I do not own a bigbore, but enjoy reading the comments of those on this forum who have the experience. Question: what is the difference, knockdown effect if any, between a 300 gr. .375 H&H at 2550 fps and a 400 gr. .404 Jeff at 2150 fps assuming same brand and type bullets. Perhaps on a cape buffalo or eland size animal. Just wondered if the velocity and additional energy of the .375 offsets the weight and diameter of the .404 bullet. Thanks for your comments.

bigger bullet for more affect...

and the 404 can be loaded to 400 @ 2300 without problems.

alf is probably the biggest 404 afficionado here...you might want to p.m. him

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I have hunted cape buffalo with both.

The real difference is if I saw a target 100 yards away I'd prefer the .375 H&H.

If the animal was 20 yards away, I'd rather hit it with the heaviest thing I could throw, the 404 in this case.

Both will serve you nicely, but the real difference is purely circumstantial.

This is only anecdotal, but friends of mine who have hunted w/ both, give a big thumbs up to 40 caliber & up for buffalo. I have only one buffalo to my .404jeffery's credit, but it was a one shot & done & I'm sold. Bigger bullets just seem to hit harder. Even out to 100yds, I would still want my .404j.

the .375 can be more of a multi purpose round, I think the .404 J is a more specialized round, but load it with 350 gr bullets and it can do some of what the .375 does as well.

I think very clear, for really big animals prefer greater mass of projectile, then rely more on the 400 grains of projectile of 404 J, but for animals less body mass, the best 375 H & H Magnum, which have less weight projectile will allow me to do shooting at a greater distance.

Oscar.

In a good modern rifle the 404 will shoot a 400 gr. bullet at 2652 FPS with 95 grs. of my old 4831 powder or H 4831 powder..That is in my 26 and 27 inch barrels...Northfork industries got almost 2600 FPS in there test barrels and reasonalbe but max pressure...So you don't have to accept 2100 or 2300 FPS in a good 404..I have used this load all over the world and its a killer on both ends...Just like the 416 Rigby, it also can be loaded way beyond the standard 2400 FPS, you can get an easy 2700 FPS and some get 2900 FPS, Stop and think about it, the Rigby is the 416 Wby without a rim...I used to cut the rim off 416 Wbys to make 416 Rigby cases back when you could not buy Rigby stuff....

My standard 404 load is 93 grs. of H4831 and a 400 gr. bullet for 2400 plus FPS, brass last forever and the recoil is very controlable..No 375 can beat it for buffalo, and I have used both and now I think a 450 gr. 404 is on the way if not already available..that will make me a happy hunter. I can get 2400 with it.

I haven't shot any game yet with my 404, but I have worked up some accurate reloads with 400 grain bullets in the 2,250 to 2,300 fps range. I feels just about like shooting my .375 H&H in terms of recoil and control (the rifle is slightly heavier than the .375 H&H). I like to think it will work on most plains game to 150 yards and DG at 100 yards or less. As Pierre van der Walt says, "since the 404 J didn't have any problems when it was loaded to 2,150 fps in the old days, the animals must be getting tougher and tougher as time goes by."