.375 group

[BeeMaa]

You guys shoot a lot more than I do. My North American hunting is pretty limited to my Matthews. I do use my rifles in Africa. To be honest, it’s a lot harder to get tight groups out of my 468 Lott, 404 J and 375 H&H than it is with my ‘06. Not that I’m scared of them off the bench, but I do know what’s coming. I sure my squeeze isn’t quite as fine. I’ve never used a sled, so can’t speak to that.

I use a Caldwell Lead Sled with no weights on it, adds about 12#. Has worked great for me without negative aspects of possibly cracking a stock from being overly rigid.

Oh no, I said "sled"...might as well have said muzzle brake or CRF/PF...

 

[Tanks]

Let's be honest guys... what won't you kill with a .375 with a 2" grouping??

Benchrest accuracy obviously opens up in field conditions. We are discussing the accuracy of the tool in a controlled environment. And no, 2" from the bench with a scope is not acceptable at 100 yards. @Fjold gets sub-moa accuracy at much further than that with his .375 handloads.

 

[Boyd Brooks]

If your happy and confident you can hit the mark when it counts, that should be all that matters.
However if you buy a new rifle that shoots larger projectiles the group looks smaller because of the larger holes in the paper, just sayin! There’s always a reason for a new rifle!

 

[Firebird]

I expect 1” groups or under but I do handload and have burned ALOT of time and money to get my .375 to achieve this goal. But shooting is part of the fun right?!
2” group with aging eyes, smaller scopes and factory loads- I would be good with it!

 

[Newboomer]

I expect 1” groups or under but I do handload and have burned ALOT of time and money to get my .375 to achieve this goal. But shooting is part of the fun right?!
2” group with aging eyes, smaller scopes and factory loads- I would be good with it!

My Win 70 with Barnes 235gr TSX ahead of 63gr of 4064 gives me minute of springbok at 250yds. off sticks. Good enough for anything I hunt.

 

[Wyatt Smith]

We can’t forget that there was a time when a rifle that would shoot a 1” group was truly special. Many many animals were killed with 2 or 3 MOA rifles. Of course now that we have the option, why not have the accuracy

 

[Firebird]

I love the 235 tsx but I’m shooting a .375 wby with a heavy load of RL15. Now if I could just find any 235’s that would be nice!

 

[curtism1234]

We can’t forget that there was a time when a rifle that would shoot a 1” group was truly special. Many many animals were killed with 2 or 3 MOA rifles. Of course now that we have the option, why not have the accuracy

I think consistent 1" groups are still pretty special given what equipment (rests, scopes, target, etc) the average or even experienced shooter uses. I'm happy with anything in the 1.5" range.

2" at 100 yards from a stiff recoiling rifle with possibly a 4x magniciation is going to be hard to beat imo. If it's the bullet you want to hunt with, you are good to go

 

[Brandon.Gleason]

I've had an easy time getting sub 1" groups with my .375 (CZ 550) with Sierra (300gr GK's), Woodleigh (300 and 350gr PP's) and Barnes (250 TTSX, 270, 300 and 350 TSX) handloads. I'd argue it is one of my least fickle rifles to load for.

I strive for 1" groups as my benchmark from a bench. I then spend the rest of the time (and powder and bullets) on sticks and off hand until one last bench check before a hunt.

 

[Rell]

Sure but …

My Joe Smithson .375 H&H on a GMA action shoots .5 inch groups with Barnes 300gr X hand loads. It’s got a Swarovski 1-8x24i. I need to the perfect target and aiming point but if I’m shooting a lot and my eyes are good it does that. Doesn’t matter though. It’s just for fun.

A 2 inch group at 100 should be 6 inches at 300, when do you shoot a 375 much further? Everything I shoot has a vital area greater the 6 inches.

If it’s longer then 300 I take my 300 Weatherby AHR with 2.5-15x44 Swarovski and smoke EM way out there.

Shoot more off the bench and stop worrying about needless drak.

 

[Tra3]

How many different loads have you tried? It seems odd to me but I can shoot as well with my 5x scope as I can with 9x or 10x. 250 gr TTSX give me 0.5-0.75” groups at 100 yards and 3” groups at 300. I think your eye knows where it wants to go so the groups come out same even with less magnification.

I think I’ve tried 5 different loads. The FFP scope has a post reticle, so at 4x the post is wider than the target area (covers the bullseye and then some) so I just line up an approximation.

I have a Z6 2.5-15 (Plex reticle) for the .375 barrel, but after getting it sighted in, I’ve barely used it that scope. I need to try again with the z6 scope and see what I get for accuracy. The post reticle is just so simple for immediate acquisition of target that I practiced only with that.

 

[Tom Leoni]

My .375 is 97 years old with a 40 year old scope. And it's not a bolt action. I haven't done tons of experimenting with handloads, because I lucked out earlier on and I found a combination that works for me. I can keep shots within 1 1/4" at 100 yards off a Caldwell bag-rest.

I also don't like to take shots past 250 yards, so that's plenty good enough for me under most field conditions within that range. And everything I ever hit with it fell and died.

Were I a stickler for absolute accuracy and had I a modern bolt-action with a modern scope, I wouldn't expect anything less than sub-MOA accuracy from my .375, just as I would from a .270, .308 or .30-06. In a well-built rifle with a perfect bore there's no reason to expect less from a .375.

I am about to take possession of a brand-new .375 double rifle, factory-regulated for Hornady DGX. I'll scope with brand-new optics, do some experimenting with it, but I'll expect it to be as accurate as I can possibly shoot it within my skill-level--at least barrel-for-barrel.

 

[R.M.C.]

I've got a whitworth .375 and shot a group of about 1.5 inches at 100 yards the other day. Shootin some old Winchester silvertips . I'm thinking the new Norma ammo I have will probably shoot even better. I've got a 3-9 power scope on it so I would expect it to shoot one inch groups with at least some ammo . I really haven't experimented much with it yet.

 

[Shootist43]

I handload, so if I can't get MOA groups out of a rifle I tinker with the load. Fortunately, my bigger bores 416 Rigby, 416 Remington Magnum, 404 Jeffery all shoot well under an inch. While a two inch group may good enough for hunting, I wouldn't consider taking it afield if I had other options.

 

[Rick Cox]

Personnally I would want to tighten it up somewhat. Of course hunting and hunting big game, it would not be an issue. These are groups from my ol' CZ550 with a Leupold VX5 1-5. I had many groups like this, an inch or under.

 

[Dianas Favorite]

What will be the acceptable grouping for .375 H&H magnum at 100 yards ? Will you be happy with 2” shooting off a bench ??

Hi maxtheflyinghorse, I will not go into the discussion on ammo or what people expect from themselves, I rather will give you some solution approaches. The good factory ammo is just fine and will allow a grouping of less than 1".
I rather would check:
-is the barrel chemically cleaned and then oiled. Do 3 cleaning shots. Some previous ammos have different alloys that residual in the barrel. Take them out and "clean" the barrel with the alloy your preferred ammo is.
- check that the scope at this calibre is tight, I use loctite for stronger holds. But don't take the strong stuff, the softer glue works fine and is able to disassemble in the bush when needed (talking out of experience)
- check that the bench rest is stable and your rifle in an upright position.
- if the scope is raised more than an 1,5" use a cheak raiser to always get in a good level position at aiming
- Check if you breathe out and not closing your eyes or flinching when pulling the trigger


If none of theese points help, check your scope that it is not jumping after each shot on another rifle. Some scopes can not handle the recoil well.

Hope that helped. Let me know the results.

 

[maxtheflyinghorse]

Hi maxtheflyinghorse, I will not go into the discussion on ammo or what people expect from themselves, I rather will give you some solution approaches. The good factory ammo is just fine and will allow a grouping of less than 1".
I rather would check:
-is the barrel chemically cleaned and then oiled. Do 3 cleaning shots. Some previous ammos have different alloys that residual in the barrel. Take them out and "clean" the barrel with the alloy your preferred ammo is.
- check that the scope at this calibre is tight, I use loctite for stronger holds. But don't take the strong stuff, the softer glue works fine and is able to disassemble in the bush when needed (talking out of experience)
- check that the bench rest is stable and your rifle in an upright position.
- if the scope is raised more than an 1,5" use a cheak raiser to always get in a good level position at aiming
- Check if you breathe out and not closing your eyes or flinching when pulling the trigger


If none of theese points help, check your scope that it is not jumping after each shot on another rifle. Some scopes can not handle the recoil well.

Hope that helped. Let me know the results.

Definitely closing the eye abd also flinching