We have an apprentice looking for a mid range left handed 375 or 416 to start his career with. Can anyone give ideas on the best way to find one?

Try a 375 or 416 ruger....there not heavey a big plus when your rifle is been carried for days on end
Daniel

You don't mention a budget but try looking at the Sabi Rifles website at www.sabirifles.co.za

They make what they call the 'Ranger Model' which is a bit of a plain jane but IIRC, it's also available with a left hand bolt.

Alternatively, although I'm not much of a fan, maybe look at a Blaser.

Reasonable LH CRF actions would be CZ or Serbian Zastava Mausers.. I do not think Zastavas come in .416 ,but LH actions are available in .375 H&H and .458 Winchester.

Rugers are okay, though I have never warmed to the ones I owned. Personally, I favor LH Winchester Classic Model 70s, but they are getting harder to find and more expensive. I have not found a .416 Rem in 3 years.

Ruger 375 - 600-700 bucks.

If he wants a 458 Lott - I have a AHR rifle all slicked up on a vz rifle.

Pm me if he is interested.

Mike

There several choices especially in a 375 H&H, just not many good entry level rifles that are readily available.

There are couple custom/semi-custom actions or rifles such as Granite Mountain Arms or Dakota, but I suspect those would break the bank.

I did a quick search for a Winchester Model 70 Left hand and the prices for those have become ridiculous, with a little luck you could maybe found a reasonably priced one.

Remington and Savage both offer lower price LH rifles but no CRF.

Montana Rifle Company sells a left hand action at a somewhat reasonable price. A decent barrel in a composite stock with sights would probably run around $2500 in the US. I put one together a couple of years ago in a 458 Lott. It has been a good rifle to date.

CZ may be the best choice. I would think there is a dealer at least in South Africa. He could buy a 375 Left Hand and other than maybe smoothing the action it could be a serviceable rifle. I have one of the first LH CZ in the states. It was upgraded by Wayne at AHR (trigger, safety, NECG sites, and a couple of other items). It is a good solid rifle, just heavy for a 375. Another good point about the CZ is if later in his career he would want a larger caliber he could convert it to a 505 Gibbs with no problems. Then you could share your ammo with him.

Good luck with your search.

I have a LH Weatherby Mark 5 416rm I will sell.
It's custom & shoots really well.
PM me if you are interested.

Ruger in 375 Ruger

Ammo and cases are just as common as H&H here in SA as are dies and components

Best "ready to hunt" rifle I have handled other than the Win M70 which has no peers. Very good balance ad excellent feeding

Neil,

if not a 375 ruger i will choose a zastava in 375hh or in 458 win mag.

you can have too a 375 ruger on a zastava action ... not that much costly either ...

i have both zastava and ruger and like them.

not easy as a left hand shooter.

You can buy a left hand Ruger 375 cheap and then have it easily rebored and rechambered to a 416 Ruger. Or you can do what I did and buy a left hand 300 Win Mag and then add a new barrel turning it into a 458.

I don't think a 375 is adequate for a dangerous game PH.

Thanks for all the valuable info provided ,will pass this on to our appi and he can go from there.