I will be going to Zimbabwe in August 12 to hunt buffalo.
My gun is a new model Model 70 Safari Express in 375 H&H.. It os topped with a 2.5-8X leupold.
I will be shooting sSwift 300 gar A frames.

What distance should I sight in for?

When I uased that combinatio, I sighted in 1" high at 100 yards. That worked perfectly.
465H&H

I with 465H&H, I did the same as he and my shot was about 15 yards...worked fine.

Your shot on Buff, unless your name is Saeed, will likely be between 25 - 50 yards. Pick a range to zero and then check your shot at different distances. Personally, I don't recall ever shooting Buff at more than 35 yards max, and usually much closer. Getting in close is part of the thrill of hunting DG.

BTW, with a new rifle/scope and a departure less than 3 weeks away, you need to start shooting; a lot. I wish you the best and hope you take an old bull.

I would sight in windage and elevation at 100yds so that it hits absolutly dead center at 25yds.Some people believe they are expert at shooting buff at very close quarters but after reading some of their posts one gets the impression that they have issues tying their shoe laces.

I do the same as 365H&H. I'm good from 10 to 200 yards. Your buffalo will in all probability be shot between 30 and 50 yards, but it is nice to have confidence at longer distances for plains game.

Fifty yards has always worked for me, but I always use a dedicated big bore for buffalo.

Quarter inch high at 77.2 yards, more or less.

On my model 70 with the 2.5-8X Leupold in Talley rings my 50 yard and 100 yard zeroes are the same.

Kind of handy, huh?

An inch high at 100yds, and you're never gonna be off for buffalo. You'll be about two inches low for Kudu at 200, but at that distance, you'll have a little time to think about it.

You know Will, sometimes you can be prick.

Zero for a hundred and shoot, shoot, shoot. I put 800 rounds through my Mod 70 .375 prior to my first hunt and 500 prior to the second one. You're playing catch up right now. Zero from the bench and then everything else offhand. You may not get a chance to shoot from sticks when the moment of truth arrives. You need to train to proficiency. Good luck. Practice with the scope set at the lowest power and carry it that way during the hunt.

I would differ with the guys who are saying shoot, shoot, shoot.

Dry fire the rifle a bunch so it comes up to shoulder naturally.

Sight it in at 100, but know what it drops to 300 (that does mean some targets at range and burning up your full power ammo.) Start this ASAP, but do only limited numbers of shots in a day. The point of this is that if you see some superb plains game animal at distance you can shoot if you feel comfortable with the shot. I assume you shoot enough of a lighter caliber rifle to be comfortable to 300, otherwise shoot it to whatever your personal maximum range is. The trajectory of a .375 is pretty close to that of a 30-06 with heavier bullets.

Other than that, shoot some other rifle that is similar in a very light recoiling caliber (if you have a Mod 70 in .223, or something similar shoot that.) Otherwise, any decent bolt action .22 LR with the safety being the same as the bigger gun.

In my experience, all blazing away with a .375 will do for you is give you a serous flinch and from the time you have left, you could not get rid of it.

For that combination I'd use somewhere from 80-100m.

Then check the zero from 25m to 130m and just in case 150m.

It does depend a bit where you will be hunting, but many would say the most likely shot will be 50-80m. That said, a hunting buddy took his buff at around 120m last year as that was all there was going.

The 375 gives you a nice flat trajectory.

Fine tune your zero off a set of sticks and not a bench and then practice all those distances off the sticks. I'd shoot most from 50-100m.

I agree with shoot shoot shoot. And more so if you don't often shoot off sticks. I also agree with dry firing. My shooting off sticks only got really decent from shooting. I'd limit shooting to 20 shots per range session and you'll see that off the sticks the rifle won't beat you up at all.

quote:

Originally posted by SBT:
You know Will, sometimes you can be prick.

Now that is not being very nice.

You sight-in a rifle for buff at 50 or 100 or 77.2 yards. It really doesn't matter.

You sneak up close to the buff, surely within 50 yards in 99.9% of the cases.

You take a broadside shot right behind it's front leg, just a bit below mid-height on its body.

Using the 300 gr. Swift, the buff stumbles off a half dozen yards then falls over.

You run up and give it another.

It dies.

If the buffalo follows some other scenario you screwed up the shot.

And you don't have to shoot up a thousand bucks worth of ammo to get that done.

I don't subscribe the shoot a thousand rounds in practice theory. I believe trigger control is important and I can get that with a 22. I do think you need to shoot enough to make sure the mechanics of the rifle are sound. You don't want a cracked stock or a floorplate latch that won't hold to be discovered when you are there. Shoot some rounds off sticks with a full magazine and see how everything works. One thing I believe in on 375 and up is having the scope base holes enlarged to 8/40. Keep an eye on the tightness of your trigger guard screws when in Africa. In a dry environment the wood will sometimes shrink and your guard screws may need snugged up.

I'm sighting my 500 Jeff dead on at 25 yards, which puts it 2" high at 100 and 3" low at 200 yards. I'm a big believer in dry firing practice as well. I don't do it enough lately. It does really two things for you, trigger control and strengthens your offhand over time which contributes to steadiness. We go to the range about every two weeks and I hunt locally with my 500 Jeff as often as 1 can. I'm getting to the point where I can shoot my 500 Jeff (except off of the bench) the same way as I shoot my 270 and don't treat it any differently. Only other exception is I will NOT shoot it prone. I broke my collar bone once playing football, no intention of that happening again.

It really doesn't matter much what distance you sight your rifle in for at home because your PH will probably have some strong recommendation about distance when you sight in at camp.

Mark

I sight my rifle about 1.5-2.0" high at 100 yards.

And I have shot buffalo within a few yards to several hundred yards.

quote:

In my experience, all blazing away with a .375 will do for you is give you a serous flinch and from the time you have left, you could not get rid of it.

Not in mine.

I agree that shooting your heavy rifle is a good way to go. Assuming that you a proficient rifle shot a couple of trips to the range per week for a few weeks before you go really helps you get into tune. And if you have a new rifle it will iron out all the kinks as well hopefully.

quote:

Originally posted by Saeed:
I sight my rifle about 1.5-2.0" high at 100 yards.

And I have shot buffalo within a few yards to several hundred yards.

That is perfect for the cartridge you are shooting! It shoots a little flatter than the 375 H&H! All my 375 H&H rifles are all sighted 3" high at 100 yards with a 300 gr bullet @ 2550 fps! That gives me a trajectory with my scope in Warne Quick detach rings and mounts:

+1/4" @ 25 yds

+1 1/2" @ 50 yds

+3" @ 100 yds

+1 3/4" @ 150 yds

0 @200 yds

-4 1/2"@250 yds

So that I can hold dead on with the same crosshair placement on even a small Impala or hit the heart/lung area on a cape buffalo from muzzle to 250 yds.

This and the mild recoil, is what makes the 375H&H one of the all time favorites of people in Africa, and the most suggested rifle, by PHs, for the client shooting buffalo, and plians game in Africa with one rifle!

......................

quote:

Originally posted by crbutler:
I would differ with the guys who are saying shoot, shoot, shoot.

In my experience, all blazing away with a .375 will do for you is give you a serous flinch and from the time you have left, you could not get rid of it.

I don't think that "blazing away with a .375" is an accurate description of serious practice.

However, IMHO, frequent use of your .375 is the perfect way to learn to shoot it comfortably, confidently, and without worrying about recoil. How can you possibly expect to shoot well if each trigger pull is a momentous occasion that you approach with extreme caution?

Any practice at all, even with a .22, is worthwhile...but nothing matches using the actual gun with which you will be hunting.

John

quote:

Originally posted by Fjold:
On my model 70 with the 2.5-8X Leupold in Talley rings my 50 yard and 100 yard zeroes are the same.

Kind of handy, huh?

Yeah, that's all fine dandy, but what do you do if you need to shoot a buffalo at 25 yards or 75 yards?!

My few Buff (4) have been taken at 40m or less....my .375RUM is dead on at 200 yds and my .416 Rigby is dead on at 150 yds.