375H&H - Good reason and UK use?

Savage 110 Carbon Tactical - Unmatched Precision - Viking Arms
I have had my 375 for 15 years, no issues from the FLO. My use has been for all deer species and AOLQ.

I have a full home loading setup and an approved flight case. If anyone is interested / looking for a quality useable setup then give me a shout.

Great rifle great round. I am reaching the age of wanting to drop down from 28g to 24g - says it all really. My Wild-fowling days are ending too so a full 10 bore setup with home loader may be available to a new home.

Skipp
 
sikamalc said:
Had mine over 35 years. Open ticket for any legal quarry in the UK, and I live in Kent. Plus load my own.

My last FEO, now retired, questioned why I had a 375HH on my last renewal. Even though I have owned the rifle for many years. He questioned that it was too big for deer stalking in the UK.
I pointed out to him that although there is a minimum calibre in the UK, there is NO maximum. And after my owning the rifle for so many years, why there should NOW be a problem?
He responded by saying to me that I was right, and that we shall leave as is :).

He has since retired.

Some of them like to prove their worth I think.
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sikamalc said:
Had mine over 35 years. Open ticket for any legal quarry in the UK, and I live in Kent. Plus load my own.

My last FEO, now retired, questioned why I had a 375HH on my last renewal. Even though I have owned the rifle for many years. He questioned that it was too big for deer stalking in the UK.
I pointed out to him that although there is a minimum calibre in the UK, there is NO maximum. And after my owning the rifle for so many years, why there should NOW be a problem?
He responded by saying to me that I was right, and that we shall leave as is :).

He has since retired.

Some of them like to prove their worth I think.
Click to expand...
sikamalc said:
Had mine over 35 years. Open ticket for any legal quarry in the UK, and I live in Kent. Plus load my own.

My last FEO, now retired, questioned why I had a 375HH on my last renewal. Even though I have owned the rifle for many years. He questioned that it was too big for deer stalking in the UK.
I pointed out to him that although there is a minimum calibre in the UK, there is NO maximum. And after my owning the rifle for so many years, why there should NOW be a problem?
He responded by saying to me that I was right, and that we shall leave as is :).

He has since retired.

Some of them like to prove their worth I think.
Click to expand...
Alistair said:
Well, as this thread seems to have revived itself, I guess I can share my own experiences with the 375 I discussed in my OP in this thread.

Honestly, it was fine. No issues, no delays, no quibbles, I got what I wanted. No more hassle than my application for my 270 or my 44 lever gun. Credit to West Mercia there.

I applied for zeroing and competition use in the UK with a 'good reason' of running boar competitions at the range where I was a member. They were fine with that.

I asked for 100 round ammo allowance so I could reload batches of ammo. They gave me 160.

I specified that I wanted expanding ammo so I could practice with hunting loads ahead of driven boar or trips to Africa. No issues.

2 weeks to turn around the variation, a quick 10 min telephone conversation, job done. Low drama all around.

I didn't particularly want it conditioned for hunting in the UK as I had a perfectly good .270 for that, so I didn't ask for that condition. However, I'm pretty confident that I'd have got it if I wanted it.

Obviously your experience may vary depending on your local police force, but my experience is that getting these rifles, at least with WM, is not nearly as complicated as some people assume it is, or make it out to be.

If you want one, you have good reason and plans in mind to use one, then I say go for it. You'll likely have no issues.

Oh, and shout out to @bowji john 's safari course mentioned above. If you have an interest, even a passing one, in the whole safari thing, I can strongly recommend his course. It's a lot of fun, and I learnt a lot. Of course, it did lead to me getting my .375, so it wasn't 'cheap' per se, but good value nonetheless!
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I think you would be telling a different tale if you had applied for it for stalking in the UK.
 
Have 300Norma and 338 Lap easily enough in Scotland both of which are over 375 MV
however some authorities get their knickers in a twist about the sheer calibre

Customer had his request for 9.3x74 for deer turned down as the standard ammo is under the velocity minimum in Scotland!
We found some light for calibre factory ammo that breached the threshold and it was granted.
Ridiculous

More danger from a novice shooting a .243 at night than any of the big lumpy cartridges
 
Amazing that this thread has gone on for 8 pages (so far). I guess that opinions are like a**eholes, everyone has got one.
I’ve got a .375 and a 9.3x62. The 9.3 is conditioned for the UK, the .375 is Overseas Use only (Sussex). To be fair, I’ve never asked to use the .375 in the UK. I’m allowed to zero it here which is all I want.
For me, if you are fit to hold an FAC I struggle to understand the arbitrary rules about calibres (not withstanding the Deer Act).
More than anything else this thread highlights the differences between Police Forces. Would a national Firearms Licensing department apply more consistency? But then what if they adopted policies that none of us agreed with?
 
ColinJ said:
Amazing that this thread has gone on for 8 pages (so far). I guess that opinions are like a**eholes, everyone has got one.
I’ve got a .375 and a 9.3x62. The 9.3 is conditioned for the UK, the .375 is Overseas Use only (Sussex). To be fair, I’ve never asked to use the .375 in the UK. I’m allowed to zero it here which is all I want.
For me, if you are fit to hold an FAC I struggle to understand the arbitrary rules about calibres (not withstanding the Deer Act).
More than anything else this thread highlights the differences between Police Forces. Would a national Firearms Licensing department apply more consistency? But then what if they adopted policies that none of us agreed with?
Click to expand...
How can the police condition your 375 for overseas use ?
You say you are allowed to zero it here but what jurisdiction do they have abroad?
 
Namman said:
How can the police condition your 375 for overseas use ?
You say you are allowed to zero it here but what jurisdiction do they have abroad?
Click to expand...
The condition says, “to and from a port of embarkation and zeroing on ranges”.
 
How the tides have turned. Gloucestershire recently removed my deer condition for my .416. It's now zeroing and travelling with it. No good reason given, they just took it off. Having just moved house and given that I've pulled apart pretty much every room in the new one for renovations, I don't have the time or energy to argue. To be honest, I'm not sure I even care.

The passion I had for shooting isn't there like it used to be and hasn't been for quite some time. I came close to letting the .416 go recently, the only reason I didn't is because of that condition. Sod them, if they want to be difficult then I'm not going to positively affect their figures out of the kindness of my heart. In fact now it can't be used here, there really isn't a good reason for me to not have an even bigger one!
 
njc110381 said:
How the tides have turned. Gloucestershire recently removed my deer condition for my .416. It's now zeroing and travelling with it. No good reason given, they just took it off. Having just moved house and given that I've pulled apart pretty much every room in the new one for renovations, I don't have the time or energy to argue. To be honest, I'm not sure I even care.

The passion I had for shooting isn't there like it used to be and hasn't been for quite some time. I came close to letting the .416 go recently, the only reason I didn't is because of that condition. Sod them, if they want to be difficult then I'm not going to positively affect their figures out of the kindness of my heart. In fact now it can't be used here, there really isn't a good reason for me to not have an even bigger one!
Click to expand...
I’d at least write to the CC and ask him why it’s been done.
Ken.
 
kenbro said:
I’d at least write to the CC and ask him why it’s been done.
Ken.
Click to expand...
Worth a shot. Normally I would have caused a huge stir but when you're washing your nuts with a flannel in the kitchen because you just ripped out the only shower in the house, these things seem so far down the priorities list that they're hardly even relevant! :lol:
 
njc110381 said:
Worth a shot. Normally I would have caused a huge stir but when you're washing your nuts with a flannel in the kitchen because you just ripped out the only shower in the house, these things seem so far down the priorities list that they're hardly even relevant! :lol:
Click to expand...
Hope you’re using the Fanny flannel. 😘
Ken.
 
njc110381 said:
How the tides have turned. Gloucestershire recently removed my deer condition for my .416. It's now zeroing and travelling with it. No good reason given, they just took it off. Having just moved house and given that I've pulled apart pretty much every room in the new one for renovations, I don't have the time or energy to argue. To be honest, I'm not sure I even care.

The passion I had for shooting isn't there like it used to be and hasn't been for quite some time. I came close to letting the .416 go recently, the only reason I didn't is because of that condition. Sod them, if they want to be difficult then I'm not going to positively affect their figures out of the kindness of my heart. In fact now it can't be used here, there really isn't a good reason for me to not have an even bigger one!
Use the Freedom of Information Act to see how many in Gloucestershire have such rifles (375 and larger) for deerstalking. You can then see if it's blanket policy or whether it's just you.
Do you go abroad hunting ?
Click to expand...
 
Alistair said:
Afternoon all,

I'd like to put a question ot to any on here who currently have a 375.

I'm interested in one myself, primarily as a driven boar tool in the short to medium term, but with the end goal of a trip to Africa in the back of my mind for the future as well.

I'm in the process of putting together a variation for the calibre and wondered if any on here had one for the purpose of driven boar or possibly even UK deer? This will be my 'good reason' for the application and I wanted to know if any others had seen success under these conditions?

I don't necessarily need AOLQ, as I'm not planning on ever shooting game in the UK with it, but I would need it conditioned for zeroing and practice for load development and use on the driven boar facility at my club.

This to me seems a reasonable request, but what say the people of SD? Reasonable chance of success, or a bit optimistic?
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I prefer the 9.3x62 for driven hunts, and I feel the .375 would be a bit much more recoil and cost. The 9.3x62 is basically a .35 Whelen. Plenty for a buffalo but not legal in most African countries. With that said, if you are doing plains game, eland and spiral horn animals, the 9.3x62 is more than sufficient and will be less costly to shoot! Cheers!
 
@Namman I do hunt abroad occasionally. I don't really see that as relevant though - they've allowed me to have it so the justification for it is covered. What they've chosen to do is become petty and remove a condition when nothing has changed.
 
njc110381 said:
@Namman I do hunt abroad occasionally. I don't really see that as relevant though - they've allowed me to have it so the justification for it is covered. What they've chosen to do is become petty and remove a condition when nothing has changed.
Click to expand...
It is relevant if you read all the HOG.
I used the Freedom of Information Act to have my 375 deer stalking reinstated as I believed I had been unfairly treated compared to others in my area.
From the reply my belief was confirmed.
Next week the condition was reinstated.
I am trying to be helpful.
 
Hi njc110381

When I had my run-in with TVP for similar reason, I was informed by NGO Firearms Team that there is provision to appeal a condition - but this is not advised to the holder by the Polis. I didnt persue this line but like Namman I was not prepared to accept this sort of nonsense, so made a formal complaint and had my .375 reinstated for AOLQ.

L
 
I do appreciate that @Namman. I didn't intend to come across as ungrateful, my apologies. At the time I just didn't have the energy for it. I'd just had a very messy house move, struggling to keep up with work and juggle fixing up the house at the same time. Having a condition removed for a rifle that I had no intention of using for a year or so wasn't anywhere near the top of my list of things to fix! I am very aware though that when my next trip comes together, having a few stalks under my belt with the bigger rifle will be a huge advantage for familiarity.

@Loki I think that's probably a good route to take. I want to rock their boat a little, they're out of order. As time passes I'm getting back more and more room to breathe, my energy for keeping the firearms department in check is creeping back. I have a lot of respect for them until they start playing silly games but at that point they get the same treatment as anyone else who's being an unreasonable idiot!
Edit; Did you take the IOPC route or complain directly?
 
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Jager Waffen74 said:
I prefer the 9.3x62 for driven hunts, and I feel the .375 would be a bit much more recoil and cost. The 9.3x62 is basically a .35 Whelen. Plenty for a buffalo but not legal in most African countries. With that said, if you are doing plains game, eland and spiral horn animals, the 9.3x62 is more than sufficient and will be less costly to shoot! Cheers!
Click to expand...
I hate to have to agree with you cos I love my .375H&H
I have used on driven Boar & Deer, it was a pleasure to use, very effective and recoil doesn't seem to matter when the adrenaline is pumping
However, at £10-12 (or more) per cartridge for decent factory ammo these days, using it certainly hurts the wallet/credit card
 
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