375 h&h for deer?

[Mike357]

Overkill or not?  I recently got my encore rifle  with the 209X50 barrel.  I'm looking for a deer caliber rifle, but thought of the 375 H&H( to be different).  Most deer I have shot have been between 20 yds and 200 yds.  Will bullet mushroom much in deer with this caliber?  Compared to  7mm Magnum and 12 gauge 3" slugs how much recoil are we looking at in this caliber?

[flintlock54]

After years of dropping deer in their tracks with a 25-06, the first deer that ran for 150 yds was one that I shot with a 375 H&H right in the vitals. Just did not have the velocity shock of the 25-06. Granted that is my one and only  375 H&H experience compared the 15+ with the 25-06.

[tr-1]

Hi,
  I used a 375 H & H mag exclusively for twelve years on whitetail, mule deer, black bear, elk and Shiras moose. Never had a failure. The only reason I sold the rifle was that someone wanted it more than I did. He bought it from me in Montana and took it to Alaska. I have also taken all the game noted above with a 30.06 which is what I use exclusively now except when I am using a handgun. Also extremely reliable. I would never hesitate to go back to the Holland & Holland, I've never worried about killing something "too much".

[BeverlyHillbilly]

Mike357

You will find that the damage that the 375 H&H does to a deer is very little.  At my family's slaughterhouse, we would process many deer every year during the fall and I have witnessed the damage from about every popular caliber out there.  There was a big game hunter who used his 375 H&H and it would be a small hole going in and a small hole going out, and they always dropped.  Meat loss was very small and much less than most of the small caliber magnums and high velocity rifles would do.

I owned a Ruger #1 375 H&H for many years and killed two does with it during anterless season.  I had used the Remington Factory 270 grain soft points on them, but never got one with the handloads then.  I regret selling it before moving to Virginia, and have recently purchased the new 375 H&H barrel for the Encore.  I would warn anyone that recoil is very stiff with the 375 H&H, but I found it less sharp than a 338 WinMag or 300 Weatherby with heavy bullets.  More of a VERY hard push than a mule kick.  I still want to make that trip for Moose, Reindeer, and/or Elk, just never got the time, and that is why I had sold it.

If you shoot short distances, the 375 H&H allows for reduced loads with SR 4759 (Hornady and Sierra manuals) and the flat nose bullets designed for the 375 Winchester.  They won't have the long range ballistics, but are light in recoil and a great woods gun.   They do mimic the velocity range and stopping power of the 375 winchester.  I would suggest them for any range shooting.  Start out on the light end for the magnum loads and use bullets in the 270 grain range when beginning shooting the heavy stuff.  You will find that the H&H is pretty accurate across many different loads, and you need to find one that is comfortable.  I used to shoot mine from a standing shooting monopod at the range since the full-house loads were too much for setting at the bench.  

Rich C.

[prof242]

:wink: I use my .375 H&H for hunting mule deer whenever I feel like doing something different.  My load is the 235gr Speer semi-spitzer with 68 grains of IMR4895.  All cautions apply, start 10% low and work up.  Haven't had a deer move more than 30 paces.

[JJFly]

I've used a 375H&H and used bullet weights from 250gr to 300gr for Whitetail in North Carolina and Minnesota.  Late me say this to all the ney sayers.  The 375H&H has NEVER let me down.  I also hunt with a 7mm Mag.  That has let me down.  I've rolled deer @ nearly 300yds with the Holland & Holland.  I've shot them facing away, and sent them a$$ over tea kettle.  They always go down.  Right down.  Bullet performance is far more consistant than a 7mm Mag which can disinegrate on a deer @ 3200fps in close or fail to expand 2200fps in the next county.  I must admit, I've never recovered a bullet from an animal killed with 375H&H.  It's always done it's job that well.  As others report the recoil will let you know it is there but it is more of a shove than smack.  

Pick your poison.  I'll take the 375H&H 6 days a week and twice on Sunday, where allowed by law.  :grin:

My .02