I am going to get a ruger no1 rifle and I have narrowed it down to either the 300H&H or the 375H&H. I am from canada and I will be using this rifle for everything from deer up to moose, bear and possibly woodland buffalo but the majority of the time it will be deer.
I will be hunting in all terrains including heavy bush, open fields and mountains.
The 300 will be better for deer and longer ranges but mightnot beas effective on moose or buffalo.
The 375 will be better for the bigger animals and in the brush butit will have more weight and recoil.
I will be handloading both calibers.
For those of you that haveexperience with these caliberswhich would you recomend?
The 375 is a big gun. I would go with the 300 if it has got to be one of those two. But the truth is you don't need anything to big for moose and buff, theyare huge in size but many say easier to kill than elk. A 300 win. mag. or the like would suit you just fine, but if its just that you want a big gun for bragging rights, get one.
Well, if you're looking for a #1 in .300 H&H, you're either gonna have a long search with an expensive end result or gonn ahve to wait a year or two til a small run of 250 is shipped as part of the craig Bonnington series. The ones already out there are few and far between, highly sought after and will be a weee bit pricey (think $2k+ for a minimum). That said, a .30-06 can easily have the chamber re-cut for the fantastic .300 H&H cartridge. Gonna do that to mine.
The .375 H&H model is quite available and should be easy to locate or order. Either will be fine. remember these have been widely used in Africa for all those big creatures so a North American anything is gonna be quite do-able with either as well.
Something to consider is ammo availability. The .300 H&H isn't nearly a widely found compared to the .375 H&H ammo. If you're handloading, this is a moot point.
Myself, I'd go with the .300 H&H just cause it's classic and different.
I believe the Ruger #1's are super... to look at and too shoot. GREAT CHOICE. If you are looking at the 1-H, I'd recommend the stainless / laminate version in .375 H&H. That would provide a little better weather resistance than the walnut / blue versions do. It's going to weigh around 8.5 lbs unscoped. You may also want to consider the new .375 Ruger. Check out gunbroker. The last time I was there they had about 3 pages of #1's.
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Thanks for the replys. I think I will get the 300H&H. I plan on getting a used rifle and rebarreling it.
The 300 will probably be easier to shoot accuratly and be lighter in weight for when I go sheep hunting.
After those last two replys I am back to either or.
I am not sure what I will choose.
Does anybody here hunt with a 375H&H?
I am curious is the recoil pretty rough or is it managable with some practice?
I will probably load 260grain accubonds if I go with the 375.
The recoil is not bad at all. I bought a CZ 375 H&H, and was a little worried about the recoil. It was not a problem at all. My 300 utra mag had a ton more recoil until a put a break on it. I am very recoil sensitive and I was amazed how little the felt recoil is on the 375H&H. I have only shot it at a 100 yards so far but I'm shooting groups as good or better than my .270,.243, or any other rifle I own. I haven't hunted with it yet and the only other thing I'm worried about is the extra weight carrying it around in the mountains. I'm sure the extra weight is why it doesn't kick that bad. Mine weighs around 11 lbs with scope and all. You might want to check into the weight of the Ruger, I think the weight iscloser to the 7 1/2 lbs mark, which could in crease the recoil.Good luck and post up a pick of what you choose.
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I say 375 if and only if your going to be doing much bigger bear hunting.Seems like an awful lot of fire powerhunting deer with a 375 H&H loaded with 260 gr bullets. If deer will be the main thing like you said seems to me the 300 would be the way to go unless you just want a 375H&H then I would say go for it.
Caliber Question
