375 RUM Any Fans?

BJH65

BJH65

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Three of us just booked a Cape Buffalo hunt for 2026. I already have a Remington 700 Custom Shop North American Custom in 375 RUM, one I purchased back in 2016, made at the Dakota Arms, Sturgis SD location when Remington moved their custom shop there. I mounted a Leupold VXIII 3.5-10x40mm scope on it. At about 8 lbs it was the hardest recoiling rifle I’ve ever shot! Far worse than a 10-11 lb 458 Win Mag and 416 Rem Mag I’d previously shot. But I figured it’s a hunting rifle, not a target rifle, and you don’t really feel recoil when shooting game.

It shoots one inch groups with handloaded 235 grain TSX at 3100 FPS (moderate load) which I’ve used to kill a cow bison, cow elk and a very large boar. All one shot kills behind the shoulder except the boar, that was a neck shot. I thought the lighter weight 235 TSX would maybe diminish recoil a little but I couldn’t tell any difference between it and a 300 grain load, still recoiled hard! I subsequently had a KDF muzzlebrake installed after I shot a cow elk from prone position and got a nasty scope cut between my eyes! So now recoil is comparable to a 300 magnum.

I never really bought it with Cape Buffalo in mind back then and I’m really not sure why I bought it! At the time I wasn’t planning on going back to Africa and most of my hunting is done with a 7mm Rem Mag. I know it’ll do the job quite well on Cape buffalo with 300 grain Swift A Frame rounds I have on hand. So that’s what I plan on using for everything on this 2026 African hunt but I won’t lie, my dream rifle is a hogback CZ 550 416 Rigby! If I come across a good deal on one I just may have to consider!

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Love the cartridge and its abilities. It's a fantasic Buffalo cartridge, for shooters that can handle it.

Unless you're limited do to disability, forego the brake. If you 100% need it, communicate with the PH now so they can be prepared and talk thru concerns.
 
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The 375 H&H is already too fast with a 300gr.....I prefer 340gr.....too many holes in the barrel for dg rifle.....and it is a rem 700.....clearly not my cup of tea.....
 
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Hogback is not ideal for heavy recoil rifle. But if you can handle recoil, why not.
 
Built one on a Model 70. Love it. I don’t find the recoil excessive on mine. No break but a heavier barrel profile than factory. McMillan stock.
 
I have been a 375 RUM fan from a far. I don't own one, though appreciate its ballistics. A Winchester M70 classic stainless would definitely tempt me.
 
BJH65 said:
My 375 RUM is essentially a lightweight rifle at 8 lbs. It really should be a couple pounds heavier. To put things in perspective, using a recoil calculator on my 8 lb rifle without muzzlebrake, shooting Double Tap 235 TSX 2295 FPS, that’s 92 foot pounds of recoil! Only an un braked 11-12 lb 460 Weatherby, 577 Nitro and 600 Nitro express exceed this type of recoil. When I ordered the rifle I did not realize it was so light. This far exceeds typical 10-12 lb 416rem mag, 458 Win mag, 470 Nitro and 500 nitro recoil, hence the muzzlebrake! I was really ok without the brake until I got that scope cut shooting prone, that’s what really prompted me to have it installed. Now it feels like a 300 mag, very tolerable but must wear hearing protection.
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I shoot a 10.5lb 460Wby. I shoot often, and it fits me well. Recoil as most say is never noticed on a hunt. A scope with longer eye relief may be a good compromise for this Buff hunt.

In a PG scenario there's likely ample time for everyone to cover their ears as long as the shot is called by the PH.

However, in DG hunt, a snap shot might come quicker and communication is crucial between PH, trackers, Rangers, etc, and Client. Especially so if the animal doesn't drop right there. A second of disorientation and wince of pain from brake can lead to losing an animals track and/or injury from a potentially wounded animal.

I didn't have this opinion until after my first DG hunt. I never hunted with a brake previously, but could never having seen what happens on a DG stalk.

Just my .02...
 
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TTundra said:
I shoot. 10.5lb 460Wby. I shoot often, and it fits me well. Recoil as most say is never noticed on a hunt. A scope with longer eye relief may be a good compromise for this Buff hunt.

In a PG scenario there's likely ample time for everyone to cover their ears as long as the shot is called by the PH.

However, in DG hunt, a snap shot might come quicker and communication is crucial between PH, trackers, Rangers, etc, and Client. Especially SO if the animal doesn't drop right there. A second of disorientation and wince of pain from brake can lead to losing an animals track and/or injury from a potentially wounded animal.

I didn't have this opinion until after my first DG hunt. I never hunted with a brake previously, but could never having seen what happens on a DG stalk.

Just my .02...
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Great points! My preference would be a CZ 550 in 416 Rigby with no muzzlebrake. But if I do take the 375 RUM, I’ll remove the muzzlebrake and install a thread protector and sight in with it in case of change in point of impact.
 
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Thanks for the great feedback! If I do take my 375 RUM, it’ll be sans muzzle break. I’ll remove and install the thread protector. Shooting will be off sticks and “scope eye” won’t be a problem. The Leupold VXIII 3.5-10x40 on my 375 RUM actually has a decent amount of eye relief. I may opt for a variable 1.75-6 or 2.5-8 scope better suited for dangerous game.
 
BJH65 said:
Great points! My preference would be a CZ 550 in 416 Rigby with no muzzlebrake. But if I do take the 375 RUM, I’ll remove the muzzlebrake and install a thread protector and sight in with it in case of change in point of impact.
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You can probably find exactly what you’re looking for, especially with the hogback stock, for quite a reasonable price. Most people greatly prefer the American style straight stock. I’ve seen your preference go for not much more than the barreled action is worth. Seems like Cabela’s and Bass Pro have a pattern of letting them go cheaper than market price. :). Keep an eye open.
 
RR 314 said:
You can probably find exactly what you’re looking for, especially with the hogback stock, for quite a reasonable price. Most people greatly prefer the American style straight stock. I’ve seen your preference go for not much more than the barreled action is worth. Seems like Cabela’s and Bass Pro have a pattern of letting them go cheaper than market price. :). Keep an eye open.
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A used one but great condition on GB just went for $1925. I think that was reasonable?
 
I have a 375 RUM built on a left hand M70 and built it to run the 350gr Barnes TSX...I have run them up to 2600fps but found accuracy at around 2550...if you are going to jump up to the extra recoil of the RUM you might as well get something for it with heavier bullets...at that point it is running on the heels of the 416 Rigby with high SD.

I liked my 375 RUM cartridge so much I ended up building a 416 RUM on another lefty M70 and it is returning from the smith today or tomorrow if USPS will get their crap together.
 
JMJ888 said:
I have a 375 RUM built on a left hand M70 and built it to run the 350gr Barnes TSX...I have run them up to 2600fps but found accuracy at around 2550...if you are going to jump up to the extra recoil of the RUM you might as well get something for it with heavier bullets...at that point it is running on the heels of the 416 Rigby with high SD.

I liked my 375 RUM cartridge so much I ended up building a 416 RUM on another lefty M70 and it is returning from the smith today or tomorrow if USPS will get their crap together.
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That is some serious SD with the 350 grain TSX! Originally, I got my 375 RUM, with North American hunting in mind ( I know overkill!), perhaps another grizzly/brown bear hunt or maybe a moose hunt? So with that in mind, a 235 grain TSX handloaded to 3100 fps was my load of choice with under an inch groups. I set it up with a dial up scope out to 600 yards. The elk I hunted in NW Montana were cross canyon shots between 300-500 yards. Funny, I ended using my 7mm mag for all my elk hunting.

I know I’m in the minority in liking the 235 grain TSX. It was going to be my all around North American hunting round. It was very effective on a 1200 lb. Bison with one shot behind the shoulder. The only other game I’ve killed with it was a 350 lb boar and 300 lb cow elk, all one shot kills. I believe it would kill a Cape buffalo just fine but since I have plenty of 300 grain Swift A Frame factory rounds and 270 grain LRX, I would use those heavier bullets on Cape Buffalo.

Our Cape buffalo hunt isn’t until 2026 and I believe I’ll acquire another rifle for that hunt, either a CZ in 416 Rigby or 458 Lott, but I still may take my 375 RUM anyhow.
 
I have a LSS in 300 RUM and a LSS Converted to a XCR stock in 338 RUM But would like to get the 375 yet. Don't really need it but want one. Would use it in Alaska for bears and such. There were a few on the auction site for a while but they seemed to have dryed up. Thanks for your in put.
 
I bought my .375 RUM for a Cape Buffalo hunt in Zimbabwe in 2005. My first trip to the range with it, I couldn't shoot it enough to zero the scope. That was the sharpest, hardest kicking rifle that I had ever fired. It is a stainless Rem 700 with a 26" barrel.

So I went home and had a local gunsmith install a KDF brake on it, I ordered a new semi-inleted laminated stock (that fits me!) from Richards that I pillar and glass bedded the action and barrel channel, then free floated the barrel. I also put a mechanical recoil reducer in the stock and capped it with a Limbsaver pad. All of that tamed it's recoil down to about the recoil of my 7 mm Rem mag, and it's even not bad shooting from a prone position.

Since then I've worked up 3 shot moa loads for it with Barnes 300 and 270 gr TSX bullets, 300 gr Nosler Partitions, 281 gr Hammers, and 300 gr Sierra GameKings for practice. I originally put a Leupold 2-7x scope on it.

On my first trip to Africa with it I used it with 300 gr TSX bullets for my Buffalo and a Chobe bushbuck in Zimbabwe, then 3 other PG animals in South Africa.

In 2007 I took it again to South Africa on hunts in the Eastern and Southern Cape. On that trip I used 270 gr TSX bullets on a variety of PG animals from a Cape Eland down to a Jackal, a couple of Steenboks, and a Vaal Rhebok.

My .375 RUM then sat in my gun safe until 2021 when I took it to SW Alaska for a Brown Bear hunt. I couldn't find any Barnes bullets for that hunt, so I loaded some 281 gr Hammers. I also changed scopes for that hunt and put a Leupold VX 3-9x40 with their CDS turret systom. I field verified hits at 100, 200, 300, and 430 yards and marked the top of the turret with white hash marks for each of those ranges.

I always carry and wear foam earplugs when I'm hunting with that rifle, and I carry extras and offer them to my PH or Guide. The only thing that I ever heard a PH say about my rifle was one time I overheard my PH say to our head Tracker was "It looks like we have a sniper here/"
 
Huntsmans Bane said:
I have a LSS in 300 RUM and a LSS Converted to a XCR stock in 338 RUM But would like to get the 375 yet. Don't really need it but want one. Would use it in Alaska for bears and such. There were a few on the auction site for a while but they seemed to have dryed up. Thanks for your in put.
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Funny, back in 2016 I was searching hard for a 338 RUM and simply couldn’t find one, so ended up with the 375 RUM instead! The LSS is a very handsome rifle, always liked them.
 
buffybr said:
I bought my .375 RUM for a Cape Buffalo hunt in Zimbabwe in 2005. My first trip to the range with it, I couldn't shoot it enough to zero the scope. That was the sharpest, hardest kicking rifle that I had ever fired. It is a stainless Rem 700 with a 26" barrel.

So I went home and had a local gunsmith install a KDF brake on it, I ordered a new semi-inleted laminated stock (that fits me!) from Richards that I pillar and glass bedded the action and barrel channel, then free floated the barrel. I also put a mechanical recoil reducer in the stock and capped it with a Limbsaver pad. All of that tamed it's recoil down to about the recoil of my 7 mm Rem mag, and it's even not bad shooting from a prone position.

Since then I've worked up 3 shot moa loads for it with Barnes 300 and 270 gr TSX bullets, 300 gr Nosler Partitions, 281 gr Hammers, and 300 gr Sierra GameKings for practice. I originally put a Leupold 2-7x scope on it.

On my first trip to Africa with it I used it with 300 gr TSX bullets for my Buffalo and a Chobe bushbuck in Zimbabwe, then 3 other PG animals in South Africa.

In 2007 I took it again to South Africa on hunts in the Eastern and Southern Cape. On that trip I used 270 gr TSX bullets on a variety of PG animals from a Cape Eland down to a Jackal, a couple of Steenboks, and a Vaal Rhebok.

My .375 RUM then sat in my gun safe until 2021 when I took it to SW Alaska for a Brown Bear hunt. I couldn't find any Barnes bullets for that hunt, so I loaded some 281 gr Hammers. I also changed scopes for that hunt and put a Leupold VX 3-9x40 with their CDS turret systom. I field verified hits at 100, 200, 300, and 430 yards and marked the top of the turret with white hash marks for each of those ranges.

I always carry and wear foam earplugs when I'm hunting with that rifle, and I carry extras and offer them to my PH or Guide. The only thing that I ever heard a PH say about my rifle was one time I overheard my PH say to our head Tracker was "It looks like we have a sniper here/"
Click to expand...
Well you know then the recoil of a lightweight un braked 700 in 375 RUM! I am not recoil sensitive, and am quite comfortable shooting an 10-11 lb 458 win mag and 416 Rem Mag, but my unbraked 375 RUM, shooting off the bench felt like getting punched in the shoulder by Mike Tyson or George Foreman! All due to it’s light weight of course. But I will admit, all animals I’ve killed with it were before the KDF muzzlebrake was installed, and I didn’t notice the recoil when shooting at game. I believe it’s an excellent long range rifle, something a 375 RUM isn’t really noted for. I have a Kenton Industries turret installed on my Leupold Vari X III 3.5-10 x40 and can monotonously hit a 12 inch steel gong out to 600 yards. I’ve heard Hammers are great bullets. Thanks for sharing your experiences!
 
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