I never realized the absolute versatility to the .375HH. Unless there is Buffalo or Elephant being hunted, a one rifle safari for me, from now on.
Steve
I would not exclude the .375 from elephant and buffalo. My .458 had an aneurism right before my last safari so I only took my .375. 300 grain soft points and 300 grain flat point solids. I took elephant, buffalo, hippo, and lion with it, plus plains game down to impala. The elephant was a very large bull. The solid entered the shoulder and was found under the skin on the off side. The buffalo dropped in its tracks, though I had luckily hit the spine. The hippo was a head shot. The lion was shot in the top of the heart and the bullet broke the elbow on the way out. I don't think a 30-06 would have done any worse.
Based on this I would take a .375--and only a .375--on any future hunt for large dangerous game. My theory is that you kill an elephant with penetration, not tissue damage, and a 13-foot tall animal is not going to be too impressed if your bullet is 0.08 inches wider or narrower. On an earlier safari I killed the same three large species with a .458 and, while my experience is somewhat limited, the .458 seemed to do no better and no worse.
The .375 is extremely versatile. If you have a .375 and a .300 Wby, you are set for any game of deer or larger size anywhere in the world. The .300 Wby. is legal for lion in Zimbabwe. If I ever get a chance, I would like to shoot one with the .300. I've shot 15 or 16 animals with the .300 and 180 grain Partitions at 3200 fps and every one I hit died with one shot. Every bullet exited except for a raking shot on Wildebeeste and a headshot on a large croc.
Concerning the "hydrostatic shock" debate, it is a fact that the nervous system of cats is more sensitive to this than that of herbivores. Nearly all PHs agree with this, with some believing one needs an impact velocity of 2500 fps or higher. Do not confuse this with some of the wild claims of 50 or 60 years ago, such as the one where a buffalo was shot in the ham with a .257 Weatherby and instantly fell down dead, the theory being that shock was transmitted to the vitals. Roy Weatherby was the hunter in that case, and wrote that anyone going on an Alaska brown bear hunt should use an 87 grain bullet at 4000 fps.
The FBI has studied shock against humans. There is more hard data on what kills humans than there is about animals, which latter is mostly anecdotal. The FBI concluded that any bullet which meets their penetration test, whether 9mm, .40, or .45 ACP, kills by loss of blood only unless the CNS is hit. Therefore it does not matter whether you shoot a 9mm or a .45 ACP, provided you use the proper bullets. However they also concluded that shock is a factor against humans if the bullet impacts at more than 2000 fps.
