Is there enough difference to make a difference? Is the change enough to really effect the preformance of this classic? I am about to puchase a CZ American in 375 and have the Weatherby reamer already. Leave it alone or go for the "upgrade".
Thanks;
Mike Allred

Do you have the reloading dies for 375 Wby? If so go for it. You can have more horsepower if needed, and still shoot the commonly avalible 375 H&H, if you have to. A very flexable option.

Hog Killer

I have both, and I like each one for different reasons but overall I prefer my 375Wby. Many will pick the H&H because of nostalgia or it's history of widespread use, but I don't make cartridge choices based altogether on that. The Wby is easier to load for because it has more capacity, and it really handles the 300gr bullets a lot better. I don't like heavy powder compression and getting top 300gr loads in an H&H brings that into play. With the Wby there is hardly any, and the extra 200fps I get is worthwhile to me. Whether or not it makes any difference on game is up to the user. It also offers the ability to shoot H&H ammo if necessary, so there is really no downside to the 375Wby, IMO.
I would caution you to check your reamer for how much freebore it has. Old spec's had about 1/2" or more, newer spec's call for much less, I believe .375". Rifles done up with the new dimension seem to shoot a good bit better.

The only advantage that the weatherby has over the H&H is flatter trajectory. But the weatherby has the disadvantage of not having commercial ammo readily available. Unless you will be shooting substantially more than 300 yards, I would use the H&H.

I'll take the old .375 and although I am a nostalgic sort, my choice this time is not nostalgic...

Less recoil, a proven performer in the field with a 100 or so years of experience behind it, I can get 2500 FPS with a 300 gr. bullet and that works for me on everything and many prefer less velocity for dangerous game as it tends to save bullet integrity, however with modern super bullets I doubt that this is a usualbe arguement anymore...and the bottom line is both cartridges are fine rounds..

However, if I want something better than a .375 , then I will get a .416 or 458 Lott..not a 300 wby.

.375 H&H For all the reasons above and more.

Roland

I purchased a CZ 375 back in the summer. I had it bed and cross bolted and trigger adjusted. I was planning to do a couple more things to the rifle, however, I loaded up some ammo and went to the range...the thing shot so well I refused to do anything else to it...

My thoughts are like the others favoring the 375 H&H...if I wanted more I would buy a 416 or 458 Lott...I really like the 375 H&H mild recoil, etc...never shot a 375 Weatherby but had a 378 and there is no comparison as to recoil there...

The 375 Weatherby is the best balanced, and most flexible .375 out there. Brass and dies are readily available.

The 375 H&H makes for a good lightweight all around rifle, but the CZ for instance, is way too heavy for the H&H recoil.

The H&H is great in a Sako light weight hunter. The Weatherby is perfect in an rifle that is creeping up on ten pounds.

lawndart

What John S and lawndart said.

If you are a reloader , there just isn't any downside to the Weatherby option .

The weatherby .375 actually offers little more than the H&H version.....the .378 Weatherby is a totally different story......
IMO I see little use for the Weatherby cartridge...it's hard to find and gives me no more useful power.....I'm sticking with the one I bought to the dance....the H&H!!

What Hog KIller, John S, lawndart, and sdsgunsliger said!

Have you tried a search to find all the pages and pages spelling out the charm of the no-down-side .375 Weatherby?

Weatherby loads factory ammo for it, and it really does 2800 fps with 300 grain Noslers in a 26" barrel, 2740 fps in a 24" barrel, and is very accurate and uniform, and improved by handloading.

The Hornady Heavy Magnum and Federal High Energy are wildy erratic and don't do the velocity claimed, some say. I wouldn't touch 'em, as they will no doubt soon disappear.

Not so the .375 Weatherby. It came on seen with the baby boomers and will never die.

The fact of the greatness of the .375 H&H makes the .375 Weatherby champ, for you can fire the ubiquitous gentle .375 H&H in the Weatherby with good accuracy.

The old throat to avoid is actually 0.7500" freebored.

The New and Revived throat is 0.3700" freebore with leade of 1 degree 2 minutes.

I like my 6.75 pound Pre-64 M70 actioned .375 H&H, and my walnut and blue and gold floor plated Big Five "1 of 125."

But I like my .375 Weatherby's if I want to kill something deader quicker, up close or farther away.

Thanks guys, I was hoping for some kind of a consensus. But seriously, I have a 375 H&H on a custom mauser that is gorgeous and shoots great, its just too pretty for me. I've decided to sell it and buy two 550's, one in 375 and one in 458 Lott. So, with both I'll probably stick with the H&H. Thanks;
Mike Allred

RIP,

Do you know the 378s and 460s are .75" parallel from case mouth to rifling.

The .75 is fine is it is just over bullet diameter but that also applies to the .37" as well.

Mike

Cedarmtmike

I will toss one more opinion in for you.

If a rifle was a custom rifle in the wood/express tradition then to me there would be no question, most definitely 375 H&H.

If you only buy factory ammo or if you are a reloader than picks some loads from the book and says....OK, that one shoots fine I will use that load....then 375 H&H.

For the keen reloader (and with the exception of Reloader 15) the 375 H&H does not have any powders that are really suitable for it. That is why the various 375 Improveds get velocity gains over the H&H that are out of proportion to the increase in case capacity.

With the H&H, the Varget/4064/4895 burn rates are too fast and the 4350 burn rates are too slow, unless you use very blunt bullets like the 300 grain round nose Hornady and with very very compressed loads.

In other words the 375 Wby and the other 375 Improveds are better for keen reloaders who want to get the most potential from the case.

Mike

quote:

Originally posted by Mike375:
RIP,

Do you know the 378s and 460s are .75" parallel from case mouth to rifling.

The .75 is fine is it is just over bullet diameter but that also applies to the .37" as well.

Mike

Right on Mike. There must be some old .375 Weatherby reamers out there that are sloppier that .0005" over bullet diameter with the freebored 0.7500", and to be avoided. Some of the old long and sloppy throated Weatherby's seem to be accuracy and velocity challenged.

Even the .378 and .460 Wby rifles don't need that much freebore, except to make them safe with some of that crazy factory loaded Weatherby ammo.

They got the .375 Weatherby right in all regards the second time around, 2001.

Ron,

Provided the freebore is tight there are some pros and cons that come along for the ride.

Firstly, they will shoot right up to the barrels potential but tend not do it with as wide a variety of loads. Also, loads that are poor for accuracy are really bad.

Secondly, compared to conventional chambers they are usually able to get higher velocities with powders that are faster than normal for the calibre. Perhaps that was one of the reasons for the freebore in the first place.

Thirdly, with their accurate load they seem to be less effected by variations in barrel fouling such as cold clean barrel, a warm recently shot barrel and a barrel with cold fouling such as a rifle that was shot the previous day and has not been cleaned.

Fourthly, they are far less subject to pressure spikes.

But if that freebore diameter is too big and it is combined with a crappy barrel then you will really pull your hair out.

Lastly and in the case of the 378 and 460, the very big case capacity in conjunction with the huge freebore makes reduced loads, especially with lighter bullets more difficult to work with..

Basically, they come down beautifully to the H&H counterpart or a bit less, say a bit under 375 Taylor and a bit under 458 with powders like 4064 in the 85 grain area. But much below that without fillers, then hangfires become the order of the day. But with 25 grains of shitgun powders they are fine and very accurate.

Mike

quote:

Originally posted by Mike375:
Ron, ...
... But with 25 grains of shitgun powders they are fine and very accurate.

Mike

Mike, where do I find this new Australian powder?

I am considering rechambering to the Weatherby. Does fire forming 375 H&H brass work well for making Weatherby cases?

quote:

Originally posted by Snowwolfe:
I am considering rechambering to the Weatherby. Does fire forming 375 H&H brass work well for making Weatherby cases?

I never had any problem, but like to see the word Weatherby on the case! Impressive I guess

quote:

Originally posted by Snowwolfe:
I am considering rechambering to the Weatherby. Does fire forming 375 H&H brass work well for making Weatherby cases?

Yes it does, but the brass comes out with a short neck.

Norma .375 Wby brass length = 2.860"
trim-to length for .375 Wby = 2.850"
WW Super (Winchester brass)
.375 H&H fireformed >>> length = 2.832"

It is fool proof except shorter. 0.018" shorter than trim-to length. Shoot it enough and it might grow to need a trim.

Winchester is great brass, but the full length Norma made properly headstamped brass has about 3 grains greater capacity of water. 111 grains for the factory .375 Wby brass, versus about 108 grains for the WW or Hornady basic necked down and fire formed, IIRC. There are some notes about this in the .375 Wby section of the Reloading pages, linked to the home page of ar.com, compliments of Saeed.