What about a .375 Wby?

[Jim Golden]

I think the .375 Weatherby is one of the best cartridges ever created. I analyzed a lot of them and settled on this one. I machined my A-Square Hannibal clone on it. I built my rifle from scratch, on an Enfield P17 action of Winchester. I actually chronographed it. 2889 ft/s with a 300 grain. If I'm shooting a .375, I only shoot a 300 grain. That's 5580 ft-lbs. More than a .458 Winchester. It is laser accurate. I plan to take a dagga boy with it. I also have an H&H. And it's excellent. I dropped a Russian Razor Back boar with it. He died instantly...which surprised the guide. Another guy that day pumped eight rounds of 180gr .30-06 into one to put it down. I was "concerned" about the beasts and took the biggest gun I owned "at that time" and waylaid the thing. 300 grain partition knocked him down instantly. He was good BBQ. But seriously, the old .375 WBY is a good cartridge.

 

[Firebird]

Sadly nmbowhunter hasn’t been around for awhile and I don’t remember ever seeing a report on his buffalo hunt-wherever he went I hope it went well and would Love To see some pix and a report about it

 

[steve white]

I have one and like it a lot. I get an easy 2700 fps with 300g A-Frames. Recoil is a bit snappier than when shooting factory 375 H&H ammo through the same rifle. Of course the Rem XCR II only weighs 7 1/2 lbs with scope and rings, unloaded.

View attachment 349905

Works too!

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"a bit snappier" as in recoils enough to take you from under your hat?!...

 

[IvW]

Good cartridge same as AI....giving the ability to fire a heavy for caliber bullet at respectable velocity....

 

[colorado]

"a bit snappier" as in recoils enough to take you from under your hat?!...

Lol! No that's my 500 Jeffery!

 

[Firebird]

You will feel it shooting on the bench, but over the sticks at an animal-you will not notice the recoil-

235 gr. Barnes TSX .375 wby mag

 

[krish]

It does have a punch. Tolerable the 378 wby and 338/378 wby on the other hand have severe punch. Maximum I can take is about 10 rye rounds from the bench. With the break they are shootable. With 20 rounds from the bench you can feel the pain inside the head.
Krish

 

[RR 314]

I have a .375 RUM built by Mark Bansner. Have not shot anything bigger than mule deer or feral hogs but it is bad medicine. Wouldn’t hesitate to shoot buffalo with it.

 

[Switup]

I've always thought the 375 Wby would be a great choice if one wanted a gun for facing off with the baddest of the bad. I can't think of a thing that any of the 416's will do that your rifle won't do just as well and some things your rifle will do better when shooting at longer ranges.

If I were a brown bear and knew you were fixen to throw any 300 grain hunk of lead at me at 2800 fps I'd soil my fur.

As for the putting a bi-pod on the barrel mounted sling stud, I would never do that. I would put one the stock just for the bipod. I can't help but think that resting the barrel on a bi-pod would mess with the harmonics.

 

[freefall]

If it was the .375 Ackley Improved would it be more acceptable?

 

[colorado]

I understand the love for the 375 H&H, a magnificent caliber. But if the 375 Weatherby adds on value, either does the 300 Win Mag or 300 H&H Mag over the 30-06. Both "improve" the 30-06 by 200 fps as does the 375 Weatherby Mag over the 375 H&H. Sorry to introduce logic into the conversation lol

 

[Jamie D Van Roekel]

I have a .375 RUM built by Mark Bansner. Have not shot anything bigger than mule deer or feral hogs but it is bad medicine. Wouldn’t hesitate to shoot buffalo with it.

The only thing I don’t like about the Rum, is no ammo if yours disappears. I have shot a bunch of stuff with mine never felt under gunned. Think it is a great all around rifle. Built my wife a 375 WBY last year so can use H&H if need be. Loading H&H brass to max is what we have been using till I get enough brass formed. Just have to make sure it is marked well so no one puts it in a H&H (if someone would steal it they would be very sad indeed)

 

[JimP]

The only thing I don’t like about the Rum, is no ammo if yours disappears. I have shot a bunch of stuff with mine never felt under gunned. Think it is a great all around rifle. Built my wife a 375 WBY last year so can use H&H if need be. Loading H&H brass to max is what we have been using till I get enough brass formed. Just have to make sure it is marked well so no one puts it in a H&H (if someone would steal it they would be very sad indeed)

I doubt that it would chamber in a HH since it has a blown out shoulder.

 

[colorado]

A 375 Weatherby is a natural jump up from a 300 Win Mag. There is no need for a 338 Win Mag if you can shoot a 300g A-Frame at 2800 fps. You can always shoot 375 H&H factory 300g A-Frames at a sedate 2500 fps if you'd like. I also have a Woodleigh 350g HD SP at 2550 fps I'd like to try on something.

 

[Jamie D Van Roekel]

I doubt that it would chamber in a HH since it has a blown out shoulder.

I was referring to my 375H&H brass that haven’t been fire formed yet. Loaded to hot for most H&H cambers, but fine in the WBY camber.

 

[colorado]

I was referring to my 375H&H brass that haven’t been fire formed yet. Loaded to hot for most H&H cambers, but fine in the WBY camber.

I would only load pre-fireformed 375 H&H brass to 375 H&H levels. Just my two cents

 

[Jamie D Van Roekel]

I would only load pre-fireformed 375 H&H brass to 375 H&H levels. Just my two cents

I would not do it without testing it. But the theory is even though they haven’t been fire formed yet the combustion area is the size of the chamber. The brass is soft and forms easily, therefore giving the combustion more room.

I worked up to these loads starting under max for a H&H but a couple grains and went up to get velocity I was after for these loads. Above H&H max by several grains. Still under Wby max a ways but that was as high as I wanted recoil for my wife. I wanted to continue the test when I have time. It looks to me that I will run out of case capacity long before I have pressure.

My testing so far indicates that when shooting H&H ammo in a Wby chamber you don’t lose velocity. The two test seem to contradict in my head so would like to work on it a bit more to gather data.

 

[C.W. Richter]

I would think that with handloading the HH comes close to the (375) Wby. That, and it's unnecessary (the HH velocity is already considerably higher than comparable larger bore guns.) I recall getting 2,800 fps out of 270 gr handloads in the HH. That and where are you going to find brass and ammo for that (outdated, old, unpopular) Wby (it's all 378s now.) Lose your ammo on a flight and you'll have to use HH (as that's all you'll find in-country.) You MIGHT find Wby in AK. No significant difference...

 

[colorado]

The distance between the two when handloading is the same as in factory ammunition. The Weatherby has more case capacity and the same bore. In addition max pressure is 65k for the 375 Weatherby compared to 62K for the 375 H&H

 

[Jim Golden]

I've shot about 60 rounds (three boxes) of .375 H&H out of my .375 Weatherby and they've been just fine. The necks come out a bit short, but no problems firing them. Good enough if you get to Africa and your ammo is lost.....