Gentlemen: OK, I have the Whitworth .375...and I like it, but I am not married to her; as in, she weighs too much at 10 lbs all up...I want about 9 total...and I would like at least 4 in the magazine/one up...so where do I go from here???? Again, not married to the Whitworth, but I AM to CRF...any ideas? Thanks, Arthur

Arthur,

You have a very good rifle IMO, I would have a good smithy work on that Whitworth, He should be able to whittle away a pound. Possibly more.

Or, you could get crazy and go with a slimmer barrel and a lightweight stock, take some metal from non-critical areas, you may be able to get it under 8 lbs.

That's what I would do if I was you, but since I'm me, I like my Whitworth just the way it is, thank you.

BigBullet

AO,

You could buy a fly-weight .375 H&H - just to own it because you might not shoot it much either.

I'm in agreement with BB, there's nothing at all wrong with a 10 lb. all-up .375 H&H - keep it!

My Winchester Model 70 with sling, a magazine full of catridges, scope & mounts is a couple of ounces shy of 11 lbs. I love it that way - especially when I pull the trigger!

Cheers,

Gerry

Kevlar/graph stock, and a thin short barrel. Lose the open sights. make sure you put a 1/2" only recoil pad. Lose the barrel band slingswivel also, just wear a glove always on that hand. put Talley lightweight one piece mount/rings. Now you are getting close, but you have just built a 375 that will be hell to shoot with great muzzleblast. No free lunch.

HBH

Arthur,
It is easily done by this recipe, and I highly recommend it. Mine will go to my grave with me:

Action: Pre-64 WinM70 from a 1958 .300 H&H rifle -- box holds 4 down, by design: it is wider than the current M70 Classic box, works great.

Barrel: Douglas Premium stainless sporter contour No.3, 0.625" at the muzzle, 24" long, and 1 in 12" twist (of course)

Stock: Brown Precision Pounder, of fiberglass, Kevlar, and graphite with textured paint and 1" Pachmayr pad.

NECG banded ramp front sight.

Scope bases to fit a peep to: Talley or Leupold QRW.

Sling studs on butt and on the extreme tip of the forearm: won't hit your hand in recoil.

6.75 pounds bare.

Add the 2.5-8X Leupold, a light sling, and 5 rounds of ammo: about 8.5 pounds loaded and field ready.

I have posted pictures of this a while back.

It killed all my Botswana plains game, and also a black bear, a water buffalo, a coyote, a whitetail.

It likes 250 grain Sierra GameKings and 300 grain X-bullets, either one to 0.75 MOA 3-shot groups.

Authur - I also have a Whitworth in a .375 that I thought was too heavy. I drilled a 5/8" hole in the buttstock (carefully), "swiss cheezed" the magazine, put on Millet Mounts (steel two piece") with rings, and mounted a light 3x Leupold on it. All up weight is 9.25 pounds. Without the scope it tips the scales right under 8.5 pounds. Mine is also ported by a couple brothers down in Oklahoma. (They did a nice custom job, not much louder and very effective in keeping the muzzles down.) It's comfortable to shoot in "shirtsleeves", and all "scoped up" even comfortable to shoot off the bench. I personally wouldn't want one much lighter and I can't stand "muzzle brakes" even though they are effective. My 2 cents. Mags

My cz with cz mounmts and 1-4 leupold scope, sling and 6 rounds of ammo comes in at a shade over 11 pounds, it's heavy but pleasnat to shoot as another poster said there is no free lunch, my cz lott weigh's less as they use the same barrel blank for all there big bores I think.

I'd put a couple of holes in the butt, scollop the forend if you must. that should get you in the ball park..Swiss cheesing the magazine box will get you about an ounce or two, so thats a waste...Cut the barrel off shorter if you must and that gets you some...You don't need much to meet your specs.

For a 9 lb. 375HH, buy a working man's bigbore: a Winchester M70 Classic Stainless. Comes with fiberglass stock. Install a good aperture sight such as an XS and remove the open sight. The pull is much too long anyway so replace the big heavy Winchester recoil pad with a thinner, lighter one from Pachmyer. Install a nylon sling. With four rounds it'll weigh 9 lbs exactly and is pure joy to shoot.

Your whitworth must have much denser wood than mine. Although I havent' weighed it, it's about as light as I'd want a 375 to be. It carries very well, and it's also got a light scope (leupold 1x4, recently reclacing a leupold 2x7). I recently took off a magnaport, which takes the barrel down to 22". Bob

My Whitworth also feels pretty heavy . I'd guess it would go an easy 10lbs scoped . While the barrel does taper nicely to the muzzle , it appears they left way more steel than neccesary from the chamber area forward the first 8-10 inches or so .

It does balance superbly and point better with irons than any other bolt rifle I have ever handled ; I'll give them that for sure.

My Whitworth weighs 7.5lbs empty, no scope, kicks like hell.

I am wondering if the Whitworth barrel contour was changed at some point ? I am sure mine would go well over 7.5 lb bare.......300 gr factory eqivalent loads are real easy to handle......

quote:

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sdgunslinger:
I am wondering if the Whitworth barrel contour was changed at some point?

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I don't know, but mine is a very early model with sweated-on express sights and different markings on the barrel and receiver than most I have seen. The stock is built too light IMO, very slim, narrow forend & grip with small butt-print. Nice looking, sorta like the old English magazine rifles, a joy to carry, but a killer at both ends.

Forrest, interesting in that mine has screw on front ramp sight. Does yours have an integral barrel lug? Trying to figure if mine was added or if its an add on. Mine is also quite light. I didn't realize there were the variations to this gun. Bob

1 lb difference?????????
I can't tell 1 lb diff. If it shoots good, I'd keep it the way it is.

ArthurOlds,

Do you really have trouble carrying the rifle, or is it a mental block knowing that it weighs 10lbs.? If you really must get the weight down,
I would just buy a synthetic stock. This is the least expensive option, no gunsmithing, changing barrels, butchering the original stock, etc. Then when you get back from the hunt you have the nice stock to put it back in.

How heavy is the scope on your rifle? Maybe you could replace it with a small and lighter type.

Hog Killer

Arthur,

If you can find an 1960s-'70s Browing FN in 375, you will have a hell of a rifle the weighs less than nine pounds with a scope.

Mine is even lighter that that, as it was custom re-stocked with weight in mind.