Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Africa Need to buy a 375 for buffalo

Got my my 1st Cape Buffalo hunt booked for 2022.... yeah I know it's a ways out but I have to save up!

Now to get a dedicated buff rifle. I really wish I could use my .338 Win Mag. I have used that rifle for 17 yrs and I just can't imagine a properly placed 275 Swift A frame or 285 Barnes TSX would bounce off a Cape but it'a an excuse for a new gun.

Looking at a Kimber Talkeetna. What 375 you guys using for buffalo?

I'm a big fan of using the same model for everything. If you can get a 375 in the same model as your 338, that would be the bee's knees. Muscle memory and auto pilot are pretty handy tools.
Bfly

I've never hunted buffalo but my Ruger Alaskan in 375 Ruger shoots 250 grain Barnes TTSX very well. The 20" barrel is great for shooting in tight quarters. Good luck.

Winchester Alaskan.

Accurate, feeds and light enough you can carry it all day.

If interested-

I have a Ruger Hawkeye African, .375 Ruger, 23" barrel, stocked in a Mcmillan mag. fill McWoody pattern stock. I have used it to take a number of big and/or dangerous critters, all with great efficiency, using my handloads with both 270 gr. Barnes TSX and Barnes 250 gr. TTSX.

My buffalo/big cat/ large plains game hunting days are over, and I no longer need the rifle or ammo. Will sell, PM if there is any interest, we can talk.

Whitworth...great gun at a still reasonable price...

+1 on the Whitworth.

If you go over to Africa Hunting dot com, you will find a great deal on a SAKO in 375. There is also a NIB CZ for sale there. The CZ general need work, so you need to add in the cost of the work with that one. There is also a NIB Winchester M70 too.

PM sent

375 is the Minimum Caliber allowed. Look at a 416 if you plan on hunting more of The Big 5?

you've got some time to shop for a good rifle AND a good price, I booked a hunt and went a few months later, I went with a Ruger Hawkeye African in 375 Ruger (before the crappy muzzlebrake-whatever-the-hell-thingy got attached) shot excellent and was $500 to $1000 less than anything else(then available.)
reloading components and ammo were readily available at reasonable prices, brass bullets and performance were excellent.
if a factory readily available rifle is what your looking for, instead of a used or discontinued model, I would recommend the Ruger.

I used it on a Black and Blue wildebeast, Gemsbok, Warthog, two Kudu, and got to look down the sights at a trophy cape buffalo bull, would have pulled the trigger without feeling undergunned, just the price was a bit out of my league.
I loaded Nosler 260 gr partitions and everything fell in one shot to the Ruger .375- I would recommend it.

I know a very well respected and experienced PH from Zim. He actually preferred that his clients use a 338 Win with 250 Partitions for buffalo rather than a 375. He thinks his clients do better shooting with the 338. He thinks their results are just as good as if a 375 is used. He’s no slouch. He was named African PH of the year by SCI. He had a Dakota 338 he used as a loaner.

The 416’s thump buffalo harder but are much more difficult to shoot well. Precise shot placement is by far the most important thing. Many on this forum will tell you it is below “the minimum” allowed. They are just showing a lack of experience. There are lots of myths. If you are a paying hunter you can pretty much use what you want.

Ask your PH. Save the money.

I was in the same situation a few years ago. I bought a 375 Ruger here on the Campfire. It's a LH Ruger Hawkeye. I've used it on an AK grizzly & a cape buffalo this past summer. I used a 300 grain Nolser partitions on the buff. I would keep an eye in the classifieds. FYI- I added a slip on recoil pad over that thin Ruger red pad.

I'm thinking of relisting it. I doubt if I'll do another cape buffalo hunt. It will be for plains game when I head back over.

While I'm not a buffalo hunter.....my Model 70 is exactly the one I'd pick for the job....it's crf (if that's important) and pretty as all get out.....and since I'll never hunt those ugly beasts, it's for sale.....PM me if you're interested

My feelings also. I have a M70 375 for Africa. For the previous 6 months or so I hunt with that or another M70.

My .338 and all my other rifles are all Remington 700 based. I believe most PH's prefer the positive feed of a mauser based action. I'm OK straying into the dark side of control round feed.

A 338 would probably do the trick if you place well the shot. But even with a 375 we had to track wounded Buff for about a kilometer in that scrub land at 90 degree not much fun. Oh yeah shot placement. Well if there standing broadside in the middle of a field at 40 yds and you have 20 mins to make the shot. Each his own I guess.

Another thought is to build. What are good actions to use a s a base? Interarms Mark X ? Others? I assume finding a Model 70 action at a good price to build would be difficult.....For a Ruger 375 that uses a std action, correct? I could look for 30-06 or 270 for an action, correct? The 375 H&H I assume look for a mag like a 7mm, 300 Win?

I'm impressed by the Browning X-Bolt in 375 I recently bought. It has the walnut stock and iron sights. Very well done rifle. Recoil is stout though

Yes....one can build a .375 H&H and one could use a Mauser action.....even a VZ-24 but it requires a fair amount of work and definitely requires feed rail adjustments.....it can be expensive and not everyone can do it.....even a few smiths that say they can, cannot actually make these things feed well.....

If one really wants a Mauser action for the task, I would agree on the Whitworth.....but there are others such as the ones imported by Charles Daly (Zastava) and the Mark X that might be good donors for the task.....but find one originally made for the magnum actions.....
Finding a pre-64 Model 70 action for the job isn't easy but might turn out to be expensive....the later CRF models in magnum settings will work fairly well....the work required to convert a 7mm Mag to .375 H&H isn't extensive and not too difficult to do.....find one listed as a "classic" for the task.

One should decide in advance if CRF is a requirement....if it is so be it.....but if it's not, then Remington and Sako and Weatherby Vanguard are also fine options.....personally, I believe the CRF feature is way overblown and would not hesitate to use a push feed action for a .375 H&H

Mine is a Winchester classic originally chambered to .338 Win Mag....it works fine in .375 H&H but did require some modifications to the magazine box, and bolt stop...No work necessary to the bolt face or feed rails were required.

That said, building is chiefly for one that wants something he cannot buy....such as stock features, barrel twists, barrel contours, magazine capacity....and the list goes on and on....in the net result he probably won't do much better than to buy a new Winchester Alaskan and go hunting....most any build will take up to a year to complete depending on what you really want.....the new Winchester will be in your hands in a week or two....we all have different checkbooks and timelines....only you can decide.