ITS noticeable!
(below Im reposting an old post)
most of my friends say the 375 wby kicks like a mule, but its potentially possible to shoot it ,if your partly insane.
but the joke about the 378wby I built among my friends is it recoils so bad its instantly slapped your shoulder back 10" before your can even flinch! and only a certified masochist would shoot it twice.
have you ever built a custom rifle , made to exactly your dream specs only to find its not exactly what you thought it might be?if you've got a good job where you can afford to blow some cash on toys and your into heavy caliber rifles...well I had a dream of building the ultimate elk hammering rifle back several years ago.., so I decided to build exactly what I wanted...
, I ordered a spare fibermark weatherby synthetic stock for my 340 wby rifle and a 378 wby barreled action, and after doing some rather extensive bedding, modifications, because of the additional forward recoil lug on the 378wby barreled action, and strengthening the stock work with two large pillar bed inserts and drilling the stock wrist area from the butt too the rear of the action so I could insert custom bent section of 5/8" thread rod coated with a great deal of epoxy bedding compound to both add a bit of weight and rigidity to the stock, and adding two 1/4" thread rod sections to the forearm area with a good deal more bedding compound behind the forward barrel mount, recoil lug to the bedding in the stocks forward in-letting and modifying it to fit the extra recoil lug the 378 wby action has, plus two cross bolts epoxied into the stock , one on both ends of the action bedding ,and adding a 2.5x Leopold scope, and a thick recoil pad I had one really powerful rifle that weighted about 9.25 lbs .
the rifles a bit heavy, at about 10 lbs plus with the scope, but you really appreciate the weight as any lighter would just make the recoil even more noticeable.
Ive easily got about $1900 in this rifle,(in 1990 dollars) before the scope or scope mounts, bi-pod or sling were added. but thats a screaming bargain compared to the $3000 weatherby wanted for a similar custom synthetic stocked, and bedded, 378 wby when I inquired at that time.
Now its both extremely accurate ( 1"-1.2" 3 shot groups off the bench at 100 yards are common) and...yes it kicks like a mule,...felt recoil exceeds my 458 mag,by a noticeable amount. but if you absolutely want to knock an elk or any other large game silly at long rang,this tends to get their attention!
theres absolutely no need for this level of power to be used on ELK or MOOSE, but if your into powerful long range rifles its both impressive and very effective.
its one of those times where you get almost too much of a good thing, it absolutely hammers elk with hornady 300 grain boat tail bullets, loaded to 2900fps !!
it can push a 270 grain to 3100fps.
yes it shoots really flat, and it punches thru the 1/4" steel gong at 500 yards at one local range so I can,t shot at that any longer.
if your willing to accept the harder recoil levels a 378 wby has and use top quality bullets and practice a good deal with the rifle,you can just about ignore problems involving lack of penetration, or excessive drop, at anything approaching reasonable ranges, that may be an issue with lesser calibers, now you still need to precisely place your shots,and know your rifles trajectory, but busting thru an ELKs shoulder is hardly going to slow a 378 WBYs 300 grain bullet. enough to destroy the projectiles effectiveness..
Its also not a rifle your going to shoot from the prone position without getting the recoil levels far up past the comfort levels or point you'll want to do that more than absolutely necessary. ]firing from a sitting or standing position's not too bad with a sling, being properly used , but you'll darn sure know when its gone off!
I doubt you'll fire more than 10-12 shots before your shoulder starts to bruise,and your common sense tells you to stop shooting!
but when your hunting its a non-issue because you'll seldom fire more than once or twice.
its also the reason you'll occasionally see barely used 378 wby,416 wby and 460 wby rifles for sale at decent prices that have been barely used.you can fire a 300grain bullet at about 2870-2900fps,very easily,with zero pressure indications and long brass life, making enough energy to hunt African dangerous game and it shoots almost as flat as a 7mm mag for most of 500 yards
if your used to absorbing heavier recoil, the 378 wby makes an impressive , and expensive tool, but Ive found the 250 grain bullets in a 340 wby do everything you can reasonably expect from an ELK rifle with less recoil.[/color]
for anyone whose interested, the 378 wby kicks like a mule and works great as an ELK rifle, but its not proven to be any more effective than my 340 wby, so I only hunt elk with it when I get the odd masochistic urge to let it beat me half silly.
if you play with a recoil calculator a 375 h&h will generally have about 35-40 ft lbs of recoil, the 378 wby closer to 56-58 ft lbs, but MUCH FASTER![[Linked Image]](http://www.grumpysperformance.com/markv_fibermark.jpg)
http://www.loaddata.com/members/search_detail.cfm?MetallicID=4180http://www.norma.cc/content.asp?Typ...=Calibers&Title=378+Weatherby+Magnumhttp://www.chuckhawks.com/378weatherby.htm378 Weatherby Magnum
In 1952, Roy Weatherby designed this cartridge. He began with the 416 Rigby case, added a "magnum" belt and his patent "double-radius" shoulder, and necked the case to accept 0.375-inch bullets. In order to assure ignition of powder charges exceeding 100 grains, he asked Federal to develop a new primer. The result was the Federal 215 "Magnum" primer, now familiar to handloaders. Weatherby personally field-tested his 378 during an African Safari in 1953. He used the, then new, Schultz & Larsen rifle, especially developed to his specifications. During that hunt, he took a bull elephant with one shot. With best loads, the 378 Weatherby exceeds 375 H&H performance by fully 300 fps. With pointed, efficient bullets, trajectory is similar to best 270 Winchester loads; hence, the 378 can deliver staggering doses of energy to targets at extreme ranges. For example,
it can deliver more energy at 500 yards than the 30-06 develops at the muzzle! Such performance has a price – heavy recoil. Few shooters will ever learn to handle the recoil generated by this chambering in a rifle of normal weight. Addition of a muzzle brake is practically a necessity for most shooters. As with any other such chambering, hunters are well advised to consider using only bullets of best possible construction, to assure adequate weight retention so that penetration will not be compromised significantly, should the bullet happen to strike heavy bone going in. Obviously, this cartridge is more powerful than necessary, except for hunting in Africa.
