lance1,
Welcome to the Campfire!
I see you've also been "welcomed" by some other members, with some already giving you grief. That's the way this site can work sometimes, unfortunately.
I had a No. 1 .375 H&H for several years and along with some hunting here in Montana took it on two African safaris, one just for plains game and the other including Cape buffalo. I left the factory recoil pad on, and never found it kicked all that bad. The load I used on the plains game safari was a 260-grain Nosler at 2700 fps, and on the other safari three different 300-grain bullets at 2600 fps, both fairly stout.
I suspect the fit of the No. 1's stock to individual shooters has more effect on felt recoil than anything else. On the first safari I used a Leupold 1.75-6x scope, and the rifle's weight with scope was over 9 pounds. On the second safari I used an New England Custom Guns receiver sight and the rifle only weighed 8-1/4 pounds. I couldn't feel any practical difference in recoil, perhaps because the No. 1's buttstock is actually a better fit with iron sights, with most shooters better able to get their cheek down on the stock.
I kind of regret selling that rifle, but another Campfire member, GuyM, eventually ended up with it and likes it a lot. he's only used it for local hunting in Washington so far, I believe, but there's no reason not to use the .375 for all-around big game hunting, especially if you handload. One of the loads I used here was the 220-grain Hornady flat-nose designed for the .38-55 Winchester at about 2000 fps. It worked great on everything from prairie dogs to deer, and hardly kicked at all. A 225-235 grain spitzer at 2900-3000 would be a fine load for almost any North American hunting, with a trajectory very similar to the .270 with a 150-grain bullet. The trajectories of the conventional 270 and 300-grain bullets are more like the .30-06 with 180-200 grain bullets.
