Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Express Rifles and Big Bores Only Chopping the barrel on a 375HHme

Hello gentlemen,

I am sort of a rookie with the “big bores” I currently have one 375HH and another one on its way to me. My current rifle is a weatherby vanguard dangerous game rifle, it has a bell and Carlson stock, NECG iron sights and I recently installed a timney trigger, the way it’s set up now, it has Talley bases and quick release rings with a leupold vx3i 1.5-5x20 scope.

I’ve taken a grizzly with it as well as a nice caribou but I’d like to make the package a bit more compact for when I’m hunting in thicker brush and for when I’m cruising around on my snow machine or atv and going through areas with low branches.

The gun right now has a 24” barrel and what I’d like to do is hack of 4” and have the iron sight re-installed. This would basically complete the package and at that point, there’s nothing else I’d like to do to this rifle.

I see that ruger offered guns in 375 ruger with 20” barrels so it seems like this should be ok with the HH or am I missing something? Have any of you got a 20” 375 HH? Any compelling reason not to do it? It would also be nice to not need a new hardcase if I want to fly with this thing, it won’t fit in any of my current hard cases but would if I shortened the barrel.

Thank you!

Cut back my .375 Wby (ZKK602 Brno) a bit, for balance. Think what you want is a different, shorter barreled rifle.

Yea, it’s not so much for balance, just to have something that’s easier to maneuver through thick brush, right now then barre is 24”.

........................................I own a 375 Ruger Alaskan w/20" barrel. A sweetheart piece. I can understand why you wish to shorten it up. Other than some velocity loss which really wont matter on any game that you are going to hunt or issues of rifle (personal preference) balancing, I don't see any reason why you cannot or could not cut off 4" of barrel length.

A .358 would make a great bear/brush gun, no?
The blast from a 20" barrel and .375 H&H would be no fun at all!!

I would be tempted to hack saw off a little at a time and then test for blast and loudness. 22" should be no problem but I might stop at 21". Leave a quarter inch or so extra for final finishing and crowning by a gun smith. I have been getting a recessed target crown put on my barrels and it seems to direct noise away from the shooter better than a flat conventional crown. Also a barrel mounted sling swivel lowers the rifles muzzle for shoulder carry if it doesn't already have one.

I have a 20" Sako 375 (Mannlicher) that gives up essentially nothing to my previous 23" and 24" 375's. My current (and as far as foreseeable) load is a Barnes 300 TSX doing 2473 fps over 70.0 Re 15. As handy in the thick stuff up there (Alaska) as my 24" 450/400 Ruger No. 1.

Terry

I had the 24" barrel on my Talkeetna cut back to 21" and the front sight reset. I much prefer it in the brush to the longer version.

I think you would enjoy the shorter barrel. I use a 1.75-6 VX3 on mine. It seems to work better in dim light than the 1.5-5 FWIW.

Thanks guys, I think I’m going to move forward on this, I may go to 21” rather than all the way back to 20.

That's where mine balanced.

Cut my Win 70 .375 to 21" and it was a big improvement. Don't notice any more blast but I double up on hearing protection at the range these days.

Photos in this thread drove me to it...short 375's

16.25" provided you keep overall length within the rules; 37" I think, not sure though.

I have 375 Rugers with 20 and 23.5" barrels. I like the handiness of the 20" in tight quarters and on 4-wheelers and in Argo type vehicles. I also have a 416 Ruger with a 20" barrel, it is one of my favorite rifles. I am having a 375 H&H M70 stainless cut to 22". I have one in 416 Rem with a 22" barrel that I also really like. In the past, I have had a 21" 375 H&H and currently have a 20". I have no qualms with the shorter barrels.
I have not fired the 20" 375 H&H, but did shoot the 21" quiet a bit. I have been using the 20" 375 Ruger for several years as my moose rifle. I have a couple of 45-70's with 20" barrels also. I like the 20-22" lengths in the larger bores. The 22" is my default choice, if I am having a mental debate on the decision.

Majority of the AR-15's in 5.56 have 16" barrels almost all under 20", yet most bolt guns in same caliber are 22". You lose more velocity per inch in a small caliber that a larger caliber.

My choices in larger bore rifle barrels...50 B&M Super Short 16"...458 B&M 18"... 460 S&W 18"...460 Bushmaster 16" & 20"...375 Ruger 20"

I cut my MkV Alaskan 375 to 22" and loved it.

One of my "wish I hadn't sold that" rifles was a factory carbine Sako .375HH.

Check Paul Mathwes 60 years with rifles.. He was a great .375 man..

IMO, many .375 H&H's are too heavy. I got this SS New Haven Classic used on the Fire Classifieds, didn't like the weight and sluggish forward feel. I had it chopped to 21", got Karl Feldcamp to flute it. The balance is MUCH better.

With a round like the .375 H&H, losing a few inches of barrel doesn't seem to cost a lot of velocity; it's not a high speed round to start with.

I fine tuned the NH trigger to a crips 3#'s. NECG irons were added, included fiberoptic front with windowed hood. I got this scope used, a Victory 1.5-6x42, which ups the weight to nearly 9#'s. With a VX-3 1.5-5x20, it would be in the upper mid 8# range. Gun without glass and rings is 7# 15 oz. Some like really light big boomers; not me. This one handles lighter than it's scale weight and is about as light as I want.

BTW, I jerked the hot glue bedding out with plairs, drilled holes in the Tupperware to trap bedding, Steel Bedded the lug and forward action. It ain't going anywhere. I sorta like the Win Tupperware shape and feel, don't worry about scratching it...

Posted this before. Karl cut 5 instead of 6 flutes, had to dodge irons. Probably lost 5-6 oz., not counting 3" of a heavy barrel.

DF

Yeah, I would trim that barrel at least a couple of inches. Also, my limited experience with B&C stocks, was that they are not the handiest (no pun intended) nor the lightest. You might consider another to trim some more ounces between your hands.

I’ve hunted with a 340 Wby and a 375 H&H for years and found that no more than 8.5lbs total for either suited me very well with the choice of the stock being very important to mitigate the recoil. Set up right neither is abusive IMO.

DF’s is a beaut though I’d like it about a half pound lighter.

It’s tough to argue against a 21”, 8.25 to 8.5lb 375 (H&H or Ruger) for all of Canada to AK.

I'd have to rebarrel to go any lighter. And, these New Haven barrels shoot too well to discard.

This is what it did with the 235 CEB Raptor. Of course, I'll have to adjust the scope. But I'm not sure a high priced custom barrel would beat that. And, it's a three shot, not a 5 or 10 shot group, etc. etc. Nevertheless, it's a good shooting barrel. Off the bench, I'm not into long strings of shooting with a big boomer. I do have a standing bench, but this gun isn't bad enough to set it up, maybe with a 10 shot group...

DF