.375 h&h on deer

mjcurry

mjcurry

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hi their

ive been doing some reading on the .375 h&h and alot of poeple say it works well on smaller thin skinned game like deer. has anyone actually used a .375 on a deer? anytihng smaller like antelope?

im interested in this caliber but i dont think im ready for the recoil just yet:cool:
 
mjcurry....All factory rifles I have seen are set up with big heavy safari type barrels....Not my kind of deer hunting rifle...nothing wrong with the cal. or cart. though.......:)
 
mjcurry,
I never shot a deer with mine, but did shoot a couple impala and a bushbuck that are smaller, plus a number of antelope that wouldn't be much bigger than a big muledeer buck. With the 270 TSX bullets they did less damage than "deer rifles". The .375 with hard bullets like the TSX or solids are often recomended for duikers and steinbuck, which are smaller than an adult coyote. Considering that the same ammo is a good choice for buffalo, this shows a wide range of versatility. Soft 235 grain bullets at their higher speeds are usually bombs.
The recoil is a bit more than a 300 mag, given a rifle that probably weighs a pound more. It has less "sting" than you would expect because the recoil velocity is slower. You will be the best judge of your own recoil tolerance, but everyone who shoots mine usually comes up with "You mean, that's it?"
Remington brass is $29.99 at Wholesale Sports, when they have it. That's not .223 price, granted but it isn't that far off most of the common magnums. You don't need a thousand of them.
Dogleg
 
Have to agree with DOGLEG,my brother shoots Whitetails with it and it drops them pretty quick and the meatloss is minimal,not like most 7mm or .30 Mag.I shoot most of my deer with a 9.3x64(which is equal to the 375H&H)and love it.Never a lost animal and those bullets just plough right on through.Also,it is a great insurance policy,when hunting in grizzly country.
 
Great gun for deer, as stated before, not much meat damage. I have Remington BDL in 375 H.H. it weighs about 8 lbs. without the scope. Took my personal best Whitetail buck with it in 02. I used a handload with a 270 gr. Barne X bullet at an honest 350 paces. I'm 6'2" with a size 13 boot. Maybe it's over kill, but the hole it put in that animal made him real easy to track in the failing light of that evening. Loading for that cartridge may not be cheap, but in relation to the cost of the rest of a hunt, whats 2 or 3 dollars?
 
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Meat damage has more to do where you put the bullet than what caliber you are using. A person can destroy a lot of meat with anything from a .243 on up to a 458 Win. Instead of wondering what caliber does less meat damage, learn to shoot to prevent meat damage.
 
Every deer I've seen shot, or heard of being shot with the 375HH has been much as the above. It's way overkill for deer. But, as the bullets designed for it, are designed for biggergame, it expends most of it's energy in the landscape on the far side of the deer.
It's an expensive cartridge to shoot. Even if you reload, it's a mega powder burner, and bullets are not cheap.

But FUN :D
 
The smaller game I've taken with the H&H include an impala and a warthog. For caribou, I load the 260 gr Nosler Ballistic Tips down to about 2600. This load shoots flat enough, and is very accurate in my .375 Ultra. Nosler has dropped the Ballistic Tip in favour of the Accu-Bond. I still have a few Ballistic Tips left, and these bullets hold together better at the reduced velocity, but once they are used up I probably will just use the 300 gr TSX and the Rhino 380 gr.

There are many .375 cartridges available today, but regardless of which .375 cartridge you choose, if you load it to .375 H&H ballistics you can't go too far wrong for any game large or small.
 
Agreed it's overkill & and it more than likely does expend most of it's energy on the other side of deer. But because of that bullet construction as stated above, from my personal experience I have found that a bullet placed in the same spot from a 375 vs. a more common deer cartridge (forgive me if my terminology is wrong) will cause less hydrostatic damage to the animal when and if the deer is hit in a less than perfect spot (ie. heart/lung shot). And your a 100 percent right, when you say a properly placed shot is priority No.1! What my point is, is that when I compare deer shot with my 7mm Dakota. These loads I make are comparable to a Winchester 270 (140gr. Nosler Partition @ aprox. 3300 fps at the muzzle) as compared to the 270gr Barne X load @ aprox. 2900 fps; and when the shot has not been perfect, the 375 does less damage although still fatal. I have also compared some of my hunting buddies kills with 270's, 30-06's and other 7mm's, all with 130-165gr 'thin skinned bullets' with the same outcome.
 
Never mind bullet density and what kind of damage a 375 would do to a deer. Most .375's I have seen start at over 8lbs. and as much as over 10 lbs with scope, rings and sling.Way to heavy for sluggin through the bush.
 
Like I said, checkout a Remington 700BDL in stainless with a synthetic stock. They even came with sights on that model & calibre. I would estimate it around 8 lbs. before I put a scope on it. Still way under 10 lbs.
 
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sunray said:
Too much gun. Even loaded down. Never mind the high cost of brass.
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OH BROTHER!! :rolleyes: ...... And I suppose that you think the 38/55 is to much gun for deer as well. A 375Mag can be downloaded to the slower velocity that a 38/55 goes at. A 458WinMag can be loaded down to 45/70 speeds. Do you think the 458 is "too much gun" as well? :confused:

There is no such thing as "too much gun", but there could be a case against using "too much bullet". A good example of this (using the 375Mag) would be like using a 300gr FMJ or Partition on deer, which is of course ridiculous. There are a few good choices for deer sized game that would be perfect like the Speer 235gr SP or cast bullets. I enquired to Speer about these bullets and they replies they those bullets were designed with thinner jackets made just for deer sized game.

I have hunted deer with my 375s and would have done it more, but the rifles tend to be alot heavier than my 308Carbine and lugging a 10lb rifle just isn't my idea of fun.
 
I agree with SuperCub, and too probably would have used 235 grainers, but couldn't get decent groups out of my rifle. seem to like 270gr. bullets.
 
Win/64 said:
and what kind of damage a 375 would do to a deer.
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That's a good question .......... What kind of damage will a 375 do on deer?

To answer that question, you will find out that a heavy bullet going at moderate velocity will do ALOT less damage than a light bullet traveling at very high velocity. Don't believe me?? ........ Just ask the guys shooting big/heavy cast bullets. Urban legend will have you believe that big/heavy bullets cause more meat damage. It's velocity that causes bloodshot meat. You might want to rethink this one.


.
 
DANCESWITHEMPTIES said:
Like I said, checkout a Remington 700BDL in stainless with a synthetic stock. They even came with sights on that model & calibre. I would estimate it around 8 lbs. before I put a scope on it. Still way under 10 lbs.
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Still way to heavy a gun for deer.
 
.375 on deer

My buddy took two medium Mule deer in Alberta in Sept/06 with his .375H+H M70 Winchester. First one was a "Texas heart shot" at under 60 yards! 300 grain bullet travel entire length of body, deer still went about 20 yards before expiring!
Second deer was shot behind shoulder at under 30 yards, went about 20 yards before falling down, got up again and made it 10 more yards before buddy hit it again for good. INHO I feel a little much for deer but in all fairness we were mainly after Elk. I took two deer also that hunt with a .338 Winmag with more spectaculiar results but major meat loss. As they say, its more "where you hit them than with what". Lots of people with large magnums say they dont shoot them to often due to cost and recoil! Thats a mistake, better to practice often with a lesser caliber I say.
Geoff in Victoria
 
It may not be fun for treking through the mountains, but for stands or cutlines no problem. I don't think anyone will debate, that you do not want this caliber of rifle in an ultra light model. And no one will debate you (at least not me), that when Holland & Holland developed this cartridge they didn't have Whitetail's in mind. But it does do a fine job on them.
 
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