.375H&H Barrel length… what say you?

[BJH65]

If it was a pristine unaltered Brno ZKK-602, I would agree with some of the above excellent advice, don’t cut! Because this will be a “working rifle” from Alaska to Africa, I would go ahead with the modifications. Personally, I like a 22 inch barrel and the Bell & Carlson stock, handy enough when crawling through the alders after brown or grizzly bear or the thick acacia of Africa after buffalo but only about 50 FPS of velocity loss with the 22 inch barrel, unnoticed by any animal you may shoot.

I too have a Brno ZKK-602 375 H&H and with the present stock it’s not really suitable for a scope, too much drop. Since I enjoy shooting it with the factory pop up peep sights and I have another scoped semi custom stainless Winchester 375 H&H with 22 inch barrel, I’ve decided to follow Hunter Habib’s advice and leave my Brno 375 H&H as is and not cut the barrel.

 

[AHughes]

This was from one of my posts a while ago I shortened my cz550 Inch by inch

Experiment complete .... as non scientific as it may be I did put out the crony and knock an inch off at a time till I stopped at 21" this was my sweet spot for me personally

Honestly I thought I wanted it a inch or two shorter until I shot it a bit and used it and it just feels right so I stopped there

So with factory federal 300g rounds I lost exactly 100fps on several test rounds from 25" to 21" , it averaged 24-25fps on every inch I took off which I'll be honest I thought it would be and increasing curve as length was shortened instead of being equal amounts, not sure why my train of thought I'm just a dumb redneck that lives in the woods but I really thought the shorter I went the more it would lose per each inch and I was wrong!

For those of you that wanted numbers on shorter barrels I appologise I really expected me to like the shorter side of things but the rifle just fits and feels perfect to me I just can't keep whacking away I'm too attached to it now ... I was very very surprised at how exact my numbers were for the rounds used
Several test rounds started at 2599 fps and my ending numbers on 5 shots @ 21" 2 were 2499 exact so I believe it to be pretty justified answer for me on my particular gun ,

yall have a great day and thanks for all the knowldege I know these test have been done before so nothing new here but sometimes you gotta do it yourself and I do appreciate all the help and input

 

[Datchew]

22" Blaser with ab raptor 10 (7" long) suppressor using 71.5 gr varget and 270gr tsx has a velocity of 2618fps at muzzle if it's of interest to in your length consideration.

 

[RedTag]

I say if you really want a short barrel, get a short cartridge. The 24 to 26 inch lengths are generally best for the belted mags. I don’t mind a long barrel in the field. Actually prefer the way they balance. Keeping in mind the frontiersman was able to negotiate the forest with his Kentucky long rifle and its 48 inch barrel, I think the modern attraction to short barrel lengths is mostly an infatuation. The shorter barrel is indeed nice to have when riding in a vehicle, but once you get out and walk around it seems to matter much less.

 

[Jefferry404]

25"

 

[Red Leg]

This was discussed on a previous thread, but the thought of putting a suppressor on a rifle that may be used for dangerous game seems mildly ridiculous. It would be fine on some game farm settings in SA where you can ride around looking for the bull placed there for the client's shooting pleasure and hop down with one's surf rod at the ready. On a large, well managed ranch or any free range environment, no thank you. And rest assured, except perhaps in the first scenario, your PH's rifle won't be suppressed either.

Anything to 25" has never been a problem for me under actual field conditions. As @RedTag suggests, if you want to use a traditional belted magnum use the barrel length for which it was designed. A very workable alternative is to get a Blaser R8. Due to the short action and placement of the trigger group under the magazine, the standard 25 1/2" .375 barrel which delivers optimal ballistics for the round makes up into a rifle of the same length as a CZ with a 23" barrel.

 

[Jon Glajchen]

My custom Pre 64 Winchester sports a 23 inch barrel. I find this length ideal.

 

[DLSJR]

My 375 is built around a Pre-64 Express length action and has a 24” Krieger barrel in a medium contour, #4 if I remember correctly. It’s well balanced and very accurate. My son’s 375 is a Model 70 that’s all original, which I think is also a 24” barrel, but may be 25”. It’s definitely a heavier barrel than on my 375.

Personally, neither of us would shorten our barrels.

 

[skydiver386]

Gentleman,

All very valid points, as to why I would put a BRNO in a synthetic stock, this particular rifle has one of those ugly “hog back” stocks made out of wood that is just slightly better quality than forklift pallet.
View attachment 678419
View attachment 678421

I don’t know where the silencer comment comes from, but I agree this rifle will never have a can on it.

As for ruining the value by shortening the barrel, the value was already degraded when someone decided that the factory scope mounting option wasn’t good enough and had it drilled and tapped.
View attachment 678424

But the rifle is sound and accurate, so I’m thinking I’ll have the barrel cut to 22-23” with NECG front sight and recessed crown, fill the bolt knob, AHR 3 position safety, AHR trigger, black cerakote, synthetic stock & Alaska Arms QD rings.

My thinking is I would have rock solid .375 that could handle Africa and also be an all weather rifle should I ever book that Alaska brown bear hunt I’ve always wanted.

Leaving my “Africa battery” at…

.375 as described above
.404J - BRNO 602: Dennis Olson has in progress
.470 DR Sabatti that Ken Owen worked over

I know it goes against the grain around here, but I prefer that style of stock as it fits me better than a straight stock. I also prefer the 25" barrel to anything cut shorter.

 

[Muskox]

Silencers are where it's at baby!

Here in Europe it is getting to be mandatory.

In South Africa and Namibia it is super popular.

Reduce recoil and report, looks like an oil filter from hell on the end of a pretty rifle.

I am deaf enough, I have made the switch to prevent further hearing decay.

 

[dogcat1]

Whatever balances on your rifle. Length is no big deal between 21" and 24". Balance is a big deal and how it feels in your hands.

 

[coreydb]

I agree with Andrew62. Barrel length depends on your intended purpose. the .375 is a solid all-around plains game through dangerous game caliber and with that, comes a wide variance of ranges. Do you intend to use it for dangerous game only? 100 yd max is your range. Big game? 250 yd max range? maybe 300 yd? Hunting in the Kalahari desert or the bushveld? The approx. loss of velocity is 75 ft-ish per inch. Others chime in here, please.

 

[wvfred]

I had my 375 built with a 24" barrel but if I had a BRNO I would just leave it as is.those actions are pretty heavy and I think the extra barrel length will help the balance.

 

[Wiley64]

This was discussed on a previous thread, but the thought of putting a suppressor on a rifle that may be used for dangerous game seems mildly ridiculous. It would be fine on some game farm settings in SA where you can ride around looking for the bull placed there for the client's shooting pleasure and hop down with one's surf rod at the ready. On a large, well managed ranch or any free range environment, no thank you. And rest assured, except perhaps in the first scenario, your PH's rifle won't be suppressed either.

Anything to 25" has never been a problem for me under actual field conditions. As @RedTag suggests, if you want to use a traditional belted magnum use the barrel length for which it was designed. A very workable alternative is to get a Blaser R8. Due to the short action and placement of the trigger group under the magazine, the standard 25 1/2" .375 barrel which delivers optimal ballistics for the round makes up into a rifle of the same length as a CZ with a 23" barrel.

That blaser would be really cool with a can on it honestly

 

[BJH65]

I agree with Andrew62. Barrel length depends on your intended purpose. the .375 is a solid all-around plains game through dangerous game caliber and with that, comes a wide variance of ranges. Do you intend to use it for dangerous game only? 100 yd max is your range. Big game? 250 yd max range? maybe 300 yd? Hunting in the Kalahari desert or the bushveld? The approx. loss of velocity is 75 ft-ish per inch. Others chime in here, please.

Loss of 75 FPS per inch? Usually the average loss is 20-25 FPS per inch of course only a chronograph could tell but these are averages. If he reduces the barrel length by a couple inches it will have minimal loss in performance IMO.

 

[Safari Dave]

22"

 

[Flbt]

I’ve got a BRNO .375 with the factory 25” barrel, plan is to have it cerakoted, synthetic stock & 3 position safety as an all weather rifle.

Question being, for you guys that have had several different barrel lengths of .375’s; what’s your preference on barrel length?

I don’t know much about the 375
But I would think it depends on where you will use it most
If you in thick stuff most of the time I would want it as short as possible with out taking to much away.
If using a rifle on hogs in the thick swamp
I want the guide gun inn45-70 or my little 44 carbine with a 16 in barrel.
I have had 20 in 30-30 get hung up

 

[rookhawk]

I’ve got a BRNO .375 with the factory 25” barrel, plan is to have it cerakoted, synthetic stock & 3 position safety as an all weather rifle.

Question being, for you guys that have had several different barrel lengths of .375’s; what’s your preference on barrel length?

25” have great accuracy and usually increased velocity depending on powder. I like the 25” barrels because they balance well with 14”+ stocks. 25” is a very traditional length, 23” is a common modern length, 21” bobbed barrels are shadetree gunsmith jobs done for PHs that thought they’d be easier to carry through thick jess while they were oblivious to the ballistic consequences at the time.

 

[meigsbucks]

My Sako has ~22”. I think that is about right if it’s primarily going to be for under 200 yds. If you want it for more of an all around rifle and reach to 300 yds +, I’d stick with the 25”.

 

[Brandon.Gleason]

My CZ550's balance very nicely with a 23" barrel, both .375 and .458 varieties. This was at the suggestion of Wayne Jacobson when he did the upgrades. I left the .300 Win Mag at a full 25", its no detriment to balance, just prefer the look of the shorter barrels on the larger calibers.