Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Africa .375 H&H enough?

I currently have a CZ 550 in .375 that shoots well with 270 gr TSX's. I am headed to Zim for a Buff hunt next July. I may have a chance to go after Elephant as well. Do I have enough gun or should I be looking for a .416 or bigger? Thanks
Lee

Just find a solid ( Barnes Banded?) that it likes, practice a bunch, and take it..

Ingwe

375 H&H has worked for decades and will continue to do so. The TSX for Buff and flat point solid for Elephant

Sounds good. That's what I thought. 300 grainer or do I need to find some 350's?

For one elephant hunt, a 375H&H will fill in well. But it really is light for the task. 350's will make it better for both buff and eles according to those who have used 350's. You will loose some of the fantastic versatility of the 375H&H with the loss of velocity. Some shot on plains game in Zim you will want all the range the 300's or 270's offer, but not too many. If you second rifle is a flatter shooter, like a 30-06 with 180's or 165's or something similar, I would go with the 350's.

I use a 375H&H with 300's for my second, lighter rifle when I hunt eles because it is legal for eles or buff if the big bore has an issue and because it is the ultimate all 'rounder. On occasion, I have wished for a rifle with a bit flatter trajectory, but as I said, not too often.

Last I looked, factory choices for solids was limited. I load Woodleighs, which have been fine. I've tested them in dead ele heads and found penetration adequate for eles or anything.

JPK

The 375HH is just right for DG, anything bigger is "just in case" the Ph will be responsible for just in case.

The 375 will allow you to make two shots very fast which larger rifles usually will not. I've said for years now, and I'm not sure that anyone has provided an adequate contradictory opinion, the 375HH is the greatest level of power you can get for the investment in the recoil.

If you can shoot the 375 with pinpoint accuracy and then get off a quick second shot that would be by a huge margin better then a fair first shot and a very slow second shot for my hunters!

Thanks guys, I load my own so I can shoot whatever. I will be opportunistic on plains game and will likely only have the one gun. I am planning on shooting the 270 TSX's as my soft and am unsure on solids at the moment. I will likely only go for the Buff and PG but if things go really well then I may have an opportunity for the Ele. I think that I will be well prepared for Buff and PG with that combo and will take along some 350 Solids if the opportunity arises or use a camp gun. My partner is going for Ele with his .416 so I may be able to use it if he is finished early. Jim, I have been following your TSX threads so I feel comfortable with that as my primary round.
Lee

Speaking only for the PG portion of this adventure. Try the 270 Swift A frames as well. See how close they hit to the same POI. The 270TSX has more penetration then about any bullet I have seen on real game use, You know the meat bone and tissue tests of the real world, not paper, clay, water, dirt, and such.

On the smaller species the 270 A Frame will stagger things with a significant different visual, both will likely exit on smaller stuff. If they don't shoot the same then the TSX is still the best over all, just a thought about the Aframe, they still have their place. The 270 TSX for anything over 600-800lbs is the ticket, under that they are great too, but the 270S frames are sweet for visual impacts

You have a TERRIFIC rifle cartridge combo. Some of the biggest elephant bulls any of my clients ever took were slain with a 375 H&H and until I bought him a model 70 in .458 one of the best Elephant PH's I ever got to work with - a former elephant poacher who 'reformed' whilst in a Zimbabwe jail named Thembani Zulu used a 375 H&H as his primary DG rifle with great effect, as a PH.

270 TSX plus 300gr Barnes Monolithic banded solids are a great one two punch.

The 375 H&H, with a good solid, will actually out penetrate many of the larger bore classic Elephant cartridges and with its lower recoil most will place the bullet better with this round than they could with a larger bore rifle.

Which outfitter and or PH are you hunting with? I used to book hunts in Zim as well as hunt there every year and miss the place tremendously.

Thanks again. I'll work up some loads with a softer bullet than the TSX like the A-frame for some of the smaller stuff. That sounds like a good plan to me. We are going with Charlton McCallum. I have not gone after Buff before and I'm pretty excited about it.

I do not know Mr. McCallum, just be sure he is a Zim native. A few operators hunting there who are not supposed to be i.e. guys from RSA and other places.

Other than that, I predict a grand time for you. Do you know what part of Zim he hunts in?

McCallum is a well known and highly respected PH in Africa, you are in good hands.

I have used the .375 H&H on about everything but elephant, but I have seen it used on elephant a number of times and its a good minimum caliber for elephant IMO..Personally I much prefer the .416 or a big double for elephant, but the 375 will work with a proper solid well placed. An elephant is a huge animal capable of death and destruction and an awesome sight when he charges, I just feel so much better with a larger bore.:)

I'm with you Ray. THat's kind of what I was thinking when I asked the question but the more I think about it I am comfortable with what I have. I will use the camp gun or my partner's if Buzz thinks I need it otherwise I will go with what I already have. The odds of me even having the opportunity at Elephant are very small. I like the gun I currently have and it shoots well no need to mess with success. I am going to start shooting some more animals with it this fall though to gain some more familiarity with it.

I think we are hunitng out of the Makuti camp near the Zambia border. They have lots of areas and camps but I believe that is where we are going.

I know Buzz Charlton and Myles McCallum well. You will be in excellent hands with their outfit. Fine hunters and straight shooters too. I have met most of the PH's who hunt with them and they are all very good or better. I've shared a camp with Allen Shearing, and he is a nice fellow with a fine reputation as a PH.

I've hunted with Buzz, in fact have killed five eles with him. He is a great guy and excellent PH. I have also hunted with Rich Tabor, who now hunts for Buzz and Myles. With Rich, I have killed four buff and thirteen eles. Rich is also a great guy and ecellent PH. Either of these two would get my recomendation without hesitation. And, as I said, the other CMS PH's are top shelf, but I have not hunted with them.

If you are going to mix and match bullet weights, just make sure that your solids shoot to the same POI as your soft choice, at least out to about 50yds or so. Some, maybe most of the CMS PH's will want you to be using all solids for buff, btw. You ought to check with whoever your PH is and follow his lead on that issue.

CMS very recently landed the Chewore North {OOPS! Correction needed: Dande North) concession, you may be hunting there. If you are hunting Makuti, do yourself a huge favor and get as fit as you can, a lot of it is very steep. It is at the top of the escarpment and very rugged. I hunted there last November. Saw some buff, but we were after eles. Killed three tuskless and a nice ~40lb bull. BTW, Makuti is pretty open ground, since it out of the Zambezi Valley, there is little or no jess. It was one place where I would be comfortable hunting tuskless with a 375H&H.

On that topic, I would rather hunt bull elephant with a 375H&H than tuskless cows. You are considerably more likely to have trouble hunting the cows than the bulls.

Here are some photos of Makuti to spur your on for those winter workouts:
The concession ends not far below the brake of the hills in the background. In the distance is the Zambezi Valley floor. The floor here is part of Nyakasanga, which I hunted last May. PH Rich Tabor using the "Limbsaver."

Me using the "Limbsaver". You can see how steep the terrain is behind me.

A tuskless that we spotted from the far ridge. It took almost an hour of winding down and them back up to get to her.

Here the tip off is the footing. Lots of loose rock. When it is covered with dry grass it makes for very slippery and unsure footing. It had rained on this side of the concession, and you can see the results with the plants sprouting overnight.


JPK

JPK

I agree with everything you said about CMS with one exception. I believe the concession they recently landed is the Dande concession.

Looks awesome! I can't wait. I'll do my best to get in top shape. I try and workout pretty hard most of the off seasons and then I usually am working/hunting during the winter months. My hunt is in August so I should be ok as far as conditioning. My partner and Buzz have a deal working on the business side of things so I am going where they tell me. Not sure the exact concession but at one point I was told Makuti. Thanks for all the advice.
Lee

You are correct! OOPS, I was thinking of the concession north of Chewore and typed Chewore instead. I have hunted Chewore South four times, but have never hunted Dande.

Thanks for the correction,

JPK

JPK, care to share your load data for the 350 Woodleigh solid in the 375 H&H?

move up to the 416 rigby

Doclee,

I load the 300's. But here are a couple of links to data on the 350's, along with some reports from those who have used them:

http://forums.accuratereloading.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/4711043/m/755103854?r=217100064#217100064

http://forums.accuratereloading.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/4711043/m/87010687?r=29010687#29010687

http://forums.accuratereloading.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/4711043/m/552107441?r=884109441#884109441

Disclaimer: As with all loading data, start lower and work up, and use at your own risk!

Hope this helps,

JPK