Went out yesterday shooting the 375 H&H Encore barrel that Gary Reeder had cut down and installed a muzzle brake on. It is fitted with the Bushnell elite 2-6. I am very happy with the accuracy of the barrel, and how well the scope held up.

I got it sighted in at 50 yards for now and then shooting it for a group. After getting it sighted in dead on at 50 yards, I shot a 1 inch group, or should I say a small hole in the target at 50 yards. Recoil with Gary Reeder's brake was very manageable with full house rifle loads from the 375 H&H.

What a blast... I may use this on my next bear hunt I booked to Maine next year.

Mike B is putting the finishing touches on my .375 H&H Encore pistol barrel that started out as a JDJ. 15.5" with his brake machined in. Short walnut fore. Getting a red dot on top and fire sights for backup.

Perhaps if there's enough of us we'll eventually need to start a ".375 H&H Pistol Shooters Society"?

Be sorta like the Masons but LOUDER.

Cheers,
tom

Sign me up to the "375 H&H Pistol Shooters Society", I have one that SSK made for me awhile back, and I have another barrel on the way 16 inches instead of 14 inches.

BTH

quote:

Originally posted by tom`:
Mike B is putting the finishing touches on my .375 H&H Encore pistol barrel that started out as a JDJ. 15.5" with his brake machined in. Short walnut fore. Getting a red dot on top and fire sights for backup.

Perhaps if there's enough of us we'll eventually need to start a ".375 H&H Pistol Shooters Society"?

Be sorta like the Masons but LOUDER.

Cheers,
tom

I am all for that..
".375 H&H Pistol Shooters Society"

Mine is a 16 inch barrel.
I have another 375 H&H SS 26 inch barrel, I may have to send off, and get a shorter version also. Maybe a 12 inch over all for short range work...lol

You guys are far greater men than I......

I had a T/C SS .375H&H Encore 26" barrel cut to 15" and MuzzleTamer installed by Fox Ridge. It didn't take me long to figure it was too much for me - so I sold it to a friend that lives near me.

He no longer wants it, and would sell it cheap - PM me and i'll provide his e-mail.

Todd

Redhawk1, have you chrono'd your short barreled .375 H&H? I am getting 2450 fps with 270 grain Hornady's from my 17" (including brake) .376 Steyr. I was just wondering how it compares to the H&H.

quote:

Originally posted by x-caliber:
Redhawk1, have you chrono'd your short barreled .375 H&H? I am getting 2450 fps with 270 grain Hornady's from my 17" (including brake) .376 Steyr. I was just wondering how it compares to the H&H.

No sold my crono, and my buddy is gone that has one.

Very cool!
I've got a 45-70 Encore pistol that I've been playing with. When I start cranking up the loads...its more than I want!!
I tip my hat to y'all that put up with the H&H!!!
I think I should get a brake for the 45-70.
Can we get some pics of these big boys.

quote:

Originally posted by Ammohouse:
Very cool!
I've got a 45-70 Encore pistol that I've been playing with. When I start cranking up the loads...its more than I want!!
I tip my hat to y'all that put up with the H&H!!!
I think I should get a brake for the 45-70.
Can we get some pics of these big boys.

Ammohouse, the brake I had Gary Reeder install works great with the 375 H&H, I am sure it would work great on your 45-70.

I can take some pic's and send them to you, give me your e-mail address in a PM.

quote:

Originally posted by trick:
You guys are far greater men than I......

I had a T/C SS .375H&H Encore 26" barrel cut to 15" and MuzzleTamer installed by Fox Ridge. It didn't take me long to figure it was too much for me - so I sold it to a friend that lives near me.

He no longer wants it, and would sell it cheap - PM me and i'll provide his e-mail.

Todd

PM Sent...
ww111@yahoo.com

quote:

Originally posted by Redhawk1:

quote:

Originally posted by Ammohouse:
Very cool!
I've got a 45-70 Encore pistol that I've been playing with. When I start cranking up the loads...its more than I want!!
I tip my hat to y'all that put up with the H&H!!!
I think I should get a brake for the 45-70.
Can we get some pics of these big boys.

Ammohouse, the brake I had Gary Reeder install works great with the 375 H&H, I am sure it would work great on your 45-70.

I can take some pic's and send them to you, give me your e-mail address in a PM.

Both the .375H&H and .45-70 have more of a strong PUSH type recoil rather than a sharp heigh velocity recoil, which works well in hand cannon. .375H&H needs a brake. I've never even contemplated braking my .45-70. We all have different tolerances of things, though.

I'm mostly anti-brake on everything that doesn't absolutely need braking because I have a habit of not getting around to plugging my ears when I'm hunting and effectively braked things make my ears scream and ring for 2 days if I forget the plugs before I take a shot. Non-braked things cause my ears to ring for two or three minutes.

Guess it depends on if it's going to be a hunting gun or purely a range gun.

My two cents, whatever that's worth these days.

Tom, I have a high recoil tolerance, I have been shooting big bore handguns for quit awhile.

As for using ear protection, I use it when I shoot any handgun, hunting or at the range. Just is a no brainier for me. I use Walker Game muffs when hunting. So the brake is a non-issue in my opinion.

quote:

Originally posted by Redhawk1:
Tom, I have a high recoil tolerance, I have been shooting big bore handguns for quit awhile.

As for using ear protection, I use it when I shoot any handgun, hunting or at the range. Just is a no brainier for me. I use Walker Game muffs when hunting. So the brake is a non-issue in my opinion.

You're a better man than I. I spent too much time around race cars, tractors, machine tools, pyro, and loud music besides all the firearms stuff for me to un-do much damage and old habits die hard. Nobody ever told me that tuning a Cat dozer motor or shooting dove all day was causing damage that couldn't be fixed until it was too late. I try to remember to think of it, but I don't do it consistently, especially if an unexpected shot opportunity presents itself. Not proud of it, just how I am. Might investigate the game muffs.

Lets me tell dirty jokes too loud at parties and people blame it on me being half deaf instead of improprietous. "He's deaf, he didn't mean too..." even if sometimes I mean to.

OK, you guys are kidding. . . . right. . . . ?

I'm speechless!

quote:

Originally posted by DWright:
OK, you guys are kidding. . . . right. . . . ?

I'm speechless!

Not one bit. The one my friend at the range built that's .375 WINCHESTER is rather profound in it's recoil mostly having to do with recoil velocity and gun weight issues. H&H isn't so bad. Since I've got 2 .375H&H Encore barrels and a couple .45-70 now, I'm thinking about doing a .300H&H barrel to match my favorite plains game rifle. Either that or .300 WinMag. I like Hollands, though. Makes shooting the .30-30 AckleyImp barrels one hand bullseye affairs after you get used to the bigguns.

Hi Guys,

I have SSK Fish Gill brakes on the following 375 H&H, 416 Taylor, 416 Remington Magnum, 416 Rigby, 458 Lott, and a 470 Capstick all barrels are between 14 and 16 inches long. The brake works great for all of these. Though I think the next big bore barrel I get I will put a Holland brake on it I have heard alot of good things about that brake.

Side issue of all my big bore barrels the worst one to shot is the 416 Remington Magnum. Don't know why it seems to recoil the most thou.

Just my Two Cents worth,

BTH

borntohunt, wow what a collection you have.

I was going to have a 416 Rigby done too a pistol length. But the 375 H&H is a blast, and I sold all my reloading stuff for the 416 Rigby, and don't want to have to buy all the 416 Rigby stuff again.

Redhawk1,

Both the 375 H&H and 416 Rigby are a blast you can't go wrong with either one.

BTH

Trick's pal's .375H&H Fox Barrel measuring a full 17" with permanently fixed brake (which means it might sometimes be a brush carbine t00) showed up UPS last night. I'm putting in a 5th scope base screw this afternoon and will see what it does on paper at 50 and 100 at the indoor bench rest range when I head in to the gun show this weekend. Leupold 2X as always...

Anyway, in case anybody wants to pester him about it, it's sold as it's in my possession now courtesy of UPS last night.

A man can not own enough .375H&H Encore barrels...

Cheers and thanks Trick!
tom

quote:

Originally posted by Ammohouse:
Very cool!
I've got a 45-70 Encore pistol that I've been playing with. When I start cranking up the loads...its more than I want!!
I tip my hat to y'all that put up with the H&H!!!
I think I should get a brake for the 45-70.
Can we get some pics of these big boys.

Pic of Trick barrel assembled to one of the Encore frames with standard rifle forend.


Full size 1911 and Contender .30-30 AckImp hog zapper for scale.

Cheers and thanks again, Trick

Waiting on rings, hence the "no sights" look. Hope to range test it Saturday with a 2X Leupold.

Loaded up some medium power 300 grainers to check it out earlier this afternoon.

Born to hunt,
do you have any ballistics on your big bore hand guns? I would love to compare your stuff to some of my big bore single shots. mine. thanks alot

Bigdoggy700,

I lost the data when my computer died but I did list the one set of results on the specialty pistol forums under big boomers I do believe. I can never get their search engine to work for me on that forum but my friends have had no problem doing the search their.

I do have some of the data with lighter bullets in the 375 H&H, 416 Remington and 416 Rigby if you would like that just PM me. I took a Bison with the 416 Rigby earlier this year (August)
and was planning to used the 375 on a cow elk hunt with 235 grainers.But do to a foot problem had to cancel that hunt hopefully next year.

Though give me a few days to get it I just had foot surgery on Friday and getting around is a little hard right now.

Take Care,

BTH

Barrel from trick's friend groups slightly larger by about 1/4" than my CZ 550 American Safari rifle.
~1 1/2 inches at 50 in 3 round groups offhand with 275 grainers. No chrono yet. 76 grains 4831. Was mostly a function test. Moderately controllable one handed (I had to try it). Not at all bad with two, as above results say.

300 grain Noslers with 78 grains of 4831 I wouldn't want to shoot one handed unless my life depended on it. Gets your attention.

STILL, No bloodied knuckles.

Those of yall pondering brakes on your big caliber barrels should consider vais. I have one on my 25-06 and my 450 marlin and neither are unpleasant in the least.

Mike Bellm is doing the finishing touches on the brake on what used to be a JDJ barrel that's now H&H for me. His work quite well plus I'm having him put in the TBOSS, which is a good idea to some of us anyway if you're going to hunt with it.

Even if you never buy anything from him, there's a wealth of useful Contender and Encore DIY information on his website. He's not much interested in doing anything but rechambering, barrel, and brake work at the moment unless it's a really interesting project, but if there's something you might need done to a Contender or Encore and he doesn't feel like doing it there's a URL on his info pages or he'll point you at somebody who does that sort of thing you want.

Good dude.

While I think the 375 H&H is an excellent cartridge, it is not an efficient powder burner in short barrels. With Gary Reeders 378GNR (405win. necked down) I am getting a chronoed 2350fps with a 270gr Hornady and 2375 with a 260 Accubond....in a 12" barrel(plus 2" brake). Comparable velocity to the H&H with a good bit less powder. You can only burn so much powder in a short barrel so efficiency counts. I will soon be working up some loads in both a 338GNR and a 416GNR (50 Alaskan necked down) with 13" barrels(plus a 2" brake). I like them short.

Woody

quote:

Originally posted by Woodrow S:
While I think the 375 H&H is an excellent cartridge, it is not an efficient powder burner in short barrels. With Gary Reeders 378GNR (405win. necked down) I am getting a chronoed 2350fps with a 270gr Hornady and 2375 with a 260 Accubond....in a 12" barrel(plus 2" brake). Comparable velocity to the H&H with a good bit less powder. You can only burn so much powder in a short barrel so efficiency counts. I will soon be working up some loads in both a 338GNR and a 416GNR (50 Alaskan necked down) with 13" barrels(plus a 2" brake). I like them short.

Woody

Gary Reeder is the one who did the work on my 375 H&H barrel. He said with the 16 inch barrel, I would get the full burn of the powder. The only thing I would loose is about 26 fps per inch of barrel cut off. So we are talking 260 fps difference from a 24 inch
barrel.

I'm not knocking the 375H&H in any way, as I have 2 in rifle form and love the cartridge. Just stating that the 378GNR is a more efficient burner of powder in short barrels to get the same velocity per inch of barrel, with a good bit less powder...and no belt. Slimmer and less filling...if you will.

Zippy 235 grain loads work very nicely for .375H&H in short barrels/hand rifles. My testing as far as hand held .375 has been confined to 17.5" and 15.5" barrels. I couldn't see the utility of a 12" .375H&H. Sorta like the 10" .223 barrel I once had, no real point to it especially compared to the 15.5" one I replaced it with. I like mine long, the next one I'm working on is going to be 18".

There are more and less efficient ways to do things but I have piles of .375 H&H brass anyway because it's one of my favorite rifle cartridges. If I hadn't been shooting it in rifle form for a long time and had the brass and dies I might have taken a different road.

Different strokes for different folks.

wow

quote:

Originally posted by jb:
wow

The 235 grain Semi-Spitzer Speer SP do well up to about 2400-2450fps and hardly make the barrel jump with a decent brake or porting. They were originally designed for the .375 Win cartridge as I vaguely recall. If you push them too fast, they get unhappy and come to bits and don't penetrate worth anything in my experience. Good plinker round. Good deer round provided you don't try to make them speed demons.

If loaded in the velocity envelope for which they were designed, the bullets work well.

quote:

While I think the 375 H&H is an excellent cartridge, it is not an efficient powder burner in short barrels. With Gary Reeders 378GNR (405win. necked down) I am getting a chronoed 2350fps with a 270gr Hornady and 2375 with a 260 Accubond....in a 12" barrel(plus 2" brake). Comparable velocity to the H&H with a good bit less powder. You can only burn so much powder in a short barrel so efficiency counts. I will soon be working up some loads in both a 338GNR and a 416GNR (50 Alaskan necked down) with 13" barrels(plus a 2" brake). I like them short.

The 338GNR is one of the cartridges I am thinking about. I would appreciate if you post your results with ths cartridge.

A few of you guys report having cut down T/C barrels, how are they working? I was thinking of getting one cut to 16.5"

Should I go that route or go with a custom maker?

Matthew

Buying a T/C barrel, having a smith cut it down and recrowning it can't be much cheaper than a custom barrel, if it is at all. Right now Gary Reeder can build you a barrel of your liking, heavy or heavy tapered WITH a brake for around 300 bucks. Blued or stainless. Thats about as good as it gets folks.

About the 338 GNR, I just started working loads up for it a bit ago.....but its a very capable shooter for sure. I still need to get moving on my 310GNR, 416GNR and 450 GNR too. The latter two are necked down 50 Alaskan brass with the 450GNR just 5% under the 458 Winchester. Whoa!

quote:

Originally posted by DWright:
OK, you guys are kidding. . . . right. . . . ?

I'm speechless!

yeah, I am with you!

I had a friend who wanted to watch me shoot his... told me to get a good hold on it... and he didn't tell me what it was chambered in...

he wanted me to shoot it first...

so I held it as tight as I could, while keeping the arms limber..

pulled the trigger, the bullet hit the 50 yd bullseye, while the Encore went flying out of my hand and did a couple of somersaults in the air..

my thought was " why would anyone think they need one of these!!!"

then my friend proceeded to tell me he was putting one together in 416 Rigby!

Guess I am a wuss, when it comes to a pistol chambered in a round that few shooters can shoot in a heavy rifle...

Any of you guys shooting a 458 Win Mag pistol barrel, I have an Encore 17.5 bull barrel in 45-70 and 17.5 bull barrel in 375 JDJ, was considering getting a 458 barrel from MGM. Any info would be appreciated. Thanks

buffalohunter

My 12" + 2" brake 450GNR is about 5% under the 458 Win mag, however I have not shot it yet. For that matter, I have not shot the 416GNR yet either. Perhaps in a week or two I will get some ammo loaded up and report on them.