Browning A-Bolt in .375 H&H, with Boss........

30 March 2006, 00:16

My dad is a recoil shy shooter, and I am wanting to purchase him a big bore. He shot my CZ in .416 Rigby ONCE, and even with the added weight of the CZ action and my Vari-X III 4.5-14x50; recoil was too much for him.

So now I am looking at a Browning A-Bolt with Boss in .375 H&H, which would be loads lighter than a CZ and come factory with a muzzle brake. Does anyone have any experience with this rifle/caliber combo??? I did notice that Browning offered a screw in replacement for the muzzle brake on the Boss making lower noise when you hunt( Boss-CR).

What do y'all think, or have you seen or shot one?

BTW, I have heard that some of the Remington H&Hs have some problems with feeding so I was wondering about the Browning.

Thanks for any info you can provide.

30 March 2006, 01:02

vapodog

You might consider the 9.3 X 62 for a recoil shy shooter.

Unless the .375 H&H is a quite heavy gun it's got some serious recoil.....and the A-Bolt isn't heavy at all.

30 March 2006, 01:29

woodsracer

quote:
Originally posted by vapodog:
You might consider the 9.3 X 62 for a recoil shy shooter.

Unless the .375 H&H is a quite heavy gun it's got some serious recoil.....and the A-Bolt isn't heavy at all.

Well, Sir, that caliber has always intrigued me but I have a custom .35 Whelen (that I built myself off of a VZ-24

) that he normally borrows that is within 100 fps with the 250 gr. bullet to the 9.3x62.

I noticed where you recommended the new Rem 798 in .375 H&H for a fella's girlfriend. If a "girl" can shoot one---I need to shut up, if Coni Brooks of Barnes can shoot a .500 Nitro, my dad needs to grow some balls.

I think the Rem 798, with a brake, would be fine for my dad. Afterall, he is 6'6", and 240 lbs.

30 March 2006, 01:39

Snowwolfe

I hope you are having him test fire these while standing up?

30 March 2006, 03:23

woodsracer

quote:
Originally posted by Snowwolfe:
I hope you are having his test fire these while standing up?

Why????? I routinely shoot my CZ550 in .416 Rigby from the prone position for elk hunting practice. lol

YES, he test fired it standing.

BTW, I noticed in the 2006 Remington brochure that the 798 is not offered in .375 H&H, only the XCR. If I have to get a XCR, I'll get a .375 RUM and load it to H&H specs.

30 March 2006, 17:58

ramrod340

quote:
BTW, I noticed in the 2006 Remington brochure that the 798 is not offered in .375 H&H, only the XCR. If I have to get a XCR, I'll get a .375 RUM and load it to H&H specs

That's interesting. The 2006 online catelog shows nothing larger than the 300Wmag for the798. But, their web site shows it under products.
http://www.remington.com/products/firearms/centerfire_r.../model_798_specs.asp

30 March 2006, 19:16

Robgunbuilder

Woodsracer- I own a browning .375H&H with Boss and used it to take quite a few African animals. On one Banteng hunt in OZ I carried it 15 miles a day for a week. It will honestly shoot < 1 inch groups, functions flawlessly and flat gets the job done. It has a real mean buisness look about it with the black plastic stock and that Boss really works both to tame recoil(as if a .375 really has any) but more importantly is super at improving accuracy as it,s really a movable barrel tuning weight. The trigger is pretty good after a little tuning too. You won't go wrong with one. The only flaw is the Browning actions are not much use for anything else and easily tweaked if you ever try and remove it,so your pretty much stuck with it as as.-Rob

30 March 2006, 21:58

BusMaster007

quote:
Originally posted by ramrod340:
quote:
BTW, I noticed in the 2006 Remington brochure that the 798 is not offered in .375 H&H, only the XCR. If I have to get a XCR, I'll get a .375 RUM and load it to H&H specs

That's interesting. The 2006 online catelog shows nothing larger than the 300Wmag for the798. But, their web site shows it under products.
http://www.remington.com/products/firearms/centerfire_r.../model_798_specs.asp

I just got that catalog and noticed it stopped at .300 Win.Mag. --- ?

As for the Browning: That was the rifle I almost bought for me; and the one I came here to this Forum to start asking questions about.
I still think it's a beautiful rifle, and somtimes wish I'd gotten it.
But, I figured it was TOO nice to bash up in the great outdoors and TOO powerful to be a 'bench' gun at the range.

I hope your Dad likes it. Show us some pix if he gets it.

30 March 2006, 22:00

the_captain

My wife's uncle has an A-bolt just like that. Recoil is very minor - less than a 30-06 shooting 180's in my opinion. Definitely far less than my 45-70, anyway. Anyone could shoot that rifle.

It shot very well for me, and he has used it very successfully several times in the arctic and Africa.

31 March 2006, 01:48

Wizard78

The Boss with recoil brake, should reduce the felt recoil by at least 40%. Makes practice at the range easier. I recommend hearing protection in the field or closing the brake off with a piece of curved spring steel, to save your dads hearing. Good luck.

31 March 2006, 03:19

woodsracer

quote:
Originally posted by Wizard78:

I recommend hearing protection in the field or closing the brake off with a piece of curved spring steel, to save your dads hearing. Good luck.

I'll probably get one of THESE instead of using a piece of spring steel.

31 March 2006, 03:30

Wizard78

quote:
Description: The BOSS-CR accessory offers all the accuracy advantages of the original BOSS device without the muzzle brake feature. By simply replacing the original BOSS forward weight and recoil reduction components with the one-piece, no-hole BOSS-CR accessory, only the reduced recoil of the original BOSS is sacrificed. The BOSS-CR accessory is designed to fit only BAR Mark II and A-Bolt centerfire rifles previously factory-fitted with the BOSS.

Nice. Makes things simple.

31 March 2006, 08:36

woodsracer

quote:
Originally posted by Wizard78:

Nice. Makes things simple.

Yeah, I thought it was cool too!!!

31 March 2006, 09:09

BusMaster007

I have a Browning BAR MkII Safari / 7mm Rem.Mag. with B.O.S.S. & the C.R. accessory.
In this gas-operated autoloader, I didn't notice much recoil between the two parts.

I did notice a little extra noise with the 'muzzle brake' attachment vs. the closed "Conventional Recoil" attachment.

I bought the C.R. part mostly for theoretical and aesthetic purposes...

It's the only rifle I have with a system like this.
It IS accurate...shooting what I WANT it to be accurate with.
And, that's the point.

31 March 2006, 12:17

Dan H

If you do get the A-bolt, I recommend putting one of the Limbsaver recoil pads on it....the browning SS I have had a lousy pad from the factory. A cheap home upgrade that's well worth it in comfort, IMO, especially on a stock that's small and narrow for a big bore.

Happy shooting!

Dan

31 March 2006, 18:10

500grains

quote:
Originally posted by woodsracer:

if Coni Brooks of Barnes can shoot a .500 Nitro, my dad needs to grow some balls.

She had it waaaay downloaded and it took a whole bunch of shots to bring and elephant down with it.

Did they forget to print that in the reloading manual?

31 March 2006, 21:53

raamw

2 things
Browning is still offering the a bolt in 375.
with the boss system you get the cr also at no charge on all rifles manufactured since at least 1999

31 March 2006, 22:45

Shumba

I had a Browning A-Bolt 375H&H for a brief period of time (before I became a Pre-64 M70 addict). I found it difficult to top load and that concerns me for a rifle to be used in DG country. Also, I prefer CRF, even though it will probably never be an issue for most of us "part time" hunters.

Tim

31 March 2006, 23:17

Ralphie

This will not be helpful in any way, but I can't help myself.

I can't imagine an uglier, more miserable rifle than an A-bolt with a dang shower head on the end of it.

31 March 2006, 23:34

ForrestB

quote:
Originally posted by Ralphie:
I can't imagine an uglier, more miserable rifle than an A-bolt with a dang shower head on the end of it.

Insensitive...but true.

01 April 2006, 03:04

Shumba

quote:
Originally posted by ForrestB:
quote:
Originally posted by Ralphie:
I can't imagine an uglier, more miserable rifle than an A-bolt with a dang shower head on the end of it.

Insensitive...but true.

I didn't want to be the first to say it.

Tim

01 April 2006, 04:04

woodsracer

quote:
Originally posted by 500grains:
quote:
Originally posted by woodsracer:

if Coni Brooks of Barnes can shoot a .500 Nitro, my dad needs to grow some balls.

She had it waaaay downloaded and it took a whole bunch of shots to bring and elephant down with it.

Did they forget to print that in the reloading manual?

Shhhhhhhhh!!!

Daniel, I did notice that she had it downloaded.........my dad is not as Big Bore saavy, shall we say, and I was going to show him the pics in my manual to help with his "mental" comfort level.

01 April 2006, 04:06

woodsracer

quote:
Originally posted by ForrestB:
quote:
Originally posted by Ralphie:
I can't imagine an uglier, more miserable rifle than an A-bolt with a dang shower head on the end of it.

Insensitive...but true.

Cute pic of your wife in your avatar!!!

Jest Pokin' bak.

01 April 2006, 06:53

Roger

quote:
Robgunbuilder
one of us
Posted 30 March 2006 19:16
Woodsracer- I own a browning .375H&H with Boss and used it to take quite a few African animals. On one Banteng hunt in OZ I carried it 15 miles a day for a week. It will honestly shoot < 1 inch groups, functions flawlessly and flat gets the job done. It has a real mean buisness look about it with the black plastic stock and that Boss really works both to tame recoil(as if a .375 really has any) but more importantly is super at improving accuracy as it,s really a movable barrel tuning weight. The trigger is pretty good after a little tuning too. You won't go wrong with one. The only flaw is the Browning actions are not much use for anything else and easily tweaked if you ever try and remove it,so your pretty much stuck with it as as.-Rob

while there's still lead in the air there's still hope.

The only post here with any meat in it.

If your dad has shot a 300 Winchester Magnum, with heavily loaded 220 grainers, then he will have a feel for the recoil, with the brake on.

Tell him to stand in front of everyone in the hunting party, so no one besides himself, gets deafoned by the shots. Way in front!

I have a left-handed, stainless, A-bolt, in 375, and love it. It's not CRF, so consider that also.

Roger QSL

02 April 2006, 10:14

Robgunbuilder

Well its far from the prettiest gun out there, I'll agree with that. But accurate, handy, reliable and light it's all of those too. Deadly gun! The .375 aGAINST WITH OTHERS SHOULD BE MEASURED IMHO.-Rob

03 April 2006, 20:48

Redlander

I will state, that my set-up, as described in this thread does not kick all that much with 300 grain bullets. Credit is given to a great stock design (Echols Legend), premium recoil pad (Decellerator), and weight (pushing 10 lbs). With the 375 H&H, I have also noticed that loads with heavier bullets at moderate velocities have less perceived recoil than lighter bullets at higher velocities.