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Introduced in 1912 by the British company of Holland & Holland, the .375 caliber soon became one of the deadliest calibers in existence for versatility, reliability, accuracy and stopping power. Below is the Remington 786 Safari bolt action rifle chambered for the .375 H&H Magnum. This is one of the most successful rifles chambered for this caliber.
Below the Mauser 98 is still a very popular choice for a fine hunting rifle, made even better when a fine pair of telescopic sights are fitted to it though.
Below is pictured the CZ 550 Safari bolt action hunting rifle in .375 H&H Magnum, this very popular rifle is easy to handle, quite light and fires the big caliber quite well with the expected sharp recoil.
It is possible that the .375 Holland & Holland Magnum formerly know as the Nitro Express is the greatest rifle caliber of all time. Many suggest that it is perhaps too big and too powerful, maybe even a case of overkill, but when you are hunting big game or taking long distance shots then you need all the power and accuracy possible for that clean kill or bulls-eye shot...and the .375 H&H Magnum can deliver both. The .375 H&H will drop a deer dead on it feet and not smash up the meat any more than say a .270 or .300 caliber would. Furthermore the .375H&H Magnum has been the undisputed champion for bagging dangerous game right the way up to cape Buffalo and elephant with a single shot kill.
Be it moose, big bear or elk the .375H&H Magnum can be depended on where other calibers may slacken off to a 2 round kill, the second round being more of a coupe d' grace shot on the downed, stricken and alive game. The .375 H&H Magnum delivers a super flat trajectory over and beyond 300 meters when using spitzer type ammunition and delivers a knockout punch like comparing Mike Tyson to a middleweight.
One of the only draw backs of this caliber was the poor variety of bullet heads for the shooters all favorite pastime of hand loading. This is now changing and changing fast as Nosler, Speer, Hornady, African Grand Slam and even the popular Barnes X- and MRX Bullets are now catering for the .375 H&H magnum, this along with the amount of custom bullets of controlled expansion design has given the kiss of life to this venerable old round. A Sierra 300 grain spitzer boat-tail or a 250 grain Grand Slam bullet has been proven to be an ideal and unbeatable round for maximum penetration instant kills on African Antelope, Cape Buffalo and big Elks, and at longer ranges than the more common calibers. If hunting dangerous game such as African Lion and Brown bear then of course a controlled expansion round is really the only serious option and the Nosler Partition or the Barnes MRX are fantastic choices. Below is some information about the Nosler partition.
The Barnes MRX has a patented Slivex® core that is surrounded by an all copper body. The manufactures say that the dense tungsten based core makes the MRX bullet shorter than their other counterparts and gives increased penetration of the toughest hide even heavy bone. The streamlined polymer tip gives a flatter trajectory and enhanced expansion at longer ranges, upon impact the MRX expands into four tough copper petals that double the bullets original diameter creating maximum shock and tissue damage at short or long range. The special multi rings cut into the bullets base offer great accuracy and reduce fouling in the barrel.
Sierra also offer a couple of bullets that should suit any hunter armed with the .375H&H Magnum.
Also the .375H&H Magnum needs a good powder to shove that slug up the barrel and two of the most popular powders are IMR-4064 and also H4895 . These powders burn at an excellent rate giving enough combustion and pressure build up to fire the bullet at an optimal velocity. Overall the .375 H&H magnum is an excellent choice for the hunter, be it big game, silhouette or long range target shooting. The recoil of this big caliber is one that the shooter of course has to get used to, but all rifle shooters are accustomed to the kick that almost every rifle gives apart from .22, so it should not present to much of a problem for the experienced. Below is a ballistics table for the technically minded.
Custom Rifles There are many custom rifles that can be sought and bought, off the internet, from gun shops, shooting brochures classifieds etc. I have seen two such guns whilst surfing the internet that illustrate just what is available. The first custom .375 H&H Magnum rifle I found was based on the Winchester model70 action and its called a Pro-Hunter Elite. Quite a nice looking rifle as seen below... Pro Hunter Elite™
Rifle
The rifle has these tech features ( to show what is possible on a custom )
I have also found another nice custom on the internet, The .375 Allen™ Repeater...it looks like a bolt action mechanism to me.
The rifle has these tech features ( again to show what is possible on a custom )
Extras with the rifle include...
This rifle was for sale a few years ago and the owner was asking $8250 for the complete kit. The guy can build a rifle and has many others for sale. He can be contacted here... kballen@3rivers.net |
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