I dare say the Winny 70 in .375 is as good as it gets in a 300 yard hunting rifle
Ok, some of this is my fault. You see, I have a one track mind when it comes to real big bores. Dangerous Game, and at the top of that list is Buffalo. Along those lines, we see elephant, hippo, lions, bear, leopards and such as that. We think CLOSE, because you don't shoot dangerous game at 300 yards period. To begin with, what is the point of hunting dangerous game? Second, you have no control of the scenario at 300 yards after the first shot, unless the terrain is wide open spaces, no brush. Its just not done.
BowWows first post did not say a damn thing about Dangerous Game, but my mind went directly to that, this being in big bores, and comparing 375 to 416+ for Dangerous Game is what my mind automatically steers to.
I don't think in terms of beyond 50 yards, much less 300. To me, 50 Yards is too far and LONG RANGE. I don't think about shooting elk or impala or zebra and wildebeest when BowWow made the post.
This is why later I had to steer my thoughts to what BowWow had in mind for his larger bore gun, his goals and objectives.
375 is no better medium than various 338s, 358s, 9.3s(.366), and its not any worse, for a medium caliber to shoot longer distances, elk, moose, zebra, wildebeest, plains game and such as that. It will do for lion and bear, but even then, larger is far better on those two. I have a lot of experience with those plains game and the mediums 338s, 358s, 9.3s........ I shot one animal once with a borrowed 375 HH, because my 458 did not arrive on my flight. I spent 3 days of a 10 day hunt without my rifles. We were hunting rogue problem lions. I shot a waterbuck with the camp 375 and it was not impressive at all. It died, eventually. On another occasion we were in Zimbabwe, chasing a wounded buffalo. The PH was carrying a 375 at the time, I was testing the first 50 B&M on buffalo. I shot a buffalo through some brush, at the insistence of the PH. Bullet hit brush, turned sideways, hit the buffalo in the guts sideways. Now we had a problem. We tracked and the herd split up. We decided to split up, I went left, and the PH went right following up tracks. In a few minutes I heard the PH shoot, I turned and ran his way, he was only about 50 yards away. The buffalo had laid up behind a tree and the PH had disturbed it, it got up and started to him. Buffalo was very sick, so it was not a full out running charge, but it kept coming regardless, he shot again before I could get my gun up. The two shots he fired had zero effect, he shot again, nothing, I shot one round with the 500 and the buffalo went down. Obviously having 3 rounds of 375 had effect by the time I shot, I am not saying the 50 B&M came and saved the day over the 375. What I am saying is that the 375 had little or no effect with two frontal chest shots and one in the nose below the brain.
In 2012 I made two trips, one to South Africa where I took the 9.3 B&M out for the first time. I had been busy with other B&M cartridges and 9.3 was on the back burner for years. It was very impressive on plains game and deadly. Zebra are tough, I shot 3-4 zebra, all good hits, all run, none of them dropped to the shot. That is common with anything less than 416 caliber. Wildebeest and Oryx other tough plains game, 50% DRT and 50% run for short distances. Not bad, pretty good. Later I ended up taking it to Australia along with other larger bore guns, to just see if 9.3 would do well on buffalo, with the best most deadly bullets available, RAPTORS. It was DISMAL to say the least, I swear buffalo paid no more attention to 9.3 caliber bullets than they did swatting flys! Oh they would buck up and run at the shot, but not once did they pay them much attention. It would take multiple hits to put the buffalo down. After shooting 10 or so like this I put it away and started shooting a 475 B&M. Things changed then, buffalo pay attention to caliber.
FACTS
1. 375 caliber is the smallest legal caliber than can be used on Dangerous Game in Africa, by law in most countries.
2. When visiting hunters ask the PHs (Professional Hunter) advice on cartridge/caliber/rifle, the vast majority of the time they are going to recommend 375. Why? If a hunter is asking this, it is his first time more than likely. The PH has no idea of this chaps qualifications. He does not know how this guy shoots or even if he can. On the whole, most all hunters going to Africa are not shooters. They are not experienced shooters, may not even be experienced hunters. I have been told many stories about visiting hunters that arrive at camp that have never shot their rifles. Some had scopes with, that the PH had to mount and shoot in. Some others, actually asked the PH to shoot all their animals! Far too many times a visiting hunter arrives in Camp, with his brand new 500 This or that, has never fired it, bought ammo for it, does not have a clue if he has solids or softs, scared to damn death of it to begin with, and snatches jerks the trigger so hard he can't hit a barn door at 20 steps! This is crazy, I was amazed when I began hunting, I could not believe it, but it was, and is very true. So when asked, PH almost always goes to 375, not because it is the BEST, or the Best All Around, or the best for Dangerous Game, but because he is hoping that maybe his new hunter might be able to shoot it good enough to hit the barn door at 20 steps and maybe they all don't get killed! This is an absolute fact, I have hunted with many many PHs, Friends with more, and give advice to many of them for their personal carry guns, and the bullets they use in them.
3. One cannot read what hunters of old did, and really take any comparisons to todays hunting. Two different things all together. Bell used a 7mm something or other, shot more elephant than all of us combined has ever seen with it. Reason? Bell was a poacher, it was over a 100 years ago, elephant reacted different to people then, Bell was an expert marksman, he shot all his elephant very close, in dense brush much of the time, and he knew exactly where the brain of an elephant is from any angle. He was a poacher, and hunting for ivory. The little gun was easier to handle than the ULTRA bores of the day, which were heavy, bulky, and he left those to his gun bearers to tote around. Does Bells feats add validity to todays hunters and their choice in rifle or caliber for elephant? No. First, it would be illegal. Second, no PH would allow it. Third, it would be stupid.
I truly despise 375 anything, I hate the caliber, I would not even allow one to be on the compound! I want to PUKE every time I read or hear 3 7 5. When 3 7 5 is mentioned, I immediately want to take that person to task and teach them about the real world..............
And, exactly the reason that I have hijacked, and stolen this thread of BowWow's, but did not do it with malice or intent, it just happened because of my immense Bias. I am a Racist when it comes to 3 7 5 Caliber, and I APOLOGIZE for the hi jack! I also took the thread in a direction that was not intended.
As stated, BowWow never stated intentions or goals. I jumped the gun, so to speak, and my thoughts channeled to Dangerous Game only, and primarily buffalo MY FAULT.
375 is just as good a medium for plains game and non dangerous game as the 338s, 358s, .366s........ but not any better than........
