quote:

Originally posted by 500grains:
Problem is Boddington never saw a product or caliber he didn't like. Personally I find an objective evaluation more useful.

Yes really.

I don't care for the PM's from anybody. Keep it all out in the open.

Sometimes Boddington actually has some interesting things to say.

Mike375,

I think Ross Seyfried does a pretty good job of laying out both the good and the bad. He was even willing to criticize a cartridge of his own design and recommend against building a rifle in it! That's going to great lengths to be honest with the reader. I wish was could see more of that.

Another free opinion worth as much as the rest. Given bullets suitable for the task I don't think there is much meaningful difference is any of the large capacity belted or non-belted cartridges in the .338-375 range of calibers, at least in the perceptions of the quarry. They'll all do the job if you put the bullet in the right place. To argue in favor of one or the other overlooks this simple fact.

More meaningful perhaps is a discussion on how many Angels can fart simultaneously in Westminster Abby.

500 Grains says, "...His {Boddington} articles read like he loves every product, so it is hard to view them as honest evaluations."

500 Grains (or whoever you are), you of all people should talk! I am a relatively new member, and have spent a good deal of time reading both new and older posts to this forum. At this point I now know you are a negative person.

You hide behind a forum posting and "snipe". You have no factual qualifications of your own. Your comments tend to be "noise-level" and of little value.

If this makes you angry, so be it...

quote:

Originally posted by Bill H.:
500 Grains says, "...His {Boddington} articles read like he loves every product, so it is hard to view them as honest evaluations."

500 Grains (or whoever you are), you of all people should talk! I am a relatively new member, and have spent a good deal of time reading both new and older posts to this forum. At this point I now know you are a negative person.

You hide behind a forum posting and "snipe". You have no factual qualifications of your own. Your comments tend to be "noise-level" and of little value.

If this makes you angry, so be it...

Bill H.,
Very insightful.

quote:

Originally posted by DigitalDan:
Another free opinion worth as much as the rest. Given bullets suitable for the task I don't think there is much meaningful difference is any of the large capacity belted or non-belted cartridges in the .338-375 range of calibers, at least in the perceptions of the quarry. They'll all do the job if you put the bullet in the right place. To argue in favor of one or the other overlooks this simple fact.

More meaningful perhaps is a discussion on how many Angels can fart simultaneously in Westminster Abby.

This is more like it. Back to the .375 improved.

500,

As a writer I much preferred to Seyfried to Boddington as Boddington tends to just quote factory ballistic tables.

I think Seyfried was more for the guns/ammo person and Boddington is more for the person where the guns/ammo is basically just a means to an end.

I understand the point you are trying to make that RIP's use of Boddington's endorsement of the 375 Wby is not worth shit becauses he endorses everything but that is where I disagree with you because I think what is shit in his eyes he won't write about. Now whether that is the right way or the wrong way to do things is a separate issues.

But I also suspect he has endorsed products or calibres that you think are shit. However, one needs to keep in mind that we all judge things from a different angle, our own uses and experiences.

I have a lot of conversations by both email and phone with one of the posters on this forum and he would be one of the more experienced African hunters on this site....and we both share a common interest in the big bangers. It interesting how different we are with many of our views/products because of our vastly different shooting condtions.

Mike

DigitalDan,

A discussion on calibres/case capacities etc can basically fall into one of two groups:

1) For the person where the rifle/calibre is basically a means to an end. Your posting holds true if that is the basis

2) From the guns and ammo nuts where the rifle/calibre is more than a means to an end and may well be the main part of the hobby. In this area the differences between a 375 H&H, 375 Wby, 378 Wby, 9.3 X 64 etc. and etc are huge In fact once in this area the difference beteen a 375 Wby and 375 Ackley Improved could be huge

Mike

"The arguments over which cartridge is best for which animal, and which premium bullet is better than another are almost worthless in this day and age . Most of these discussions, particularly in magazine articles, are over-analysations of theoretical attributes who's only interest to real hunters is purely academic. For the tyro, they often instill false confidence in his equipment, or just as bad, a false lack of confidence, depending on the conclusions of the "experts" and how seriously the individual writer takes them"......Ganyana.....African Hunter.Jungwe Issue

Some folks(myself not necessarily included) think the 45-70 is a marginal cartridge for Africa. I guess If that were the case, I would take the lesser of the evils in having a 45-70 as compared to a 505, 585,577 snot kickin 150ftlb recoiling rifle that did not feed properly...

So 500 likes Seyfried ?

Yet I recall Seyfried publishing an article on a Remington 700 in .416 caliber , praising it to the skies as a backup weapon doing pro hunter work.........so where does that leave ya (grin)

quote:

Originally posted by gixxer:
Some folks(myself not necessarily included) think the 45-70 is a marginal cartridge for Africa. I guess If that were the case, I would take the lesser of the evils in having a 45-70 as compared to a 505, 585,577 snot kickin 150ftlb recoiling rifle that did not feed properly...

gixxer,
Do you know, or ever heard of anyone who has a "505, 585,577 snot kickin 150ftlb recoiling rifle" that went hunting with that rifle not feeding properly? Most who have such a rifle are very advanced shooters, and would take pains to work out feeding issues.
Or is that just one of those bogus analogies like "a .270 bullet in the heart is better than a .338 in the guts" (as if someone shooting a .338 couldn't hit the vitals) or "better a push-feed I am familiar with than a CRF that I am not" (as if you couldn't familiarize yourself with a CRF) or a "500gr. cast lead bullet at 1500fps is better than a 500gr. jacketed bullet at 2000fps (oh, wait, that's not a bogus analogy, it's a canard )?

George

sdgunslinger,

Here is an interesting thread on 24Hour, it starts on Kimber but Dogzapper and his comments on Rem 700 in Africa are interesting.

http://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/showflat.php/Cat/0/Number/439833/page//fpart/1/vc/1

There is a thread on NitroExpress at the moment with a CZ 458 jamming and one poster has come in with he had two BRNOs where the extactor would not let the case slide up between the extractor and bolt face.

I wonder if an auto or semi auto could work with CRF or would the bolt be closing to quickly?

Mike

Mike,
For what it's worth my CZ550 in 458WM also gave heaps of feed problems. When I ordered it the bloke behind the counter (ex buff pro-hunter) warned me of feeding problems with the CZs and older ZKKs. Likewise talking to the guys at the BGRC revealed more shooters with feeding problems. My Rem BDL in 375H&H is now a 470Capstick, dummy rounds feed reliably both fast/slow, I just need to load up some real bangers to complete functioning tests... My most reliable rifles out of the box or secondhand have been my Rem700s. I'll be looking for another Rem700 with a magnum bolt-face for a future 358STA or 358 Norma Magnum.
Cheers...
Con

Con,

I just wish there was some way they could at least disguise the rivot that holds the extractor as opposed to that rough grind off job they do.

One of the things that Rem 700 is dispised for is the detachable recoil lug but that allows more stock material behind the recoil lug, probably about 3 times as much as a Mauser and the recoil lug is about twice as big.

Mike

Oh, George, stop it! Your french is turning me on

"Canard" is french for Duck. But what is your Canard?

Thanks- just buggin ya.

quote:

Originally posted by Mike375:
sdgunslinger,

Here is an interesting thread on 24Hour, it starts on Kimber but Dogzapper and his comments on Rem 700 in Africa are interesting.

On that site Dogzapper claims that in every hunt he's been on the PH was using a M-700 as a back up rifle....YEAH that's interesting allright!!

About the only place I've ever seen a "PH" with a M-700 in Africa was on a game farm in the RSA.

But Boddington gave flowing reviews to the M-700 in the new ULtra Mag calibers as a DGR so that must make them an outstanding rifle for DG use right?

Basing anything on a Boddington write up is just exactley like claiming the "Simmons pro hunter scope on top of a TC Firehawk is the choice of serious hunters worldwide." And that's the truth because Larry Weisune (SP?) said it was.

Gun writers are paid to say good things about the products, they are paid to endorse products DUH!!!

Does that make the .375 Weatherby a poor round? No.. But I wouldn't run out and buy a reamer on Craigs "recomendation."

maybe not, but I sure will go out and buy a reamer based on the overwhelming evidence that it kicks butt over the standard .375 H&H.

200-275fps from lighter weight bullets to the 350gr. heavyweights makes me a believer. This is like comparing a standard 30-06 vs. a 300 Win Mag. but more so because we are dealing with dangerous game.

Right,
The heavier the bullet the better the .375 Wby gets with slower powders than the .375 H&H can handle.

The gunscribes have to be commercially oriented to some degree to survive in the gunrag trade.

I agree that Ross Seyfried is at the top of the heap, and he did not survive at Wolfe, his choice or theirs, whatever. Hopefully we will see a book or two from Ross sometime, and the commercials won't matter there.

Readers can play the game too and read between the lines. We are not idiots. I do not even read the idiot stuff.

This Craig Boddington article does not have much of a commercial slant. The .375 Weatherby is a "red-headed stepchild" cartridge for Weatherby.

Idiots don't care about the .375 Weatherby. The cognoscenti do care. And that ain't no canard.

Is that nattering naybob of negativism still at it?
"Negativity are us ..."
I'll bet he could get a job answering that phone where they say "NO" to every request.
Who is that actor who does those commercials?

BTW, if I have my .375 Wby zeroed for 2.5" high at 100 yards, and I fire the standard 300 grain .375 H&H load in my rifle, it falls to 0.5" high at 100 yards and delivers about 2400 fps muzzle velocity.

If you can find .375 H&H ammo, you can still hunt with your .375 Wby. Hopefully you have a backup rifle along too, and you haven't lost all your ammo, and can find something to shoot in one of your calibers.

A combo of .375 Wby in a standard weight rifle plus a featherweight in .375 H&H would be legal even in RSA.

That would be redundancy and adequacy all around.

quote:

Originally posted by RIP:
Idiots don't care about the .375 Weatherby. The cognoscenti do care. And that ain't no canard.

That has to be the most enlightening quote of the year...Dude it's a neat caliber RELAX!!

It's OK if everyone doesn't agree with the almighty and omnipotent Dr. What difference does it make in regards to the "big picture" if 500grs doesn't want anything to do with a slighty souped up .375H&H?

surestrike,
I am just a little gunnutt who has rediscovered the .375 Wby after a near 20 year hiatus. I was disappointed by it originally because I had a sloppy job on my first one, with a sloppy wide freebore that was 3/4" long. Now I have rifles with tight .3700" freebores, and they really perform.

Notice how the nattering naybob of negativitism (NNN) keeps trying to derail this thread to a personal attack on Craig Boddington. "Negativity Are Us ... NNN"

NNN obviously has no experience with the .375 Weatherby, and all he wants to do is be negative about something, so he keeps jumping on Craig's back for a horsey ride. Wheee!

Talk about the .375 Wby, please, or take the attacks on CB to another thread.

And that means you NNN. Start another "Bash CB" thread if you want.

I would not have been impressed with any 375 powerhouse for buffalo at one time, but I always considered the 375 H&H a good buffalo caliber and still do...anything faster was just hype...

HOWEVER, after seeing about 30 or 40 Buffalo killed with Saeeds 375/404 about the same as a 375 Wby, I have to say I have been impressed, it certainly kills buffalo as well as any caliber including the 500s as far as I can tell, and it kills them fast....

With the advent of monolithic bullets the whole picture has taken on a new meaning where velocity is concerned and the internal damage of a 375/404 is something to behold...

I am not for or against Craig in this case. I personally like him and think he is a straight shooter but that is only my opinion. I will say that I havent seen very many negative articles from any writer or magazine over the years. It isnt what the publishers or sponsors want. I think that if a writer really has a dislike for a particluar gun you just never hear about it.

Ray,
Thanks for keeping it on topic.
That 12% extra case capacity does make it easier to use the monometal flat-nosed and cup point solids and the long spitzer softs.

The Walterhogs will work in a box that allows 3.750" COL. All the other bullets will work well in a 3.600" COL, better than the standard .375 H&H.

The poor man's .375/404: .375 Weatherby.

Saeed can't fire .375 H&H ammo in his .375/404, but he can always have them fly in some more ammo from Dubai, and have someone tortured by Walter for losing the ammo in the first place.

So does this mean that the benefits of a 375 Weatherby can only be acheived with the monometal solids?

quote:

Originally posted by Mikelravy:
So does this mean that the benefits of a 375 Weatherby can only be acheived with the monometal solids?

No, not at all, with 300 to 350 grain conventional softs or solids, you can get 200 to 250 fps over the .375 H&H at similar pressures, using the H4831 SC, RL-22 or MRP burn rate powders.

But why bother if one can use a monometal 300 grain soft and solid of 300 grains for everything? KISS principle: One Bullet Weight.

The heavier OR longer the bullet is, the better advantage the .375 Wby has over the .375 H&H.

quote:

Originally posted by RIP:
surestrike,
I am just a little gunnutt who has rediscovered the .375 Wby after a near 20 year hiatus. I was disappointed by it originally because I had a sloppy job on my first one, with a sloppy wide freebore that was 3/4" long. Now I have rifles with tight .3700" freebores, and they really perform.

I can relate...

I think that the .375Wtby may well be one of the finest open country/ cross canyon bear rounds ever devised. Not to mention a spectacular moose/elk round. If a guy wants a rifle with some get up and go that is also DG capable well why not? My farthest ever kill on an elk was shooting my .375H&H with which I dropped a 5X5 bull at 443yards laser ranged. So while I can definatly relate to the exotic and veloputious call of more velocity the ole H&H ain't no slouch at range if a man knows his gun. That bullet entered at the last rib on a quartering away bull and exited on the point of the off shoulder. It was a 285gr grand slam at 2600FPS.

As far as DG I sure as heck would hunt with a .375 of any ilk from H&H on up. As Ray pointed out the current level of bullet design changes everything. But gosh darn it I just really, really, really like carrying around my .470NE double when roaming the dark continent with intentions of ill behavior towards the various larger fauna to be found. Just one of those things, when in Africa I like to use traditional and proper calibers you know..

It's all part of the common diagonsis "insanitus gun nutis".

I agree with Surestrike, besides I love my nostalgic side, it takes me into another demension and I feel sorry for those who view it with disgust, they are the guys that never enjoy life, never stop and smell the roses...

I love the smell of Hoppes, burning cordite and black powder...Fine wood and rust blue turn my crank, old calibers facinate me and I wouldn't have it any other way, that is why I have never built myself a 375/404 or a 375 Wby, they lack warmth and history, they are nothing more than 100% practical, 100% efficient and 100% cold to the touch ...

Ray,

It was largely your posts that brought me back to blued and wood stocked guns. It just seemed out of place to take anything else to Africa when I hunted with Pierre.

Based upon the post here on AR ....I had to have a 375 H&H and bought a 458 Lott for the Buffalo. I even loaded the Lott down to 2250 fps when heard about your complaints about recoil @ 2350 fps...well 2300 fps is not to bad.

After all your post on 404's I really wanted one but settled on a 416 Rigby as it seemed components are more available...but some day I would venture to say I will have a 404 as well.

As you saw by my posts, I recently purchased a 470 Double..you and others here lead to that purchase as well. Ray, that makes four rifles and a trip to Africa I have to thank you for over the last 6 months or so...and I have some North Fork bullets to purchase...so slow down a bit in your recommendations...just kidding...I am really enjoying all this stuff!!!

Hell, I like'em all! I can be nostalgic one day, and be a better killer the next time too.

I collect information on rifle cartridges, as well as all the load data and test targets for my so-chambered rifles, into separate binders for each caliber.

The two most fascinating so far have been the .404 Jeffery, and the .375 Weatherby.
I have had a .404 Jeffery for just one year. But its "Journal" is the thickest of my "Library." Second thickest is the .375 Weatherby, but it goes back 19 years with me, then .500 A-Square, then, .470 NE, then .470 Mbogo, then .416 Rigby, then .375 H&H, then ... ho hum and so on.

Both nostalgic and non-nostalgic effectiveness are equally fascinating.

Ray

The only reason you dislike those calibers so much is that most often they are synthetic stocked stainless steel affairs . I bet if you got to handle one of these calibers in honest-to-God good wood and good blue, you'd change your mind.

Mike375, of course, in the first part. As to the second, Abandon all hope ye who enter there!

To hear Barsness tell if Seyfried got "fired" from Rifle & Handloader. Apparently they had a hard time dealing with his blunt review of the truth. He still contributes to DGJ and I hear a magazine called Rifleman or something of that sort. I don't think there is an active writer as knowledgable across the broad sweep of shooting activities, and I hope someday to know 1/2 of what he has forgotten about old guns and writing. I admire his style and wish I'd had half the adventures afield as he.

Yep, as to "the second," hope is regained when one realizes that the .375 Weatherby is all that is necessary, will do-all best, and can still fire the ubiquitous .375 H&H. Then one has come full circle to maturity as a rifleman. Then one is ready to go off on the next tangent of craziness. Maybe on to a completely new but overlapping or intersecting circle.

But do not stop exploring, or you are good as dead. Move on, yes.

Hunting anyone?

475 Guy,
What calibers do I not like, Like Will Rodgers, I never met a caliber that I didn't like!

Seyfried got canned??? Crap, he was only one that knew diddly squat about anything, and he would correct them when they gave out wrong information, well I can believe that, Ross doesn't need them, he is financially independent and doesn't take much off the rest of anyone giving bad information...He has forgotten more about firearms than most will ever know, he was a PH in Tanzania back in the good old days for about 11 years...He has been down the road and back...More than I can say for many of todays writers whos experience is way less than than the impression they give....

quote:

Originally posted by 500grains:
So if the 375 Wby is better than the .375 HH due to more velocity, isn't the 378 Wby better than the 375 Wby?

And how does the 385 RUM fit into this picture?

I saw a guy hunting buffalo with a 375 RUM. He DOWNLOADED it to 2500 fps. So much for the advantages of greater case capacity (at least in his case).

Yes, Ross is King of The Heap, and it is Wolfe's loss. I used to buy their pubs primarily based on whether there was anything by Ross Seyfried in them. I have a file of his work, a binder full that goes back to the late 1980's. It sits right next to the one full of Finn Aagaard's works.

Must confess I have a Boddington file and most of his books too. It is fun to go slumming sometimes. But there is no way I could keep up with everything he writes. Being too prolific does cheapen the impact, but it sure keeps him in coin. Lot of idiots out there.

quote:

Originally posted by Atkinson:
475 Guy,
What calibers do I not like, Like Will Rodgers, I never met a caliber that I didn't like!

Seyfried got canned??? Crap, he was only one that knew diddly squat about anything, and he would correct them when they gave out wrong information, well I can believe that, Ross doesn't need them, he is financially independent and doesn't take much off the rest of anyone giving bad information...He has forgotten more about firearms than most will ever know, he was a PH in Tanzania back in the good old days for about 11 years...He has been down the road and back...More than I can say for many of todays writers whos experience is way less than than the impression they give....

500 Grains,

I don't know whether Boddington likes the 416 Wby and whether he "likes" something is irrelevant to whether the product is any good.

But from your description he was honest enough to be shown with ear protection and hence highlight the fact that rifle does need the brake and when the brake is used you will need hearing protection.

The factory as issued 378/416/460 does not need all this pre gunsmithing bullshit to go shooting. They already have glassed in cross bolts, a metal rod through the pistol grip/wrist area, they an in line feed so none of this staggered feed problem, they don't have problems with case rims being unable to get under extractors, they dont have tang/bedding/splitting problems because the tangs sit up on top of the stock.

The second recoil lug and barrel lug are both bedded as they come from box.

As by the way, if less velocity is needed for dangerous game then that makes the 375 Wby firing 375 H&H ammo an improvement over the same ammo fired in a 375 H&H

Mike

Surestrike,

I did not read what Boddington wrote but if he was using the Rem 700 Aftican Big Game Rifle in 375 Ultra them remember that rifle is a vertical stack in line feeder. Apart from other in line feeders what else is there that could reliably get the cartrdidge from the magazine to the chamber.

Mike

This is a post I made over on nitroexpress.com that may be of interest:

I have owned a 378 for about 18 years.This rifle has taken
a Northern Territory buff and a Cape buff in the Zambezi valley in my hands and a friend borrowed it to take his
buff on the same trip to Zim in 1991.In 2001 I took a
Win Mod 70 CRF in 416 Rem back to Zim.-it let me down BADLY-I wish I had taken my old friendly 378.
The big Weatherby's cop a lot of flack,I suspect from people who have not used them.I have a number of gripes with my 378 which I will expand upon but in its defence
I would like to make the following points:
The rifle has never failed to feed!!!
it will feed EMPTY cases 99 times out of
100-try that with a mauser!

The rifle is beautifully finished-try saying that about a Winchester.

The 378 is a very powerful cartridge-if the
projectiles are up to the task there is not an animal that
walks that would not be adequately penetrated to the target organ-try saying that about a 458 Win

The action is a very strong one-while shooting some 15 year old well travelled factory ammo
during a summer hunt (temp 110 F in the shade) over a
chrony the velocity exceeded +++ factory listings.The case
head melted into the ejector button and the rifle would not eject the empty round without flicking the case with a stick-try operating at whatever pressure that was with a 09 mauser and live to tell the tale!
That said I do have some criticisms:
The bedding is sound in design but,like all factory rifles should be attended too ASAP upon purchase.
The two recoil lugs never both bear evenly and I suspect the stories I have heard about the mags. bursting open
and spilling the rounds onto the ground were because neither recoil lug was properly bedded and the mag. well was acting as a recoil lug.

The rifle is MUCH too LIGHT.A heavy barrel and
weighted stock so with scope it should come in at 11 to 12
pounds would allow a rifleman to make accurate use of the cartridges potential trajectory-the rifles recoil in factory trim is much too much for my six foot 3 inch 230 lb frame to shoot really accurately.

The ejection port is small in relation to the cartridge size-it is near impossible in the heat of the moment to recharge the mag. from above.I discovered this as I approached my first buff,now wounded,over open ground.
This was an unguided (no PH back-up) hunt in the NT of Aus.I was of coarse on foot.
The rifle was then used as a single shot till the buff went down.The first shot was a good one but the factory 300gr softs back in then were not up to the task.
On the same hunt while bouncing around the back
of a cattle truck I tried to change rounds from the 270 gr
softs to the 300's-as soon as the mag. floorplate was opened the follower parted copany with the follower spring and the whole lot fell into the straw and cowshit on bottom of the truck-my buff was is sight at this point!!!

As mentioned early,if the rifle is subjected to a gross overload in hot weather the ejector can jam up-a flaw in a DGR.
In summary-I still have my 378 occupying a place of pride in the gun cabinet,the 416 Win piece of crap has been
traded off for a CZ550 in 416 Rigby(yet to see if its any good) but the next time I am in Africa it will be with a 500 double I have just ordered from Butch Searcy.Before it turns up I hope to give the 416 a run up in the Northern Territory after buff.
I would love to hear of the experiences of other 378 owners.
Cheers
Wombat_