a friend of a friend who had just gotten a lever action 375 winchester came by the other day and gave me a box of 375H&H ammo that he had mistakenly ordered-- said he didn't want to bother with sending it back and he knew i shot "those damn big cannons". so i've got this CZ550 in 375 that i bought a while back for a project sitting around and i thought i'd check the magazine capacity. my jaw about hit the floor when it took 7 cartriges without any undue effort! anybody else got one that will do that? that's a lot of firepower for sure.

however, i'm probably going to put this one up for sale because i'm so happy with my rigby. the only reason i'd want to keep it is if i converted it to something that had considerably better long range ballistics than what i'm told i can get with hot 416 loads (i haven't played with it enough yet to know first hand).

if i keep it, i wouldn't want to go smaller than a 375, but i'd still like to get some info on the 375/404. if the ballistics are similar to the ultra-mag, it doesn't seem to buy one much over the original H&H though (at least according to the barnes manual)

somebody care to give me some words of wisdom here?

ppk,

mine holds 6 and with a bit of tamepring would hold 7. Got to love those cz's

Why do they hold so many? Is it the width or the depth?

Well, they hold so many because, when you push them in, there is still more room... 6+1 sounds like a semi-auto pistol?

I think the guys are pretty smart, and figured for what they are selling the guns for, and, the current price for quality Mauser 98 actions, for big bores,that they could corner the market, with a huge, big mag capacity, action.

Guess what? I think they have.

Either that, or the guy who builds them hunts buffalo, and knows what happens if you miss with the first shot.

On second thought, maybe they have rooos in CZ land, and the guy knows how dangerous they are, and that they require many follow up shots to prevent a charge...

Another thought just struck me. Let's say you wanted a high powered, high capacity bolt action rifle for snipping.

You could take a CZ, come up with some boattailed 225 or 250 grain bullet, or even 200 maybe, and end up with one heck of a sniping rifle, with a 25+ inch barrel...225 grain at 3000 fps...Clint Eastwoods 44 would have nothing on THAT load.

DR S

[ 01-06-2003, 09:49: Message edited by: Socrates ]

Socrates,

The good old .375 H&H loaded with those High BC .375 300 gr sierra game kings leaving the barrel of a cz at 2600 fps is still doing 2000 fps at 300 yards and hitting with around 2900 foot pounds, it is around 9-10" low if you have a 200 yard zero.

PC
I thought you zeroed a couple inches high, at either 50 or 100, and the end result is pretty near flat at 300?

Don't feel like pulling Ballistic tables right now, but, the great thing about the 375 is with the long bullets, loaded hot, not many calibers can deliver, at extreme ranges, like it can.

Including the WBY, etc.

4 inches high, at 200, gives flat to how far, and ....?

DR S

Socs,

I may be wrong but I thought I worked out in the speer tables that a 2" high impact at 100 yards would give a 200 yard zero and then the 9-10" low at 300 yards. I think the .378 weatherby shoots 3 or 4" flatter than the standard H&H. But I do not beleive the majroty could shoot the .378 as well as the standard H&H therefore making the flatter trajectory a non-issue.

RE: Magazine capacity.

Most bolt actions on the market will only hold 3 belted rounds, and they may or may not hold 3 RUM's and still function reliably, making some of the RUM's (and WSM's) effectively only 2-shot magazines. I think this is an often overlooked disadvantage of the Rem 700, et. al.

The long Sako actions have always held 4 belted rounds (and 5 standards). Last night, I was looking over a friend's new Sako Model 75 in .300 Winchester. It holds 5, but the bolt will not quite close over 5, so it is effectively just 4 (like the CZ is 6). Looks like Sako could do just a tiny bit of work and get 5 belteds in its Mod 75. My little Sako L461 similarly holds 7, but won't close on 7, so it's a 6 + 1 with the .222 family.

At any rate, the extra magazine capacity is a bonus that is, while rarely needed, very valuable on occasion.

Remember the LA Bank of America robbery? The one where the two morons were wearing upper body armor and shooting AK in rock and roll?

Picture yourself 200 yards away on a balcony overlooking that mess with your CZ in hand. Now picture one .375 caliber bullet slicing through the first thug's vest like a hot knife through butter and turning his chest cavity into liquid. Next, picture your second .375 bullet penetrating the engine of the getaway car as it slowly drove though the bank's parking lot and stopping it cold. Now picture the second gunman steeping out only to receive your third .375 caliber bullet in the head, then watch his head explode like a ripe watermelon.

You still have four cartridges left.

PPK1911,

If you decide to sell it, let me know what youd take for it.