This choice is killing me. I want to be able to hunt everything in NA and make sure they are down when I shoot them. I wont be going to Africa anytime soon. Is there enough difference in knock down power inbetween the two to warrant $900 or possibly trading my .300 in? Thanks to those that reply.

What's the problem with the 300 WM?

In general the 300 Mags do fine until the hunter flinches or the game is considered dangerous. Then heavier bullets are suggested and that's why the .375 is universal.

If I were to climb 3000 ft and want to shoot up to 450 yds at medium big game I would rather lug a 8.5 lb 300 mag up the hill over a 9.5 lb 375.

If I were on Kodiak Island for big bears I would not get out of the boat with a pea shooter.

Very little of the hunting in the USA requires the 375 but it will kill just about anything anywhere.

Gentleman Jack

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I want to be able to hunt everything in NA and make sure they are down when I shoot them

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This is primarily dependant on what bullet you use and where you hit them, more so than what diameter (within reason) bullet you choose. Todays bullets are only improving the performance of smaller calibers and the .375 should be drug out only when law requires it.....and so far no place in NA is that the case.

The .300 Mag with 200 grain premium bullets is an awesome performer and at some very long ranges.

Keep the .300 WM and hunt anywhere you want. That being said, if I were going to an area specifically for the large bears, I would get the .375. I have a .375 that I got last summer in preparation for an Alaska trip next year. I got it that early so that I could get a lot of practice time in. The great thing about the .375 is that you can hunt around the world with it and not lack for power. If you find yourself in a position to need a larger rifle, then perhaps you need to be on a guided hunt with a professional hunter.
Good Luck.

I think it really comes down to what you want to use and your own personality.

As an example, the most commonly shot animals in Australia are the kangaroo, goat and pig. Lets say your white tail deer size in general. Although we shoot a lot more of them.

I have probably shot a similar number with the 270, 308, 300 Win and 375 H&H and I think my general hits to shots fired has been about the same.

But I like the 375 best of all. 270s and 300 Wins etc cause me to think about ballistic coefficients and the velocity I am getting and all that sort stuff. But I have none of that with the 375.

The 375 to me is like driving a big V8 manual and it still goes well even when you are in the wrong gear.

The conclusion I came to years ago...and I think the variety of opinions and guns and calibres seen on these forums supports this...and that is for 95% of the shots you will fire the difference in outcome won't matter too much what you use......so using what you want to use and like to use (within reason) is probably the key issue.

Mike

If you can afford to hunt "everything" in N. America, you can afford to keep your .300 Win. Mag. and buy a .375 H&H as well. Then you'll have a true "world" battery.

I do most of my hunting with a .300 Win. Mag. Except for coastal brown bears, it's a much better "all-around" N. American rifle than the .375 H&H. The .300 has plenty of power for everything from mule deer and elk to mountain grizzly, plus its flat trajectory comes in very handy for pronghorn and Coues deer, plus other stuff. If I had ONLY the .300 to hunt with for N. America, I'd stick with my 180 gr. Nosler Partition handloads and plan to hunt the works, turning to 220 gr. Partition handloads for brown bear only.

Most .375s are too heavy to pack for mountain hunts, don't shoot as flat as I'd like for much of N. American hunting, and I'd feel like I wore the wrong outfit if I packed one into Coues deer camp in Sonora. The .375 H&H, first and foremost, is an ideal all-around AFRICAN cartridge, and its real role in N. America, as I stated before, is for Alaskan brown bear.

AD

The 30-06 has taken sucessfully all game in NA. Much of this was done using powder and bullets that are inferior to the ones we have today. Your 300 with todays bullets and powders is plenty enough. When, and if, you ever decide to hunt the 'big bears' take about .05% of that money and buy a 375. capt david

Some good advice here but I'm surprised no one's mentioned the obvious. If you're going to stay in NA and want one rifle does all, look no further than the 338WM. Rifles are everywhere, ammo the same and you can go up or down quite a ways depending on whether you need range or more weight for bears. A very versatile calibre.

Do not get rid of the .300 but rather add the .375 as others have suggested.

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Originally posted by Gentleman Jack:
Is there enough difference in knock down power inbetween the two to warrant $900 or possibly trading my .300 in? Thanks to those that reply.

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ONLY IF you intend to shoot a LOT of big, mean, Alaskan brown bears & polar bears! Otherwise, the .300 will do everything you want, including killing a brown bear or two on a guided hunt!

Cobra,

I would have thought after having made over 1500 postings plus plenty of exposure to the political forum you would have come to of known...that practical solutions were not part of forum decorum.

Mike

Yes. Everyone should own at least one .375.

Thanks guys, you have been truly helpful and its a good feeling to finally talk to some people that know quite a bit.

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Originally posted by Mike375:
Cobra,

I would have thought after having made over 1500 postings plus plenty of exposure to the political forum you would have come to of known...that practical solutions were not part of forum decorum.

Mike

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Sorry Mike. I don't know what I was thinking. It won't happen again.

Buy enough reloading components for 500 rounds of 300 mag, about 190 dollars.

Go shoot said rounds from field positions from 50 to 400 yards. take a year to do it.

You are better prepared to drop game quickly than any bigger caliber will ever do for you.

I love my old pre 64 win. in 300 H&H and I have shot everything in NA with it accept Alaskan Brown Bear and I won't hunt them with it..It would kill'em, but I like the edge of a 338 or 375 for alaskan bears...

I like the 200 gr. Nolsers or Woodleighs at over 2700 FPS in my 300...I have a client who has shot Russian Bear, Cape Buffalo and elephant with his using my loads....It killed the Buff but he took 5 shots to do it and the bear took 4 or 5, the elephant was a solid in the brain and that doesn't count, so I suggest the proper tool for any job at hand....there is no one all around caliber IMO.

I also would simply add a .375 to my 300 and then I'd be in the pound seats.

Own both you will hunt the world, with both.

After you've had a .375 H&H, it is hard to think of being without one!

I think of the .375 H&H as a 300m (330 yards kind of rifle... The .300 Magnums do shoot flatter, but I would base my decision on how often you shoot at a critter past that distance.

With the trajectory of a .30-06, a .375 H&H is (like the .30-06) a reasonable all round rifle.

Best advice (already given above): have both calibres of course!

jpb

The truly biggest problem with the .338 mag is that it virtually makes it impossible to justify both a .300 and a .375 mag.

Thereafter a prudent man with a .300 and a .375 is totally fit to hunt anything from pronghorns to elephants and this truly isn't the case with the .338. It's too much for 100 pound animals and not legal for the big stuff.

Although there are a whole bunch of people that would swear up and down that the 300WM will kill anything in North America, I have purchased a 375 RUM. Why? Because sooner or later I might get that African hunt. But, for the record, I agree with those other folks that feel the 300 is all that is necessary in North America. That's why I still have my 7mm Rem Mag. Not quite the 300 I know, but either way if you cannot afford the 375 outright, don't purchase it. Keeping the 300 is a smart choice. By keeping the 300 you can ask the question on the morning of the hunt, "Do I want to kill my deer, or turn him inside out?"

I've always wanted a 300 or 375 H&H, but I don't think either are necessary for anything in N. America.
Maybe it's because I'm also an archer, but many of my best kills were made with an arrow. It's amazing what a broadhead will do. I have taken deer with a bow at 15 yard with a lung shot and the deer didn't go 20 yards, and I have taken deer hit in both lungs with a an 06, and had to chase them for 100 yards. go figure.

IMHO, a 30-06 is more than adequate for anything in N. America. Once upon a time, they killed GRIZ with 38-55's and 30-30's!

I would hang on to what you have, but if I see a 375 or 300 H&H for the right rice, it'll be mine!

I have used a .375 H&H quite a bit as a working rifle when doing forestry work in Grizzly territory; it is easy to learn to shoot well and mine, at least, were/are very accurate. the problem is that a .375 is a heavy rifle and if lightened, the recoil is pretty awesome!

I prefer a .338 win. for everything, but, even that is more gun than you really need anywhere I have ever hunted, I just like mine because I do backpack meat solo in Grizzly territory, there's no option to this where I live.

For general use and even on Grizzlies, including the huge ones of Alaska and north-western B.C., a .300 mag. with 180-200 gr. Noslers will be more than adequate. The last Grizzly I saw shot was with a .300 Win.-180 NP, this was an eight footer near Gatho Cr., B.C. in Sept.'03.

I wouldn't bother with a .375, unless you are going to Africa because you are better off to stick with one rifle that is adequate for what you are hunting, one bullet-load and practice with this combo. Gawd, I wish I was practical enough to take this advice myself!!!!!

I know this is an old thread, but I'll beat on the dead horse some more.

I've got both a .375 H&H and a .300 Win Mag, the big gun a Model 70 Stainless Classic and the smaller one a Remington 700 ADL non-stainless (I don't think you can really call it "blued"). I am also in the planning stages of a trip to Alaska in 2006, so I'm facing a choice of which one or either one to take.

The .375 has the stainless, and will be wearing a new stock, and it is big enough to kill anything big enough to die. The main problem is that I will be doing some back-packing and it weighs about 9.5 lbs loaded (despite the eroneous data on the Winchester web-site), and to me that is heavy. Not a real problem in Africa where all I'd carry is the rifle, but with 50-60lb. pack, every pound counts - this in addition to my shortness and scoliosis ridden back. It is also a step up in recoil, though I've found that 300 grain loads are not quite as violent as the 235 loads I've been practicing with which is a complete reverse of what I expected.

The .300 weighs about 8.5 pounds fully loaded, is big enough to kill just about everything big enough to die. It is still not very light, but a pound is a pound. A friend of mine that has been to Alaska and taken several caribou and black-tailed deer swears by his old push feed Ruger in .300 Win using Fed TBBCs. However, mine is not stainless and is not CFR - which I'm beginning to like. (One caveat, I've tried all three Remingtons I own and each will feed and eject upside down) Therefore, if I carried it to Alaska, I've got to paint, parkerize or otherwise get to not rust. I'd also probably use a 200 gr. bullet.

As I have considered this, I believe that unless you are going to hunt Alaska often and Africa not at all, I'd stick with the .300 Win Mag. Use 180 gr. quality bullets for just about everything and 200 gr.+ for big nasty stuff. Any NA big game, outside of brown or polar bears, hit in the boiler room with a good quality bullet out of a .300 is going to lie down and take a dirt nap really quick. If you plan on being a regular to Alaska, I'd get a .338 Win in stainless, either a Ruger or Winchester. If you want to go to Africa, get a .375 like I did. But if you go the .375 way, do not get rid of the .300 as the .375 is just to heavy for every day deer, antelope, etc. I am seriously considering one of the new Model 70 Stainless Featherweights in ... 30-06 - I can have it opened to an Improved version, keep 4 or 5 rounds in the magazine, and it'll have all the power I need for all but the biggest game in NA. Then, if I need the big power, I'll just grab the .375.

I think AD summed up everything pretty well. The other comment on practicing for a year was pretty damn spot on too.

I would never buy a rifle just becasue "I might go to Africa." I never bought a .416 until I wanted to hunt Cape buffalo. Guys, the staff tips alone are more than the rifle.

Kutenay,
For quite some time my main man in Alaska, master guide and gun scribe Phil Shoemaker and myself also felt the 180 gr. Nosler and the 30-06 was all one need for Alaskan Brown bear, that is until Phil damn near got ate alive on several ocassions when he had hit the bears real well and they ended up nearly on top of him, Now he uses a 458 Lott and a 505 Gibbs, he says he is much happier....I took his advise since he has shot many bear and been in of the killing or many of them.

Cut to the quick. The answer is "Yes!"

Just another concurence with the other posts. A 300 win mag is IMHO, the best choice as an all around NA gun, excepting the big bears. Team it with a 375 H&H, and you have a perfect two gun battery.

I would not sell or trade your 300 for a 375. If you can afford a dangerous game hunt, you can afford a 375. For all the other times, the 300 will shoot flatter, kick less, and kill just as well.

The key to killing critters where they stand is using good bullets, and putting them where it counts. When you do that, caliber really isn't that important.

Well that just sums it up. Thanks guys, I will be making a short trip to purchase my .375 and keeping the .300. Cheers to all of you!

Good decision. More guns is what this forum is about. Now tell us what .375 you might buy so that we can have at that.

I'm with Allen Day. If you can afford to think about hunting everything in North America you can afford two guns.

But ......... if you don't plan to go to Africa any time soon what is the need for the .375? Hunt everything in North America with the .300 Win Mag and when you get ready to step out, step up.

Well the number of firearms I have now, it was beginning to seem redundant to purchase any more without trading atleast one in. Seeing how each gun plays a role in something, I am just going to add another log to the bon fire.

Jack, you ae making a wise decision. Now start planning that african safari.

In a word "NO"
Judge Sharpe

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I am just going to add another log to the bon fire.

LOL, hadn't heard that one before.

Keep the 300 WM. As for bear, I have a fishery biologist friend who is around the big bears many times a month. He carries an 870 Remington with slugs. His Alaskan native friends carry varous things, 308 Win, 7x57, 30-06, etc. His stories about shooting big bears shows that perhaps guts is more important than caliber. Personally I would prefer the biggest gun I could carry, but I have never shot a big bear.