Hunter's Guide

The .375 H&H in the

21stst Century
by Jim Dodd

The .375 Holland & Holland Magnum is long in the tooth, having been introduced by
Holland in 1912 with the title Belted Rimless Magnum; however, that tooth is now even
deadlier thanks to the proliferation of super premium game bullets. Ganyana profiled this
classic in Vol. 5 No. 6, African Hunter "Classic Cartridges Part X - The .375 H&H Magnum".
My purpose in this article is three-fold: to recognize the position of this cartridge at the
start of the 21st century; to review its performance in the field using my most recent hunt as
the example; and to discuss Hollands .400 H&H and .465 H&H cartridges.
The All Around Big Game Cartridge
s we enter the year twenty ought
three of the 21st Century we mostly
hunt with rifle designs originating in
the 1890s, and with the .375 H&H a cartridge
developed in 1912. It isnt the case that we
have had no innovation in rifles or cartridges
since the turn of the 20th Century; it is the
case that some designs and their
implementations are so efficient and effective
that in their use they resemble the Energizer
Bunny they just go on and on and on.
The .375 H&H is such a cartridge. The
number of types and brands of rifles
chambered for it, the number of brands and
types of ammunition loaded for it and the
worldwide distribution of both, recognize
this. The one-gun hunter who chooses the
.375 H&H can be assured of finding
ammunition wherever he hunts. Thus many
judge the .375 H&H to be the all around big
game cartridge.
The major difference in the performance
of this cartridge now compared to 1912,
however, is found in the quality of the bullets
being loaded today. Multiple manufacturers
have developed their own wonder bullets
which are usually called super premium
bullets. These bullets are force multipliers
for the .375 H&H in the hunting field. The
major ammunition makers (except for
Winchester) have decided not to develop their
own super premium bullets, instead they have
made arrangements to load bullets made by
others. Winchester has its own design, the
Failsafe, and has also licensed technology from
Nosler. Federal bought the Trophy Bonded
design, and with the consolidation in the arms
industry Speer is making and selling the TB
design to reloaders.
Getting ready for my hunt I laid in a stock

Page 12

of factory .375 H&H ammunition. I have two

.375 H&H rifles: a BRNO M602; and a
Kimber M89 BGR. I call the Kimber my
North America rifle because it is three-down,
and is scope-sighted only. I call the BRNO
my Africa Rifle because it is five-down and
has back-up iron sights. At any rate I tested
ammunition from both rifles.
I range tested: Remington Premium Safari
with the 300 grain Swift A-Frame bullet; Speer
Nitrex with the 285 grain Grand Slam bullet;
Federal Premium with the 300 grain Trophy
Bonded bullet; Federal Premium with the 300
grain Nosler Partition bullet; Federal Premium
with the 300 grain Trophy Bonded
Sledgehammer Solid; Winchester 300 grain
Failsafe bullets; and PMC Eldorado with the
300 grain Barnes X-Bullet.
The X-Bullet and surprisingly to me the
FailSAfe fell out early. The X-Bullet was
produced under license to Barnes, and it left
heavy metal fouling. The Failsafe did not shoot
well in my rifles. I was actually expecting to
use this bullet as a combination soft-solid,
so it was on to more testing and Plan B.
The Swift A-Frame shot well, as did the
Nosler Partition. I decided to eliminate the
NP mostly because I had a lot of experience
with them on previous hunts. They shoot
well, and kill well. The other soft points all
gave acceptable accuracy, but the Swift AFrame gave very small groups. I chose them
and the Trophy Bonded Sledgehammer solids
to go hunting.
Leopard and Cape Buffalo in 2002 with
Shangaan Hunters
I wrote previously in African Hunter Vol.
7 No. 6 about my hunt in 2001 with Shangaan
Hunters (Eland, Shangaan Hunters and the
.376 Steyr). Because of the game I saw in
the Save Conservancy area Shangaan hunts, I

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Gordon Duncan and the author with the buff.

The author with the buff where he fell.

African Hunter Vol. 8 No. 6

Page 14

crunch

decided to return this year to hunt leopard

and Cape buffalo. I told outfitter and PH
Gordon Duncan that my priority was for the
leopard, though. He replied that we had a
90% chance of taking a leopard, and we would
take a buffalo with a spread in the 42" to 44"
range in our 10-day hunt. I replied that maybe
he might be a little less ready to make such
promises. The hunt ended up pretty much as
a 5-day leopard hunt followed by a 5-day
Cape buffalo hunt, although we were looking
for buff and buff sign when we were managing
leopard baits early on.
I Shot the Seventh Leopard
I motored down to the lowveld and the
Save Conservancy with African Hunter
publisher Ant Williams and staffer Andrew
Fenwick; the trip was nominal, and reminded
me mostly of the same journey from 2001.
Our drive was about five hours, and we bought
diesel along the way when it was available.
Our route was through Beatrice, Chivu, Gutu,
Zaka to the Triangle/Chiredzi junction, and
then into the million acres of the Conservancy.
We arrived at Senuko Lodge at 2:30p-ish on
September 19, and were greeted by the
assembled staff with a cool fruit drink and
warm welcomes. River Lodges of Africa owns
Senuko Lodge, and Shangaan Hunters hunts
from there. Hunters and non-consumptive
ecotourists though arent at the lodge at the
same time. Outfitter and PH Gordon Duncan
was there, as well as my friend and last years
PH Kenneth Manyangadze, plus Charles and
Joshua our trackers for this year. We promptly
saddled up for sight checking, and some
leopard bait hanging. I used my Steyr Scout
in .308 Win, shooting Norma 180 grain Oryx
loads to get some bait impala. These Oryx
loads shoot through impala without much sign
of expansion.
The annual Conservancy game census was
in progress, and the counters reported seeing
seven leopard today, and lodge staff saw two
more. The area Shangaan hunts had its first
hunts in 2001 since the cattle were taken off
and the internal fences dropped over ten
years ago. The animals behave, as you would
expect in a natural environment.
We went to the Toma Kopje first because
a pair of leopard were seen there, and we
indeed found first a female then a large male
leopard. We hung two impala at sites at the
end of the kopje.
The next morning we were off at about
6:00am to open Christmas presents as
Gordon describes the anticipation of seeing
what the leopard did at the baits. Gordon and
Charles were also betting bottles of beer on
which baits would be hit. The Toma Kopje
baits had the tails bitten off and a few pounds
eaten. We took one down for a redeployment. The Boma bait was hit hard,
with big scratches on the tree trunk the bait is
wired to. The location got its name because it
is close to a boma housing 30 Lichtenstein
hartebeest that will be released as a
conservation project. Going to and from baits
we also kept an eye out for dagga boys seen
in the area.
We returned to the Boma blind just before
5:00pm, and got ready to wait. We agreed to
sit until 10:00pm given what the sunset and
moonrise times were. About 6:20pm we heard
baboons making a whoop, but no action at
the bait. It was all quiet on the leopard front
at 10:00pm, so Gordon went to get the truck.

A photo of the bait and claw marks after the

leopard hit it.

A photo of the rear paw of the leopard we named

Lion Paws; this is the cat I shot.

LENGTH: 4 inches

Gordon in the riverbed below the tree where we put

the bait and I shot the leopard.

WEIGHT: 6 ounces

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screw and youll find a 1/4" hex bit

The author with Gordon Duncan and the leopard.

He could hear elephant noise moving closer,

so he brought the truck to the closest point
on the road, and we walked the few hundred
yards out, and motored back to the Lodge.
I was up at 4:40am on Saturday, September
21, and my digital travel clock reported it is
68 Deg F. We had our coffee and rusks, then
off on dawn patrol of baits and cruising for
dagga boys. Two of the baits were hit: it looks
like the Boma bait was hit around midnight
after we left; Toma bait was visited by the
female only. We saw her again on the kopje.
We are baiting for three different large male
leopards now. These guys operate on about a
four-day cycle, visiting the various parts of
their territories. Our plan is to sit in the Boma
Blind again, and we were in place by 5:00pm.

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African Hunter Vol. 8 No. 6

The afternoon high temperatures are running

about 80 degrees Fahrenheit.
The leopard came just after full dark at
6:15pm; this was before the moon rose, and
it was dark as the inside of a sack. We heard
Knock, knock, knock from the direction of
the blind, and then a very loud Crunch,
crunch as the leopard started to feed. Gordon
checked with his binoculars, and then put his
Maglite on. He could see the big male on his
haunches at the bait, with his back to us. When
the light went on, the leopard turned his head
to look at it but didnt bolt. I was using my
Steyr Scout with its Trijicon 1.25-4X24
scope, and I could not get the damn leopard
in the scope! I fumbled around for about two
minutes before the leopard decided to quit
posing and moved off. I was very
disappointed at this pass, because it was a
very nice cat and such chances dont come
every day.
We waited some more, but all we got for
our trouble was a honey badger. We decided
to sneak out and let the neighborhood quiet
down, so we hiked off to the truck. We later
met some friends at Sunset Rock for a braai,
and I got to explain how I could not get
organized to shoot the nice leopard. Excuses
are not as good as results! The telling got a bit
easier after a sundowner or two. Sunset Rock
is several hundred feet high, with steep slopes
on three sides but a driveable approach up
the backside. It gives a terrific view of a lot of
country, and is an excellent braai location. It
overlooks the Njerezi River, and Gordon said
he always hears at least one leopard calling
whenever he is on the rock at night. We hear
one tonight that Gordon thinks is the cat he
has named Lion Paws from the size of his
spoor.
Up at 5:00am on Sunday, September 22 it is 69 degrees Fahrenheit. It is coffee and
rusks again, then we launch for dawn patrol
of the leopard baits and Cape buff sign
scouting. About 8:30am we found a herd of
buff. There is one bull in this group is
humungous, at least 45" spread in the horn
department, and is a much larger animal than
the others. We marked their location for a
later stalk, and then off we went to hang some
bait and to do some blind maintenance. We
shot some more impala and did some drag
work to advertise the kills. Late in the day we
scouted some water sources as we worked
our way back to the lodge, and we found
another herd of Cape buffalo at one of the
water sources about 50 head. The herd
bull was a big feller too, at least 44" in spread
and just plain big. Gordon takes pains to not
associate gunfire with the safari vehicles, so
the local buff herds dont spook at a vehicle
approaching. This gives a good opportunity
to look them over when we encounter a group
while driving.
Up at 5:00am on Monday, September 23
for dawn patrol, and to open Christmas
presents checking the leopard baits. We have
four big males now that we are working. The
Boma Bait was hit, and also the new bait we
put near the Njerezi River for Lion Paws. We
did some maintenance on the Boma blind, and
I re-designed the gun port for better operation
and holding the rifle pointing at the bait.
We found some dagga boys and started off on
a sneak approach. There were four sable bulls
tagging along behind the group. They
eventually spooked the buff, so we chalked

African Hunter Vol. 8 No. 6

The white rhino Chapinda and some of his Cape

buff herd.

that stalk up to practice. The high

temperatures are running about 80 Deg F, not
too bad so close to October. This area has not
been hunted for 10 years, and the natural
conditions with the animals and the bush are
really a joy to experience. We head off to the
Boma Blind at 4:15pm. We approached the
blind from another direction because the
consensus is the leopard will approach from
a different direction as well. We are in place
by 4:45pm, and stayed in the blind until 12:00
midnight. We had feeding noises at about
7:00pm, but it was a honey badger again. I
changed rifles, I have my .375 H&H, which
has the Trijicon 3-9X40 scope, and I can see
the critter plainly through the scope. At about
8:00pm we had more feeding noise, and we
can see the leopard. He does not settle in for
a feed, but only inspects his kill and leaves.
It was dark from 6:00pm to 9:00pm, and then
the full moon rose.
Up at 5:00am, and 68 Deg F again. Coffee
and rusks again too, and off at 5:45am for
dawn patrol. The bait we are calling C-4 was
hit hard. Circling the adjacent kopje we can
see a leopard watching us. It is a big female
we decide from obvious size and head shape.
The leopard that hit the bait left the scene,
and did not go to the kopje. The bait at C-2
was also hit hard; this is the bait we have set
for Lion Paws. The Boma bait was not hit, so
we will switch our attention to focus on Lion
Paws. We found a dagga boy wallowing. He
was not really big enough at 35"-36". He had
so much mud on him we could not judge his
bosses. We also looked over a cow elephant
herd, which seemed to be a nursery school
with a flock of calves.
We re-decorated the blind on the Njerezi
River so we can sit in it tonight. The blind
and bait are 40 yards apart, with the Njerezi
River forming the obstacle to keep the cat on
the other side. The bait tree overhangs the
riverbed, and has a big horizontal section that
the cat can sit or stand on to feed.
Temperatures are climbing; it is 87 Deg F this
afternoon.
We headed out four-ish, passing by the C4 bait. The big female leopard is up on the
kopje keeping an eye out. We stopped on the
way to try a test target. My first shot jammed
the action. I figured the rifle must have been
sun heated because 87 Deg F is not that warm.
Sure enough the next shot was no problemo.
I was left to contemplate what you do if you
get a jam with a Cape buff in attendance. We
are set up by 4:45pm, but not much is going
on. We do hear some roosting baboons
complaining about something, but they settled
down. At 7:00pm we get a very loud Crunch,
crunch a leopard is on the bait. Gordon
pokes me to see if I am ready, and I squeezed

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his hand to signal yes. He put on the light,

and barked, Shoot him! Boom! Even
with the recoil of the .375 I watch the leopard
through the scope as it catapulted from the
tree and somersaulted to the riverbed below.
We can hear him scrabbling in the sand, then
the death moan leopards make when lung
shot, then just a lot of dark and quiet.
Gordon took his .375 H&H and his Maglight
and went to investigate the situation. He was
back quickly to report a very dead cat, and a
large one at that. The cat is in the bag let the
work begin!
The leopard was on his haunches with his
left side to me when the light went on. I held
for a double-lung shot. Gordon had coached
me to visualize the target aspect of the cat,
and consider the three-dimensional
presentation when aiming to ensure both lungs
are hit. The shot actually caught the left elbow
on the way in; the exit was mid-body, a bit
further aft because of the angle. Gordon
fetched the truck, and we struggled to pick
the cat up, and not to drag it and ruin the coat.
We weighed it the next day, and it was almost
150 pounds bled out. It measured 7 feet 4.5
inches, and the paws, head and neck were
just huge.
Upon further review, we discovered that
we had four large leopard that night on four
different baits, so any choice would have been
a right choice. I also counted back, and found
that I had shot the seventh leopard that I had
seen seeing these cats is a wonderful
experience. This is the fifth day of the hunt.
We butchered the leopard, and leopard
fillet was on the menu for the next two days.
We also gave out some to the staff villagers;
they were happy to get the leopard. If you
havent tried it, leopard is excellent. It is a
fine texture meat, and mild. It was closest to
veal or lamb as a comparison (sorry, not like
chicken). It is my new favorite camp meat.
Lets Hunt Cape Buffalo
We spent the rest of the next day checking
watering points to locate buffalo, and we
found a herd of about 100 at one at just about
dark. We got a fix on them, then left them for
tomorrow.
Thursday, September 26, and up at
5:30am. After coffee and rusks we are off on
buff patrol at 6:00am. We located a herd about
9:00am, and did a stalk on them. We were on
one side of the herd, and constrained by the
wind direction as to what we can do. Gordon
is running his ash bag constantly. The herd
for some reason known to only bovines,
turned and fed away from us, so we broke it
off. This is scrub mopane country, and these
little trees can really limit visibility when you
have enough of them and we did.
Friday, September 27, and up at 5:00am. It is
another warm morning, but it is overcast. We
are off at around 6:00am for dawn buff patrol.
We are passing by the watering points to check
for activity. We found a herd near C-2, and
did a stalk to look over the bulls. We are on
the herds right side, and the bulls all seem to
be on the left rear. There isnt a way for us to
get around without giving them our scent, so
we walked back to the track to continue patrol.
We have a pattern on this herd, so the plan is
to ambush them on their way to water this
afternoon.
We also found a herd near C-4, but this is
a buff herd with a difference. They have a
white rhino that considers himself a herd

Page 17

member. This famous old guy is named

Chapinda, and had previously adopted a
herd of cows outside the Conservancy, and
hung with them for 10 years. He had a flock
of ox peckers on his neck doing cleaning on a
wound. Quite a sight, and he kept quartering
and closing us, so we moved off. We went on
to the ambush and parked ourselves from
4:00pm to 6:00pm no buff.
Saturday, September 28, and I am up at
4:30am. This is to be Buff Day, and we are
leaving early for dawn patrol. The temperature
is 71 Deg F, and we had a windstorm and a bit
of rain last night. The morning continued
overcast and cool, and we found our herd
about where we predicted, and did a two hour
stalk on them. Again we had to balance our
movements with their direction and that of
the wind. We were pretty sure we knew where
and about when they would go to water, so
we decided to slag another ambush. About
3:00pm Gordon took a sneak to see where
the edge of the herd is; they are bedded only
a few hundred metres from us. The trackers
Charles and Johsua are on the other side of
the herd with the vehicle, watching.
Five-ish the herd started drifting by on
the way to water. We are only about 75 yards
off their path, and they are a noisy, rowdy
bunch flowing by. Just like black VWs with
horns. Finally we can see the bull we are
looking for, and Gordon tells me to shoot. Of
course we had to do the mandatory Is it the
third one from the left routine, but I put a
300 grain Swift A-Frame behind the bulls
shoulder. Gordon mandated soft points
because of the herd situation. At the shot,
buff went every which way. My bull initially
went off to our left, the way he was facing,
then ran back as most of the buff were going
the other way to just about where I shot
him. Gordon told me to put another shot in,
and make sure it is a lung shot. I held a bit
higher on the crease to ensure a high lung shot,
and shot him again. I was very impressed by
an animal that can just stand there and take

two 300-grain .375 H&H softs in the boiler

room. He was obviously very sick, but he
moved off again to our left with a group of
four or five other bulls closing up around him.
He was not moving fast at all, and the other
bulls were trying to move him along.
We were then crossing the dirt road through
that area, we could see the wounded bull with
the other bulls in a small patch of scrub
mopane on our front. It was more like a little
thicker patch of the same stuff that was all

Page 18

around us. In due course the other bulls moved

off, and the bull came out on the dirt track
about 150 yards from us and collapsed I
guess he wanted me to see the end of it all. I
was definitely impressed! The death bellow
was anti-climactic.
Charles and Joshua came up with the truck
about then, and we all stood around and
admired the bull. I was not at all nervous with
the leopard, but this buff hunting was
something else again. I told Gordon I want
to do this again. He allowed as how it gets in
the blood.
Hollands New Cartridges
Editor Don Heath introduced readers to
the .400 H&H and .465 H&H in African
Hunter v8#3, African Perspectives. He also
noted Jeff Coopers recent pronouncement
that we need new and better rifles a heck of a
lot more than we need new cartridges. In
Editor Heaths judgement there is room for a
.400 with a smaller cartridge case (and hence
action size) than the .416 Rigby, but without
the pressure problems documented in this
magazine with the .416 Remington Magnum.
He further stated that he has doubts that the
.465 H&H can overtake the .458 Lott as the
standard back-up round.
With my experience with the .375 H&H
and the buff right there in my mind, I am
already like Mr. Toad: A .400 H&H, a .400
H&H, Ive got to have a .400 H&H. I
interviewed Mr. Russel Wilkin Hollands
Technical Director at the 2002 SCI Las Vegas
Convention, and have continued to correspond
with him.
The .400 H&H will use the .411"/400 grain
Woodleigh Weldcore soft and solid bullets,
the same bullet as is loaded in the .450/.400
NE. The base cartridge case is the .375 H&H.
The .465 H&H will use the .468"/480 grain
soft and solid bullets, the same bullets as
loaded in the .465 NE. The base cartridge case
is the .460 Weatherby. Both cartridges are to
feature belted cases, long sloping shapes and
moderate pressures. With the .375 H&H as
base level, the
.400 H&H has
20%
more
energy and the
.465 H&H has
20%
more
energy than the
.400 H&H.
Holland has
been testing the
.400
H&H
ammunition
supplied by a
European
company, and
Mr.
Wilkin
reports that the
initial lot was
very accurate,
and delivered slightly higher velocity from a
24 barrel than they expected. The next lot
may be slightly reduced to bring the velocity
to the design standard, and to ensure that the
pressure levels are kept low. The .465 is not
as far along in development. Mr. Wilkin has
also said that the cartridge designs will be
released to the trade.
I am excited about the .400 H&H in
particular, and am assembling components to
build a rifle to hunt Cape buffalo next hunt.

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How Much Scope is

Enough Scope for
Leopard?

ne issue when hunting leopard in low

light conditions (euphemism for
dark) is how much of a riflescope
is enough scope? Our European hunting
brothers have developed the use of the
56 mm objective lens diameter scope as the
preferred unit for shooting wild boar and other
animals from high seats at night. They
commonly fit an 8X56 scope for such
shooting, and the twilight factor of that
combination is 21.2.
The Trijicon 1.25-4X24 I initially used I
believed had enough twilight factors to enable
me to engage a leopard after dark over artificial
light; that was the theory anyway. In practice,
theory and practice collided practice won.
The twilight factor of that riflescope is 9.8.
After the hunt I found some literature
references that estimated that a twilight factor
above 10.0 is required for such work.
I also did some corresponding with my
cousin in New Zealand about what scopes
are used there with what the Kiwis call their
electric dog (torch or flashlight). They do a
lot of night shooting for culling, as is the
practice in Australia too. Neville told me that
the standard solution in New Zealand is a
3-9X40 scope, because that is what works.
The maximum twilight factor of such a scope
ranges between 11 and 19, depending on
power setting. When I moved up to the
Trijicon 3-9X40 scope for this leopard, I chose
a 6x power setting for a twilight factor of
15.5 that was enough scope.
Comparing notes with other professionals
and serious hunters, I found that an objective
in the 32+ mm range was considered the
minimum point for enough scope (twilight
factor of 13.9 at 6X).
My Australian source favors 6X42 or
8X56 scopes built on 30 mm tubes for night
work, and suggests taking a second scope of
such a description already set in return to
zero rings and sighted in for your rifle as good
leopard medicine.
Optics for the hunter is a difficult subject,
because there is no one parameter that can be
compared for all circumstances. You instead
have to define a scenario, and then analyse
performance. I have chosen to focus (pun
alert!) on twilight factor for this discussion
because I judged it most appropriate. I assume
that we are comparing scopes of equivalent
high quality (with fully multi-coated lenses
for example) when we talk about the twilight
factors and compare them. To calculate the
twilight factor, you take the square root of
the product of the power and the objective
lens diameter in millimeters.

Web resources
African Hunter Classic Cartridges
Part X - The .375 H&H Magnum
http://african-hunter.com/site/classcart/
375hhmag_01.htm
The .375 H&H Magnum Website
http://webpages.charter.net/375magnum/
Holland & Holland
h t t p : / / w w w. h o l l a n d a n d h o l l a n d . c o m /
home.htm

African Hunter Vol. 8 No. 6