Caliber advice

[Overkill338]

I recon that's the price you pay for using Africa's favorite buff gun and comparing it to a 300wm on recoil. According to the chart the other bullets in the 375 ramp the recoil up to a point they dont really compare. Please dont take this as a vote for the H&H on anything short of big browns or polar bear from me. I'm sure it will work with the right bullet on mid side game, but it's not my idea of a all around gun on this continent . If it's your idea of the perfect American rifle, more power to ya. That's a choice we all get to make.

I know a fella who does his deer and elk hunting with a .378 Roy. I asked him if the .416 would be ok if he was after kodiak bears, or if he would use the .460 to be safe.

Fun fact, I collect cartridges and my Roy collection is my favorite. I have the .224, .240, .257, 270, 7mm, 300, 30-378, 340, 338-378, 375, 378, 416, and 460. Are there any Weatherby cartridges that I dont have? New stuff maybe?

 

[5.56×250]

Had a customer back in my retail days that was s successful nerosurgion . He liked BIG guns. He bought 3 BMGs from me over a couple year period. One was a sure enough double handed browning machine gun ( semi auto version ) he mounted on a jeep ! He took his armalite single shot out west on a muley hunt . Shot a raghorn at 900 yds with it. He claimed the deer went 20ft after impact . That was the closest tree to stop the poor thing on it way sideways after impact. It worked though !

 

[djm670]

Had a customer back in my retail days that was s successful nerosurgion . He liked BIG guns. He bought 3 BMGs from me over a couple year period. One was a sure enough double handed browning machine gun ( semi auto version ) he mounted on a jeep ! He took his armalite single shot out west on a muley hunt . Shot a raghorn at 900 yds with it. He claimed the deer went 20ft after impact . That was the closest tree to stop the poor thing on it way sideways after impact. It worked though !

I don't suppose it damaged much meat if he hit it in the head! To each his own!

 

[Overkill338]

Had a customer back in my retail days that was s successful nerosurgion . He liked BIG guns. He bought 3 BMGs from me over a couple year period. One was a sure enough double handed browning machine gun ( semi auto version ) he mounted on a jeep ! He took his armalite single shot out west on a muley hunt . Shot a raghorn at 900 yds with it. He claimed the deer went 20ft after impact . That was the closest tree to stop the poor thing on it way sideways after impact. It worked though !

This talk and the OP's request has me wondering about the Weatherby stuff. I want an Accumark in .30-378, man I've always wanted one of those! But is the .30-378 still the king of .308"? What about the .338-378? I know there was always some debate on Lapua vs Weatherby (at least a few years ago).

To the original poster, did you consider any of the big Roy's?

 

[Overkill338]

I don't suppose it damaged much meat if he hit it in the head! To each his own!

There is a video of a hunt on YouTube. Guy killed a deer with a BMG and never hit it! He went for a head shot, and missed slightly. It sucked the eyes out and killed it instantly.

 

[Calvin45]

As far as felt recoil between cartridges, more powerful cartridges have more recoil, heavier projectiles are punchy

If you have to drop to a 235 in a .375 to get recoil down, then it's a moot point. A 235 grain .375 bullet has the BC of a Jeep Wrangler lol

For what it's worth, I've heard Jeep wranglers have good "dead right there" impacts on deer if they're moving fast when it happens. Sorry, couldn't resist.

Lots of people claim the bigger guns like 375 and up have more manageable recoil than the 7, 30, and 33 magnums, that they push harder but aren't as snappy or flinch inducing. I have to ask myself if this is apples to apples or if it's comparing a bench session with a sporter weight 300 win mag to shooting at jugs offhand with "thumper". I really would have doubts about people still claiming, in guns of equal weight and geometry, that they found 30 rounds of 375 from prone to be less punishing than 30 rounds of .300 win.

 

[ehryk]

I watched a vid some time ago here on this site where a guy dropped a very nice elk bull with a 7mm mag at 1200 yards. It was a really cool vid and a great shot. At 1200, a 7mm mag will have, maybe what, 800 or 900 FPE remaining? Pretty much any of the .308 based or similar cartridges will give 1200 to 1300 FPE at 600. With the usual proper shot placement and bullet selection, there will be elk on the table. By the way, this is from a guy that took a bull at 812 with a .338 LM, so... heheheheh

 

[Overkill338]

As far as felt recoil between cartridges, more powerful cartridges have more recoil, heavier projectiles are punchy


For what it's worth, I've heard Jeep wranglers have good "dead right there" impacts on deer if they're moving fast when it happens. Sorry, couldn't resist.

Lots of people claim the bigger guns like 375 and up have more manageable recoil than the 7, 30, and 33 magnums, that they push harder but aren't as snappy or flinch inducing. I have to ask myself if this is apples to apples or if it's comparing a bench session with a sporter weight 300 win mag to shooting at jugs offhand with "thumper". I really would have doubts about people still claiming, in guns of equal weight and geometry, that they found 30 rounds of 375 from prone to be less punishing than 30 rounds of .300 win.

I setup a scope for a guy on a 375 H&H in a Winchester Super Grade, right after I set my Savage 14 American classic 325 WSM (beautiful gun, comparable to the Super Grade). Both rifles weighed about the same. Even the 325 can feel harsh for extended shooting periods. Yet, it felt like .410 shotgun compared to that 375, or was very "punchy" as you mentioned. I'd take a 338 Win Mag for 20 rounds before I'd do ten in another Winchester 375.

 

[MagnumManiac]

I setup a scope for a guy on a 375 H&H in a Winchester Super Grade, right after I set my Savage 14 American classic 325 WSM (beautiful gun, comparable to the Super Grade). Both rifles weighed about the same. Even the 325 can feel harsh for extended shooting periods. Yet, it felt like .410 shotgun compared to that 375, or was very "punchy" as you mentioned. I'd take a 338 Win Mag for 20 rounds before I'd do ten in another Winchester 375.

My 375 Weatherby is a New Haven Classic Stainless, it wears a compact 2-7×32 scope and a HS Precision Sporter stock. I re-chambered the factory H&H barrel and it is far 'snappier' than H&H loads. A genuine 200fps increase in velocity with 270gr and up pills, and a 250-300fps increase with 250 and 260gr pills. The 375H&H is a pussycat in comparison.

Cheers.

 

[5.56×250]

I don't suppose it damaged much meat if he hit it in the head! To each his own!

Nope, centerpunched it for effect. Not only did the tree stop the deer, its butt hit its head on the other side as it was wrapped around the tree. There is such a thing as overkill .

 

[5.56×250]

There is a video of a hunt on YouTube. Guy killed a deer with a BMG and never hit it! He went for a head shot, and missed slightly. It sucked the eyes out and killed it instantly.

I killed a young whitetail years ago without hitting it. I was hunting with a borrowed 16ga side by side, using buckshot . Only one of the barrels worked, so I used the other barrel for a convenient way to keep an extra round handy. A little spike walked up from behind me and before I saw it , was standing less than 10ft from my tree. I was after jerky meat , so I leveled off on him and touched off a shot. Deer hit the ground like you pole axe him. I climbed down, walked up from behind and touched the deer on the eye to verify it was dead . The deer went crazy ! Flipping and flopping on its side. I took a couple steps back, flipped the gun open, threw the empty out, swapped the fresh round to the working barrel, leveled off on the bucks flopping head at 10ft, and touched off the second buckshot. Deer went still , didnt even twitch ! I field dressed the deer and drug it the 1/4 mile back home. I threw him up on my homemade gambrell and skinned the deer out, looking for the killing pellet as I went. Nothing ! I skinned the neck just to look for a wound . Nothing. I even skinned the head because I was baffled as to where the killing pellet landed. Nothing! There was not a single wound on the deer ANYWHERE . If you think about it, the killing wound should have been very easy to find without skinning it out. A load of no.1 buck at 10-20 ft should leave no doubt where the impact is. That deer died of a heart attack or passed out and died when I field dress it. Crazy stuff.

 

[therifleman556]

There is a video of a hunt on YouTube. Guy killed a deer with a BMG and never hit it! He went for a head shot, and missed slightly. It sucked the eyes out and killed it instantly.

It amazes me that people can watch a grainy slow motion video and believe a deer got killed without being hit.

Look up the video of a guy shooting the same rifle through the opening of a house of cards without disturbing it and tell me you seriously still believed that a deer got its eyes sucked out by a passing by bullet.

 

[KurtB]

I watched a vid some time ago here on this site where a guy dropped a very nice elk bull with a 7mm mag at 1200 yards. It was a really cool vid and a great shot. At 1200, a 7mm mag will have, maybe what, 800 or 900 FPE remaining? Pretty much any of the .308 based or similar cartridges will give 1200 to 1300 FPE at 600. With the usual proper shot placement and bullet selection, there will be elk on the table. By the way, this is from a guy that took a bull at 812 with a .338 LM, so... heheheheh

Actually a 7mm Remington with 180 eld doing 3000 FPS still retains 1600 foot pounds of energy at 1200 yards.

 

[5.56×250]

Actually a 7mm Remington with 180 eld doing 3000 FPS still retains 1600 foot pounds of energy at 1200 yards.

Your pushing that ol 7 mag pretty hard to get 3000fps from a 180, ain't cha ? Hornady load data maxes out at 2900 with the fastest powder they list. Most are closer to 2800. And they are using unicorn sprinkles to get 2900 (rl26)