Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Africa Kimber Caprivi

Found Ron Spoomer's video on the Kimber Caprivi in 375 H&H.

Made me think - not much mention I remember of the Caprivi or its Alaskan cousin, the Talkeetna.

What's the general thought?
Compare to a M70 build or Ruger in 375 Ruger?

Academic question, I'm not shopping (do believe I'll own a 375 some day), just learning.

Thoughts??

I have no experience with either of the 375H&H Kimbers so can’t comment on them,

However. I have shot both of the Ruger Hawkeyes - African and Alaskan - in 375 Ruger, quite a bit. They are reliable and accurate. I prefer the African because it balances better for me and produces a bit more muzzle velocity.

My current 375 is a transitional Pre-64 Win M-70 in 375H&H. This is my favorite 375. It balances very well with the 25” barrel. The action is silky smooth, feeding with both FP solids and spitzers is infallible, the trigger works perfectly, and it shoots sub MOA to 300 yds, which is as far I’ve shot paper with it. On game it’s definitive.

As you can see my strong bias is for the M-70 in 375.

I had a Caprivi .375 for a short time. I liked the looks of it but it didn't balance well for me. I have a 1965 Browning FN Safari .375 I like much better.

I am a Model 70 fan, but it is for the Classics or Pre-64 with the KISS trigger system.

After that, I would pick the rifle that feels and fits the best. Be it a Kimber, New model 70, Ruger etc.

I have one in .375 H&H and IMO opinion it is wonderfully put together. It has a beautiful piece of lumber that is pillar and glass bedded and a red pachmeyer. The bolt rides like glass and it cycles cartridges perfectly. It really likes a load that I put together with RL17 and a 270 TSX.

I'm headed to Botswana in a couple months looking for plains game up to eland. I'm debating between taking the Caprivi or my trusty Model 70 '06. Decisions decisions. The Caprivi may go on the market for more trophy fee funds!!

Thanks for the info.

As I said - academic exercise. I'll likely never hunt Africa, just too much I want to do in the US first

Curious - street price of one of these?

I agree with you on the pre 64 model 70. Excellent rifles. I just sold a 1949 that was re-chambered to 375 weatherby. Even though it was rechambered, it held its value very well. I also know where I can buy a beautiful Kimber 375 H&H locally for $1,100.00. The wood on it is way above anything I've seen on a Kimber rifle. However, I once heard from one of the gunwriters that if he were going to africa and had to trust a rifle with his life, it would be a Pre 64 model 70, not a Kimber...

Load that 06 up with 200gr Nosler partitions..and slay beasts with it..

I've heard very good reports about the Talkeetna, if you want a svelte carrying rifle.

The Ruger Alaskan seems to be very popular there also.

The PH I hunt with in Namibia (5X) swears by his Ruger Hawkeye Alaskan in .375 Ruger.

It's the Eland that gives me pause on the '06. That and the Caprivi sure would look nice in the pictures! My '06 load is a 168 TTSX Barnes that I've used a few times in Africa. I'm sure it will do good things if i shoot straight.

Sportsmans Guide has CZ 550s in .375 for about a grand. Worth a look. On those, the groove in the bolt for the extractor is undercut just like a 98. That forces the claw into the groove in the case. A minor point, maybe, but still a point.

A friend and his dad have 375 H&H and 458 Lott Kimbers, the Lott is the walnut stocked rifle, the 375 wears a synthetic stock, I don't remember their company names, but do remember I had no trouble working up loads for both for those guys to hunt Alaska and Africa, I used 270gr TSX and 300gr Barnes banded solids in the 375, and 450gr TSX and 500gr Barnes banded solids in the Lott.

Both rifles fed the flat nosed solids with ease, functioned, shot and acted the way a rifle should, I would have no problems hunting anything anywhere in the world with either rifle, I will say that Lott booted a little at 2300 and 2350 fps, the Dad finally got to old and wanted to sell me the Lott a few years back for 2K, I should have bought it.

I purchased a Talkeetna years back.

Chopped the barrel to 20.5"
NECG Masterpiece Banded Front Ramp with bead and flip-up night sight
NECG Classic One Leaf Expess Sight w/Island Base

NP3 coated the bolt and internals
Cerakoted the external metal graphite black

Pillar and glass bedded


Took it to Zimbabwe and killed a couple gato's and some PG.

Great rifle! Need to make plans to take it up North for a big bear or moose.

Yeah, that would have been a good price for a proven Kimber .458 Lott. You stating it "booted a little" tells me it must have been pretty lethal on both ends...

I sold the M-70 .404J I had built, which kicks less than the Lott. That was after I had shoulder surgery, sold my SP-10 Remington, too. Even in a heavy shotgun, the 10 ga. does kick, but what a goose killer it was...

A .375 H&H SS NH M-70 is my only big gun and likely to remain as such...

DF

When I was on my fall brown bear hunt in '14, both guides carried chopped Talkeetnas do to 21-22 inches. Negotiating willows and small creeks where every corner could be a surprise was exciting. One night a boar was catching fish ahead of us and wouldn't leave. A few flickers of our blue light lenses from our headlamps coaxed him up onto the bank.
Forgot to add my 25" Talkeetna was also along and did a good job out of the treestand with a 270 TSX.

You bet DF, I shot the crap out of those rifles, old Man said buy what, and as much as you need to get set these things up right for us please, I told him what the components prices were at the end, he paid that then gave me a grand extra for my trouble! benching the Lott with and without scope was quiet memorable to say the least.

That fine 375 you customized to your own specs would do any man well for a lifetime of hunting all game animals.

I made a stand up bench like Elmer advocated. Sure beats a sit down bench for a big gun. You roll with the recoil, aren’t pinned down like a sitting bench.

DF

Do you have a picture of the stand up bench

Yes, I have a standup/lean over bench too DF, only way to fly with the big kickers, if not using sticks.

I built my bench using three brackets like this one. Got a friend to weld them. For the stand up bench, I bought three longer threaded pipes to get it to chest height, use the shorter legs for sitting bench. No picture of it put together.

DF

I bought a Kimber Caprivi in 375 H&H in 2015. I took it to Zimbabwe and killed my buff with it, as well as several heads of plains game. I took it again this past August and killed a second buff and my wife killed her Rowland Ward class wildebeest with it.

I found the stock of the Caprivi fits me very well. It is heavier than the 90’s era M70 I had (briefly) prior to purchasing the Kimber, and it fits me much better. I have out about 800 rounds thru it according to my reload records. It has become my one of my favorite rifles, and I have taken it on Texas hog hunts and deer hunts as well.

I had a Tiger 375 African prior to 2015, but didn’t trust the stock to hold up after reading of other guys’ rifles cracking. The Caprivi is a more robust stock and the action is glass smooth.

My father and I picked up a pair of Caprivi’s in .375. We shot them a bunch and then took them to Zimbabwe in 2012. They performed flawlessly. Mine loved the Barnes Xs. Took animals from 50 yards out to 250yards on a Wildebeest. They are slimmer then the Model 70 which I owned at the same time. I really like them. They were both topped with Leopld 2.5x8s. I never had issues with it and really enjoyed carrying it everyday. My first shot on the buff was actually with the .375 until I followed up with the .500NE for grins. I wouldn’t hesitate to pick one up.