Here we go again discussing the merits o f the following... the 375H&H, 375wby, 375RUM, 378wby.
My question to Saeed, RIP, and others is this... if you are going to have a long mag box, why not just pick the 378 over the RUM? What good is the 375wby? No arguments from me, I own a 375 H&H and a 378, but I was curious of the advantages of the 375RUM and 375 wby. I like my 378, and I am contemplating building another.

Obviously the 378 Wby has a significant advantage over a 375 Wby or HH if you want to maximize velocity.

smallfry,

For starters, with no special modifications to box capacity:

.375 Wby in a CZ 550 Magnum box: 5 down plus one

.375 RUM in a CZ 550 Magnum box: 4 down plus one

.378 Wby in a CZ 550 Magnum box: 3 down plus one

.375 H&H in a Pre-64 M70 box: 4 down plus one.



Why bother with the extra "sound and fury signifying nothing" of a .378 Wby?

Also, why bother with the rebated rim of a .375 RUM?

The extra box length (3.8") with a .375 Wby allows greater flexibility in loads with long monometal bullets. You can even handle Walterhogs with it, in case Bridger ever makes them available to the public ... You can certainly make better use of the Barnes TSX's this way ... all those nice cannelures ...

The sensible chambering is the .375 Wby. You can fire .375 H&H factory ammo to good effect in it if pinch comes to ammo availability/baggage monkeys, etc.

And then there is the .375 Lapua, the sexiest .375 cartridge, which has the same capacity as Saeed's .375/404, but is a little shorter and fatter, heavier brass, and has no belt: 4 down plus one in my CZ 550 Magnum box, whereas I only get 3 down plus one with the .378 Wby

Gee I must be boring just owning the genric .375 H&H but I like the taper on the case, it seems to slip into the chamber !!

What PC said. I guess I'm old fashion type of guy, but the venerable 375 H&H is one of the most "satisfying" of all the calibers I own. Very hard to improve upon (in useable, practical terms) in my not-so-humble opinion. Best, Starcharvski.

All of the Weatherby magnums are good cartridges, no question about it, the .378 included.

But bigger isn't always better. Rip outlined some of the advantages the .375 Wby. has over the .378, and those should be very real considerations for anyone. Beyond magazine capacity and other mechanical advantages, the .375 Wby. is much more shootable than the .378, which kicks like you wouldn't believe. Put a break on a .378 and you'll still get kicked, and you'll also get deafened. The .378 Wby. has to be one of the most obnoxious cartridges in existence to shoot well.

Personally, I'll stick with my .375 H&H, but if I wanted more power in a .375, I'd go .375 Wby..........

AD

RIP, somehow the words "sexiest" and "shorter and fatter" just don't seem to go together.

RIP --- if you like no belt, short, a bit fatter and good performance why not go all the way to the Lazzeroni Hellcat. Case length 2.08" with an OAL of 2.78" and 2600fps with the 300gr Nosler.

Fischer and DB Bill,
I've got a "thing" for Lapua brass.

i'll just sit here and grin with my 376 steyr, on a mexican mauser, that holds 4 down, feeds like a hungry coondog, and is very light in recoil...

jeffe

I suppose it is a shame the .458 necked down to .375 never caught on as it fits easily into a standard action....................I still prefer the H&H, but it would have been an easy round.

Why burn 15% more powder in the 378 for the same velocity you get in the 375 RUM? Also, the RUM is now the case the bullet makers use to test for .375 accuracy, if that says anything.

If I may reply to Sabot... time will tell if bullet makers still use the RUM to test bullets in 20 years from now...

I didn't want to start a war, but thought it would be funny

Cheers,

Enigma

Obviously the accuracy standard in .375 caliber will soon be, and 20 years from now will still be, the .375/.338 Lapua Magnum, otherwise known as the 9.5x69mm Tornado. Taking the world by storm: 9.5 Tornado or .375 Lapua.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by allen day:
All of the Weatherby magnums are good cartridges, no question about it, the .378 included.

But bigger isn't always better. Rip outlined some of the advantages the .375 Wby. has over the .378, and those should be very real considerations for anyone. Beyond magazine capacity and other mechanical advantages, the .375 Wby. is much more shootable than the .378, which kicks like you wouldn't believe. Put a break on a .378 and you'll still get kicked, and you'll also get deafened. The .378 Wby. has to be one of the most obnoxious cartridges in existence to shoot well.

Personally, I'll stick with my .375 H&H, but if I wanted more power in a .375, I'd go .375 Wby..........

I agree totally! The 378 Weatherby is a nasty recoiling brute as is the 416 and 460 by the same maker.

I am still going to convert one of my Stainless Mod 70 375 HH to 375 RUM.I like the advantage of extra velocity for long range shots.I doubt I will gain a lot over my 375 JRS,but thats what gun nuts do. Why have one gun thats does it all, if you can have several that do almost the same thing.I don't hear many here discuss the JRS.It is essentially the same ballistically as the Weatherby and the Ackley improved.I bought mine recently with a Hi Tech muzzle brake out of Colorado Springs.I like the brake,does help with recoil,and is not very loud.The JRS has slightly less water capacity than the other improved versions of the 375 HH.BTW it also fires HH quite well.

Longshots,
Bully good plan.

However, remember that the .375 RUM reamer has a slightly longer neck than the .375 H&H but same overall length.

Therefore, the RUM reamer will not completely clean up the H&H neck-shoulder juncture, and it will therefore result in a radiused or venturied appearance to the leading edge of the .375 RUM shoulder.

Therefore, you have to set the .375 H&H barrel back a bit or rebarrel.

Whacking off all the threads of the 24" Winchester barrel and ending up with a re-threaded 23" .375 RUM is a fine option, as the Winchester barrel shank is plenty heavy for that, and the .375 RUM does perform well in a 23" barrel.

A .375 Wby reamer will completely clean up the .375 H&H chamber with no change in the shank threads. Just be careful not to deepen the belt cut which would create excess headspace.

Based on a pure logical decision the 375 Wby is the best and if the decision is taken in isolation of all other matters.

If the rifle is a high end custom Mauser or Model 70 I think it has to be 375 H&H.

For person who likes to fiddle with loads and especially reduced loads then the 378 Wby but I think it should be in a Wby rifle.

If it is not a Wby rifle and the person is a keen reloader and likes to play around, then the 375 Ultra.

Apart from the 375 H&H itself I think RIPs 375/338 Lapua is the classiest of the bunch and would be my pick if building a custom rifle on some like a HS Precision or Nesika action.

Something for everyone

Mike

RIP,
How do you make sure not to deepen the belt cut. Do you just cut and measure every so often with a chamber guage? I have my .375 weatherby reamer from Manson and am eager to get cutting.

Thanks.

John

JohnAir,
I get a gunsmith to do it!

I do believe one trick is to use some Dykem, a blue stain that is soluble in alcohol but not oil, paint the belt area of the .375 H&H chamber.

Then ream until just starting to see any visible changes (smearing) or any signs of contact of the reamer belt cutting surface with the Dykem.

Headspace of the original H&H chamber should be good to start with, then if you have not removed the Dykem from the belt area of the chamber you are O.K.

A no-go guage can be used to make sure you have not increased the headspace, of course, but if you didn't remove the Dykem in reaming, then you should have a good .375 Weatherby chamber.

The go guage of course is going to chamber from the start, in the .375 H&H chamber.

The no-go guage (assuming the bolt will not close on it to start with in the .375 H&H chamber) is no good to you until you are finished, just to see if you have screwed up.

The Dykem is the trick.

The .375 Weatherby reamer could be modified so that the belt doesn't cut, but then it would be no good for chambering a new barrel, when you have to have that second .375 Weatherby custom built after you have seen how great the .375 Wby is.

.375 Law:

quote:

Originally posted by Mike375:

.375 Law One:
Based on a pure logical decision the 375 Wby is the best and if the decision is taken in isolation of all other matters ...

.375 Law Two:
Apart from the 375 H&H itself I think RIPs 375/338 Lapua is the classiest of the bunch and would be my pick if building a custom rifle on some like a HS Precision or Nesika action.

Something for everyone

Mike

.375 Law Three:
The .375 H&H is just fine, especially for the timid.

Thanks, Mike.

The .375 Police do not enforce these as laws, yet, but they are good rules to live by.

Don't rechamber that M70 to 375 RUM. Leave the barrel length as-is, and rechamber to Saeed's 375-404 IMP. Real gain in velocity. It'll be a bit of a flame-thrower even at 24"; I wouldn't go shorter!

Saeed's .375/.404 is certainly better than the .375 RUM because of the non-rebated rim.

It will not clean up the .375 H&H neck/shoulder junction either, just like the .375 RUM.

You will still have to shorten the barrel somewhat to get a good clean neck/shoulder junction on the .375/.404 chamber, if rechambering a .375 H&H. The best way to do this is to cut off all the shank threads and rethread and rechamber the shortened .375 H&H chamber.

I assure you a .375 RUM or .375/.404 is not a flamethrower in a 23" barrel.

I have 23" and 26" .375 RUMs and haven't started any forest fires with the 23 incher, even though I shoot deer out of a tree stand with it.

IIRC, the .375/404 and the .375 RUM are both very close to 120 grains water capacity. Essentially ballistic twins.

The .375 Lapua makes triplets.

For those of you who . love the old HH,I just listed a Whitworth Express in the classifieds.Thanks