Lightweight .375 H&H

[450 Rigby]

Thanks! The iron sights are NECG. The Remington ones were junk. I had Kevin Weaver (my gunsmith) replace them. He also CeraKoted the Talley QR rings.

Kevin Weaver does awesome work. I've got a 450 Rigby he built on a heavily modified Win 70 Post-64 CRF action & a Pre-64 375 Ruger. Also had a 358 Norma & 257 Wby he built but they were stolen from my truck a couple years ago....sometimes we learn the hard way I suppose.

 

[colorado]

He does. I got the rifle in April 2021 for a Sept brown bear hunt. The rifle wouldn't chamber Remington factory 375 H&H rounds! Remington QC has gone down the tubes. Kevin looked at the rifle and found the extractor was too large and the chamber was rough. So I asked him to rechamber it to 375 Weatherby, put a Sako extractor on, and weld on the bolt handle to keep the Internet trolls away lol. He did a wonderful job. At 7 1/2 lbs the recoil is mild with 375 H&H ammo (which it shoots wonderfully). With 375 Weatherby factory ammo (300g Partitions at 2800 fps chrono'd) it's a little snappy, but it's essentially a 338 Win Mag on steroids. My favorite handload is 350g Woogleigh HD softpoints at 2550 fps. But mostly we shoot factory 375 H&G 300g A-Frames through it.

 

[450 Rigby]

He does. I got the rifle in April 2021 for a Sept brown bear hunt. The rifle wouldn't chamber Remington factory 375 H&H rounds! Remington QC has gone down the tubes. Kevin looked at the rifle and found the extractor was too large and the chamber was rough. So I asked him to rechamber it to 375 Weatherby, put a Sako extractor on, and weld on the bolt handle to keep the Internet trolls away lol. He did a wonderful job. At 7 1/2 lbs the recoil is mild with 375 H&H ammo (which it shoots wonderfully). With 375 Weatherby factory ammo (300g Partitions at 2800 fps chrono'd) it's a little snappy, but it's essentially a 338 Win Mag on steroids. My favorite handload is 350g Woogleigh HD softpoints at 2550 fps. But mostly we shoot factory 375 H&G 300g A-Frames through it.

I've got a 330 Dakota on a Win 70 CRF RUM long action with slightly smaller than a Sendero contour & a D'Arcy Echols McMillan stock. It's heavier than I prefer with a 26" bbl...around 9.5 lbs w/o optics. I'm looking to rebarrel to 375 Ruger, 375 H&H or 375 Wby Mag...undecided on cartridge. I've found a Proof Research 1-12 twist carbon fiber 22" Sendero contour bbl that should work great & reduce the weight at least 1.2 lbs or so. I've got some 375 Ruger ammo & it'll hold four down & the bolt closes easily over them. Just undecided on the cartridge. I'vegot a bunch of 375 H&H brass but they simply don't fit the magazine like the Rugers do. I'll probably have Kevin Weaver or Matt Roberts at MNR Customs do the work.

 

[RR 314]

Headed out on April 2nd for Buff and PG. struggling with which guns to take. I know plenty of you shoot cape buff with a .375, but I think I am going with the AHR .458 Lott. Decisions were much easier, but life was more boring, with fewer in the stable.

 

[BeeMaa]

Headed out on April 2nd for Buff and PG. struggling with which guns to take. I know plenty of you shoot cape buff with a .375, but I think I am going with the AHR .458 Lott. Decisions were much easier, but life was more boring, with fewer in the stable.

You have it pretty good to have such hard decisions.

I'd still be taking a 375, but an AHR 458LOTT is hard to resist.

 

[RR 314]

You have it pretty good to have such hard decisions.

I'd still be taking a 375, but an AHR 458LOTT is hard to resist.

Yup. May do that. Just was thinking may do it all with one rifle. I think that thought was fleeting.

 

[Inline6]

Take both, you own them to use. They both need to see Africa.

 

[0002S]

Thompson Encore w/ Leupold VX-2 2-7x33 CDS
6.25 lbs all in.

 

[Brandon.Gleason]

RR314 - I really like that build. How do you like the LAW action? Does it feel as solid in feed and extraction as a traditional long-extractor CRF?

That just looks painful, 0002S......

 

[0002S]

RR314 - I really like that build. How do you like the LAW action? Does it feel as solid in feed and extraction as a traditional long-extractor CRF?

That just looks painful, 0002S......

Not as bad as you'd think. The comb, thumb hole grip and recoil reduction system really make it feel like a 300 WM (or at least to me)

The best part is to break it open and carry it over your shoulder.

It's part of a 3 gun set I was given (204 Ruger, 280 Rem and 375 H&H)

 

[RR 314]

RR314 - I really like that build. How do you like the LAW action? Does it feel as solid in feed and extraction as a traditional long-extractor CRF?

That just looks painful, 0002S......

Really like it. I have a couple of the precursor Ed Brown actions and they all have performed flawlessly. Have a .375 Mark Bansner built on the LAW and it is great as well.

 

[ghay]

I have been wanting a lightweight .375 for some time and a friend recommended Crimson Accuracy in Cresson, Texas. It took over a year to locate a 22” Proof barrel. LAW action, D’Arcy Echols stock. D’Arcy was great to work with and he installed cross bolts before he sent the stock. Bare rifle is 7 pounds 2 oz. Guys at Crimson did fantastic work. First spin around the block and roughly 1/2 MOA with factory A-frames.

View attachment 397054View attachment 397055View attachment 397056

Home run on both rifles!!! The Arnolds look like they will be very hard to find and I guess he is out of business now...sad

 

[Luvthunt]

As to the light weight 375s I have a Kimber Talkeetna in 375 HH and it has been a real sweetheart to carry and shoot. Shoot 260 NP with Re15 mainly at 2800 fps and groups remarkable. This one is my second. I do carry 300 gr NP that shoot 2” lower but group almost as well.
As said “carry a lot and shoot little”
Oh yeh it weighs 8 lb.

 

[RR 314]

Home run on both rifles!!! The Arnolds look like they will be very hard to find and I guess he is out of business now...sad

They are crazy good rifles. Mine is 1/4 to 1/2 MOA. A friend of mine turned me onto them years ago. They built on many actions, but apparently the Apollo is the one to get. As they are not well-known, and had some business management issues, they can be a steal outside of the Pacific Northwest if they come up for sale. From memory, which, admittedly is rusty, I think they were about $4500 new in the 90s. Not that $4K+ isn’t a considerable amount of money today, but was a heck of a lot of money in the 90s!

 

[Andrew62]

What an awesome looking setup!! I absolutely love the colors you selected for the stock!! I had 4" of the barrel on my Kimber Talkeetna removed, then had the barrel re-tapered. Now my gun alone weighs 6lbs 12oz.

 

[BeeMaa]

As to the light weight 375s I have a Kimber Talkeetna in 375 HH and it has been a real sweetheart to carry and shoot. Shoot 260 NP with Re15 mainly at 2800 fps and groups remarkable. This one is my second. I do carry 300 gr NP that shoot 2” lower but group almost as well.
As said “carry a lot and shoot little”
Oh yeh it weighs 8 lb.

The Talkeetna is an amazing rifle with the slim stainless barrel, green synthetic stock and CRF action. Lot’s of folks out there are looking for exactly that kind of rig.

 

[RR 314]

What an awesome looking setup!! I absolutely love the colors you selected for the stock!! I had 4" of the barrel on my Kimber Talkeetna removed, then had the barrel re-tapered. Now my gun alone weighs 6lbs 12oz.

It is a D’Arcy Echols plagiarized pattern. The guy nailed it.

 

[Forrest Halley]

Thompson Encore w/ Leupold VX-2 2-7x33 CDS
6.25 lbs all in.

View attachment 516103

They are quite light. Is that a .375h&h?

RR314 - I really like that build. How do you like the LAW action? Does it feel as solid in feed and extraction as a traditional long-extractor CRF?

That just looks painful, 0002S......

Not really painful. It's just a fast recoil. You can wrap your thumb over the barrel and C clamp it. It becomes quite manageable at that point even with the rudest of .375's. The limb saver does a good job.

 

[Bush Buck]

As to the light weight 375s I have a Kimber Talkeetna in 375 HH and it has been a real sweetheart to carry and shoot. Shoot 260 NP with Re15 mainly at 2800 fps and groups remarkable. This one is my second. I do carry 300 gr NP that shoot 2” lower but group almost as well.
As said “carry a lot and shoot little”
Oh yeh it weighs 8 lb.

I agree. I have a number of 375s that I like to play with, but the Talkeetna is the one I grab when I go hunting. Honestly, the stock design and recoil pad are so good that I find it more comfortable to shoot than a standard Pre-64 Model 70 in 375 H&H.

 

[Ontario Hunter]

Lightweight thumper guns are not for me. I have a history of retina detachments. Those surgeries are not fun. No general anesthesia. Awake while they pulled the eyeball out of its socket to put a silicon buckle around it. Bad as that sounds (and it is very painful), it pales in comparison to the dozen laser repair jobs on both eyes. Best described as a cattle prod going off in my brain.

I prefer to put on my big boy pants and carry a ten pound rifle, even if it is just a "moderate" recoil 404 Jeffery. Better safe than sobbing uncontrollably in a hospital room. Or reading with my fingers.