Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Express Rifles and Big Bores Only Win 70 375 H&H - cut barrel to 18,19,20? Stock choice?

I have a New Haven Classic 375 that is black matte in a factory tupperware stock. It weighs 8lbs as is with sights and no scope. It's on the way to a gunsmith to do a few things such as: shorten the barrel, install NECG sights, bed factory stock, check / improve feeding, etc.

This will be a rifle that I'll use in Alaska for black and brown bears, and moose and I want it as short as practical. Is 18 or 19" too short for a 375 H & H? I'll likely shoot the 270gr TTSX and do reload.

Also, what is a good powder to use in a short barreled 375? Velocity is less important to me than the recoil and noise management.

One more thing....while I plan to use the tupperware initially, I'll likely upgrade to a McMillan down the road. What McMillan would be good for this short barreled 375? I kinda like the ergonomics of the factory tupperware. What McMillan is close to that design?

Thanks for the help. This is my first 375 and I want to get it right!

IIRC mine got cut @ 21". I could use the rear front sight screw hole for the front front sight screw and save the D#&T labor for one screw hole if I wished to install the sights again.

it will be loud, don't know what else to say about that.

the factory made two versions of Tupperware. mine has the coarse checkering, and I find it very usable. no plans to upgrade.

284, my .375 has a 25 " barrel and I prefer that for my country.. Paul Mathews was a fan of the .375, and he had his cut to 18.5".. It was an old model 70.. He used it for years and never found fault with it.. You might check 60 YEARS WITH RIFLES, and see what he had to say..

I've had a couple of 375's with 20" barrels, and friends have had a couple more so I shot those as well. They are cute and sexy but I didn't love them, and I still think nothing beats 22"-24",with 23" maybe being "just right".

For keeping noise and recoil under control you could try lots of powders but i doubt anything will beat RL15 enough to bother with.

I would start with a longer barrel; you can always curt the barrel down if you don't like the longer tube.... but you can't add any length if it turns out you don't like the short tube.

My 375 is a LH Remington 700. Before ordering it from the custom shop; I reached out to many people with way more experience than I'll ever get with a 375 and read everything I could find. I decided to go with a 22 inch barrel and have absolutely no complaints. Good luck with whatever you decide.

Toad,
How do I tell which version of tupperware I have? My rifle was produced in NH around 1990, I think.

Also, would you make no telling me what your 21" er weighs? How does it balance for shooting off hand.

Looks like some version of a 30mm tube lstraight eupold on yours which is what I'll be using.

An 18" .375 will work fine and handle well but it'll be obnoxious when shot, no getting around that. Personally I wouldn't go shorter than the 21" mentioned earlier. If you ever decide to rebarrel you can go to a lot lighter contour than the M70 uses, there's a lot of unnecessary extra meat in a M70 .375.

I have a Mcmillan M70 Supergrade on my .375 and like it, but if I were stocking it today I'd probably use one of the Echols Legends.

Rifle barrels shorter than 20" get very loud very quickly.

See if you can find someone with one of the short barreled Rugers chambered in .375 Ruger and see what you think. Better yet, try to get to shoot one. That will tell you how you would like that barrel length and recoil.

I had a Win 70 in .375 H&H, and the barrel contour was just way to long and heavy. Rather than chop it, I got the Ruger instead and sent the Win down the road.

19 - 20" is perfect.
Had a sako. Carbine factory 18" once called an alaskan.
Sold it, never seen another.

the checkering on one is about 20 LPI and the other is 10-12 LPI. I think that is the only difference, but I like the coarse checkering because it's grippier.

it weighs nine and one half pounds ready to hunt. kind of porky IMO, but it is what it is.

and the scope is a Leupold 1.5-5 MK4. I like it on the .375, but recently had to rob it to put on an AR. need another.

if it was me, I would try 20. All I know for sure is that 24" is way more than needed. I think the 4inch will buy you a lot without any significant disadvantages.

I don't think I'd go shorter than 22" on a .375 H&H.

A Winchester Supergrade in .30-06 is 8.4 pounds. An 8.5-9 pound .375 doesn't seem unreasonable to me. How much weight will you really save by bobbing 2-4" of barrel, and how much muzzle blast will you get in return?

Does the rifle have an aluminum floorplate? If not I would start there.

My 20.5 isn't too blasty and is very handy in the thick stuff.

I have one in a HS Precision Sporter stock, but I re-chambered to 375 Weatherby and left the barrel at 24".
If you have to trim, I wouldn't go under 20", the noise will be bad shorter than this.
My rifle was very accurate in the factory stock, which I still have, but improved when fitted to the HS Precision, it is fully bedded around the action, and except for 2" of barrel, it is free floated.

Cheers.

If you go to the thread below, you'll see photos of my M70 Stainless Classic in .375 H&H that was cut down to 20" and pillar bedded in an Echols Legend Stock. There are some good pics of the stock and work done there as well.

Let's face it: The barrel contour used on the Classics for .375 H&H was an epic fail. However, this one balances and points very well, and it'll stack 260 grain Partitions on top of one another at 2,600 fps. It's now wearing a VX-6 1-6x24.

When the day comes that the barrel needs replacing, it'll get a slimmer contour, still finished at 20-21", with NECG banded irons on the front. It just shoots too damned good to mess with right now.


https://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/9037454/Re:_For_those_who_have_Echols_#Post9037454

C'mon, just cut it back to 16.25" and be done with it. You should also get one of those muzzle brakes that look like they just came off an old Panzer tank.

Ballance, to me, is of prime importance with a DG rifle and mine ended up looking a lot like yours.

With this series of NH Classics, the barrel contour is very heavy, too heavy at 24". I cut mine to 21" and am very pleased with the way it handles. I'd not want to go shorter, really don't have to, as optimal balance with this gun is at or around 21".

DF

I agree, those barrels shoot too good to discard.

You expressed my sentiments exactly. If I went with another barrel, it would have a lighter contour. That's one reason I stayed with the Tupperware. If I ever upgrade to an Echols Legend handle, I'd not want to hog it out to accommodate this fat barrel. If I ever upgrade the barrel, I may upgrade the stock. Actually the current combo isn't bad and is a LOT cheaper...

DF

Going with 20." Plan to lighten the tupperware and shorten it to 13 1/8" so I can shoot it with a pack and jacket on easier. Thanks for all of the feedback. Might even put a lighter stock on at some point. This got me from 21 to 20.

My Sako Brown Bear is 21 1/2" and I have no issue with its great balance. A guide I hunted with in AK cut his Kimber Talkeetna to 20" for "close work" in and around willows with clients.
Good luck, sounds like a good plan.

I still have powder burns on my back and shoulder from the guy who set his braked rifle up right next to me yesterday!

I had my stainless M-70 375 cut to 20" and turned down to the ftw contour and tired a number of stocks. the Echols/ McMillan is the easiest to shoot but I also like the McMillan M-70 ftw stock as it is half a pound lighter and slimmer.

I have a 20" Ruger 375R Alaskan, and a 23" 375R African, I find the 20" Hogue stocked rifle has less boot than the 23" wood stocked gun. Each has it's purpose, the African will likely go after Buff in the Bushveld and the Alaskan will go for another moose, with luck and serve for whitetail with cast bullets. Both are sub MOA with several loads.

I grew up w/a 20.5" HVA 243 and have all of my serious guns (other than my 340) cut to that length including my 375-06 imp. Handy and shoot well and not as noisy as shorter. My .375 Super Express was 25" and a nice rifle but too damn big (long), sold it for way more than I paid for it, an unusual occurance!-Muddy

I wouldn't cut it to less than 21 or have it longer than 23.

I no have idea what "short as practical" length is.

I picked up a SS Model 70 classic. It is going into an Echols Legend stock as soon as it returns from getting a new paint job and recoil pad.

I was going to have the smith cut the barrel to 22", but he talked me into waiting to see how the 24" barrel feels in the stock before making any modifications. It may stay 24" or go as short as 20".

I am not worried about weight as this is going to be my "big" gun and any extra weight will help mitigate recoil. But I do want the rifle to balance or be a touch muzzle heavy. That is what will decide the final length.

I am fortunate as my smith is only 10 miles away so it is easy for me to do some final checks before all the finishing touches are done.

I might copy this recipe.

That's a great, yet seldom mentioned stock. I have the fwt MCM stock on my 20.5" 9.3x62 built from a Classic Stainless M70. Makes for a very handy, trim, rifle. I can wrap my hand around the action and carry it all day.

Phil, who did you have do the barrel contouring work for you?

I had Dave Caboth, who used to work at Chimo's but has since moved on, do the work. Dave was, is (?) if he still works on guns , one of the most talented and most knowledgable builders in the industry.
I had been told by a number of other solid builders that sainless steel barrels were not safe to turn down for use in cold weather and Dave had data and figures from both barrel makers and industry reps refuting the common misconception about stainless steel.
Anyway, I love the way the rifle handles and shoots. And the fact that it holds 4 down, as opposed to 3 in the 375 Ruger.

I totally agree with you. I have an older Win 70 in 338WM cut to 19" and it is not a pleasant gun to shoot. It was originally owned by a bear guide in Alaska, that wanted a short light gun to carry. I also had quite a bit of trouble keeping the scope mount screws from shearing off. (Probably my fault over torqueing them) I had to silver solder the front sight to keep it on because the screw on the ramp could not handle the recoil.

I personally like about 23"-24" in my heavy magnums.

I do believe a factory barrel would have to be cut to 14" to balance right.

Back in the 1970-80s, the only way you could get a moderately priced LH .375 H&H was to go with a 700. That is what I did, designed a stock based on a Dale Goens design and used it in Africa. I put a 24" McGowan barrel on it. I was dissatisfied with the design and sent it to Butch Searcy who installed a Winchester Model 70 CRF extractor and ejector. I call it a Remchester. Now it works fine.

You can see it in my avatar.