A buddy of mine is looking at a used custom rifle in 375 H&H based on a Sako action. The barrel is 20 inches. He asked me if I thought it was too short. I am the worst person to ask, because I really, really like longer barrels on my rifles and shotguns.

20" too short for a 375 H&H? I do not think so.

I had a SAKO Handy rifle with a 20" barrel, my brother has it now, because I relaced it with a Blaser R 93 with a Tracker [19 3/4"] barrel.

Both of these rifles shot great, on paper, to 300 yards, as accurate as the longer 375 H&H's I have shot.

I have longer 375 H&H barrels for my R 93, but I use the Tracker when I hunt.

I don't think it is a bad thing, I prefer longer barrels as they put the noise a little further from the ear. You will love a 20" barrel if you have to move through heavy woods and/or brush.

John

I wanted a Ruger Alaskan but I wanted it in .375 H&H. It's going to be an Africa rifle...but I didn't want to deal with the hassle of finding .375 Ruger ammo...

A fine gent here on ARF had a Montana 1999 rifle for sale. 20" bbl, stainless, Brockman laminated stock. Yeah, I jumped on it.

20" may give up a few fps, but the balance of the 20" bbl is truly superb in my gun. I prefer a shorter rifle anyway.

As to hearing protection...well, I'll use earplugs for any plains game. For DG I'm torn between e-muffs or something. My hearing is far too precious to me and there ARE solutions out there.

rnovi

Try some Surefire Ear plugs.

No had a 375H&H with a 21" barrel and it was lovely.You loose about 50 ft/sec for 1 inch.

I think the velocity loss will be more like 25 fps per inch, with the RL-15 class of powder, maybe more if the slower powders are used.

24" shortened to 20" is about 100 fps lost.
That would take a standard 2530 fps 300-grainer down to 2430 fps.

Doctari might think that a good thing.
That is also similar to firing a standard .375 H&H load in a .375 Wby.

I too abhor any bolt action with a barrel less than 23".

I put up with 20-inchers only for special purpose, like "The Alaskan Fishing Rifle."

Still working on plans to attach a salmon rod to the barrel of a .416 Ruger Hawkeye Alaskan 20-incher, like a bayonet,
and a reel to the underside of the forearm.
Then the rifle can be worked like a deep sea rig,
braced with butt against torso on heavy retrieves.

Handloaded with suitable powders the 375 is very efficient, don't worry about vel. loss. If it feels good buy it. I had mine cut to 22".

quote:

Originally posted by N E 450 No2:
rnovi

Try some Surefire Ear plugs.

Yep, got a set. I use them for Upland game with my 26" Citori...sue me, I like short and handy!

No, it is not to short for a backpack type rifle. I would prefer longer for an African rifle.

For me, a 20" tube of a 375 H&H is too short, but I don't like barrels shorter than 22-24 on any rifle, except on levers. Lou

Twenty inches will work but might affect the balance of the rifle. 2400+fps is good for anything you want to shoot on the planet, I'd prefer 23inches in the 375 only because I find most of the rifles in 375 balance quite nicely at that length.

it'll work fine. if you reload, go with h335 - faster powder burns just fine in a shorter tube

I doubt you loose 50 fps with modern loads, if you use fast powder ..

LOL -- the 375 ruger burns more powder .. and does it well

Not that it means much, but I must agree with the above posters. I use a 24" barrel on my .375 H&H; mainly because the balance is perfect for me. The Sako handy rifles are popular with some of the Alaskan guides.

The lower velocity will help "standard" bullets penetrate better (no difference with the "super" bullets).

If it feels comfortable to you, go for it. You can always rebarrel later on.

Sako's are wonderful rifles. Whatever your decision, enjoy!

I grew up in South Louisiana shooting long barreled shotguns while duck and goose hunting. Ever since, I have also loved long barrels on my shotguns and rifles. A slim 28 gauge SxS with 30 inch barrels is a magical wand for me. Same for rifles with me,...I like 24 to 26 inch barrels. The short barreled rifles don't "feel" very good to me.

The reason I asked the question is my friend is not a member of the forum. He doesn't hunt Africa but makes annual hunting trips to Alaska and Canada. He is looking at a short barreled 375 H&H that was used as some sort of instruction gun at a shooting school. He currently shoots a 416 Rem with a 25 inch barrels. He says it is a PITA while creep in and around the alders.

Thanks for all the feedback.

TBD,

A buffalo, brown bear or whatever will never know the difference between a 20" or 24" barrel. In the worst case scenario you'll have a 300 gr bullet going 2400 FPS. That a whole lot of thump.

Mark

I would prefer a 22" tube, but my 24" shoots so well I'm not going to mess with perfection and chop it. A 22 incher would have been handier hunting buff in the thick stuff a couple of weeks ago, though. Much more so.

FWIW; my 375H&H in a Browning A-Bolt SS lost 170 fps with the exact same load when cut from 26" to 22". Powder used was RL-15 and the loss equaled 42.5 fps per inch. That was with the 300 NP.

Bob

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