Best Value on a Reliable 375 H+H ?

[H&Hhunter]

Given the cost aspect I won't recommend a Kimber Caprivi or Talkeetna which are CRF Mauser style rifles, but I will add that a Zeiss Conquest 3x9-40mm with the RZ600 reticle sits on my Talkeetna and I have no plans to change it. I have accurate holdovers out to 600 yards and would without question drop an elk or mule deer at that range with this rifle/scope/load combination. I shoot a Barnes 250gr TTSX bullet at 2,800 fps. The rifle as shown weighs 9lb on the nose and is a joy to shoot.

MCMXI,

What rifle? All I see is a rock.

 

[Huntolive]

Thanks to all, I am still figuring out the 375 HH vs 375 Ruger thing, but lean towards thr Ruger offerings, especially the Alaskan Guide (any concerns about the 20" barrel?) It is pretty heavy though at over 8 lbs.
The ruger M77 Hawleye Alaskan or African look great too.

Still tempted by Wich. M70 HH, and I guess the weight is a real advantage in this chambering.

And yes, it's Hunt to Live condensed, I'm not Brutus

 

[Deaf Smith]

Thanks to all, I am still figuring out the 375 HH vs 375 Ruger thing, but lean towards thr Ruger offerings, especially the Alaskan Guide (any concerns about the 20" barrel?) It is pretty heavy though at over 8 lbs.
The ruger M77 Hawleye Alaskan or African look great too.

Still tempted by Wich. M70 HH, and I guess the weight is a real advantage in this chambering.

And yes, it's Hunt to Live condensed, I'm not Brutus

You can always handload.

Get Ruger brass, a Lee hand press, and regular primers, powder, and slugs work.

Bring not only ammo but a shoe box (well maybe a wooden shoe box) with the press and the rest. You won't even spend $150 on the press, dies, scale, powder, primers, and slugs to back up the live ammo you bring.)

And yes, I've looked at the Ruger Guide Gun myself. And I'd take off the muzzle break to.

Deaf

 

[FSJeeper]

My go to rifle is a left hand Winchester Model 70 sporter in 30-06 and the .375 Ruger Alaskan is my second hunting rifle. If Ruger made the Alaskan Guide Gun in left hand and in 30-06 it would become my go to rifle and I would not have to do anything with it except possibly trigger work and work the action a few hundred times to smooth it out. They are that good out of the box.

The rifle weighs 8 lbs dry but with the 20" barrel but it is very handy. The iron sights are quality, very usable, and heavy duty. The stock is perfect and I think the design lends itself to a rifle that does not put out as much felt recoil as it should. It just feels right in your hands. I do not like the colour of the laminate stock but that can be easily changed. It is better than my Winchester I hate to say which did not come with iron sights which is a stupid thing for a hunting rifle not to have.

After 30 years of many different rifles and calibers, my go to 2 rifle world-wide gun battery are 30-06 and 375 Ruger with the trajectories of each being almost equal to each other. 30-06 can be found anywhere in the world and the .375 Ruger pretty much anywhere in North America.

 

[Huntolive]

I'm really down to the:
375 Ruger Alaskan Guide
M77 Hawkeye Alaskan
M77 Hawkeye African
Winchester 375 H+H
Wthrby Vngrd Synthetic H+H

Any concerns about the 20" barrel on the Ruger Alaskans?
Reviews i've read have said they are actually more accurate (though this mostly depends on shooter).

I like that the rugers tend to come w/ a full system of removable muzzle breaks which might be good for practice, but have insertable weights that equale balance if brake is removed, and also a thread protector option. I would not feel right using ear protection hunting, especially dangerous game (or turkeys for that matter ) but the break could be good when bench practicing on private range.

Anybody for the Wtherby?
The Winchester H+H is a classic, and the weight should naturally balance the gun and make recoil tolerable w/o break. Plus better ammo availability. But why have several folks commented they need work out of the box to make accurate? I am not looking to spend $1100 and then have to work on it.
I'm no gun smith.

Oh, and I never said I was looking for a low-recoil rifle: just a version that wasn't too bad for the caliber, and features that moderate it, like weight, brakes, good pads. I am accustomed to 454 Casull and 300 WM, though they can be a handfull, and I regularly shoot magnum Turkey loads from a 12 G. Pump.

If I can be patient a used rifle would be perfect. Yup, I bet it's true many folks get these and back off and run for to the mall to sell them.

But If I had to pull the trigger today, it would be the Alaskan Guide

 

[Robert]

Almost every factory rifle has the potential to need some kind of work right out of the box. I have a Winchester Safari Express and it needed some work to make it shoot correctly. The factory bedding material Winchester uses is more like Silly Putty than bedding. Once I figured out what was wrong I took it to the local gun smith and he did a proper bed job and cleaned up the crown on the muzzle. I now have a rifle that will put three rounds in to an area the size of the palm of my hand at 500y on a consistent basis. Well worth the extra money to make it shoot like that.

H&Hhunter has shot most all of the 375s out there and is the one that recommended that I go with Winchester. While it needed a little work I now have a very accurate rifle build on a solid crf action that is a proven design. Now to add a McMillan stock...

 

[Pete D.]

also

You don't want a light gun for a .375. I have shot a number of them and lean towards the Winchester Safari myself. Mine has a Leupold VX-3 in 1.75x6x with a heavy duplex.

Same set up that I have. Works just fine.

 

[MCMXI]

Any concerns about the 20" barrel on the Ruger Alaskans?
Reviews i've read have said they are actually more accurate (though this mostly depends on shooter).

A shorter barrel is typically stiffer and can be more accurate but a shorter barrel won't always be efficient in terms of burning all of the powder so you can lose velocity and have increased muzzle flash. I conducted a small test last year before cutting down the barrel on my .375 H&H from 24" to 22". Three loads were shot in a rifle with a 19.5" barrel and the same three shot in my rifle that had a 24" barrel. The average difference in velocity was 114 fps, 129 fps and 131 fps. It was a small test but the implication is that you might see about a 100 fps drop in MV compared to a 24" barrel. However, as H&Hhunter pointed out in the thread below, whether your bullet leaves the muzzle at 2,700 fps or 2,800 fps, it won't make any difference to the animal ... under most conditions and with some assumptions of course.


http://www.thehighroad.org/showthread.php?t=788474

 

[Jim Watson]

John "Pondoro" Taylor wrote of a well to do acquaintance who pretty much at random got opportunities to hunt something somewhere. He had to be ready to go at the drop of a hat.
He kept suitcases packed with clothes suitable for different climates. Pick up the hot weather bag, call the charter plane service, and GO.

One gun, a Holland's .375 lightweight double. Taylor said he was sensible about it, he wasn't fighting an elephant in the brush and he wasn't sniping groundhogs in a field, but anything in between was fair game. It was so well regulated that it shot 270 and 300 grain bullets into the same group at 100 yards and the 235 gr semispitzer in line a little high; about what you would want for the ammo taken for longer shots.

 

[H&Hhunter]

With modern bullets the .375 becomes even more capable. While it would not be my first choice for elephant defense in thick Jesse bush. I do not feel unsafe carrying a .375H&H with quality 300 gr solids in that situation either. The .375 H&H will punch through to the brain on a big bull elephant from any angle. And it will break the massive leg bones too. So, while there are better options for smacking a charging ele that will provide a better chance if turning a jumbo if you miss the brain. The .375 is perfectly capable in the right hands in tight Jesse bush in elephant country.

 

[Huntolive]

Thanks, keep it comin'!

I am pretty much down to:

Winch. 375 M70 HH Safari Exprs

Or

Either of the Ruger 375 Alaskans

Goal: to be able to take any game (not interested in Elephant or Rhino hunting, leave those poor guys alone, but if they charged me on bad luck, I'm glad HH Hunter says I'd be OK) from Elk to Buffalo/Brown Bear expediently, with the capability of accurate 400 yards shots when appropriate. 80% of hunting would be in the Americas. I do have 300 WM and several lower calibers for some of the critters mentioned above, as well as deer, etc.

How much should ammo availability be a concern? Can the 20" Ruger 375 reach out 400 yards? Or is a 24" barrel REQUIRED for that range in 375 Ruger? I've read the ruger 375 has higher velocity than the HH so maybe a 20" barl would be just fine out to 400 yards (shooter capability assumed)?

Is 375 Ruger a cartridge on the rise, or is it a fading freak? 375 HH will always be there.

I do howver prefer the styling of the Alaskan Guide and the Rugers in general with the integral scope mounts and sturdy ruger rings that come standard, and their irons seem second to none.

In a Win. M 70 375HH if you have scope mounts attached, can you still use the iron sights like on the Rugers? Or would the scope bases block the irons?

 

[Robert]

I have Leupold mounts with low Burris Zee rings on my Leupold 2.5-8x36 VX3. The objective actually sits below the rear sight. So no, you can not use the irons. But I have never needed to do so. A good quality scope should be able to take a fair amount of use or abuse without failure.

 

[Huntolive]

So is it the scope blocking the irons, or do the mounts themselves block the irons? Say you had quality quick release rings, could you remove scope, and then use the irons with the mounts still installed? On the Winchester M70.

I know that w/ the integral ruger mounts this is not an issue.

Again, is ruger 375 on the rise and becoming more popular/available, or is it fading?

 

[agtman]

.375 H&H? You want a BRNO ZKK 602.

Build quality of these old-school big bores is way ahead of the CZ550s.

 

[Predator55]

I like the river Alaskan and Safari a lot, however I don't like the 375 Ruger. As mentioned it's a round tough to find outsid and who knows how long it will be around. If Ruger offered the Alaskan in 375H&H I'd own one.

 

[Huntolive]

Yes, the Alaskan Guide in HH would be perfect. But I guess theyd have to increase size of action and re-design rifle?
Do they make one in true H + H?

So at this Point I guess the issue would be ammo availability:
IF I travel to Africa to hunt, what r the rules for shipping ammo over to my guide?
Or carrying ammo on plane?
Maybe this isn't really an issue.
I don't care about a rifle having the NAME Holland and Holland at all if i can get a rifle with reasonably priced solid features and a slightly superior cartridge. Still H + H availability is nice. Either way looks like hand loading becomes a huge plus.

 

[goon]

Weatherby vanguard.

 

[ford8nr]

The July/August issue or RIFLESHOOTER has a complete article comparing the .375's Might be available online.

 

[Elkins45]

Just as a data point I own the left-handed stainless laminated version of the Ruger with 20" barrel and express sights. I put an older 4X Burris compact on it in the factory rings.

Most of my shooting has been with cast lead bullets and reduced loads, but I also loaded up a box of 300 grain jacketed RN with a substantial quantity of powder behind them. I figure if the velociraptors ever escape from the secret genetics lab down the street I'm fully prepared.

Seriously, It's a sweet handling rifle and I really enjoy it. I won't ever go to Africa but if a griz or bison are ever in my future I at least have the gun part of the equation figured out.

 

[Huntolive]

Thanks, keep it comin'!

Thanks.

So I'm down to either:

Ruger 375 Alaskan Guide $935 out the door
or one of the Alaskan 375 Hawkeye M77 w/ hogue stock (if I can find one) for about $835 out the door.

or

CZ 550 Safari 375 H + H used with 1x 4 Leupold mounted $850 out the door

What is the deal w/ shipping/bringing ammo to Africa if i wanted to? Laws?

 

[H&Hhunter]

What is the deal w/ shipping/bringing ammo to Africa if i wanted to? Laws?

Depends on what country you are going to in Africa and that you are hunting and then you are limited to the caliber you are hunting with and then limited by the airline to 11lbs maximum ammunition weight in checked baggage.

There are several things you have to do to make this happen legally.

 

[H&Hhunter]

It took me less than 20 seconds to locate some .375 Ruger ammo in South Africa. And only about $100 USD.

http://cityguns.co.za/index.php?route=product/search&search=.375 Ruger

 

[35 Whelen]

Allow me to throw a clod in the churn. The CZ's are really nice rifles and the standard set triggers are great. Here's a CZ550, 9.3x62mm my old daddy had a little custom work done to. No, it's not a 1000 yd. rifle, but eminently at home in the mountains of the west.











I've shot this rifle quite a bit and it's amazingly accurate.

Were I to ever be in the marker for a 375 H&H, CZ would be my first stop.

ETA- The silly orange from sight was the 'smith's idea, to which father objected. It has since been replaced with something more traditional.

35W

 

[Dr.Rob]

I happened into a Savage 116 Safari Express kin 375 H&H a number of years ago. I haven't shot it a lot but it is a very serviceable rifle.

 

[H&Hhunter]

35 Whelen,

Who did the safety modification on your CZ?