Ive shot a number of .375s and wildcat. 338s, 350s and 375s..Ive always been amazed that felt recoil of the 375 H&H was less than the .338 Win, 375 Chatfield Taylor, the 375 Ruger and others..I contribute that to the long case and the timing that creates more of a push for the 375 H&H, right or wrong? I have no idea but I know the old H&H has and still is the mildest recoil of the big bores for me...What say you??

Perceived recoil is not the same as calculated, so dunno.

An unabashed pussy, shoot my braked .375 GG like a varmint rifle. Feels like an unbraked .308 Win. Which means I could shoot it all morning. Killed my deer out back with it opening day.

But I hunt alone, and am not so foolish to believe hearing loss only happens when using a brake. We always wear electronic muffs on stand.

More scary - by far - is increased detached retina risk.

The only differences that I attribute to my 375 H&H having any perceived less felt recoil than my 375 Ruger is, my H&H is slightly heavier and has a slightly lighter powder charge.
I do not recall detecting much if any difference when shooting them at the range.

I have shot big, heavy 375’s that didn’t fit and beat me up. And I have lighter 375’s that fit and are sweet to shoot.

Without going to the extremes of weight, gun fit is just about it!

I had a nice double 500 3 1/4“ that weighed 10lbs 10oz that was very nice to shoot. Again, it fit me well despite being delivered in 1906 to an Indian Raja.

375s are usually heavier.

However, I think there is also another factor, depending on the person.

The 375 tends to be a calibre where you don't worry about ballistic coefficient or trying to get a combination of peak accuracy with peak velocity. This usually means less shooting and also just being more relaxed about things.

quote:

Originally posted by Rockdoc:
I have shot big, heavy 375’s that didn’t fit and beat me up. And I have lighter 375’s that fit and are sweet to shoot.

Without going to the extremes of weight, gun fit is just about it!

I had a nice double 500 3 1/4“ that weighed 10lbs 10oz that was very nice to shoot. Again, it fit me well despite being delivered in 1906 to an Indian Raja.

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^This^^^^^^^^^^^^^

quote:

Originally posted by Rockdoc:
I have shot big, heavy 375’s that didn’t fit and beat me up. And I have lighter 375’s that fit and are sweet to shoot.

Without going to the extremes of weight, gun fit is just about it!

I had a nice double 500 3 1/4“ that weighed 10lbs 10oz that was very nice to shoot. Again, it fit me well despite being delivered in 1906 to an Indian Raja.

THIS exactly. Fit!!!

I've debated this over and over with the DR guys. My DR in 500NE weights 10.25 lbs and is a perfect fit due to being a custom build for me. When the rifle fits exactly, you don't need the extra weight.

Despite this, most of the "establishment types" in the DR world still advocate for a 12 lbs 500NE.

It's just not necessary with proper fit.

Like the 300 H&H, they both push, I have to believe case design is partially responsible for what I perceive to be milder recoil compared to like others.

I shot the 300 H&H for a number of years for the same reason, it seemed to recoil less than the 300 Win...fact or fiction, mind games or not, whatever works is my take on the subject, but that case design has got to be somewhat responsible..and of course stock fit does apply in any case..

I assume most people here know how to properly hold a rifle. Yes, fit is huge. I also have a buddy that was new to shooting off a bench and he was done after 3-4 7-08 rounds.

I have had one rough shot from my .375, but it was a moving pig and wasn’t ready before I fired, fearing to lose the swine. I got him, but got kissed a bit. Thanks for the Swarovski eyepiece, I escaped the half moon kiss.

Most of Saeed’s “héroes” don’t have good form, but it provides a good show.

There are two major components of felt recoil;
1: Recoil Energy
2: Recoil Velocity.
Everyone is only talking about Energy and are ignoring the second one, Recoil Velocity, which contributes more than you realize to the impulse your shoulder feels.
That is why smaller calibers can "feel" like they have more recoil than larger calibers, even though the actual recoil energy is the same. Given like rifles of course.
It is not case design.
You can't change physics.

quote:

Originally posted by Atkinson:
Ive shot a number of .375s and wildcat. 338s, 350s and 375s..Ive always been amazed that felt recoil of the 375 H&H was less than the .338 Win, 375 Chatfield Taylor, the 375 Ruger and others..I contribute that to the long case and the timing that creates more of a push for the 375 H&H, right or wrong? I have no idea but I know the old H&H has and still is the mildest recoil of the big bores for me...What say you??

I agree, the 338 gives much more felt recoil than a 375. More like a 30-06 than a magnum.

To cut through the chafe, Im only concerned with perceived recoil, the calculated means nada to my shoulder..

I always thought the Whitworth was more mellow to my body than any other 375 Ive owned and it actually doesn't fit me perfectly, its too fat in the grip, but that solved my injured hand problem as it moved my middle knucle away from the back of the trigger guard, but feels clumsy, oh well,no pain so got the gain on that score, its a tad too long but makes me push into it, so what Im sayind is ?
"fit" is just part of the scenario, also the Whitworth is a heavy gun and the weight is out on the barrel it seems...It all boils down to what happens to YOU when you pull the trigger....I can make or brake your day.

I have custom CZ550 in .375 H&H. It is really mild and pleasure to shoot. But it has straight stock and fit me well. On the other hand, I shot friends 7x64 ZKK (he gave me for sighting in new scope) with this style of stock:



and it kicks badly or precisely it has sharp "jump up" (trying to jump from your hands). After 2 or 3 shots I denied to fire it again. On the other hand, I can fire my 375 all the day. I will fire more rounds through my 585 HE than through friend's 7x64 ZKK.

I believe most important is:
1. Rifle fit
2. Stock characteristics (like shape, if wood then wood grain direction) and bedding
3. Caliber and pressure curve
4. "Caliber to weight ratio"
5. I don't know

All that you can translate to recoil direction (vector), waveform etc. I believe velocities, accelerations, recoil vector direction changes and whatever like this is much more important than just one number called "recoil energy". Will recoil pad reduce recoil? Absolutely not, but it will changes (prolongs) recoil in time and thus reduces peaks.

Jiri

This straight stock business has gone too far IMO, that brings the gun straight back into you shoulder, a little drop with take half the recoil up and half to the rear and at the same time it will allow you to shoot iron sights and scope with a the same gun...some claims as to stock design were stated by someone and copied by others until it was declared to be fact, and that ain't right for everyone..I would suggest the English had it figured out long ago, and the American classic was the result, wrong again IMO..the Limeys got it right the first time..