Why a .375 in North America?

[Longwalker]

Justification for owning a .375 H&H was a point of discussion on Canadian Gun Nutz forum recently. This is the best response of them all. I just had to share here... thanks Dogleg!


Originally Posted by Dogleg
The best reason for getting a .375 is that it is very likely to Shanghai you and drag you off to Africa. If yours exhibits this type of behavior; resistance is futile.

Another reason is more practical. If you don’t have a .375 what exactly are you supposed to do if someone asks to see your .375? Oh sure, you can pretend you’re choking and run out of the room, but that only works once. After that you’ll just be standing there looking like you got caught trying to run a dog and pony show with no pony. It’s even worse if you’re married. Just imagine how embarrassed your wife would be if the truth came out. People would treat her with pity; perhaps to the point of giving her savages, bushnells , used articles of clothing and. small cash donations while uttering things like “ Oh honey, I had no idea that things were so bad, you should have called”. You can’t just think about yourself all the time.

 

[PHOENIX PHIL]

LOL, nice!

 

[Bullthrower338]

Love it!

 

[Wade J VanGinkel]

I joined this forum 3 months ago. I had no idea at the time how badly I needed a 375.
Fast forward 3 months, I'm booked on a safari. Holding a box of 375 cartridges in my hands that just came today. And impatiently waiting for my new rifle to come next week.

 

[greyfox]

Because this is AMERICA!! That's why!

 

[Tony485]

I joined this forum 3 months ago. I had no idea at the time how badly I needed a 375.
Fast forward 3 months, I'm booked on a safari. Holding a box of 375 cartridges in my hands that just came today. And impatiently waiting for my new rifle to come next week.

I’ve recently just join AH as well, just recently bought my first 375h&h I’ve always had an interest in rifles and the sheer power behind them. I’m planing my first safari and figured it would be a great to start practicing shooting a larger caliber rifle. As a hunters our rifles and optics play a big deal in our success on game we are hunting so having different ones can be an asset. After reading enough opinions and forming my own, I do believe the 375h&h has its place in North American hunting situations not sure if I would take a 375h&h over a lighter 30-06 up into a tree stand in November to hunt whitetail deer but I wouldn’t hesitate to take my 375h&h on a black bear hunt. I’m planning on doing just so this spring!

 

[Tra3]

I love this!! Great rational.

My 2019 goals list was to get a .375 for a 2020 hunt. I completed the goal with a sako Safari last spring. My second .375 just arrived today. That means I can invite a friend to hunt!

 

[Bonk]

I need my 375 to cull rogue tree stumps on our property. My 30-06 works fine for soft wood game like cedar and pine but I need big deep penetrating 375H&H solids when I'm going after hard wood game like oak and walnut. You have to be careful with walnut. They aren't as big as oak but they're tough! Last year I took a monster record book oak with my 458Win. Turned it into a coffee table.

 

[dougfinn]

I need my 375 to cull rogue tree stumps on our property. My 30-06 works fine for soft wood game like cedar and pine but I need big deep penetrating 375H&H solids when I'm going after hard wood game like oak and walnut. You have to be careful with walnut. They aren't as big as oak but they're tough! Last year I took a monster record book oak with my 458Win. Turned it into a coffee table.

Yup. Know what you mean about those rogue tree stumps. Got quite a few where I live. Got a Ruger no.1 in .458 to take care of them. Haven’t tried my .375 on them yet.

 

[USMA84DAB]

Any red-blooded American will take his .375 out to cull coyotes - most definitely delivers a decisive blow, and it is great rifle manipulation training for slaying cape buffalo!

 

[thi9elsp]

Mine worked great on its buffalo in Zimbabwe. Now, I need to take out some Florida hogs with it!

 

[Forrest Halley]

Why not? If you wanted to be sensible, you'd get a .458 because the plinking projectiles are a little bit easier to get, but you're liable to be worried by the recoil you read about in a magazine. However, .375 H&H is big enough to impress. Beware of the big cartridges as they start to become familiar and the other ones will seem too small to get the job done going forward. One morning you'll wake up and not have a clue what the .30-30 is good for and feel naked carrying it in the woods.

 

[Ray B]

There needs to be at least one 375 in every town. It's best if there is more than one and better still if there are a few 404s and a 458 or two. Why? to prevent the town from rampaging elephants. I got a 375 several years ago and during that time there has been NOT ONE time where elephants chose our town to destroy. Not One time!! QED.

 

[Major Khan]

It would be marvellous for hunting those huge imposing looking Kodiak bears .

 

[perttime]

It should be enough gun for anything in North America, or just about anywhere.

 

[dchamp]

Huh I'm confused, you mean there are some who don't own a .375

 

[Wyatt Smith]

Huh I'm confused, you mean there are some who don't own a .375

Weird isn’t it

 

[vette447]

I successfully used a purpose built .375 H&H in AK to take an 11 ft Brown Bear so that would be one reason. However, I will admit that I built the rifle several years before I hunted Brown for just such a hunt that I hoped to take "some day". Thus, I would say that the rifle helped enable the hunt to happen.

Also, I love big bores and have used them in Africa (although I have not used a 375 in Africa). Thus, I would say that the .375H&H is "needed" in NA and just a stepping stone to bigger rifles and great adventures. When in doubt, get two of them.

 

[Standard Velocity]

My 375 just makes me feel slightly less inadequate. 375 is a gateway caliber. A .40 of some sort is next on the list. Eventually I’m sure I’ll work my way up to the hard stuff; that 460 in the classifieds keeps challenging my masculinity.

 

[Tanks]

375 is like a gateway drug. My first big bore I bought myself was a .375. Now, I have a .416, .458 and a .500.