Well my gun is going hunting... without me.
Plumber Doug is a lifelong friend and even went to HHC once. We share the handgun hunting bug from way back. I sold him my .375 JDJ full build when I switched to Gary's stuff, not that there were any flies on JD's stuff. I just went a different direction. Doug has killed stacks of critters with that .375. The same old B&L 4X scope. Well he finally blew the scope after thousands of rounds. He wanted to borrow a handgun scope. "Well Doug, it's attached to a gun so why don't you just take the rig, it's sighted and ready to go". Plenty of ammo too. He's leaving for an Elk hunt in CO this Friday. Took one a few years ago with that .375 JDJ and 250 gr. Barnes running 2000 fps in his old Contender custom.
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This year he's upping it a bit with the .378 GNR FA2008 Waterboy Custom and the 260 gr. BTSP Accubond at 2300+ fps. The scope is a Weaver 2.5x8 which helps some too. If he misses it's NOT the gun. It does kick like a SOB though, will get in your face if you don't hold onto it. But also stacks the bullets if you are up to the job. Bill Firman and I both bought FA2008s in .375 Win. 15" with full intentions of doing about the same thing. I had Gary shorten my barrel an inch more at 14" total and do North American animals rather than African critters like Firman did. Bill got his first and I asked him about recoil. All he'd say was "the 300 gr. are a bit lively". LOL, yeah Bill.
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Good luck Doug, I want good pictures. Thank goodness my handle is engraved all over my gun so he can't talk me out of it! He already said he really likes it. Using this particular gun and load I've taken Sika (a little overkill, if there is such) and a nice Red Stag.
I love my 378 GNR Encore!
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The .378 GNR Encore is about the ultimate rig
I have the FA mainly because I promised Baker I'd support him and buy one. I like the cartridge, it goes against convention a bit with the narrow and long powder column. Trendy is short and fat, catch as much on fire as fast as possible. I think, maybe even by accident, the long tube of .378 powder can be matched with a burn rate that well suits it's consumption in 10-12" of actual rifled tube. Provided the bullet is sufficient to give it some resistance to perform. Long to short, it just works. A really fine cast FNGC loading is 50 grs. of IMR4895 and it mimics a .375 Win. rifle. In the hunting handgun the 250-300 gr. bullet is a performance copy of the 9.3x62 "rifle" with a larger diameter and tougher bullet. Trajectory is such a skilled shooter could connect at 300 yds. if they truly needed.
Previous to the FA2008 I shot an Encore in .378 and last took a nice Whitetail at the Y-O Ranch using the 270 gr. Hornady Spire point ahead of a full case of IMR4064. I was sick as a dog but living an adventure so when my time came I rose up and took the animal with one shot at 100 yds. The guide was spotting through binoculars and elated "not tracking that one" at the shot. That was good that in a weak moment I used it to perform.
A good Reeder massaged Encore chassis with a 13+2" braked tapered or bull .378 tube is a real crowd pleaser. All you need is a DDT set of rings and a quality variable optic to handgun hunt anything anywhere. It will work when you need it to. Get clever and have a 14+2" tapered barrel done and it can legally serve as a carbine when you get old or desire to make a run across the border to the north.
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We’ve aged since that photo!
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physically, not mentally. This pic is about 6 months
before the above pic..
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