“.375”

Among the selection of cartridges that will handle larger North American big game, these two have undoubtedly risen to the top, yet there are many who fervently choose one over the other. We took a closer look at each to determine which has the ultimate advantage.

Why would a dangerous game hunter choose a .404 Jeffery over a .416 or a .375 H&H? Well, because it’s really cool. Let Philip Massaro explain.

Based on the full-length .375 H&H belted case, the 8mm Rem. Mag. was the first commercial 8mm magnum cartridge to be introduced by an American firm, using bullet weights between 125 and 220 grains.

In 2003, Finnish firearms manufacturer Sako released its own variant of the 9.3mm rimless cartridge: the 9.3x66mm Sako, or as it is known in the U.S., the .370 Sako Magnum. It delivers performance on par with the beloved .375 H&H in a package which can hold one additional round in the magazine in a lighter rifle.

The .350 Rigby Magnum is vastly overlooked even among rifle cranks but was at one time as popular as the .375 H&H Magnum. Released in 1908, it is an entirely original design, and was the first to feature the sharp 45-degree shoulder which is the hallmark of the Rigby designs.

Just about every case shape imaginable has been modified to hold both 7mm and .30-caliber bullets, but it was gunwriter Layne Simpson who saw a gap in the lineup: there was no 7mm cartridge based on a full-length .375 H&H case. In 1979, Simpson took the excellent 8mm Remington Magnum and necked it down to hold 7mm bullets, giving his wildcat the name “Shooting Times Westerner.”

Introduced in 1989, the .416 Remington Magnum is fully capable of handling any and all game, including the heavyweights like elephant, hippo, buffalo and coastal brown bears. Its trajectory is flatter than most would think, and recoil isn’t much heavier than the .375 H&H, yet the terminal results are visibly greater.

The long-awaited third part of our series on dangerous game rifles.