The 9.3 × 62 mm Mauser was initially more popular than the .375 HH Magnum. It was only after World War II , after all German arms and Ammunition were prohibited from being manufactured that the 9.3 × 62 lost it's popularity
Itt was here that the .375 HH Magnum began to shine. Based on my collection of books , you won't find many pre world war II hunters using the .375 HH Magnum . Infact , Pete Pearson is the only documented one , but it was just one of the MANY guns in his collection. It was only after world war II and after the Introduction of the Winchester Model 70 in .375 HH Magnum , hunters began using it. Harry Selby states that during the post war era , client hunters were recommended to bring a .30-06 for plains game and would rent the Safari Outfitter's .470 NE Double rifle for dangerous game. Client hunters who brought their own guns were recommended to bring a 7mm of some sort for the light stuff , a .375 HH Magnum for medium sized game and a .470 Nitro Express Double for Big game. Eventually White Hunters realized that majority of the client hunters shot better with the .375 HH Magnum than with the big .470 NE Double rifles . So , they recommended clients to use the .375 HH Magnum on Big game ( like Elephant or Buffalo ) under favorable circumstances. If things went wrong... Well , that's where the White Hunter and his .470 NE Double rifle came in
. Harry himself acquired his .375 HH Magnum Winchester Model 70 as a gift from a father and son duo who came hunting to Africa in 1950. But Harry Selby never used it on Elephant himself.
The only two recorded Professional Hunters / White Hunters who exclusively used the .375 HH Magnum for Elephant and Buffalo were Harry Manners and Wally Johnson , in Mozambique from 1945 to 1953 ( Harry ) and from 1937 to 1972 ( Wally ). But having read both their auto biographies , it becomes clear that for men hunting DG alone without the assistance of a PH , the .375 HH Magnum can be marginal , at times. Let's look at Harry's case :
He owned 4 Winchester Model 70 rifles in this caliber during his career . His strategy for shooting Elephant was to have his local native hunters ( Jonas or Chisulo ) carry a spare .375 HH Magnum and they would stalk an elephant or a cape Buff and both of them would fire together into the Animal's vitals simultaneously to kill it.
Never alone. Harry Later told Tony Sanchez Arino that he actually preferred the .404 Jeffery and the .416 Rigby but that their Ammunition was not available in Mozambique. So the .375 HH Magnum was more of an economic choice.
Wally Johnson used a Single .375 HH Magnum Winchester Model 70 during his entire career . But he needed 6-8 shots on average to take down an Elephant or a Cape Buffalo. And it did fail to stop a Cape Buffalo which charged Wally and gored him in the leg
( According to Jack Lott , Wally eventually swapped his .375 HH Magnum for a .458 Winchester Magnum Model 70 , but Wally doesn't mention this in his book ).
Where the .375 HH Magnum REALLY gained it's popularity was during the 1950s to 1970s among Client hunters during an era when Kynoch discontinued all the British Cartridges. The .375 HH Magnum , being a non proprietary cartridge stayed during this era without much competition ( if any ).
The 9.3mm Mauser was really popular in Mozambique among Buffalo hunters who shot buffalo to provide meat for the sugar cane plantation workers.
I personally consider the .404 Jeffery the greatest ALL - Rounder and am Scouting for a nice BRNO ZKK -602 in the caliber , .404 . The REAL king
But l love the .375 HH Magnum too. Was my only rifle for 13 years
