Looking at the Kimber Talkeetna and the Sako 85, both in stainless config.
Having never owned either brand , is there anything functionally better on one over the other? Specifically in the feed function, mag box constraint, trigger quality and adjustability?
Leaning towards the Sako as I like the stocks and already has the right barrel length.

I have a Talkeetna and love it. The stock on the Talkeetna is as good as you find on a hunting rifle.

I have no experience with the Sako 85 but the ejection issues that are reported would have me concerned. It is my understanding the Sako 85 is somewhat a controlled round feed action, in that it catches the cartridge case before it is chambered but what I read is that it only controls the case in the last few fractions of an inch before the chamber and is basically a push feed for the majority of the cartridge travel.

As said I have not personal experience with the Sako, only what I have read, so take the above as worth what you paid for it.

Gonna have to chop 3" off the kimber and remount to sight to make it like I want it.

I understand wanting the shorter barrel. I had 2" taken off of a Winchester Model 70 classic stainless .375 H&H just to make it a little handier, and I wish I had taken another 1 or 2 inches off of that. Our own "Redneck" here on the campfire cut the Winchester.

+1

My NH M-70 SS Express .375 H&H handled much better, chopped to 21" and fluted. Have posted this before.

DF

That's what I'm after right there^^^^^^

got in and started setting up a 550 today. mass loading 375 in the works. no case feeder all by hand.

Take a look at the CZ550's that AHR modifies. I have one and absolutely love it. 23" barrel and the factory BC stock balance awesomely. A touch portly, but a really nice shooting rifle.

AHR knows their stuff. Good looking rifle.

Only down side to the 550, IME, is weight.

I had a full house AHR 9.3x62 with beautiful walnut stock that I traded. It was too pretty to hunt with. I kept the M-70 pictured above as a working gun, let the fancy gun go.

It was heavier than the M-70 .375 H&H.

DF

Here it is with a M-70 .404J that I built from a .300 RUM donor. Legend stock, Walther barrel.

I had the barrel on my M-70 375 chopped to 21 " and turned down to Ftw contour and it is a lively and handy rifle

Here's one I just recently bought. https://www.gunbroker.com/item/745968632

Those are good guns. What does it weigh?

DF

I'll let you know on Friday when I get my paws on them.

I asked my smith to turn this one down. He said the sight screw holes would cause the lathe to chatter, didn't want to do it.

I then went with flutes, which took approx 6 oz or so from the barrel, not as much weight removed as turning it down. The 3" lobbed off the end helped a lot.

Those factory NH Express .375's are way too heavy. They had one contour for .458, .416 and .375, of course the latter leaving a lot more steel and weight in the 24" barrel. Probably worked out well for bean counters, not so much for shooters.

Those barrels shoot really well, too good to swap them out, IMO.

DF

I wonder what these weigh?

http://montanarifleco.com/index.php/xvr/

They say the X-2 weighs from 7-2 to 7-10 depending on caliber. So I'd guess this V-2 is around 7# 10 oz. or so with that high tech carbon stock which is probably lighter than the M-70 Tupperware.

That's in the range of my chopped and fluted M-70 Express pictured above. I like my 13.5 LOP better than their slightly longer LOP. And, I bought my gun for $850 used. I spent a few bucks getting it to where it is, still way below the V-2 cost.

I don't want a real light .375 H&H. I'm not as tough as Phil, but few are...

He says he carries his a lot more than he shoots it.

And, did I say he was a Hoss...

DF

Mine comes in at under eight pounds , loaded with a 2 1/2 x scope

A tad light for me...

I'll go with what I said about you earlier...

DF

got the 550 dillon going today. going to start with nosler and then try barns x. sorry i should have said the 550 was a loader not a gun

The Dillon 550B works well with smaller rifle and pistol rounds. Never thought of using it for .375 H&H. What kinda powder measure? My Dillon powder measure won’t throw charges that large.

DF

Dillon makes a powder measure adapter, which replaces the Dillon measure with a Redding or similar thrower.


https://www.dillonprecision.com/powder-measure-adapter_8_3_23634.html

dillon has one that works, don't have part # at home now. i will post later.

THE ORIGINAL 375 H&H rifles weighed around 8 to 8 1/2 pounds.

Guess that makes mine light based on those values, just not quite as light as yours.

Mine is about as light as I’d want.

DF

the powder dispenser is the mag. one from dillon. big enough for 470, 416 and the like. 375 no trouble.

Just looked at my Dillon catalog, saw their mag powder measure for $150+. Looks like it will work like a std Dillon powder measure, won’t need to operate it separately like a conventional powder measure with adapter.

DF

Well Gentlemen, for whats its worth, here is my .375 @ 8.5lbs. loaded with Scope, and that is 4-down & 1-up,,,, my Roy will get it Done, & then Some.
Oh,,,, and Stainless to Boot.
Lj

That's a damned good looking rifle, LJ. Who did the barrel work? What's it like to shoot?

Hey there Brandon,,,, There is Quite a Back-Story to this Rifle, and my Quest to have a Weatherby MK-V DGR, in .375 Wby. in Stainless, as they do not Offer that Build, and never have,,,,, anyway, the GunSmith is Aaron @ Gator Guns, Kenai, Alaska.
As far as how it Shoots,,,,, Excellent, with the Barrel@ 22", and Mag-Na-Ported, .375 H&H loads are about like my 06, or maybe alittle stouter, but those Weatherby Factory Loads pushing a 300gr. Nosler Partition,,,, well lets just say, they get your Attention,,,,, but all Very Do-Able for sure.
The Rifle Weights in @ 8.5lbs w/Scope, Sling, and Loaded w/ 4-down & 1-up. [i][/i][b][/b]
Lj

Found a New Haven M70, new old stock, that I will send to Lee for a haircut and a massage.

Ha!

You’ll like it. That gun with a “haircut and massage” is gonna be about ideal, IME.

It’s hard to beat the old style M-70 trigger, three position safety and proven CRF action. And those guns do shoot, good barrels.

DF

i really need to get my model 70 sent to someone and chopped to 20 or 21 like dirtfarmers. Took me awhile to find one. Mine has talley bases with QD rings and a 3-9x40 conquest on top. Shoots like a dream but heavy as a club. My no1 375 H&H handles so much better. Ive always thought if ruger made a 1S in 375 H&H instead of the 1H with a thinner barrel at 22" in stainless laminate it would be a bad ass rifle

Karl did the fluting, see link. He has an excellent reputation with that type work, other work, too.

Compared to turning the barrel like Phil suggested, flutes remove less weight, about 6 oz.. But, turning leaves a gap between barrel and forearm, fluting doesn't. I like 21", although 20" would work. If one was going to change the stock, turning would be OK. As noted earlier, one smith I talked to said the screw holes for sights would cause a problem with the lathe, so I went the flute route. Whoever turned Phil's barrel evidently didn't have an issue.

http://www.kampfeldcustom.com/boltfluting0914_008.htm

DF

id prob be happy with it just chopped off and sights put back on. Then glass bed the factory stock.

Probably. And that would be the least expensive option.

Redneck does a mean trigger job on the old style M-70 trigger. You'd probably be very happy with that.

Ask him about 20" vs. 21". With a heavy barrel like that, every inch is a few ounces. .375 H&H isn't a high intensity round and you don't lose that much velocity with a shorter barrel. Some, but not a lot.

DF

I had an old savage Alaskan guide in 375 H&H beforew I bought the Winchester. It had a 20" barrel and shot very well. Shot a doe with it at 110 or so yards with a 235gr speer over 69gr of RL15. I just cant like the savage in the 375 for nostalgia reasons. It was very light but not bad on recoil at all. here is a video of my buddy shooting it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8H2eJ7xIC6A

Just couldn't show up at a nice camp for an expensive hunt packing a Salvage...

They generally shoot pretty well, but a bit short on class and aesthetics...

DF

Exactly

I'm guessing 20" without flutes would be pretty close to 21" with flutes. We're talking around 6 oz. I'm not sure the weight per inch of that heavy barrel, but would think I'm pretty close.

If I wasn't going to flute, I'd probably go 20". That 24" barrel is way too heavy. If you can find out what 3" or 4" of that barrel weighs, please let us know.

DF

Who does a good the chop and fluting?

Also want to find a drop in synthetic stock.

Model 70 SE, btw.

Karl Feldcamp is one of the best for flutes. Check the link posted earlier. He can chop when he flutes.

DF

Thanks, I missed that.

Any decent iron sight upgrades?

Who does the best drop in synthetic stock?

New England Custom Guns are the ones to call for irons.

McMillan synthetic stocks are well regarded, not cheap. Rick here at the Fire store is a good source.

DF

I have quiet a few McMillans on various Winchester and Ruger rifles, I like them. I also have a few of other brands.
But, drop-in can be a relative / ambiguous term. I have all of mine bedded, regardless of stock manufacturer. Manufacturing tolerances can stack, and sometimes QC / QA checks are piss poor even with the best.

Sometimes you can have a tight drop-in or a sloppy drop-in. I am never surprised by any brand stock drop-in stock that requires minor fitting and bedding. Lots of variables, unless the stock machining is patterned / programmed to your specific barreled action and bottom metal.

Agree.

To me, "drop in" just means it won't be as hard to bed and make sure barrel clears.

I like to Steel Bed the action, especially the recoil lug, with big boomers.

I built a .404J on a M-70 300 RUM donor. I used a D'Arcy Echols Legend stock. McM makes the stock for D'Arcy. McM says to go with mag fill, D'Arcy said std. fill would work. He installed cross pins and it was pillared. I Steel Bedded that one and it's working well. Back in the old days, they put an extra lug on the barrel. To me, with Steel Bed, that isn't necessary. You're not gonna get compression, it will hold.

I wouldn't be afraid of the softer Edge fill for a .375 H&H with pillars, cross pins and Steel Bed. McM won't go there, but they're in CYA mode. They don't know how well I can Steel Bed one and they not gonna bet the farm on it...

Std. fill is where I'd go with a magnum. Edge makes a pretty light gun, maybe too light for a big gun. Mag fill would be the "safe" bet; it's just heavier.

DF

Is there a preferred sight upgrade? the stock brass bead seems a bit dim is my only real issue.

folding leaf rear sights I always thought were cool, but I don't know enough to decide.

I like the fiberoptic NECG with windowed hood and fixed rear. To me, pop ups are useless. Sight the fixed rear for 50 yds. You won't have time to be fiddling with pop ups. Over 50 yds, you'll probably be using the scope.

DF

Looks like I could just replace the front sight post insert & hood? Rear sight seems fine.

Call the guys at NECG. They're very helpful.

I forgot the details, as I've slept since then. But sights can be pretty complicated, getting the right combo, etc. These guys do it every day.

Or if you go with Karl or Lee (Redneck), they'll know.

DF

8 lbs 12 oz. I will likely keep one as is and the other may get a makeover to 404 as It will hold 5 of those in the magazine.

The fiberoptic front sight makes a huge difference!

Yep.

DF