So, the Gentlemen and Lady hunters are undoubtably aware that we are fast approaching a very special birthday for a very special classic. In just over a month we will be in 2012, and that years marks the 100th birthday for one of the greatest cartridges ever created.
It has done it all in the last 100 years: Pursued tigers on elephant-back in India; chased Maral through the Kazakh mountainside; anchored all varieties of Argali while the hunter laboured at +10,000 feet above sea level; and probably taken every single species of huntable game on the dark continent, from dik-dik to elephant.
Closer to home it has done an admirable job on the less exotic (for us anyways) - whether it is the close range pursuit of brown bears in the thickets or walloping a huge bull elk on the other side of a wide ravine.
There was a time when a mere mortal could not afford a rifle chambered for this cartridge, but that did not prevent it from attaining such legendary status. It did, however, lead to the spawning of many great pretenders. Those whose only claim to glory was the marketing cry urging the sportsman to believe you could have as much, but for less. Less money, less reoil or more energy and more velocity, and so on.
But, as is true of all things truly great, this cartridge kept going and let its performance in the field do the talking. Today we are lucky. Manufacturers have started offering the sportsman downright inexpensive options. For $800 a gentleman or lady hunter can now purchase a new rifle chambered in this grand old cartridge. The other end of the spectrum is also available, for those who have the means and the desire. Custom and botique manufacturers still offer old world craftsmanship that is reminiscent of an era long gone. Hartmann & Weiss, Reimer Johanssen, James Purdey and Sons, Westley Richards and, of course, Holland & Holland all offer fine rifles, both bolt action and side by side in this cartridge.
Yes, the grand old .375 H&H is turning 100 years old.
So, in celebration of this birthday - do you have any plans to mark the occasion? Have you ever owned a .375 H&H - if not, or do not at the moment, will you buy one? Do you have any great hunting stories involving this classic?
It has done it all in the last 100 years: Pursued tigers on elephant-back in India; chased Maral through the Kazakh mountainside; anchored all varieties of Argali while the hunter laboured at +10,000 feet above sea level; and probably taken every single species of huntable game on the dark continent, from dik-dik to elephant.
Closer to home it has done an admirable job on the less exotic (for us anyways) - whether it is the close range pursuit of brown bears in the thickets or walloping a huge bull elk on the other side of a wide ravine.
There was a time when a mere mortal could not afford a rifle chambered for this cartridge, but that did not prevent it from attaining such legendary status. It did, however, lead to the spawning of many great pretenders. Those whose only claim to glory was the marketing cry urging the sportsman to believe you could have as much, but for less. Less money, less reoil or more energy and more velocity, and so on.
But, as is true of all things truly great, this cartridge kept going and let its performance in the field do the talking. Today we are lucky. Manufacturers have started offering the sportsman downright inexpensive options. For $800 a gentleman or lady hunter can now purchase a new rifle chambered in this grand old cartridge. The other end of the spectrum is also available, for those who have the means and the desire. Custom and botique manufacturers still offer old world craftsmanship that is reminiscent of an era long gone. Hartmann & Weiss, Reimer Johanssen, James Purdey and Sons, Westley Richards and, of course, Holland & Holland all offer fine rifles, both bolt action and side by side in this cartridge.
Yes, the grand old .375 H&H is turning 100 years old.
So, in celebration of this birthday - do you have any plans to mark the occasion? Have you ever owned a .375 H&H - if not, or do not at the moment, will you buy one? Do you have any great hunting stories involving this classic?
