Suggestions for a new hunting rifle?
 

Hey bros Im saving up for another rifle but I really have no clue what to get I'm looking at a 375 h&h (I'm not recoil shy at all) and I have a 338 win mag lingering in my mind as well. My budget is 1000 dollars more or less. Really what I would like is for you guys to give me your opinions on your favorite guns. Thanks.

I had to have a .375 H&H also. I got a Sako action and had a smith put a barrel and make a stock from a blank. It came out ok but I did not know, at the time in the 1960's, that control round feeding was desirable for what could be a dangerous game rifle.

I was really into casting bullets then and I have a hollow point gas check mold for the .375. I shot a deer with that load.

That was long ago and now I have lost interest in that rifle.

We get guns that we want for the fun of it. Get a 375 when one comes your way.

Thanks for the input I really do want the gun but do you still have that sako?

Heck fire.............

Go for a Barrett .50 BMG.

If you are going to be a bear be a grizzly. And if you are going to be a BS artist at least entertain us in the process.

Yea I think that 50 will work for most deer sized game. :)

take a look - this may help, still only one man's opinion;

http://elkhunter2.tripod.com/rifle.html

I still have the Sako L61R custom .375 H&H Improved.

I don't sell guns to private individuals, only to FFL dealers with a receipt.

Guns are not all that expensive and fun to own what you want.

Look for a CRF M70 so chambered or some other similar rifle.

It all depends on what you are going to use it for.

I started big game hunting when I was in college and was living in NW Colorado. Back then the locals thought a .270 Win or .30-06 was perfect for mule deer and elk hunting, so my first centerfire rifle was a .30-06.

My .30-06 worked fine for several years of hunting mule deer, elk, and pronghorn antelope in Colorado and also for several years of hunting those same animals when I moved to Montana.

Then I met a new friend that had more than one rifle. He had a .22-250 for varmints, a .243 Win for deer, and a 7mm Rem mag for elk and larger animals. He also gave me a .30 Gibbs case, which I thought was very cool.

I carried that .30 Gibbs case in my pocket for several months, and finally had a local gunsmith re-chamber my .30-06 to .30 Gibbs. That was going to be my elk and other large animal rifle. And like my friend, I decided that I needed a varmint rifle and a deer rifle. I had also seen a tapered octagon barrel on a custom rifle at a gunshow, so I had my gunsmith make me a tapered octagon barrel in .22-250 and put it in a Mauser Mark X action for me. I had also been reading PO Ackley's books, so I had my gunsmith re-chamber another Mark X barreled action to .257 Ackley Improved which was to be my deer size critter rifle.

That all happened about 35 years ago, and I thought I had a perfect battery of rifles for all of my hunting. My .22-250 was great on varmints and I even used it on a few deer and pronghorn antelope. My .257 AI also worked on varmints, was great for deer and antelope, several bighorn rams and a Dall ram, a caribou, and a large 6x6 bull elk. My .30 Gibbs kept my freezers full of elk meat for almost 30 years, and also made one shot kills on a couple of Shiras moose bulls and a mountain goat.

Then about 15 years ago some friends of mine bought a South African plains game hunt at a Safari Club dinner and asked me to join them. Problem was I was going through a very nasty divorce and I couldn't have my guns, so one of my friends let me use his 7mm Rem mag in Africa. I liked that rifle so much that after my divorce was final, I bought my own 7mm RM. I then used it on a Musk ox/caribou hunt in the Arctic and on another African hunt. It's a stainless barrel and action in a plastic stock so I keep it as a wet weather backup rifle for elk or whatever.

In 2004 I booked a Cape Buffalo hunt in Zimbabwe so I needed a .375 or larger rifle for that hunt. I was impressed with the ballistics of the .375 Rem Ultra mag, so I built one. I've used that rifle on two African hunts, and it worked great on everything from 30 lb Steenbucks to 1500 lb Buffalo and Eland. Here at home it's a safe queen.

Ever since I started big game hunting in the mid '60s, I've admired Weatherby rifles, and particularly the .300 Weatherby. About 5 years ago I saw a good deal on a .300 Weatherby Vanguard so I bought it. I re-stocked it in Fancy walnut and made a few other modifications, and it is fast becoming my favorite rifle. With Barnes TSX and TTSX bullets it's flat shooting, accurate, and has enough power for just about any animal in North America or any of the African plains game. It will be going to New Zealand with me next year.

Some would say that CRF is more desirable, some would say poppycock. I'd say (to the OP) to just get a .375 H&H in any well built rifle that fits well and that you can handle. Personally, I love Sako's. Another good option would be CZ.

I often thought about a 375 H&H just for nostalgic reasons. But it would probably end up being a gun safe queen. If I do get the chance here in my later years to go to the dark continent or to Alaska for moose or brown bear that will be my cartridge of choice. I will probably end up getting a Browning A bolt Stainless Stalker because I am a southpaw.

If you plan to use this rifle in Africa for large or dangerous game (lion, buffalo, etc.) the .375 is clearly the better choice over a .338. For African plains game and anything in North America the .338 is probably a better choice. If you don't plan on large African game in the next few years the .338 will serve you very well.

I have more than one .375 and more than one .338 and have hunted with them all extensively. I use both a .375 H&H and a .375 Ruger and am very happy with both cartridges. In your budget you can find an excellent Ruger Hawkeye (I have seen new ones for around $800 and very lightly used ones for as low as $600), and for a few hundred dollars more an excellent FN made Winchester Safari Express (I think I paid about $1,200 for mine). If I was going to start all over again I think I would just buy the Hawkeye and use the rest of the cash to go hunting with it. The Ruger .375 is probably a better designed cartridge and ammo is no longer a problem to find, and the H&H has seniority and nostalgia.

All of my bolt rifles that are .375 or larger are CRF. For anything you would shoot with a .338 either PF or CRF would do the job equally well.

I'm a big fan of the 375H&H myself. If Africa is in your sights, the 375 Holland would be an ideal choice. The Ruger may be a little harder to find ammo for overseas. I'm told the 375's recoil is a bit more tolerable than the 338, to which I've never shot the latter. Either caliber is much more versatile than the naysayers will tell you. If you reload, skies the limit on what you can do with them. As for guns, I'm a CRF fan, so the Remington 798(Zastava 98 mauser), Win m70, and CZ550 are on the short list. CZ is a bit heavy IMO for a 375, while the Zastava action(found under a slew of names over the years) is the lightest I would consider(I own a 798 in 375). Nothing really wrong with a pushfeed action, however I prefer the robustness of the CRF action with a better extraction and ejection design.

I just put a weatherby vanguard in 338 win mag on layaway for 550 brand new.