

MCMXL- What is that action? I notice it has a pre war M70 bolt root.

 

[MCMXI]

MCMXL- What is that action? I notice it has a pre war M70 bolt root.

It's the standard Kimber 8400 Magnum action which like all current Kimber actions are based on the Mauser '98 action. It's a very smooth action for sure.

As for the discussion about the look of the rifle, I really like the bead blast stainless finish and had no problem using it in that form while hunting. My decision to have it dipped was more about making it "mine" after a number of custom touches rather than my dissatisfaction with its appearance. Talking of the finish, the film that I chose (Camo203) turned out to be a total piece of Chinese crap so my friend suggested I choose something from TWN who is known for quality films. I wanted to use Under Armour Ridge Reaper but that would require UA contacting TWN on my behalf. Ultimately I settled on KUIU Verde (WTP-703) over the base coat that I had made up for my original choice. Here's the scope done in Camo203. I liked the washed out, faded look but the film stretches too much and looks terrible on the stock according to my friend.



As a teaser, here's the scope and barreled action done in KUIU Verde using the same base coat shown above. I'll post photos of the finished product once I get it back and its had a week to "set up".

 

[H&Hhunter]

I'd set that thing down in the grass and never find it again!

 

[tahoe2]

I like it !! Can't wait to see the final !

 

[Gordon]

I built a Whitworth actioned .375 H&H improved (.375 Weatherby) with a 27" Lothar Walther stainless barrel with a 4.5-12x VX3 a few years ago. I stocked it in an exhibition grade Claro walnut blank I had English express style. It was my idea of a long range African Planes game or a long range elk or bear rifle. It ended up weighing 10 pounds tho which eliminated it from being a stalking rifle. It sits in the safe looking good while the two and a half pound less Remington 700 stainless in a Brown precision stock 24" .375 H&H made it to SA and Alaska and else where. Still a 27 " .375 Weatherby throws 300 grain boatails at more than 2700 fps in an accuracy load and at 10 pounds the recoil is like an 8 pound 260 grain 2700 fps load.

 

[MCMXI]

The rifle as shown with scope and sling comes in at fractionally under 9lb. I had no problem last year carrying it all around central MT mule deer hunting. Last weekend I carried a 15lb AI (not including scope, mount, bipod or sling) deer hunting, and I want my Talkeetna back ASAP.

 

[MCMXI]

Here's another teaser from "the dipper". She's going to clear coat all the parts tomorrow (3 thin layers of epoxy) and I should have the rifle back by the weekend. The next photos will be the following weekend showing the reassembled rifle and scope. In case anyone's interested in this system, it's fairly labor intensive. She uses a two-part epoxy paint to prime all surfaces. Then she applies an epoxy base coat followed by dipping and finally three thin layers of epoxy clear coat to seal the film. Once done, the surface is very, very tough. My girlfriend has a rifle done by her and the finish is incredibly durable.

 

[MCMXI]

FINAL UPDATE:

So the rifle is finally done! Here's a list of the "upgrades" that I did and the "upgrades" that I had more talented folks do. For the record, the Talkeetna is a superb rifle that doesn't need upgrading but I wanted to make some changes and I'm really pleased with the results. I'll be using the rifle on a mule deer and elk hunt in just over two weeks!

DIY
Removed barrel and lapped bolt lugs
Removed rear sight and installed plug to fill hole (front sight hole was cut off when 2" was removed from barrel)
Removed barrel band
Installed sling stud in forend

OUTSOURCED
Had barrel cut down from 24" to 22" and recessed target crown added
Had cone cut into rear scope ring to match ocular bell housing
Had rifle, scope, rings, bases and scope covers dipped

As I mentioned in an earlier post, the headspace has changed fractionally. Intitially the bolt was very tight closing on a GO GAUGE whereas the bolt now closes fairly easily on a GO GAUGE but won't even begin to close on a NOGO GAUGE. Add in the shorter barrel and I figured I'd have to tweak my handload a little. It seems that 75.1gr of VihtaVuori N540 works quite well (see target below). The previous load used 74.2gr of N540. I need to do a little more testing along with some chronograph work to check the velocity (should be around 2,800 fps) but so far I'm pleased with the accuracy. Here are a couple of photos of the finished rifle and a target I shot yesterday morning. I need to be [strike]2.75"[/strike] 1.8" high at 100 yards for a 200 yard zero so I made a small scope correction after shooting the group shown below.





Here's the target shot yesterday morning. I've found that using the sling and resting my left hand on the rest, in addition to using a properly sized target for the RZ600 reticle, really helps consistency.

 

[Robert]

Man that is nice. Now just have to finish my AR10 project and some work on my truck and maybe my 375 can get an overhaul...

 

[MCMXI]

Robert, thanks for the approval. I look forward to seeing your .375 H&H once you've made some changes.

Correction: I need to be 1.8" high at 100 yards and not 2.75" as I mentioned in my previous post. I inadvertently had "Powder Temperature" enabled (value of 40°F) in the Applied Ballistics app that I use in my phone which was the outside air temp. I don't know what algorithm AB is using but they sure aren't QuickLOAD so I don't trust that feature. They don't ask for the type of powder so how can they adjust for temperature? Regardless, +1.8" at 100 yards is where I need to be for the RZ600 reticle to work.

Here's one more photo showing how the KUIU Verde pattern seems to "adapt" to its surroundings.

 

[Robert]

Robert, thanks for the approval. I look forward to seeing your .375 H&H once you've made some changes.

Eh, don't hold your breath. I work on a very limited budget. One day...