What do you like and why

I have fiddled with a number of the 375 H&H, the Wby, and the AI versions. The barrels have been as short as 20.75 and as long as 25"(pre-64). I really liked the 21 and 22 versions. I got to handle John Jobson's 23" Biesen and it was very nice. There is no appreciable velocity difference. I am having one built and it will be 22.

375's need to be heavier than 30's or 338's. I think a heavier rifle that is a litle shorter is easier to tote in rough country.

My 375 Ruger has a 23" bbl. Just perfect IMO

i have/had .375s from 20"-26" and i like 'em 20"-23", or as short as i can go and still make the rifle balance ok

Great question... I have Pre-War Model 70 .375HH that started out with a 24" heavy barrel. Someone cut the barrel to 20". Been debating about what to do with it.

i'd take it hunting and not look back...

23".......cuz it's poifect!

Given a choice, I`d take the 22"....

A 2" barrel reduction won`t make any difference in killing power given the same distances on any game one could hunt with a 375 H&H. So why not carry around a shorter rifle.

My 20" tubed 375 Ruger Alaskan, is a very fast and handy piece. A 22" barreled 375 H&H, would almost be the same.

I suppose a longer barreled 375 could be handy for situations where the OA length of the rifle didn't matter too much and/or the shooting situations were very careful and deliberate, perhaps in some kind of sniping. But for much stuff here in the north, I don't see any advantage to keeping the 24" length the M70 has. 20-22 inches is plenty.

I have an ol' pre-64 Model 70 that I have carried all over NA hunting the great bears..the 25 inch bbl has never been a problem even in the thick alders and etc of Kodiak and Coastal BC...but then I like to keep the ol' Model 70s original ..

ou76,

did you do all your bear hunting with that one rifle?

Been meaning to ask that.

On barrel length...

I do not have a .375 H&H, but ma 9,3x64 has a 22" barrel.

Not all...14 with my 375...3 Black Bears with Pre-64 M 70 30-06...24 inch bbl..Grizzly with 300 Wby MV 24 inch bbl and Grizzly with pre-64 M70 338 with 25 inch bbl...

23 for me as well, and I'd like it to be .65" at the mzl and the stock to weigh no more than 28 oz's. No sights, Talley's and a 6x36 Leo w/dotz!

R15 or H4350 and one of the new 250 TTSX and go forth and fill up the arks!

Dober

That'll work!

My current 375 is 22". I requested 21", but the smith forgot.

I would not have one over 22" on a gun that I planned on keeping. The handling advantage with the shorter bbl FAR outweighs any small increase in velocity with a long bbl.

.

Thanks for the input guys, I was looking at a 1948 model 70 that had the barrel chopped to 22", it was a nice looking rifle, but I already have a 9.3x62 on a pre 64 action with a #4 shilen @23", with a 3x leupy and rimrock stock it weighs 8 1/4 lbs, and is pretty comfy to shoot.

Dober - "go forth and fill up the arks!" assumes the critters are still alive alive. I'm sure you intended to say "fill-up your freezer's". Yes?
Homesteader.

My 8# 375 has a 24" tube...brown bear don't like it....

I suspect that how a particular .375 balances for YOU (and not somebody else) is the real question.

My customized Mark X has a 22" barrel (my choice) and feels right to me. When I hunted a lot with a Ruger No. 1 .375 H&H it had a 24" barrel, which felt exactly right in a single-shot. Both killed all sorts of stuff, with no difference in degree of dead that I could see.

Bob...knowing how you load those 250 BBCs I doubt if anything in NA will like your 375!! Personally, I like the 24/25 inch bbls...

I have one that I bought used, it started life as a 30" target taper. that barrel was trimmed back to 24", it was still silly heavy, I spun itdown to .68" at the muzzle and it is quite nice now. it is on the do not sell list.

JB/OU:On one trip to Alaska I got to goof around with one of those little Sako's with the full length stocks in 375H&H. I used it to peck at boulders off hand with 300 gr factory stuff...and it was fun.

That little rifle got a 2.5X Kahles to snap its' reticle; I liked recoil more then than I do now......

I always thought that the "light weight" 375 guys like Jobson had built by Al Biesen were great sounding rifles....he would have Biesen cut the barrel to 23",turn down to a lighter contour,and pimp it out in French walnut...back then I guess they were light rifles, I guess about exactly like a Ruger African hawkeye,which is a sweet rifle.

Today nice handling 375's are pretty common, and I have found that even a pre 64 with that 25" barrel just hangs on a target like it's nailed there,and is a very easy to hit with offhand,...

I had a stainless model 70 shortened from 24 to 22 inches and added some nice necg sights. To me the balance of the rifle is improved and I only saw a 25 fps decrease in velocity.

My 375 has a 25 inch barrel. I like it very much, as is. It's a Sako Model 85 Stainless Synthetic that weighed 7lbs, naked in the box.

I live and hunt in B.C., where there is lot's of real thick country.

I own and shoot rifles with barrels that have ranged from about 20 inches all the way up to 30.

I think worrying about an inch, or two, or even four, really is much concern about very little. I prefer mine to average around 24 inches, as I appreciate having the muzzle blast that little bit further from my ears.

I carry mine with a front-mounted sling, and by doing so - don't worry about a few inches either way on the length of the rifle.

Agreed!

Whats good for one man isn't always good for another.Opinions are like................Find out yourself...

Most Men can pack a 9# rifle around all day and don't whine about 16 ounces but they fill there backpacks with garbage food and don't think twice about it...

Just an opinion!!!

Jayco

?????????

Toad

It's all about the weight to some then comes 1-2 or 3 inches in barrel length, and it's not an acceptable rifle.

I want to know how 16 ounces makes any difference in rifle weight when some choose to load up with other things weighing far more?

My 24" Winchester works just fine for me at 9 pounds...And I am old,just not a whiner.

Jayco

no, it's not all about the weight. balance/handling trump all IMO.

my M70 weighs 9# 14 oz. ready to hunt, AFTER i cut the barrel back to 21". have yet to miss those 3", either on my shoulder or at the intersection of bullet and fur.

Right!

.

So those of you running these rifles with iron sights, what mounts/scope are you using? and do you end up seeing the front sight through your scope?

With a low powered scope you will see the end of the bbl and the sights. After a bit you'll get used to it and ignore it.

.

What SuperCub said.

My H&H has a 22" barrel and the brownies haven't noticed any differance since I had it cut down from 24".

After owning two, I thought 23" was about right. However, I added a .375 Ruger Alaskan, and the 20" barrel feels right. Shoulders, balances, and points beautifully.

Your right,of course and each and everyone of us are built different and our needs also, are different.Finding a stock firearm that fits both in summer/spring type conditions and clothes worn, don't always work in fall and winter conditions with extra layers.

What works for my 6'4" long armed son,isn't ideal for me..

Jayco

Toad: have you chronographed your loads before and after the barrel cut down? jorge

jorge, no i did not. several things with that, first was that there was a muzzle brake machined into the end of the barrel, and it is punched AI. i just took a wild guess as to how short i could go and still equal/exceed plain 'ol .375 H&H/24"barrel speeds.

thanks for the quick response. Both my 375s have 24" barrels and with this caliber, barrel length should not be that critical. jorge

Got a funny feeling that in a confrontation with a dangerous animal,a guy could whip a barrel long as a vaulting pole into instant action with lightning dexterity....that's if he has any reactions at all....

And after it was over he'd never pay attention to 2" of barrel, more or less,again.....

Probably why Finn Aaggard used a factory 25" tube on his favorite 375H&H to slay unruly animals.

I used to like a 24" bbl till I got one shorter. Never again with a 24", but then it largely depends on the type of hunting one does and where.

I think Ruger nailed it with their Alaskan format for NA hunting.

.

pretty sure Ray Atkinson speaks on behalf of 26 inch barrelled 375s and 9.3s both in timber and in more open country.

true...but my love for the shorter tubes doesn't come from the 'moment of truth', as much as the weeks of doin' nothing but getting carried around the mountains waiting for the moment of truth.

'n if we look for a pattern to follow, how 'bout Phil Shoemaker's working guns? i remember a short .458 that looked pretty well used

22" 458 I do believe....

My view is "mine" and one size does not fit all

That's the bottom line right there.Bob...

To many want to push there size on the rest...

Jayco

so, a discussion about the merits of various barrel lengths doesn't belong in a thread titled ".375 H&H 22" vs 24" barrel"?

to the op the difference will be about 100 fps . You or the game will never notice the difference.

Actually.....the difference was 65 fps. When I had my .375 Interarms Whitworth cut back to 22" from 24", 65 fps was the velocity loss with the 300gr Nosler Partition behind WW-760. Happily, I noted zero accuracy loss.....still under 1 inch.