Large Caliber Recommendation

I've been a firm believer in the .300 Win Mag caliber and have brought down many Alaskan Moose and Caribou with it. I'm planning on a bear hunt for the first time this next spring and am looking at moving up to either the .338 or 375 h&h. I'm looking at a stainless/composite gun and have done some quick peaking at the Browning rifles as they have a left handed, composite 375 h&h. My question is how much more knockdown power will the 375 have over the .338? I'd like to use this for my moose hunting as well, but I'm in the dark on the ballistics. I normally find myself with a 100 to 150 yard shot on the moose. Will there be much of a difference at this range between my trusted .300 and the 375? Thanks.

You said a key thing there. 'My trusted .300...'. Thats important, you know your gun. At 100 yds, the .300 is one potent round. Yeah, the .375 is bigger, heavier, blah blah blah. Unless you just want a new gun (thats ok too!), The .300 will do all you need and then some. The differnce between a .338 and .300 is trivial for all purposes except paper arguements. I assume you ment Brown bear, and I dont know what type bullet you use, but I would recommend a good 180 grain A-frame,Partition, or Trophy bonded bullet.

Rather than the two you list, my choice would be a .338 Remington Ultra Mag. With a 250 grain SP Remington bullet 100 yard energy is 3882 ft/lbs. The .338 Winchester mag gets nearly as much with the Federal NOS-HE 250 grain load: 3775 ft/lbs at 100 yards. I don't like a belted case for reloading ammo.

The .375 H&H can get 4116 ft/lbs with a Federal 270 grain SP-HM (Heavy Mag load) The recoil could be a little rough, and shot placement is far more important than energy when trying to drop big tough game, I assume brown or grizzly bear.

How about the .470 Wby Mag: 500 grain SP 5877 ft/lbs at 100 yards. Who can tell us what the recoil would be my program is not working and I don't know the rifle weight or the powder weight MV is 2600 fps!

Darrell

Linus, Last I checked bowhunters were still killing the great bears with well placed razor blades. If you are _hunting_ bear - taking one good shot at the time and place and distance of your choosing - then I'm with Del; use your familiar 300 magnum and a premium 180 or 200 grain bullet. If you are looking for a _fightstopper_ for use during an unplanned emergency - taking whatever shot is offered you at a time and place and distance determined by the bear - then a 375, 416, or 458 will probably be an even better choice than a 338. Good hunting! Michael

My question is how much more knockdown power will the 375 have over the .338?

The Taylor formula gives the lethality of cartridges. The Taylor formula accounts for the diameter and momentum of the bullet. Here is a sample calculation for my .375 H&H with a typical load: TL = .375 in.* 270 gr. * 2800 fps / 7000 gr/lb. The following are the comparisons of the .375 H&H, .338 Win, and .300 Win. for my hand loaded cartridges.

The .375 H&H shooting a 270 grain bullet at 2800 fps produces a lethality value of 40.5. The .338 Win shooting a 220 grain bullet at 2800 produces a lethality value of 29.7, and a 300 Win shooting an 180 grain bullet at 3000 fps produces a value of 23.8. It may be noted that the .375 H&H has a lethality value which is 70% higher than the 300 Win and 36% higher than the .388 Win. I use my .375 H&H for elk and larger animals when expecting long shots (more than 300 yds) or thick timber.

The .338 win mag is a fine round. I own a rifle chambered for this and I love it. It speaks with authority. I would really love to have a .375 H&H. You got to love the fatter pills. I would purchase the rifle that had the recoil I could handle. You did not mention what bears you intended to hunt, but looking at the other game you mentioned I would lean towards the .375 H&H. You will have the one of the great midbores. A friend of mine who builds motors is always touting the phrase, 'You can displace, displacement!' He hates the little whinny motors that try to do what big block are made to do. I feel the same about bullets. Why stretch a little bullet when there is a bigger bullet that needs a home that is made for the job with some left over? I can say that knowing that I am wanting a .218 Bee Marlin leveraction for everything from deer on down.

I have a Remington Custom KS in 416 rem that I hope to use against brown bears some day. It would be perfect for close in brown bears which is everybody's nightmare.

You would do find with either of the 3 calibers you list (300win/338win/375h&h). You need to ensure that you get adequate penetration into the bear so shoot heavy for the caliber controlled expansion bullets like the X bullet and swift aframe. Not sure what weight for 338 and 375, but use 220gr for the 300 win.