One thing for sure and that is opinnions vary on the internet, and Im not sure this subject is all that critical, Its up to the individual as to what feels good and balances, his ability to entertain recoil and what not..Most any serious hunter can learn to manage a .375 with a little effort and practice. My choice has always been 9 to 9.5 lbs, I know others that like 7 lbs. and some that have to have 10 or 11 pounds..
My only interest is/was packing one around all day long, I can shoot any of them comfortably,probably the heavier the better from just a shooting stand point.

it is always a balance between shooting comfort and carrying comfort. Older and/or out of shape hunters who hunt close seem to prefer heavier rifles while those who hunt must walk and carry their rifles over rugged terrain learn the advantages of light weight.

Recoil lasts but a fraction of a second but gravity is forever !

Gravity last forever, good'en Phil, gotta remember that one.

Ive noticed the older I get the deeper my footprints get. that's has to be gravity right?

Over the years I watched some hunters carrying rifles of ridiculous weights and of-course there was always a good excuse as to why they weighed so much.
As far as I was concerned I could care less what other peoples rifles weigh so long as I don't have to carry them for them !

In .375's my personal preference was anywhere between 8 & 8.5lbs all-up, scoped and loaded, was perfect.
For many years I was responsible for supplying the local indigenous community with meat from feral cattle beasts that I hunted in remote areas, it required total meat recovery and most of the time I was on my own, and miles from my truck with no means of getting the vehicle close to the kill site.
My first haul out would usually be both back-straps, and sometimes if I was feeling adventurous I would add a rear leg to this load and commence the walk-out.
At these times your rifle becomes an anchor and light is GOOD !!!

Carry what-ever rifle weight you want, it's your coin.

I've had the good fourtune of working with 9+Lb 416's and sub 6lb 416's and fired a good deal of various 375's in varying weights.

Years back I got on AR and said I was having a 416 R.E.M. Made by Melvin Forbes of NULA, guys told me it couldn't be shot and that I would be rebarrelling it shortly after taking ownership of it. Gun would be toooo light to handle.

It was much more pleasant to shoot than my old 9lb rifle!! Follow up shots were quicker as the weight of the heavier rifle took more energy to stop and traveled farther.

I got scope bit more with the heavier rifle.

There was no difference is off the bench accuracy but off hand shooting was much nicer with the lighter rifle.

My next 416 is sub 6 pounds and a 14 year old kid sat down and pounded a few rounds off with it on Kodiak this fall laughing and yelling how awesome
It was the whole time!!

One thing I found to be more technical than the numbers on the weight was the fit and LOP accompanied by drop at comb/stock style. That's where the real recoil reduction lies. Even though I've found lighter rifles to just have quicker recoil, but less overall "rocking" motion than heavy rifles.
I voted 6lbs.

The 6 pounder sounds like a delight to carry. Yes it will probably jump a bit when shooting.

With a light rifle the important thing is to get a scope with 5-inch eye relief throughout. Nikon Inline does that nicely. I've used them on a 500 AccRel, hot loaded 416s and lesser calibers. It's a great rugged DG scope and won't bite your eyebrow if you hold reasonably well.

For the what is't worth department Holland and Holland seemd to think 8 1/2 pounds was the ideal weight for their 375.

quote:

Originally posted by Fourtyonesix:
I've had the good fourtune of working with 9+Lb 416's and sub 6lb 416's and fired a good deal of various 375's in varying weights.

Years back I got on AR and said I was having a 416 R.E.M. Made by Melvin Forbes of NULA, guys told me it couldn't be shot and that I would be rebarrelling it shortly after taking ownership of it. Gun would be toooo light to handle.

It was much more pleasant to shoot than my old 9lb rifle!! Follow up shots were quicker as the weight of the heavier rifle took more energy to stop and traveled farther.

I got scope bit more with the heavier rifle.

There was no difference is off the bench accuracy but off hand shooting was much nicer with the lighter rifle.

My next 416 is sub 6 pounds and a 14 year old kid sat down and pounded a few rounds off with it on Kodiak this fall laughing and yelling how awesome
It was the whole time!!

One thing I found to be more technical than the numbers on the weight was the fit and LOP accompanied by drop at comb/stock style. That's where the real recoil reduction lies. Even though I've found lighter rifles to just have quicker recoil, but less overall "rocking" motion than heavy rifles.
I voted 6lbs.

I've had the privelidge of shooting Jakes previous 6# 416 and it really was a peach of a rifle to shoot.

I have a standard issue M70 safari express with a 1.5x5X Leupold with 2 piece mounts. Comes in at 10lbs 6oz unloaded. Far from ideal I guess, but it hasnt bothered me and its nice to have that kind of power in a rifle thats so easy to shoot.

I seem to be in the minority when choosing a 6.5# gun weight. But that's what my R93 Blaser Prestige weighs with its aluminum receiver and 25.6" barrel. The aluminum QD mount/rings, 3-10X scope, sling and 3 rounds of ammo adds up to a little less than 8 pounds all up. I didn't buy it thinking I'd ever pair it with a 375 H&H barrel when I bought it to replace a 30-06 Rem that was stolen. But I couldn't pass up the used barrel that only had 12 shots through it. Seems the previous owner decided the chambering was too wimpy when in jumbo territory. He moved up to 416. I got a whole new caliber to add to the 338 Winmag, 300 WSM and 6.5x284 Norma barrels I already had. BTW, because of the bigger hole in the barrel, the 375 actually weighs a little less than the other three!

I am pleased with where my tweaked M70 sits. Shown empty.

Boxhead, Now that's a "carry rifle'!!

I'm gonna have to weigh my AI without ammo and sling, to see how much she weighs "nekid "! . memtb

Perfect!

quote:

Originally posted by Boxhead:
I am pleased with where my tweaked M70 sits. Shown empty.

That is a nice weight for a using 375. My stainless M-70 and my 9.3x62 run around the same weight and are a real pleasure to pack all day.

Here is my 9.3 showing 6#14oz with five in the magazine.

Phil is that a legend? I assume you just shoot iron sights?

You feel 7lbs all in is a good weight? 6lbs naked if using a 1lb scope?

So how is this 375 rifle at 10 pounds 7 ounces
The weight of this gun is in the stock / it is a piece of dense turkish walnut

This is one of the Land Rover 50 year commemorative rifles commissioned by Piet Rademeyer CEO of Land Rover South Africa in 1998. Piet was a very keen hunter and IMO the ideal CEO for a company that built a iconic hunting and game viewing vehicle.

This Rifle was the "Supremacy"

LR Commissioned South Africa's premier gunmakers for this project.

for the 50 year commemoration they had these rifles built , they also produced commemorative 26 LR 90s with the BMW 2.8L Diesel engines and Piet commissioned wildlife artist Kieth Joubert to do paintings to depict the marque values of the LR.

The paintings were titled: Supremacy, Freedom, Authenticity, Guts, Individualism, & Adventure.

My wife and I received a signed limited edition set of the Kieth Joubert prints from LR as a gift.

To go with this a choice of 6 rifles were built each with the same name.
The caliber choices were:

.375 H&H, .300 H&H, built to the H&H Style
.416 Rigby, .350 Rigby, Built to the Rigby Style and the
.500 Jeffery & .404 Jeffery built to the Jeffery style.

Casey Lewis was consulted as he had representative rifles in the above styles as well as original blue prints for the Mauser magnum action which Vektor the produced.

Piet put together a team of gunmakers, engravers and gun case makers for the project.

Danie Joubert and the late Jurie Majoor, ( Jurie was a friend of mine a former SAA 747 Pilot who later took on gun making ), stock makers Danie Crouse, Johan Morkel, & Bennie Laubscher, engravers Helene Prins and Armin Winkler, and casemakers Tinus Tredoux & Pieter van der Spuy.

David Little of Kynamco made ammo in all the calibers in Kynoch boxes with the Land Rover logo on the boxes. Lucas Potgieter sold these from his shop the Powder Keg specially for these rifles.

I could not afford to buy a commissioned rifle when they were made available but after BMW took over Land Rover and Piet Retired LR got rid of unsold rifles and I managed to get this specimen.
It had not been sent for inlay and engraving so it was basically the base rifle. ( so it does not have the lion engraving on the magazine cover or the gold inlay land Rover logo in front of the front bridge





Or then this WJ Jeffery 375 H&H built in 1926 weighing in at 8 and a half pounds