Hi from Jim, the guy who dreams of going to Africa....

[kdenn]

Welcome to AH. Lots of useful information on this site which is freely given. The .375 is plenty but you will receive encouragement to buy more rifles. The advice on proper bullet choice and practice shooting on sticks can't be emphasized enough. Many outfitters are site sponsors and offer great deals. Good luck with your adventures.

 

[gillettehunter]

Welcome to AH. Sounds like you have the right rifle for a buffalo hunt already. Time to just GO.
Bruce

 

[Boyd Brooks]

Stop dreaming and start doing, it’s cheaper than you think. The 375 will do all and more. A 458 Lott is a great round also. You know what comes with every used 460 Weatherby, a box of 19 cartridges!
Have fun, lots of great information and resources on this forum.

 

[Limcroma Safaris]

Welcome to AH.com @Jim Golden !

We would love to have the opportunity to put that .375 to work for you on dream dagga boy!

 

[BAYLY SIPPEL SAFARIS]

Welcome welcome Jim! You are in the right place, that is for sure! I think we may have just the thing you are looking for! We will send you a message!

Kind regards,
Dempsey Bayly & Michael Sippel

 

[DE KLERK SAFARIS]

Hello Jim
Welcome to the site.
You will get some good advice here.
The 375 you built is definitely a beast with that velocity ! Wow!
For a second gun I would also favour the 458 Lott.
Much more practical, more bullets in the magazine (my Lott takes 4 down and 1 up the spout), easier on the pocket, components easily available, cases can be fire formed from 375 brass, uses less powder for same velocity, less recoil than 460 Wby and more gun than what you will ever need. I have had several complete pass throughs (with my Lott) on elephant side on brain shots (using monolithic solids) where I could hear the bullet whine away on other side of elephant as it is dropping from the brain shot. These were on large bull elephants in Botswana. So what more penetration do you want? The 458 Lott delivers plenty.

One last piece of advice on the 375 :
With such a high velocity I would use Barnes X or Barnes TSX bullets on the 375. (The ones that open up into a perfect mushroom - with sharp petals to cut arteries - every single time)
My second choice would be Trophy Bonded Bear Claw.
Third choice would be Swift A-Frame.

I will not waste your time with unsolicited e-mails or messages.
If you are interested in hunting with us just send me a short e-mail and I will reply.
We have several large herds of buffalo on our properties with lots and lots of solitary bulls or bachelor groups.

Sincerely
Hans de Klerk

 

[chashardy]

Welcome!

 

[BRICKBURN]

Welcome to the posting side.

 

[meigsbucks]

Welcome to AH Jim. I was your just a couple of years older than you when I made my first safari.
That .375 Wby sounds like a great choice for buffalo.
As I’m sure you’ve already found, there‘s a lot of info on this site that will help make your first safari a hunt to remember.

 

[Hogpatrol]

You came to the right place for all hunting Africa. Pilot and toolmaker here, I do my own rifles, last one with a Douglas barrel in .17 Fireball that Stan the Man at Douglas fixed me up with. Sadly, he has left the range. As far as the .375, my Africa hunting mentor used that for everything in Africa and other venues.
Load it up or down to suit the game. Have fun with the research and planning. That's half the fun.

 

[Fatback]

Welcome aboard. Sounds like you are ready to take the plunge and get that buff hunt booked. Plenty of great options from the outfitters/PHs that sponsor this site. I will say that I was able to hunt my first buffalo earlier this year and it was one of my most memorable and exciting hunts. Good luck on whatever you decide.

 

[IvW]

30 inch barrel....2889fps....300gr bullet....Dagga boy....African bush....eish....

 

[CoElkHunter]

Welcome to AH!

 

[Nyati]

 

[MAdcox]

Welcome to AH Jim. My only advice is "book it" Just find a way to go- sooner rather than later because it gives you more time to start planning your 2nd trip back over!

 

[Doug3006]

Welcome Jim! Go to Africa. You won’t regret it.

 

[Bob Nelson 35Whelen]

Hi everyone,

I'd mistakenly put this in the wrong place. Jerome, thankfully, told me the right link

My name is Jim Golden, and it has been my dream for my 53 years to go to Africa. I'm an aerospace engineer, a pilot, and a half decent machinist and rifle fan boy. I built a .375 Weatherby on a Winchester 1917 Enfield Action with a 30" Douglas barrel (I am from WV and Douglas is OUR company) and it chrono's a 300 gr at 2889 ft/s. About 5580 ft-lbs. I want to take a dagga boy with it. And a brown bear. I'm looking at bigger rifles as well....although I think my .375 would probably drop about anything. It's got an A-Square stock with a 16 ounce mercury recoil reducer....it's surprisingly well mannered...although I only shoot it from the standing position. I'm thinking about building another one, also on a P17 action, but in .460 Weatherby or .500 A-Square. Also looking at the .458 Lott. Anyway, have been lurking on here for awhile and finally decided to respond to a post, but I'm now lost since I spent a half hour setting up an account Happy to join you all

A-Square had excellent ideas and products, but seemed to be always in and out of business. So, I built my own Hannibal but with a longer barrel. It's a beast. But, I can shoot it very accurately and have a few hundred rounds through it. Anything a 5550 ft-lb .375 will rock with a .300gr A-Frame, I'm ready for. Maybe that's all I need. But I know a lot of you guys like bigger calibers.

On edit after I found out I'd posted it wrong....I'm still dubious of the controlled round feed vs. push feed argument. But, I do see where under stress a fellow could short stroke a cartridge and cause a jam with a push feed. But, Roy Weatherby never seemed to have this problem.... Well, my current big gun (to me) was built on a Winchester 1917 action and is forged beauty. IF I could find another like it, that is what I'd build my .460 on. I have an MPI stocks replica of the Coil Check stock and it really does work. Col. Alphin knows his stuff. I really like the Enfield action. But the Mauser is excellent as well. Anyway, the next argument is .500 Nitro double vs. .460 Weatherby Enfield But for now, I'd like to use my super .375 on a Dagga Boy and am looking at going to South Africa. I am open to any and all suggestions.

Glad to meet you all.

-Jim

@Jim Golden
The M17 and P14s are extremely strong actions with helical style locking lugs that lock up like a bank vault. They make up into beautiful magnum lenght actions with very little work as there is a lot of meat that can be removed from the rear end of the action. Art Alpin loved them for his big A Square cartridges.
If you want even more out of your 375 Weatherby you could try the 350gn Woodleigh heavy duty projectiles. These come with thicker jackets that should handle the extra velocity of the Weatherby.
The beauty of the P14 over the M17 Enfields is the P14 bolt face is already the right size for belted magnum cases and doesn't need to be opened up.
Bob

 

[uplander01]

Stop waiting and go for it.

 

[Hogpatrol]

I have a trip planned for next June but am sitting here with a herniated disc and it feels like someone is beating on my ankle bone with a ball peen hammer. Got surgery lined up later in the year but missed the best part of white tail deer season. Moral of the story is don't wait for a health issue to forever kill a dream, especially a hunt on the Dark Continent.

 

[Doug3006]

I have a trip planned for next June but am sitting here with a herniated disc and it feels like someone is beating on my ankle bone with a ball peen hammer. Got surgery lined up later in the year but missed the best part of white tail deer season. Moral of the story is don't wait for a health issue to forever kill a dream, especially a hunt on the Dark Continent.

Sorry to hear that Hogpatrol! Get the surgery and do the rehab. Then, go to Africa.