Suggested length barrel:375H&H bolt action?

[hans g./UpS]

Suggested length for a non-ported bolt action cal.375H&H?I've been thinking: 24" or 26" medium or heavy weight barrel.
Thanks.

[Mike in Ct]

The weight of the whole package should be considered in a hunting rifle..So you really need to have most of the parts there to get a well balanced feel to the completed gun....If I were building a custom 375 rifle I'd just tell the smith to build it so it balances or is just slightly butt heavy..these days you see way too many guns that have excessivly heavy feel at the muzzle..& I think they shoot crummy feeling that way...mike in ct

[gunnut69]

I kinda like the muzzle heavy feel. To be it seems steadier and easier to hold when used offhand. The 375 isn't a highly overbore caliber and so a 22 inch barrel would be fine, I however would prefer a 24 or 26 inch tube.. I've never had a problem with the longer barrels.. It's fairly easier to lter the ballance of a rifle.. removing or adding weight under the barrel or in the butt can make a world of difference.  You could split the difference and use the length many old english rifles did 25 inches.. Enjoy..

[Judson]

The British have a good rule of thumb for the bigger guns which is 2 pounds of weight for each thousand pounds of energy so a .375 should weigh in at around ten pounds or there abouts.    The .375 is a cordite cartridge and being so has a long case and was necked down after the cordite was inserted into the case.   That is why it is so lonl and tappered since cordite was in strands much like pasta.    With modern loadings and powders a 24" barrel will work fine and from my experiance if you gain 25 feet per second per inch with a longer barrel I would be suprised.
    The .375 is a great cartridge and will handle any thing in the world you want to shoot but is a bit on the light side for the big and tough African stuff.    Here is a picture of a .375 I built on a Bruno ZKK 602.    It has the origional barrel which is 25 and 7/8" due to being metric but 24" would of been fine and as Gunnut said you could well get away with22" and not really loose any thing.

[gunnut69]

That's certainly a beautiful weapon.. I especially like the forestock treatment and the slightly more open grip circumference. How many rounds in the magzine..  Your right on about the shape, form follows function,.,. The 300 H&H was similarly blessed.. It may seem an archaic shape today but it certainly makes for easy feeding from a magazine..

[hans g./UpS]

Judson,
           that is a pretty looking rifle.
Being a southpaw,my choices are severely limited regards a claw fed stainless 375H&H.I also dislike muzzlebrakes.
Accordlingly,I'll probably have to get the rifle built.
I'm not thinking about African hunting,rather:elk,moose,large bears.
Figure on :stainless,syntheti[or laminate],Hg recoil tube in butt,Limbsaver recoil pad,14.5"l.o.p.,3 lb trigger,large trigger guard,large adjustable iron sights,lever throw/removable scope mount with 2.5-8x heavy duplex scope, barrel band sling stud.Weight ~ 10lbs with scope.
In off season,play with cast loads,download to 38/55 level.