Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters 378 Weatherby

Gentlemen,

I have an opportunity to purchase an older Japanese made 378 in the safari model. It’s a very nice rifle that has seen little use ( not a big surprise) and the price is right.
Now I need another .375 like I need a hole in the head, but hey, it’s a rifle looney thing!! It has a 24” barrel and my question is how much am I realistically going to loose in terms of velocity
over a 26” barrel with this cartridge? It has open sights, very nice wood with a nice satin finish etc. etc. and handles very well. Full disclosure, I had a 378 in an American made Deluxe but ended up selling it.
This is a rifle that I could see actually taking out in the field.

What to do ? LOL

Thanks,
Sheep

Have you shot a 378? Its a demon. Slugs blow up its a horror. Now i find the Safari grade Weatherby MarkV to be beautiful. If I could find one in 375H&H or 458 Win mag.

I don't think you have to worry much about it losing too much steam.

Zengela,

Yes, as per my orginal post , I owned an American made Deluxe for a number of years. It's "frisky" off the bench, but then I also shoot a 577NE so my brains have already been scrambled lol

With good modern bullets like the TSX or similar I'm not concerned about bullet blow.I also really like the look of the Safari Grade.

My main thing is am I wasting my time with the shorter barrel?

I believe You are. Critters that would be DRT with the 26, will simply laugh and walk away with the 24.

Probably 80-100 fps difference...not huge. If you're talking about the Safari Custom, with quarter rib, fleuer de lis ribbon checkering, and great wood, that's a beautiful gun. Did someone cut the brake off? I don't know if I've seen a 378 without a 26" barrel. They are custom rifles, so perhaps someone ordered it that way?

Max loss about 60-75 fps 26" to 24".

You can load it down to lessen the sting. The one I shot was more of a hand full than a 470 double.

Thank you for the reply Biebs.

You are describing the gun to a tee. I've not seen a factory Weatherby in 378 with a 24" barrel..so that made me wonder as well. As best as I can tell , it came from the factory that way. The amazing thing is the gun points like a good bird gun and the open sights line up perfectly. I realize the velocity loss is really not that big a deal, but when I look at it, I will end up with something only moderately faster than a 375 Weatherby. Not that there's anything wrong with that lol
.

Thanks RinB

I've only owned the 1 378 , but have played with a number of Weatherbys from 257 to 340. The 340 is my favorite and I combined it with a 375 H&H for years as my main hunting rifles.
I graduated from the Elmer school of ballistics ha-ha. It seems from what I've heard that the 378 can be loaded to various levels .i.e 375 H & H up to full steam loads with relative ease.
My experience with the smaller ones is that they dont' like to be down loaded that much. I'm really more a classic Pre 64 / Mauser guy , but I have to say this one has me intrigued. You know how some rifles just begged to be taken afield!!

^^^^This^^^^

Sheepjunkie,I load my .460 Wby down to .458 Lott levels and it is much easier on the shoulder and bench.

Shot this about two or three months ago.

95.0 grains Var-Get,Fed 215 Mag primer and 500 grain Hornady DGX. The average was just over 2300 fps.

I don't think the 2" matters much. I have killed elephant, lion, buffalo, and hippo with an ordinary .375 H&H using 300 grain bullets at 2500 fps. It kills like the hammer of Thor. One solid penetrated the entire chest of a large bull elephant, being found under the skin on the other side. I would rather have an extra round in the magazine than put up with more recoil.

sheepjunkie,

You're nuts, but that's the basic affliction of any rifle loony.

Have fun!

Thanks for the replies guys. Yes, I'm definitely a loony and proud of it!!


Sheep,

Mike378 is the .378 Weatherby Guru.
He has owned more and knows more about the cartridge that anyone you will ever know.

John

Thank you for the reply AussieGunWriter.

I bought the rifle. I may be wrong, but I think the thing was not even fired by the original owner. It has a couple of faint handling marks and you literally need a magnifying glass to see them

The plan is to see how it shoots and try to get one of the following to group well.

Barnes 250 TTSX
270 TSX
Nolser 260 AB
260 Part.

I’m sure one of them will work out.

Will probably try IMR 4350 or a similar medium burning powder and try to get around 3000 fps.My old load was 112 grains of RL22 and with a 270 Hornady I was getting approx. 3100 from a 26” barrel and I had room to go up a bit.

Aliant's data lists 2900 + with a 300 gr. bullet based on a 24” barrel,so don’t think the shorter barrel will make much difference.

I can tell you the handling is amazing. That was part of the reason I sold my old one as it just didn't feel right to me. This one will be taken hunting for sure!

Gorgeous rifle and I think even most Weatherby haters would have a hard time not liking it, but I may be wrong lol

Hope Mike378 sees the thread and maybe he can provide some input as well

Thanks again guys for the replies.
Sheep

I would be highly surprised if this wasn't absolute gospel. From 18" on out centerfire rifles loose +/- 30 fps/inch. Straightwall cases seem to be closer to 25 fps/inch, middle of the road bottleneck rounds 30 fps/inch and the higher intensity rounds about 40 fps/inch.

I have heard of several people loading the 378 down for better bullet performance. The same with Sayed's favorite from the accurate reloading site for his 375/404. This makes sense for soft points designed for the 375. If you had to name the ultimate cartridge for Lion I think the 378 would get more than a few votes. With the newer VLD bullets many are doing good work on longer range elk. Me I am a woosie and the .375 if just right for me.

With the 378 there is never a question of having enough horse power except for charging elephant where your 577 will really shine.

Have fun and don't let your retnas get detached.

I think it would make a pretty good Elk/Moose/Bear cartridge as well lol The intent of my original question was not so much if it has the horse power, but really what I could expect to loose
by going with the shorter barrel. I have a Powley Computer ( old school slide rule) which does a not bad job of figuring those things out. Based on the expansion ratio etc. it figured approx 30 fps per inch of barrel , which seems about right from the feedback. I really have no intention to hotrod it and would be happy with around 2900 -3000 fps with a mid weight bullet...give or take.
That would allow a bullet like the 260 part. or Barnes 270 TSX with a lower B.C. to expand out to a fair distance.
I've followed Saeed's adventures with his 375/404 with great interest. At heart I still love the 375 H&H and have not been without one for at least 25 years. Because my model 70 likes heavy bullets like the 300 NP, I added a 340W for more open country shooting. The two of them make a nice combo when one spends a lot of time alone in grizzly country.

As far as the 577 goes, no detached retinas yet , but after a dozen or so full power rounds of the bench the fun factor is done. Offhand, I've done around 18 or so (750 grain) at a time
and I also have a lighter 650 grain bullet with 100 grains of Varget that is a much more pleasant to shoot. The double weighs a bit over 13 pounds so that helps as well.

BTW, I do shoot a 270 ( Not sure if that makes me gay? ) along with a number of other small bores LOL

I shot a 378 once. Tried like he'll to get the chief consign off on it as a road block gun.