Shoot’n, Fish’n ‘n’ Hunt’n

.375 H&H cartridge dimensional drawing.

Introduction:

The .375 Holland and Holland Magnum (.375H&H) has been with us for over a hundred years now and it is one of the most successful hunting cartridges of all time. Even today, it is acknowledged by most professional hunters and many safari hunters as the best all-round cartridge for African game.

Not only is it the minimum legal calibre for hunting dangerous game, in many African countries, but it also serves very well as a general hunting calibre for everything from the common plains game up to, and including, elephant. For a one rifle safari, it can be argued that there is no better choice and it is a calibre that most hunters can master, quite easily, as the recoil is relatively mild when compared to some other African cartridges.

The .375H&H sees quite a lot of use in the hunting fields of Australia and the USA, too. In Australia, it is probably the most commonly used cartridge for hunting buffalo, banteng and scrub bulls and it is also often seen in sambar country. In the USA, it is widely used for the big bears and moose and is a common choice for American hunting guides in Alaska.

Advantages of .375 H&H Magnum:

One of the characteristics, of this cartridge, which makes it so effective and useful is that when loaded with premium solid projectiles it demonstrates excellent penetration on even the toughest and most dangerous game animals. At the same time, when loaded with quality expanding projectiles, it can shoot nearly as flat as most plains-game cartridges – that is, within sensible, practical and ethical hunting ranges.

Another very nice feature is that, after a hundred years of hunting success, you can buy .375H&H ammunition in most parts of the world where hunting large game is permitted. This is a valuable feature if the airlines lose your baggage or you simply didn’t pack as much ammo as you really needed. Some central African nations will only allow you to import a very small amount of ammunition, so being able to top up your stocks from local supplies can be a safari-saving option!

Good as this cartridge is, if we were to believe some of the current gun media hype, we might be tempted to boost the velocities of our .375H&H with hotter handloads and, unfortunately, many shooters are doing just that. There are some who would tell us that we need all the velocity we can get. The truth is very much different. Most factory 375H&H loads are already too hot for the projectiles available and for the game we hunt with this cartridge. Even on dangerous game, such as buffalo and elephant, too much velocity is a handicap with over-penetration and/or erratic bullet performance often being the result. It has been found that a premium 300 grain projectile at around 2400 f.p.s performs wonderfully on big game, despite the fact that this is approximately 100 f.p.s. slower than most factory rounds. This load is also a lot more pleasant to shoot; a feature that is welcome both in the hunting field and on the rifle range.

Better .375 H&H Loads:

There is also a school of thought, backed up by real-life experience in the game fields of Africa, that a 350gn bullet at 2300 f.p.s. is the ultimate choice for buffalo and elephant. Note that this load utilizes a heavier bullet but does not attempt to maintain or boost velocities, as so many of the new magnum cartridges try to do. The British had long ago worked out the best ‘formula’ for hunting big and dangerous game animals and that formula is to use well constructed, heavy-for-calibre bullets at moderate velocities. This formula can be seen in the original factory loads that are used for most of the old British cartridges and it works!

Even on plains game, the .375H&H has all the ballistic performance that you can possibly want. Indeed, with some of the .375 projectiles, intended for plains game, too much velocity will result in excessive meat and trophy damage and, all too often, poor shooting as well. Let’s face it, the maximum range, at which you would want to be shooting plains game, is around 300 yards (longer ranges are both impractical and unethical) and most shots will be well under this distance. A 100 f.p.s. difference in muzzle velocity, at ranges inside 300 yards, is almost negligible.

As one example, if you consider the Sierra 300gn SBT Gameking projectile at both 2400 and 2500 f.p.s., and run these loads through a ballistic program, you will find that the difference in bullet impacts is only around 45mm (1.8 inches) at 300 yards. If you compare this to the size of the vital area of any medium or large game animal, you will soon realize that, for all practical hunting purposes, this is an imperceptible and unimportant difference in bullet impact point.

One other thing about the performance of the .375H&H is that, while most cartridge designers and ammunition makers are always trying to convince us that their ammo performs better than it really does, and so their published ballistics are often exaggerated and unobtainable, the .375H&H actually meets and can even exceed the published figures. Accordingly, the reloader can, in fact, reduce the loads slightly, drop down to more sensible pressure levels and actually improve the terminal performance of this cartridge; and, in truth, for a hunting cartridge it is terminal performance that really matters.

But don’t take my word for it, if in doubt about the effectiveness of the reduced load .375H&H rounds, read some of the literature by the guys who hunt dangerous game all the time. Kevin Robertson’s two excellent books “The Perfect Shot” and “Africa’s Most Dangerous”, as well as Pierre Van De Walt’s “African Dangerous Game Cartridges”, all support this view (incidentally, these books are must-haves for anyone interested in big game rifles and hunting African game).

Obsolete or Timeless?

The .375 H&H Magnum cartridge exhibits design features that, some would now tell us, are poorly considered and obsolete, by today’s standards. The long case length and sloping shoulders are features which the advocates of the short magnums would have us believe are undesirable. Yet, with just a modest amount of range practice the long bolt stroke, which is necessary for the long cartridge case, is easily learnt and becomes second-nature and indistinguishable from that of short actions. Anyone who short-strokes any bolt action rifle has simply not practised enough with that rifle or, alternatively, is shooting a rifle that is too long in the stock for them – but don’t blame the cartridge for short-stroking a bolt action rifle!

The design of the .375H&H cartridge is, by modern thoughts, outdated and does result in some less desirable results for the reloader. The long sloping shoulder and tapered case design are features that increase bolt thrust and case stretching and the result is, often, shorter case life. However, while case life may be important to the range shooter, who reuses the fired cases repeatedly, it is of little consequence to the hunter as most of the cases fired in the hunting field will be lost to the bush, anyway. Indeed, for the hunter, the sloping shoulders and tapered case design have advantages that outweigh the short case life as these features allow smooth and easy chambering of the .375H&H round. This is a characteristic that the short, fat, sharp-shouldered cartridges of today can never really aspire to; yet it is absolutely vital when hunting, and in particular, when facing down dangerous game. Yet, if case life is a big concern for you, then simply reduce the loads, as previously discussed, and you will increase case life considerably.

BRNO ZKK602 and CZ 550 Magnum Rifles:

One of the most common .375 &H rifles is the BRNO ZKK602, pictured below, or its modern replacement, the CZ 550 Magnum. You will also see a very large percentage of African professional hunters and guides carrying a ZKK602 or CZ 550 Magnum chambered in .375 H&H Magnum; either when you hunt in Africa, or embark on a walking safari under the watchful eye of a professional guide or simply watch one of the many African wildlife documentaries.

The BRNO ZKK-602 would, along with the CZ 550 Magnum, have to be one of the most common .375H&H rifles to be found anywhere.

The reason that the BRNO ZKK602 or CZ 550 Magnum, in .375 H&H, is so popular is that it is a robust and effective, Mauser 98-style, true magnum length, controlled round feed action that can accommodate up to five (5) rounds in the magazine and, with one round ‘up the spout’, you have a six (6) shot .375H&H. The ZKK602 and CZ 550 Magnum are also available at very reasonable prices, when compared to other, often less-capable, big game rifles. The ZKK602 was built to keep the price down and, accordingly, may not be the prettiest big game rifle around but, with a little careful tuning and polishing, it is certainly one of the best. However, you can customize your BRNO or CZ rifle and to get some ideas of how ‘pretty’ you can make a ZKK602 or CZ550 Magnum, you should visit the American Hunting Rifles (AHR) website and look at the American Hunting Rifles website.

Other .375 &H Rifles:

The .375 &H Magnum is also one of the most commonly chambered cartridges and you will find rifles in this calibre available from Winchester, Remington, Mauser, Weatherby, Ruger, BRNO, CZ, Chapuis, Merkel, Blaser, Browning, Zastava, Interarms, Parker Hale, Sako, Kimber, Montana, Dakota to name just some of the brands that you will find this cartridge in. In addition, you fill find bolt action rifles, single shot rifles and double rifles chambered in .375H&H Magnum.

The .375H&H is one of the greatest cartridges of all time and it is hard to go past this calibre for hunting medium, large and dangerous game. Indeed, if I could only have one rifle, then it would be a .375H&H because I could still hunt any animal, anywhere on the planet with it.

In a future article, I will be looking at some specific reloading data and shooting results with this great cartridge; keep your eyes open for that article.

Copyright © 2017 - Robert Pretty - Shoot'n Fish'n 'n' Hunt'n.