I bought that rifle new in 2001, at Capital Sports in Helena, MT. Used it on two safaris, the first one a 2002 cull hunt in South Africa, where like Guy I also brought a .30-06. It was a good thing I brought two rifles, because the guy who helped set up the hunt, the late Chub Eastman, had his rifle fail to get to Africa, due to a foul-up at the airport in Washington, D.C.--but we still expected it to show up any day.
I used the .375 during the first part of the hunt, because one of the points of the trip was to field-test Nosler's then-new 260-grain Ballistic Tip--which like the 200-grain .338 Ballistic Tip they'd introduced a decade earlier, had a VERY heavy jacket. The 260 BT got thoroughly tested on animals from springbok to the two biggest-bodied gemsbok I've seen taken anywhere. I killed the first when a herd of five showed up on a ridgetop 200 yards away. The PH with me was Mike Birch, if I recall correctly on his first safari, as an assistant PH for Kevin Thomas. Mike told me which bull he thought was biggest, and the bullet landed in the crease behind the shoulder at around 200 yards. The gemsbok trotted briefly in a 30-foot circle, and keeled over.
While we were taking the trophy photos, another of the hunters on the trip showed up--a friend of Chub's from Oregon. The scope on his rifle had gone screwy, and while we were taking photos the four remaining gemsbok came by again. I handed the guy the .375, and he killed the next biggest bull, basically with the same shot and results, though his bullet also broke a shoulder. Both bullets exited. Also killed several springbok with it, one facing me at around 10 yards, and the bullet exited it's rump.
Chub's rifle never did show up (turned out it was stuck at the Joberg airport, and eventually it showed up back in the U.S. a month or so later). So I switched to my .30-06 for the rest of the safari, and Chub used the .375. The next year Nosler introduced their AccuBonds, turning the 260-grain Ballistic Tip into one--and it worked even better--though I had no complaints....
I also took the .375 No. 1 to Botswana's Okavango Delta in 2003, but instead of a scope used a New England Gun Company aperture rear sight with the factory front bead. Also took my .416 Rigby CZ 550, planning to use it on a Cape buffalo, and the .375 on plains game. But when I got a chance at a good bull, shadows made shooting with the open express sights in the .416 iffy, so I shot the bull with the .375 and a 300-grain Combined Technology Fail Safe--which exited, leaving a hole the size of my fist. But we'd made sure there were no other buffalo behind it! (That was my first shot ever at a Cape buffalo, and the .375 impressed me considerably.) Also took several head of plains game, including a kudu bull, at ranges out to 225 yards with the .375 and 300-grain Partitions, which of course worked well.
I decided to sell the rifle after that (I had another .375 H&H) so took it back to Capital Sports. The person who bought it there was who Guy bought it from. Guy and and I started corresponding, and on his way to a hunt in Wyoming he spent a night with me and Eileen at our house. We had a great time, we hope to do it again sometime. It's also been fun corresponding with him about his first safari!
Also kept in touch with Mike Birch, who eventually started his own safari business, and in 2007 I went on a month-long cull safari on a huge ranch he was managing near Kimberley in the Northern Cape. He hooked up with Guy Miner at some sort of hunting show in the U.S. and eventually Guy caved in and booked his upcoming trip.
