A few weeks ago I came about a Whitworth 375 H&H. I had some reservations however about shooting it. You see a braked 300 winnie was the biggest thing I had shot, but today I told myself "suck it up and be a man".
Well I slipped the scope off with the QD rings as I have heard of a condition called Magnum Eyebrow), put in a round and took my best Jeffeosso stance. At that moment the pucker factor was running off the scale, I don't think you could have drove a finishing nail betwixt my cheeks, but at the same time I felt like there may be some excretment not as solid as it should be that was going to come out. I fired. The first words out of my mouth were......


WELL CRAP this thing is a PUSSYCAT.

I could not believe the lack of recoil, I mean I sure felt it but it was not bad at all. Infact by the time I was through I wished I had brought more than one box of ammo.
I guess I can consider myself a member of the Big bore shooters now but I know most here think I just made it to the Heavy mediums. Now where was it I saw that 458 for sale?

LOL, been there, done that. The first time I shot my 375 H&H I thought that I had done something wrong or had dud cartridges. It was acually recoiling less than my 300 WSM or my 7 Rem Mag.

i'd be a lot more hesitant abt a whitworth 458 if i were you. having had both a 375 and 458, my feeling is they got the 375 "right" but missed the boat on the 458. on mine, the bbl xtrnl dia was the same. which means the 458 was just plain too light. a hair under 8# in the one i had. recoil was so "brisk" by the 3rd shot had lost the front sight and split the stock abt 1" back into the wrist. granted i'd never fired any rifle that heavy at that time but i couldn't handle it. i soldered the sight on, repaired the split w/ acraglas, added 3/4# lead each to the f/e and butt and after that the stock stayed together and it was not obtrusive at all to shoot. plus it balanced better. my next 458 was a post 64 m70 african which is also not a heavyweight (had 2, both ran abt 8.5#) but the stock shape is so much better recoil was never an issue. not so far as pain; fatigue of course still. the whitworth 458 also suffered from a stock entirely too skinny for the round. like you, i don't recall the 375 being of any consequence tho a browning safari is even more pleasant.

That 375 H&H can get to be a new best friend FAST. Think most are at least a little worried 1st time. I expected more as well.

quote:

Originally posted by ElCaballero:
...I could not believe the lack of recoil, I mean I sure felt it but it was not bad at all....

Now you know one reason why my .375 is my go to gun. My brother shot his 7mm Mag (Savage 110) and said the recoil was stout but when he shot his .375 he thought it recoiled less. So far my score with a .375 is two deer, one antelope and an elk. I honestly do not remember the recoil when I got one of them. As a side note it is hilarious to use on prairie dogs.

[QUOTE]Originally posted by ElCaballero:


WELL CRAP this thing is a PUSSYCAT.

QUOTE]

Standing and hanging on tight for my first 458 shot, I believe my first comment was "Hey, that was all right" or something sim. (10+ Lb M70).
I wasn't too worried because someone once gave me a shot of a 378 and 460 Weatherby.

JL.

Congratulation on your Whitworth. I like mine too!

El Caballero,

The recoil is there, but it's character is more of a shove than a punch.

George

Congrats on the Whitworth. I love mine. Maybe we should start a fan club.

I just picked up a Whitworth. It is a 375 H&H that was opened up to 375 WBY. I see that the Whitworth express comes with sights, however, there is no evidence that mine ever had any. Did all Whitworths in 375 come with open sights?

As far as rite of passage into the Big Bore fraternity, I have owned several 375s over the years, most have been Sakos, but I have had them in Browning, Winchester and 2 in Ruger #1. I have also had two Sakos in 416. I find the 375's recoil to be more pleasant than most 300s and some light weight 06s.

ElCaballero that was almost the same reaction I had when I shot my .375 for the first time. It definitely is less painful than my 1895 Marlin shooting "enthusiastic" 45-70 loads.

I about spewed beer on my keyboard on the pucker factor reference....

Dr. Lou

I have two Whitworths, one is marked Whitworth Manchester England, has no sights, is in a synthetic stock, the other is the more normal express sights, etc. I believe the one may have been purchased as a barreled action, as mine has obviously been glassed in before I acquired it. It is in the process of getting some NECG sights with a front barrel band, and a barrel band swivel on it now.

I bought a Whitworth 375 barreled action from Brownell's in the early 90s that had a slick barrel. IIRC, there were no screw holes in the barrel, either.

I think the .375 H&H is about the best all around cartridge out there.

I agree w/ WyoJoe, it's fun to shoot groundhogs and feral crats with.

Thanks for the info. Mine came bedded in a B&C fiberglass stock. It must have been purchased as a barreled action, too.

quote:

Originally posted by ElCaballero:
A few weeks ago I came about a Whitworth 375 H&H. I had some reservations however about shooting it. You see a braked 300 winnie was the biggest thing I had shot, but today I told myself "suck it up and be a man".

Same here.

Never shot a .375, maybe I need to just step up to one of those instead of stopping at the 9.3x62 that I had planned.

I urge anyone (everyone!) that likes rifles to try out a 375 of proper weight, stock configuration and proper scope set up. This round is fantastic and everyone that has shot my 375s is grinning and wanting more. The recoil is there, but with a good set up the rifle is VERY comfortable to shoot and a great introduction to the bigger bores. Off the bench it is okay but offhand NO problem at all.

The Rigbys and especially the Lotts are a step up the scale that require an adjustment and familiarity but the 375 H&H is very user friendly.

John

Just got back from a hog hunt where I used the Whitworth. It worked great!

quote:

Originally posted by crazy_quik:

quote:

Originally posted by ElCaballero:
A few weeks ago I came about a Whitworth 375 H&H. I had some reservations however about shooting it. You see a braked 300 winnie was the biggest thing I had shot, but today I told myself "suck it up and be a man".

Same here.

Never shot a .375, maybe I need to just step up to one of those instead of stopping at the 9.3x62 that I had planned.

As is often said here, you need both, m'man!

Have had my whitworth .375 since 1986 and just love the gun and the cartridge. Always think I want somehting else but end up with the .375