Long Range 375 H&H Loads?

I have an opportunity to go on a “scouted” elk hunt in Idaho with my youngest brother. He will be taking his 338 Win Mag but I feel it necessary to use my favorite A-bolt Medallion in 375 H&H.

I have had this one since the first year of production and have owned a Ruger #1 in the same chambering for almost thirty years. Both rifles love the Sierra 300 Game King Spitzer boat-tailed projectile and I am comfortable out to 300 yards with a good rest. I have used this load (2600 fps) with great success on snakes, crows and whitetails.

Yeah, yeah, I know, I just can’t help myself!

Now there is a possibility to stretch out a little further, I am considering the 250 grain Sierra offering.

I’m wondering how this bullet will perform at 400 plus yards on elk and what kind of velocity/trajectory I can expect using full power loads. I’m not talking about excessive pressures, just the brown paper bag type loadings.

I’m going to go get some to play with just to see how my barrel likes the light bullet. The 270’s were sub-minute-of angle. The 300’s are ½ minute-of-angle.

What do you think?

the 300's will be going faster and flatter than the lighter bullets will at anything over the 300 yard mark.
i'd spend my time shooting to a distance you feel comfortable with and pass on the longer shots you don't. your guide will work harder [gladly] if you do that.
my last elk was at 120 yds across an open draw.
if i needed to get closer i'd have backed out and waited for them to come in.
theyl have a bow season out here and the success rate is slightly higher than the rifle season, if you are gonna hunt them and not just fling a shot across two canyons 300 yds is good enough.
after that doping the wind becomes a problem.

Yep, I think you’re right. I’m going to stick with what I know works well.
I’m also going to be practicing at the local 500 yard range for grins.
Even at 300, a strong wind can be an issue. I’ve seen a small wind direction/speed measuring device that looks pretty handy for the long ones.
Either way, I’m the kind of guy who errs on the side of caution. Better to pass on a risky shot and go home to an empty freezer.

Two thoughts...

Up in here in the mountains where it is said we sometimes can sell both sides of the same acre, trying to figure out what the wind is doing 300 or 400 yards away is often an exercise in futility compared to a flat range where flags or even watching how the grass moves takes much of the guesswork out of it. Still, if the conditions are right and the groundcover is grasslike, it can often be a better indicator of what is happening around your quarry than those where you are set up. Not that we often ave really long shots at large game often as thick as the brush is around here (most deer are taken between 35-50yds), but some hunt the power lines and those shots can get as long as those in the west.

If you're lucky enough to have a 500yd range and it is within club rules, once you have decided on your load, set your targets for practice at different ranges and keep switching back and forth along with changing your shooting positions. You will more quickly develop a better feel for the trajectory of your load and be able to figure bullet drop in your head much faster. I learned to do that in my coyote hunting days and it made me a better shot and a much more succesful hunter.

I used a .375 H&H for about 30 years but mostly never shot much over 200 yds. When Nitro Express ammo was no longer available, I found Hornady 300 grain performed really well at up to those ranges with reloads. I am not a good enough shot to take much over this range. Besides lying prone with the .375 is not exactly my thing. Shooting over alpine gorges the wind up the centre of the dip may not be anything like the wind on the sides. We call these winds gorge winds. I only loaded to H&H velocities. I can get what I need with an 8mm mauser these days. It will be interesting to hear how you get on at the longer ranges. Good luck.:coffee:

Versifier,

It’s funny how varmints tend to make you a better field shot. I used this same rifle for about four years on crows. I got pretty good at estimating drop by looking at the size of the target in the scope as compared with the magnification. The average Texas crow (that’s where I used to live) has a pretty standard size.

I’ve never even seen an elk through my scope so between range practice and using the range finder to “verify”, maybe I’ll have a chance.

This is all predicated on good shooting position.
I tend to pass on anything that looks like a questionable shot.
So far, no four legged critter has walked more than a few steps before falling.

Ancestor rightly pointed out that prone shooting (with either of my rigs any way) is strictly verboten. I broke a nice scope on my head once and that was at the bench.
In Texas I carried a shooting staff and did most of my hunting standing. None of that was beyond 150.

We’ll just have to see how it goes on the range. This very well could all be a dream!

Thanks for everyone’s input.

Just a thought the H&H was designed as a Medium game rifle with the power to take some pretty heavy animals. I found for most general hunting the jackets were on the heavy side for the lighter stuff. In 270 grain Nitro or Norma I never had a bullet expand at all at close ranges but the hydraulic shock was iimpressive. out to 100 yds I aimed at the top of the lung area just behind the shoulder. This literally exploded the lungs diaphragm and in most cases burst the heart. On one ocaision popped a sect clean out of the spine. Hit a bit lowerdown out to 250 yds. These animals Red Deer which is getting up a bit towards Wapiti
went down like hitting a rabbit with a sledge hammer. Wild cattle the point of the shoulder did the damage. I wish you luck the 375 is a great killer.