Hi all! I am planning my first African safari next year. I have DR in .375 HH. And I need your advice: which trophies I should plan to feel comfort with DR in .375? Which trophies are not to be recommended (because shoots far than 150 yards are almost impossible)?

Roman BGH, as long as you limit your distance to within your shooting skill with the rifle, and use proper bullets for the jab at hand, placeing the bullets where they do the most good, there is not limit to what you can take on with your 375 H&H double rife!

Though a larger cartridge may be better suited to hunting some large, dangerous animals, I, personally would much rather have a 375 H&H double rifle, in a tight close quarters sittuation, than a bolt rifle in a larger chambering!

Just practice with you double, and and enjoy your safari, and don't worry about the 375H&H, it will do it's job, if you do your's!

............GOOD LUCK!

Roman,

It will all depend on the terrain you will be hunting in. But if you could hit a 6" target of a rest at 100 meters you will be fine to bag any animal unless you are going to hunt in wide open places.

Bullet selection would also be important depending on what you will be hunting.

OK, thank you guys! I feel much better

There is no problem for me to place 2 shoots in 3" at 100 meters. Photo: http://talks.guns.ru/forums/icons/forum_pictures/000582/582436.jpg Diameter of the circle - 3", here two different types of bullets.

Roman,

I have only recently completed my first safari so I am certainly not very experienced on the subject.

However, during this one experience I was very happy to be using my .375 H&H for two reasons:
1st, the .375 worked well for me on the large and small game I was hunting. everything from a Klipspringer to a buffalo fell with a single shot if I did my part with the rifle.
2nd, my luggage didn't show up in Harare so we left for the hunt area from the airport with my carry on bag, a rifle in hard case, and no ammunition for it. In camp they had extra ammo for,.... you guessed it,..... the .375. If my rifle would also have not made the flight, I would have rented, yep, a .375 they had available.

Again, not that I am experienced at all, but the .375 seems a good choice.

Thank you Scott! Did you write a report? Which rifle did you use?

Privet Roman!
Dobro poghalovat" na forum. Zdes' tiy moghesh" naiti otvetiy na interesyushchie tebia voprosiy. Na etom saite mnogo poleznoi informatsii.

Ia bil rad otvetit" na tvoi vopros:

375 H&H


Vot ballistics table moghet biyt" tebe polezen.

ballistics

(just scroll down to the 375 H&H line and you will see with a 270 grain bullet you will never be more than 3 inches high or low, out to 260 yards- don't know how to say this well in Russian)

Ghelay ydachi

Roman,

I did write a report titled Buffalo and Plainsgame with Mokore or something like that. I used a Rem 700 that I picked up used here in Alaska and it has served me well. I did have a thought about bringing a better and more expensive rifle than the Remington, but since this rifle has been working for me and if it dissapeared I wouldn't be out very much, I thought it'd be a good travel gun. Next time I suspect I will be bringing my Mark X action that has yet to be built into a rifle.

Best of luck to you on your trip!

Hey Roman, this is the first time I've seen you post. Welcome aboard. I think it's pretty cool having Russia represented here!

You have a superb rifle for any African hunting. I've just returned from Namibia and a month of hunting with a .375 double, borrowed because my .375 bolt rifle came down with a cracked stock. Took duiker, kudu and gemsbok with the .375.

I guess that your double uses the rimless cartridge. It is available everywhere. Strongly recommend you get some solids for the very, very small game, although be aware that some countries do not permit you to shoot solids except for dangerous game. You might also standardize the weight of your bullet. I took all of my animals with 238 grain bullets, but, normally I'd use only 300 grain heads.

Finally, on shooting: your 100 meter target is shot from a rest, I suspect. What you need to do is practice to put ALL of your shots into an eight inch target at 100 meters OFFHAND! You'll discover too often that you have no time to find a rest in the bush, and perhaps not even enough time to set up shooting sticks if your PH is carrying them. Having said all that, the key is only shoot if you are confident of a killing shot. You can waste too much safari time looking for wounded animals and too much money paying for those you wound and do not find.

Regards

Thanks for good wishes!

404WJJeffery, thanks for information and for Russian language too
SBT, there are a lot of Russians who are reading this forum.
Tim, I took my DR specially in .375 because I can improve my skills by hunting bears, boars and mooses in Russia before I go to Africa. I practice shooting offhands every week.
What do you think, which is an effective distance to shoot from DR .375?

It'll kill anything if you do your part. If you have a good selection of ammo there you might want to try a different load and see how it shoots out of your rifle. Given it's regulated on a specific load doesn't mean that it won't shoot well with a lighter or heavier bullet. Most will say, and I would tend to agree, that you should stick to the 300 grain factory load, the one your rifle was likely regulated on, for all class of game. But if you don't mind burning up a few Rubles, quite a few, look for the Norma PH line of ammo, there is a 350 grain load which, if it will shoot well, will give you an edge on dangerous game.

Uncountable numbers of all dangerous and non-dangerous

game animals have been taken cleanly with properly placed

.375 caliber bullets. For me, Open Sites - I don't fire unless

within 50 yards/meters and prefer closer. It's more exciting

this way for sure! Scoped Rifle, your shooting skill dictates

the maximum range. Russian Brother hunter and DRSS member,

COOL!

Showbart, I do not reload (there are a legal problems in Russia with this), but we have a pretty good choice of factory cartridges. I took brown bear with 300 grain RWS TUG and I took boar with 270 grain Hornady Interlok (they fly pretty well from my rifle such as Norma solid too).

By the way, cartridges in .338 WM and .375 HH cost about 6-7 US dollars (for one) in Moscow, so I am not afraid to burn a couple rubles .

BigFiveJack, are you sure that you can step up to any animal in Africa at 50 meters?

Roman,

I wasn't suggesting that you work up a reload. If you can get the Norma PH line of ammo then you really need to buy a 10 pack and see if the 350 grain will shoot well out of your rifle. Those who know more than me would say it's a long shot, that it will, but even if it's 50/50 chance then it's worth it. The 350 grain bullet makes the 375 H&H a much more potent killer. This is not the regular Huitng line from Norma in the 20 round boxes, it's the PH line from Norma and it comes in 10 round boxes.

BTW, who made your little beauty? You have time to get it fitted for claw mounts for a scope. Longer shots then are NOT an issue. In fact, if you choose to do this then it will need re-regulation, which can then be doone on most any load you like so the afore mentioned odds are now in your control. I'm not connected with Norma in any way but I completely support their efforts in this new Professional Hunter line. They are mostly heavy for caliber loads at moderate velocities making them in theory, and in the field for some so far, more effective. The 375 H&H is one that REALLY benefits from this IMO.

http://www.norma.cc/content.asp?Typ=68&Lang=2&Submeny=2&Rubrik=African%20PH

Roman,
I personally suggest that if you run into a Tyrannosaurus Rex or Triceratops to hold your fire other wise there is nothing out there that will not succumb very well to a 300 grain .375 put in the right place. Go and have a GREAT TIME!

Showbart, I saw PH line at the Moscow Gun Show last week. They said, that those cartridges will appear in Moscow within couple of monthes.

els, thanks.

Roman,
I've found that the distance I can shoot offhand depends more on the size of the animal than on whether I am shooting iron sights or a scope. For a duiker or smaller, 30-50 yards is sensible for my eyes and level of skill. For a kudu or gemsbok, 100-150 would be the most.

From rest such as shooting sticks, I've taken wildebeeste out to 195 long steps (185-200 yards by my stride). That was with a scoped double in caliber .358 with 225 grain swift A-frame heads. A scope can give an extra 50 yards or even more. But, again, we are hunting and not sniping and I cannot recall ever shooting anything more than 220 yards away. The best advice I've heard: "Get as close as you can and 10 yards closer..."
Regards, Tim

I have only been to Africa twice. My first time was to Zim in 2004. On this trip I shot a 300 win mag. My first shot was at a zebra at around 175 yards. Most of my shots on this trip were around 100 yards. Several were in the 150 -200 yard range.

In August of this year I hunted Zambia. My rifle this time was a 375. First shot was a puku at around 175 yds. Most all my other shots were around 100 yards.

I did miss a reed buck at 200 plus yards.

Be prepared to shoot out to 200 yards. I can not prove it, but I suspect some PH's find it much easier to get you a shot at around 100 yards than to get you into around 50 or so. yards.

The more you shoot, the more confident you will be. I shot a awful lot of 22's getting ready for this past trip and it really paid off.

Good luck.

The .375 H&H is a good 300 yard rifle, it has the same trajectory with the 270 and 300 grl bullets as the 30-06 with 180 gr. bullets, for all practical purposes..

It is a fine caliber for all dangerous game IMO...

Thank you guys.

Atkinson, I understand, that .375 has a good ballistic to shoot at 300 yards, but DR has some restrictions.