I made a good purchase on a New Haven Winchester Classic Stainless 375 H & H. The first thing I did was to put a H-S Precision stock on it. The overall weight is on the heavy side and with the heavy contour factory barrel it is a bit barrel heavy. I am contemplating shortening the barrel to lighten the gun and give it better balance. Not sure if 24" to say 20" would make that big of a difference weight wise? Any suggestions on improvements or should I leave it as is? Thanks in advance for any comments!

These rifles are cumbersome and too heavy for a 375.
I got one rebored to 458 Lott, chopped to 22", McMillan express, and ptg one piece bottom metal.
Scoped at 9.4lbs and now properly balanced. Feeds great with nothing done to it.

use the pacnor barrel weight calc tool to understand what you get for shortening

http://pac-nor.com/cgi-bin/bweight.cgi

.. it's not much... taking 0.050 off the taper will likely help more, and then you have a non-standard ting, if resale is ever and option

i like 20" barrels in big bores.. use h335 to make velocity -- but you won't gain much from cutting 4" off the thin end ...

is it slightly nose heavy? then enjoy, if very nose heavy, put a weight in under the recoil pad to move to slightly nose heavy, and it will feel much better.....

quote:

Originally posted by Dead Eye:
These rifles are cumbersome and too heavy for a 375.
I got one rebored to 458 Lott, chopped to 22", McMillan express, and ptg one piece bottom metal.
Scoped at 9.4lbs and now properly balanced. Feeds great with nothing done to it.

Surprising, as some shops won't rebore those barrels due to how bad they can gall. Nice that it worked out for you. Nice set up for a Lott!

First I've heard of it. Some shops would just prefer to sell you a new barrel.

Early stainless steel guns had some galling problems but that was solved by using more appropriate stainless alloys.[Crucible's 416 "R" Also grease for stainless is available .These are also used for high pressure applications such as shotgun hinge pins !

I am not sure how much that the barrel length reduction effects the balance point or overall weight, but in my opinion it does make the rifle handy in tight places. I have 375 & 416 Rugers with 20" barrels and certainly like them.
I am currently awaiting on a McMillan stock for a M70 Classic SS in 375 H&H inletted for PT&G bottom metal. It's barrel will be cut to 21 to 22". I have not decided as of yet. I have had a 21" Whitworth and currently have one with a 20".
I could also live with the 24" and not feel too inconvenienced, I think. I don't seem to mind a bit of barrel heavy. I have a M70 SS rebarreled to 416 Rem to 22" with an H&S Precision and what appears to be close to the original contour. I like it.

quote:

Originally posted by LB:
I made a good purchase on a New Haven Winchester Classic Stainless 375 H & H. The first thing I did was to put a H-S Precision stock on it. The overall weight is on the heavy side and with the heavy contour factory barrel it is a bit barrel heavy. I am contemplating shortening the barrel to lighten the gun and give it better balance. Not sure if 24" to say 20" would make that big of a difference weight wise? Any suggestions on improvements or should I leave it as is? Thanks in advance for any comments!

quote:

Originally posted by LB:
I made a good purchase on a New Haven Winchester Classic Stainless 375 H & H. The first thing I did was to put a H-S Precision stock on it. The overall weight is on the heavy side and with the heavy contour factory barrel it is a bit barrel heavy. I am contemplating shortening the barrel to lighten the gun and give it better balance. Not sure if 24" to say 20" would make that big of a difference weight wise? Any suggestions on improvements or should I leave it as is? Thanks in advance for any comments!

I have the identical rig except re-chambered to .375 Weatherby.
It is the most accurate rifle I own, when tested with .375/300-grain Walterhog bullet copies.
Admittedly the bullet is a major factor in rifle-accuracy.
But that barrel contour is not hurting anything in the accuracy department.

With QRW bases installed and in an HS Precision stock
the "dry" weight of rifle is 8#11oz = 8.6875 lbs.
Muzzle diameter is 0.720".
It balances right at the front edge of receiver ring.
Close enough to perfect for me.
Adding the scope (in rings) shifts the balance rearward to mighty close to the front action screw.
That is what I consider perfect in a bolt action rifle.

Is that so bad?
A CZ 550 Magnum .375 H&H with .670" muzzle diameter (25" barrel) weighs about 9.5 lbs.

If you lighten the barrel much by shortening length or reducing the contour diameters,
then you need a lighter stock to balance,
unless you like the butt-heavy/muzzle-light feel in a rifle.
The HS Precision stock is not lightweight.
It is a 2.5-pound stock about identical to walnut weight.

Shoot it as is before you decide to bob the barrel.
I like a 7-pound .375 H&H as well as anybody,
but I like an 8.7 pound .375 WBY even better.
A 7-pound .375 H&H requires a 1-pound stock and a #3 sporter contour, 0.625" diameter at 24" muzzle.
the minimum advisable on a .375 H&H.

I think Winchester got the weight and balance issues correct on this rifle.
Factory walnut versus HS Precision are about the same on weight and balance.
And they made some good barrels back in 1996.
My rifle:





Three shots is a test of rifle accuracy, more shots tests the rifleman.
THE FEW THE PROUD THE 395 FAMILY
Rip

I came to the conclusion that the Winchester Classic SS 375 H&H was designed to be shot from sticks because it is nose heavy.

That being said, I got one at a very good price the day before it was announced that Winchester was stopping production.

Rifle is fitted with an HS Precision stock. Has always been superbly accurate though not the most accurate .375 H&H I've owned. Believe it or not those laurels go to a Weatherby Mark V Alaskan that made better than 0.5 MOA.

Took the Winchester to Africa as a backup to a
CZ 550 chambered in 416 Rigby. Both did as I expected them to do ... very well.

I brought one relatively recently and had Jim Kobe turn it in to a .416 Rem mag for rain forest and coastal use. The action is now slick as heck and no issues with rust over 2 weeks in the rain forest in Cameroon...

Not as nice as my dakotas, but a dang good rifle!

Thanks for all the feedback. RIP I must admit that the Classic 375 is a MOA rifle in the HS-S Precision stock. Its a great shoot shooter just a tad heavy. I had Randy Selby re-rifle a heavy Ruger RSM 375 to 458 Lott. It became a great dangerous game rifle and is now in the hands of my friend PH Andy Hunter. I have a 416 Rigby that serves as my heavy so I want to keep this all weather gun in 375 as a companion to my beautiful custom wood stocked Pre 64 Model 70 African rifle. Someday when the African draw fades I hope to hunt brown bear in Alaska or may even shoot a Utah bull elk with it. It likes 250 grain GMX and they shoot flat. Each time I handle the gun it feels better. Maybe I need to rethink my opinion. Thanks again for the comments.

Don't go less than 22 inches.

I had the barrel of my M70 classic SS in 375 turned down to Sako 375 profile. Much better balanced. I am about to fit a D'Arcy Echols stock.

Mark

I bought my son a M70 Stainless Classic LH in 416 Rem. It was barely used still on the original box of shells. Definitely muzzle heavy. We had the barrel cut to 22" and recrowned, had a 12 oz mercury recoil reducer installed, along with some Talley steel QR rings and had everything but the pretty jeweled bolt CeraKoted. We also replaced the iron sights wit NECGs. It wears a Leupold 1.5-5x scope now and is a really, accurate and reliable rifle.

This is how it looked before we had the work done (those are Leupold QR rings we gave to a friend)

I have found in the .375 that barrel length is mostly unaffected by length in that the 375 can be loaded to 2650 FPS or more in a 24 inch rifle and a bit more in a 26, but for Buffalo and such most of those who are in the know prefer a 300 gr. bullet at 2500 FPS or even 2400 FPS..I load mine at 2500 FPS and like the way it performs better than at higher velocity, at least on big stuff...If you like 20 inches your good to go if you like 26 it still works..so go for it. Not a lot of calibers can make that claim..

Another option to drop weight on these heavy barrels is to get them fluted. Then you keep the same barrel profile in the barrel channel. Im getting them done up here in Canada for 150$.

BTW I like barrels that are muzzle heavy, they hold steadier and are much better for off hand shooting which I do a lot of, in the field or at the range once Im sighted in and ready to go. Of course it can be over done, so determine what you like before you go circumsizing a nice rifle. A short thick barrel is nice for off hand as is a long thin barrel if done right.

I cut mine to 19 1/2" in a mCmillan. Shoots absolutely fantastic with 300 A frames. Was going to flute it but never got around to it. By accident I got magnum fill in stock rifle weighs 8 lbs 14 oz with bases only. I believe the barrel that was cut off weighed 4-6 oz so not much. Fluting and lightening the stock would do more but 2 weeks out I'm good and it's very handy with great balance.