Building a .375 for extended use

[Forrest Halley]

What exactly would it take to build a .375 for extended firing and hard use? I am thinking along the line of an upscaled K98 or 1903 Springfield. How would one go about this? Could it be done? Just how hard could you push such a rifle before it would become unserviceable?
I read about Capstick and culling elephants and fast shooting with big rifles. Clearly they will survive it. I wonder about building a decent capacity bolt action repeating rifle in .375 H&H off the Model 70 action. Can it be done? What technology exists to do so? Which stock can take more heat? Synthetic or wood?
No muzzle breaks allowed. Not a sniper rifle. Just a service rifle capable of sustained fire at 300 yards along the lines of the Ruger Scout rifle.

 

[Major Khan]

Based up on my personal experience , you will be best served by using a BRNO ZKK 602 action . It is capable of holding 6 cartridges of .375 Holland & Holland magnum . For durable rifle barrels ... The finest rifle barrel maker of our time , was actually “ Douglas Barrels “ . None of my clients had any reason to complain about them in the 1960s . Therefore , I doubt that 1 would be unhappy with them ... Today . I do believe that they are still in business . Avoid open grained wooden stocks , such as Claro or American Walnut . They have a propensity to crack , eventually . Opt for French or Turkish walnut . Mesquite is perfectly acceptable , as well . The stock must be bedded in fiber glass , and reinforced with cross bolts ... As a precautionary measure against splitting . Alternatively , 1 could opt for a Kevlar or Hogue stock . They require less maintenance than wooden stocks . How ever , I am an old soul and ( Speaking for myself ) find nothing more appealing than a Winchester Model 70 “ Super Grade “ stock or a Turkish Walnut stock .

If you have no problems , with a magazine capacity of “ only “ 4 cartridges ( 3 + 1 ) ... Then , you may substitute the BRNO ZKK 602 action with a pre 64 Winchester Model 70 action . They are hand fitted and extremely robust . It is also possible to add a custom extended drop box floor plate to a pre 64 Winchester Model 70 action ... In order to increase the magazine capacity.

All the best .

 

[CoElkHunter]

I would think either a Winchester M 70 or CZ 550 in .375 would work well for extended firing sessions? I don’t think you’d ever wear the barrel or action out, but the stock and bedding would be the fly in the ointment?

 

[Tanks]

If you are going to be building a .375 I'd go for .375 RUM. It has plenty of power, well beyond .375 H&H as you can push a 300 grain bullet almost 3,000 ft/s out of a 26" barrel. Not to mention it is beltless.

 

[Red Leg]

Standard Blaser R8 Professional in whatever .375 interests you.

 

[Wyatt Smith]

By the time you wear out any bolt action, not shoot out the barrel, you should probably just get a new one.
I watched the old documentary “The Great Australian Buffalo Hunt.” He retired a rifle , Ruger 77 .308, every 1000 buffalo. And went through a rifle every two or three weeks.
I would have tried to take mine a bit further, but maybe it was cheaper than having them fixed.

 

[Tra3]

How many rounds does extended use mean? Do you mean many range sessions or many shots in one short moment?
Seems like ammo cost will eclipse the rifle cost so you better try more than one rifle!

 

[CoElkHunter]

If you are going to be building a .375 I'd go for .375 RUM. It has plenty of power, well beyond .375 H&H as you can push a 300 grain bullet almost 3,000 ft/s out of a 26" barrel. Not to mention it is beltless.

And then, Forrest could use the RUM cases for reloading the .50 MDM cartridge for a future build in a Ruger #1 in .50 MDM? It might work?

 

[Tokoloshe Safaris]

CZ 550 or CZ 602. Bell & Carlson or Mc Millan Stock. Timney Trigger. Done & Dusted!

 

[Von S.]

A 375 standoff rifle ?

 

[Shootist43]

Forrest Halley, just curious what exactly are you planning to do with this rifle?

 

[Forrest Halley]

Pretty much I am considering what would be required to make a .375 H&H a service rifle. We've hacked so many service rifles down to spotters. What would it take to build a magnum service rifle? I was thinking McMillan stock and Sunny Hill for capacity. One would need some sort of heat shield and a cut out for stripper clips. Krag meets 98?
No need for .375 RUM as I am set up for H&H.
Configured for many shots over a short period of time.
Why not?

 

[Shootist43]

Forrest, have you ever taken a look any any of Ronnie Barrett's offerings? I guess his kids are running the company now. This sounds like a "project" to me just to see if you can do it. If you decide to proceed, please keep us informed of your progress. Good Luck!!

 

[Forrest Halley]

I'm wondering if one could build a bolt action battle rifle in .375. Call it a standoff rifle or whatever you want. I was mainly thinking about something that could stand up to a competition type use without the barrel outright melting off or burning the religion out of the user. I like classic lines and got to thinking about this the other day looking in the custom rifles thread seeing a Sporter that featured the Mauser bolt grab relief in the stock.

 

[mdwest]

I think the shooter is going to be the weak link in this equation.. not the rifle..

As long as you build the rifle using quality components, you'd be fine.. 375H&H is in the same pressure category as .308 Winchester (both produce around 62K PSI).. youre not going to be wearing out barrels or weakening the action any faster than you would with most non magnum mid bores like 308, 30-06, etc (not noticeably anyway)..

The question for your equation is how many rounds of sustained fire can the shooter handle? Unless you are talking about building a particularly heavy rifle, which creates its own set of problems/limitations for a "service" rifle.. theres only so much beating a shooter can take and still deliver accurate, sustained fired..

Getting additional capacity, or extra bells and whistles isnt hard.. you've already identified companies that make aftermarket stocks, etc. for Win70, Mauser 98, and other actions..

Getting a shooter behind the gun that can squeeze off 20 rounds accurately at a moderate to high rate of fire... thats a completely different issue..

Dont get me wrong.. there have been several "big bore" rifles built over the years for purposes similar to what you describe.. in the AR family of rifles the 458 SOCOM and 500 Beowulf were developed for just such a purpose (similar to 45-70 ballistics delivered from a standard AR15 platform).. I like the concept... You just also have to recognize the limitations in application..

 

[YancyW]

Was there something in particular that would wear out after shooting 1000ish rounds over a month's time?

 

[IvW]

Be patient and look for a Brno ZKK 602 preferably with the pop up peep sight, all you would ever need......the work horse of Africa.

And yes pay a premium if you have to.....

 

[Forrest Halley]

Was there something in particular that would wear out after shooting 1000ish rounds over a month's time?

I'm concerned that if I fired several dozen rounds rapidly the barrel would likely burn out in short order.
I guess that's unfounded given that it takes several hundred rounds to melt a barrel on a machine gun especially an M2.
Just a thought process I wanted to walk through with a group of experience in the subject.

 

[IvW]

I'm concerned that if I fired several dozen rounds rapidly the barrel would likely burn out in short order.

Several dozen rounds rapidly from a 375?????

What exactly are your intentions with this rifle???

Buy an AK47......

 

[RayAtkinson]

My go to DG rifle is a pre war mod. 70 375 H&H, and its believed by many to be stainless steel and
drift wood but it just wear from many safaris and hunts...still shoots an inch with any load to the the same POI. I have another Ruger 375 Hawkeye, wood and blue that has been a favorite..

I have never seen a need for SS and plastic, nor do I like the looks, but Alaska could be a exception, a Ruger boat paddle suits me fine.