No more excuses. . . even under recoil

[edwardware]

Due in no small part to the corrupting influence of the membership here at THR, I bought a .375H&H M70 several year ago. It's been the subject of several questions that y'all have help me with, and I appreciate the input.

It is obviously an extremely capable gun, but at least in my hands it's extraordinarily sensitive to muscle tension. This target is a good illustration. That shot on the left is the first through a cold/fouled bore (and a cold shoulder). The next three are ~1/3MOA, but doing that requires extensive dry-fire in between to re-calibrate muscle tension. This is consistent for me with this rifle; consistent muscle tension always produces <1" groups, but tensing up throws shots 3"+ high and right.

The gun is more accurate than I had any reason to expect. The shooter leaves a lot to be desired, but I'm getting better!

 

[WrongHanded]

Your results are certainly far better than I have so far achieved with my .375 Ruger. So, well done!

 

[.38 Special]

It's been my experience that the big bores tend to be surprisingly accurate. I believe that has a lot to do with heavy, stable barrels.

It's also been my experience that proving that accuracy is, as with snub revolvers, a bit of a trick. I haven't fully mastered either of them.

 

[.38 Special]

Oh, and I recall an Elmer Keith article about the .458 Winchester. He noted that he was getting close to MOA out of a stock rifle, and that we shouldn't be surprised, as he had often experienced extraordinary results from the big bores.

I also recall the accompanying photograph of the old gentleman aiming the rifle over a sandbag, while wearing his cowboy hat and smoking his cigar. At the time I was a young teenager and had no real experience with anything larger than a .300 Magnum, so thought nothing of it. I now know that in his place, the hat would fly right off my head and I'd chomp clean through the cigar - and it wouldn't be anything like an MOA group!

 

[murf]

firmly planted into the shoulder but do not fight the recoil. let it come back on its own. my ruger #1 in 300 weatherby magnum tore up my shoulder when i tried to fight the recoil (200 grain sierra @ 3,000 fps).

luck,

murf

 

[Kano383]

To enjoy your .375, do most of your shooting standing: when shooting heavy recoiling rifles from a bench, your body is not in a position where it can "rock" with the recoil, and the ensuing bruising may lead to the development of a flinch. As murf said, don't "fight" the recoil... The rifle is going to push you back, so don't give it room to hit you before it pushes: pull it tight into your shoulder, and lean into it so that your own weight brings you back after recoil.

If you're hunting with that rifle, the first three shots are those that count when zeroing and checking for accuracy. After that, play with your rifle: shoot from sticks, from a standing position with targets at different distances and positions (small water bottles are great for that), while walking, practice reloading and pulling a second shot as fast as possible...

But see for yourself how many rounds you can shoot without it becoming painful, and don't go over that number of rounds for the day. So much depends on the rifle, how it fits you, the recoil pad, the ammo... It could be ten rounds, it could be fifty, you find out.

 

[Archie]

My latest understanding is .375 H&H is a rather common if not the most common caliber used by professional hunters in Africa. No doubt the monster calibers exist and are owned by professional hunters but for extraordinary situations. But it seems the .375 H&H will do nicely for the African animals, if properly applied of course. .375 H&H will do for all North American game, including the larger bears when upset. So it's a suitable 'anything' rifle.

I second the notion of shooting from a standing position to mitigate recoil; it is less painful than a bench rest. (No, not as stable, but easier on one's corpus.) "...don't give it room to hit..." I phrase that as "Don't let the rifle get a running start..." I second shooting from standing position as offhand is the basic condition. Were one buck nekkid with nothing but a rifle alone, one could shoot offhand. I also submit, if one shoots offhand well, one can shoot the other positions better. Further, I suspect the local flora will make use of the prone and sitting positions difficult if not awkward. So offhand unsupported, sticks and kneeling are most useful at all times.

 

[Robert]

To enjoy your .375, do most of your shooting standing: when shooting heavy recoiling rifles from a bench, your body is not in a position where it can "rock" with the recoil, and the ensuing bruising may lead to the development of a flinch. As murf said, don't "fight" the recoil... The rifle is going to push you back, so don't give it room to hit you before it pushes: pull it tight into your shoulder, and lean into it so that your own weight brings you back after recoil.

If you're hunting with that rifle, the first three shots are those that count when zeroing and checking for accuracy. After that, play with your rifle: shoot from sticks, from a standing position with targets at different distances and positions (small water bottles are great for that), while walking, practice reloading and pulling a second shot as fast as possible...

But see for yourself how many rounds you can shoot without it becoming painful, and don't go over that number of rounds for the day. So much depends on the rifle, how it fits you, the recoil pad, the ammo... It could be ten rounds, it could be fifty, you find out.

This. Shooting my 375 H&H from the bench is no fun. Shooting for literally any other position is far more comfortable, even prone. From the bench I'm good at 20 rounds or so. Any other position I can shoot all day long.

 

[someguy2800]

I don’t have a 375 yet but I do have a 6 lb 444 marlin. Accurate groups are certainly a mental exorcise.

 

[dieselchief]

i am a geezer now but back when> 375 ouch and ouch, 300 weatherby accumark, 300 win mag alum chassis, 40 90 bottleneck, numerous 45 70 levers, and a couple of 35 whelens.
...the absolute worst was the slap from the whelen rem7600, second a light weight 45 70 sucks too. a 375/3855 lever is my max nowadays.
,,,,. the ouch and ouch had a 2.5 pound trigger which greatly reduces mental flinch. i still shoot a 45 70 sharps replica at gong shoots but the weight is every thing. big guns for big boys, lol.

 

[Nature Boy]

I was going to ask if you knew what the pull weight of your trigger was?

 

[highlander 5]

Don't own a 375 H&H did get a chance to fire one Ruger No 1 not a round I would want to fire many times from a bench. I do remember one reloading manual stateing the 375 was capable of extreme accuracy dispite it's "magnum" monaker.

 

[Robert]

It is a very accurate round across different bullet weights and powder charges. For whatever reason, it just shoots. The design of the rifle plays a huge role in how recoil is perceived. My M70 Safari Express has a beefy stock with a good length of pull, a nice rounded comb, a 1" recoil pad, and tips the scales at 9-10 lbs.

If you can shoot a 12ga with heavy loads or slugs, you can shoot my 375.

 

[H&Hhunter]

I hate to break it to this group of sensitive sun flowers but a .375 H&H is not a heavy recoiling round. It’s also not a “heavy” or a big bore. The .375 H&H is a medium bore and produces medium recoil levels.

Very few dangerous game professional hunters carry a .375 H&H that’s a myth that was perpetuated by Capstick the BS artist. The majority of DG pros that I’ve hunted with carry .458 win or Lott or a double in .470 or .500 with a few carrying .416 Rigbys and at least one had a .450/400 double.

Now back to recoil off the bench with a .375. A quality recoil pad stops a bunch of the “pinch”. Second it was mentioned before but here goes again, do not tense up and anticipate the recoil. When you do that I can guarantee you are flinching. Leave your shoulder neutral and let the rifle naturally come back in recoil.

Just about every .375 I’ve shot is a sub MOA rifle. Quit psyching yourself up on the “viscious” recoil of your gentlemanly medium bore because it’s not really bad at all.

If you want to feel wicked recoil it’s available and I’ve got a couple that will readjust your recoil o meter. Shoot a hot loaded .458 Lott off the bench for a string of 10 then come back and shoot the .375. It’ll feel like a .22 mag.

The most viscous round I’ve ever fired was a .460 Rigby on a light weight Model 70 build. A 500 Gr bullet @ 2600 FPS out of a 7 Lb rifle will get your attention. The .500 Jeffery on a standard weight rifle will notify you when you touch the trigger.