Rockchuck meets the .375 H&H

[Guy Miner]

I'm not a die-hard varminter, but I'll take a pot shot at a rockchuck or a ground squirrel when the opportunity presents itself. Today I had the .375 at the range, checking out some old ammo from an old friend. He loaded this stuff up back in 1982, when he was heavy into hunting with the .375 H&H - built the load around WW brass and the 300 gr Sierra SPBT Gameking for 2550 fps, and about 4500 fpe. Very accurate too!

I was loading stuff back into the truck, and through for the day when I noticed a few rockchucks starting to move across the basalt...

"Dang, wish I had the .204 with me today." Was my first thought. Then, "Hey, the .375 is in the truck!"

Grabbed the .375, dialed the scope all the way up to a whopping 5x, slipped a 300 gr Sierra into the chamber and got into a good tight sitting position. Breath, relax, put the crosshairs on the chuck. Looks like about 125 - 150 yards. Gently squeeze the trigger. Oh my... A hit.

Yes, the .375 H&H with a 300 grain soft nose bullet is a fine varmint rifle.

 

[gerry]

Nasty nice shooting.

 

[SJB358]

Now that is my kinda chuck rifle! Great shot Guy!

 

[6mm Remington]

Nice Guy, but I think you might have been just a touch under-gunned on that one! :shock: I'll have to ask Fotis on that one. :mrgreen: You lucky he didn't charge you with that single-shot, you might have been in trouble if you would have missed that first shot or only crippled him.

Oh my friend you need one of those in a 30-06! That 1A would be sweet, but if you ever get to hold and shoot a 1B, they feel so nice and balance so well. I like them too for the fact that they don't have sights on them, I love the fore-end, and that 26" barrel just makes them slightly longer than a 22" barreled bolt rifle in 30-06 yet you get all the oomph that you can out of them.

I'll have to relent though that the 1A is a heck of a lot lighter though.

David

 

[muleman]

Guy,
Why do you need the 204? It appears the 375 works well - I think you should take it Antelope hunting! That's what Fotis would do.

Scott

 

[DrMike]

Superb job, Guy. Were you able to recover the bullet? :mrgreen:

 

[sask boy]

Those must be very tough chucks as I always thought my 223 or the 204 would be enough :shock:
I hope that you weren't using the 300gr ABs on them :wink:

Blessings,
Dan

 

[Rem Jim]

Superb job, Guy. Were you able to recover the bullet? :mrgreen:[/quote

Great shot - 375 did the job ! Mike the bullet still weighted 288 grs after that hit ! LOL :grin:

Cheers RJ

 

[Guy Miner]

After the shot, I discovered it well expanded, about twice the original diameter, but perhaps somewhat less than half the weight retained. There was also shrapnel spread for about a ten meter area...

Oh, that was the rockchuck - not the bullet! :grin:

I was delighted to hit the little rascal. Didn't do anything special, just put the crosshairs on him and squeezed the trigger. The rifle now has one rockchuck and one black bear since I took possession of it a couple of years ago.

Do believe that it's rather nicely dialed in.

Sent my ol' buddy an e-mail letting him know that the ammo he loaded 30 years ago is still working fine. He'll have a conniption when he learns that I squandered his carefully assembled elk ammo on a rockchuck! :mrgreen: Or he'll laugh a lot, which is cool.

Guy

 

[russ808]

Guy,
Thats one less zombie rockchuck eh. Good shooting buddy.
Russ

 

[jmad_81]

Nice shooting guy!

 

[Guy Miner]

I'm leaving the .375 home today and taking the .204, just in case I get another opportunity.

Having said that, this will be the day a rabid bear comes down off the mountain and attacks...

 

[JD338]

Nicely done Guy!

JD338

 

[FOTIS]

Welcome to the big bore varminting club! :mrgreen: :mrgreen:


416 Bee with 300 gr TSX at 3150 fps.

 

[buckfever]

I guess you don't need a 204 anymore that 375 h&h work works really good.

 

[IdahoCTD]

Good job Guy.

I built a .375 H&H rock chuck rifle years ago. It had a Schneider 1.25" straight barrel on it. I shot quite a few chucks with 220gr Sierra's through that rifle. They don't have the explosive effect the smaller calibers have but they kill them pretty darn dead.