Is my Man Card in Jeopardy? .375 H&H Mag is too much for me

[dredd]

I bought a Sako .375 H&H Mag from a buddy awhile back to help him out.
He picked it up with a group of rifles and had not ever shot it.

I had no need for it, but I love playing with all sorts of rigs.

Searching the 'net, it sounded like it would not be a punishing rifle.

I can run my .338LM round after round and keep a smile on my face.
My 45-70 is a bit abusive, but tames way down with the suppressor.
This Sako knocks me into next week!!!

This cartridge has an amazing history and is still relevant today.
I was really looking forward to tinkering with it.
I don't have a desire to down load it. That kinda defeats the purpose of having it, in my opinion.

I am not a fan of getting rid of guns.
I always end up regretting it.
However, I think this one has to go.

Has anyone else ended up in this situation?

Do we lose our Man Card or just get hit with a few Demerits?

 

[adcoch1]

Probably a stock fit issue. I've had a few hard kickers, but if the stock fits poorly it'll boot you good! Don't worry about your man card, you HAVE a 375 h&h...

 

[Old Dog]

Don't sweat it. In the immortal words of the legendary Clint Eastwood as "Dirty Harry" Callahan in the classic motion picture Magnum Force: "A good man's alway gotta know his limitations."

I had a relative (who'd always planned on doing an African safari, never got there, bless his heart), owned a rifle in .416 Rigby.

I fired exactly one round through this at his gun club range. One. "I'm done here. Thank you." (And I have no issues with even the worst in .45-70 Gov't)

 

[tactikel]

The .375 H&H is an excellent cartridge for bear, moose, elk in timber, bison. It is not really a plinker, or a range gun.
Put the time in to sight it in, to understand its limitations. Once you have it dialed it in you will shoot 5-20 rounds per year. Texas may have few opportunities to hunt with it unless you participate in a “controlled” hunt for exotics.
Consider reduced loads with cast bullets for plinking, or medium game ( hogs, deer). Have fun!
Be sure to add a recoil pad, wear shooting gloves, and a padded coat with good ear and eye protection to minimize discomfort.

 

[Charlie98]

Friend of mine bought a beautiful Nitro Express double rifle of some sort... .450/400 3" (or thereabouts.) He wanted the brass to load lower-velocity rounds, so he let everyone have a poke at it with some factory ammo he found. Yes, it kicked, but it didn't knock me into next week. I could see hunting with something like that... but not a day at the bench, not with full-house rounds. FWIW, there is nothing wrong with downloading a cartridge... that's what he was going to do with it, and he has to load lead bullets because we are shooting soft steel. The beauty of a firearm is it's function, not necessarily how hard it can throw the fastball, if you see what I mean.

 

[adcoch1]

Also, a downloaded 375 will easily kill anything in north America, so find a load at about 80%power and save the full house loads for younger, tougher guys who like bruises and sore shoulder joints to brag about.

 

[jmr40]

I've fired a 375, and a 416 Rigby on one occasion when someone had one at the range and he offered me the opportunity. 2-3 rounds through each rifle. I didn't note anything exceptional about either's recoil.

I used to own a 6.5 lb Colt Light rifle in 300 WM that kicked harder. But for me a hot loaded 45-70 was the rifle that hurt the most. I had several 45-70's, (All Marlin lever guns) from the 1970's until I sold the last one about 10 years ago.

I came to the conclusion that 45-70 recoil was way out of proportion to performance. The 375 and 416 certainly didn't kick any more but offered considerably better performance. Part of that was a very light rifle with a poorly designed stock.

But the absolute worst recoil I've ever experienced was from a 3 1/2" turkey load out of a 7 1/2 lb Remington 870 Super mag. From a shotgun that light recoil exceeded 458 WM. I don't want a turkey bad enough to put up with that much recoil.

 

[Jeff olson]

Try a 94 Winchester. That thing whoops my a$$. The only thing worse for me is the Weatherby 460. And maybe the remington 350 .magnum.

 

[MEHavey]

Sako knocks me into next week!!!

Benched big bores are always more punishing. Try sitting or offhand position (etc)
piece of cake when whole body can move w/ the rifle.

don't have a desire to down load it.

Do it.
You don't need all that punishment to have fun.

Load up when you use it in the field.
That one single round at a moose ?
You never even feel it.

 

[Jeff olson]

Benched big bores are always more punishing. Try sitting offhand or position (etc)
piece of cake when whole body can move w/ the rifle.

Do it.
You don't need all that punishment to have fun.

Load up when you use it in the field.
That one single round at a moose ?
You never even feel it.

You're absolutely right. A shot at game is not felt at all. Bench is brutal.

 

[DeepSouth]

Dad has a 375 H&H, it is a bit rough, but I believe his 338 is worse. I have a 450 Marlin most people find abusive but its Not to bad imo.

I remember as a kid watching dad try loads for the 338 before a hunt, I was a couple hundred yards away and I noticed he would pick up two things off the ground after every shot. Something on his right side and something on his left side, one was brass, knew that. Eventually I rode down to the bench on the 4-wheeler and saw the other was his hat, I thought that was just hilarious.

 

[someguy2800]

It probably just needs a different stock or recoil pad, but if you have no use for such a thing then probably not worth the trouble to try to fix it.

I’m a glutton for punishment when it comes to shotguns and rifles, but I’ll freely admit I don’t enjoy really heavy recoiling handguns like a 460 S&W revolver or specialty pistols in 308 or 30/06 class cartridges. That is just too much for me. I have a 35 Remington SSP-91 that is pretty brutal too shoot but I don’t shoot it much and wear gloves when I do. I had a contenter with a custom long throat 357 max barrel. With the added case capacity and loading it up to 55,000 psi it would shoot a 180 grain xtp at 2200 fps, which is equivalent to 454 casull revolver muzzle energy. After awhile I just didn’t want to shoot it anymore. If you didn’t grip it right it would recoil the trigger break handle into my support hand and a couple times I got it so bad I thought I broke my left index finger. I could have loaded it down but I just decided to say uncle and I got a different barrel. One of my grail guns used to be a ruger redhawk 45 colt with a 454 super redhawk cylinder in it, but I now realize that I'm just not going to want to shoot that. 44 mag is enough recoil for me.

 

[LoonWulf]

Id go with stock fit and recoil pad as others have said.
My .375 Ruger is 8.25lbs out the door, and with its nice squishy pad, and properly fitted stock i do enjoy plinking with it. My loads push a 270gr speer out its 23" tube at about 2850, and it gets about the same with 250gr GMX factory ammo. The last time we shot at our longer range spot i think we shot 60 or 80 rnds and took it out to 890yds.

Only 338 lapua ive shot was a single shot a friend built on a 700 action. Standard plastic stock and a total weight of about 8.5lbs...... That thing was stupendously unpleasant

 

[Bill Raby]

Years ago I thought a 45/70 had a lot of recoil. Later on I thought a 458 Lott was a lot of recoil. Today I am getting to the point where my 4 bore doesn't seem all that bad. 4 bore is about 8 times the recoil of 375 H&H. There is no recoil pad. Just a brass butt plate. I am using a 450 grain powder charge. Being a wimp is not the problem. The problem is that you are not used to this level of recoil and have not learned how to handle it yet. The guys that say 375 H&H is not a range gun and only shoot 5 to 20 shots per year are the guys that are not capable of handling large guns and never will be. 375 H&H is the little guy among the safari rifles. If a gun has too much recoil the trick is to shoot it more. It will not be long before you have no trouble with it.

 

[highlander 5]

Happen to be at a range one day and a gentleman had a Ruger No 1 375 H&H watched him fire it for a bit asked me if I'd like to try it said sure why not. Fired it standing recoil was stiff but not much worse than heavy loads in a No 1 in 45/70 and that is much lighter than the 375. I would say keep the rifle get a decent recoil pad/better stock fit ro shoot factory ammo. Load it down for range use who knows maybe you'll find it more fun than you realize.

 

[Robert]

I have, and have hunted with, a Winchester Safari Express in 375. Contrary to popular belief I do plink with it and take it to range quite often just to shoot. It's fun. I'm not a large person at 5'9".

What loads are you shooting? I handload a nice 270gr Barnes TSX load that allows me to shoot all day long but is still proven on game. And no, 375 is not limited to just large framed heavy animals. I've taken Nebraska whitetail deer with mine. It was a clean hole with very little meat damage. If you decide to get into handloading for it, you will really see why 375 is a great round. You can load light cast lead bullets for plinking or heavy solids for Africa, or anything in between. It really is a handloaders round.

Stock fit is also vital. If it doesn't fit you and doesn't have a good pad, then it's going to hurt. I'd look at a good pad first, since it's cheaper, then maybe replace the stock. But I'll be honest, I don't know who makes a replacement stock for the Sako in 375. I know McMillan makes them for Winchester and about everyone else, but I've don't remember seeing Sako on their list.

 

[tbs]

About 25 years ago I had a Ruger number 1 in 375 and shot it a lot with no problem. At the time I was 5'11 1/2 and weighed 158. Now my recoil limit is 30-06 and shoot a boat load of it at the range. I have shrunk to 5'11 and gained 7 pounds over the years (now 69) and still feel I have my man card.

 

[hq]

My Weatherby Mk.V in .375H&H is a pussycat. It has an Accurate Innovations custom stock made for my measurements, complete with a mercury recoil reducer embedded in the stock and a Decelerator recoil pad. It was a bit of a beast before, with factory synthetic stock, but now everything is fine and a range session of fifty full power rounds or more isn't a problem at all.

I've thought about giving the exact same treatment to .460WbyMag, but it's so much overkill that I doubt it'll fix the issue. You're spitting tooth fillings after every round and your eyes spin around like slot machine. It's that bad.

 

[Charlie Martinez]

I think of cartridges like 375 H&H and others like it as necessities. Recoil is the price you pay in trade for the alternative which in some places is getting mauled by a very big, very tough animal.

 

[FL-NC]

I don't like excessively powerful guns. The most powerful handgun that I own and actually shoot is 45 ACP. I deer hunt with calibers like 6.5 CM and 243 because they are pleasant and absolutely get the job done. My deer rifles or 223 are fine for hogs. I enjoy turkey hunting, but I don't like shooting the full power 3" magnum 12 gauge rounds to make this happen- lucky for me, turkey hunting isn't an activity that requires a high round count on these things, in order to get the 2 birds I am allowed each season. I don't consider my "man card" in jeopardy for using effective guns that give a comfortable shooting experience. I suppose if I was hunting elk out west at extended ranges I would need to consider a more powerful rifle, but that isn't what is happening. Also, owning a Harley with a rigid frame and 3x a night doing MMA in my local dojo probably even out any lack of ballance that may be present from me using "wimpy" calibers.

 

[Seedy Character]

Download it to 75-80%. Save the full house loads for those that want to "try it".

Grandson got a Marlin 1895 .45-70. Said it kicked the crap out of him. Down loaded a bit and he loves it. Any of his buddies want to shoot it, they get the heavy load.


Forget every rifle, those 3 1/2" turkey loads ain't no joke.

 

[tark]

Years ago I thought a 45/70 had a lot of recoil. Later on I thought a 458 Lott was a lot of recoil. Today I am getting to the point where my 4 bore doesn't seem all that bad. 4 bore is about 8 times the recoil of 375 H&H. There is no recoil pad. Just a brass butt plate. I am using a 450 grain powder charge. Being a wimp is not the problem. The problem is that you are not used to this level of recoil and have not learned how to handle it yet. The guys that say 375 H&H is not a range gun and only shoot 5 to 20 shots per year are the guys that are not capable of handling large guns and never will be. 375 H&H is the little guy among the safari rifles. If a gun has too much recoil the trick is to shoot it more. It will not be long before you have no trouble with it.

As a fellow member who has shot a 4 bore. (albeit, years ago ) I agree with this. The first time I shot it It fractured my collarbone, because I wasn't holding it correctly. Later, I was able to shoot it with no discomfort.

I can honestly say that some of the most unpleasant guns I have ever shot were lightweight, 12 gauge single shot shotguns chambered for 3" magnums. Some barely weigh six pounds, if that. Try shooting a 3" turkey load in one of those!!

 

[highlander 5]

A thought occurred to me and I don't know if they're still around but Klienguther used to advertise a muzzle brake that was very effective cut recoil by as much as 50%.

Saw a rifle that had the brake attached and you could tell where the barrel and brake were attached.

 

[jmorris]

I am not a fan of getting rid of guns.
I always end up regretting it.
However, I think this one has to go.

Has anyone else ended up in this situation?

Do we lose our Man Card or just get hit with a few Demerits?

Sounds like you should keep it and let others that think your man card should be revoked give it a go. Live with no regrets…

 

[CraigC]

Are you shooting off the bench, or your hind legs? Can make a huge difference. I don't like shooting .30-06 class rifles off the bench but the .416Rigby is no problem off hand.