Holland & Holland's .375 goes clear back to 1912, but among Americans its real popularity starts in 1937 when it became one of the early offerings in the Winchester Model 70. For the next half-century it was America's favorite big bore--ready for Africa's big stuff, Alaska's biggest bears and all-around use as needed.

But something happened in 1988. In the space of barely a year, Remington brought out its .416 Remington Magnum, Weatherby its .416 Weatherby Magnum, and Ruger and Federal collaborated on the rebirth of the .416 Rigby. These .416s took much market away from the .375. Now, I like the .416s, have used them all and can tell you that the .416 is more dramatic than the .375 on buffalo, and certainly it's a great deal better for elephant. On the other hand, there is no buffalo on earth that will stand up to a good, modern 300-grain expanding .375 bullet, and I've taken plenty of buffalo with 270-grain bullets.

The .375 is marginal for elephant, but it's on the right side of the margin, and a 300-grain .375 solid will provide the necessary penetration. The caliber remains perfect for big bears, lion and large non-dangerous animals such as moose and eland. This window of perfection is limited, but that isn't what the .375 is all about.

It is the world's greatest jack-of-all-trades, powerful enough for the largest game, flat-shooting enough for open country, and light enough in recoil to allow accurate shooting on smaller game.

I have known all this for many years, and I have used most of the .375 cartridges--including the .375 Weatherby Magnum, .375 Remington Ultra Magnum and the relatively new .375 Ruger. My old .375 H&H, a left-hand-converted Model 70, is now on its second barrel. Even so, it has been a few years since I've done much hunting with any .375, but I fixed that last year when I used not one but three new .375 rifles on the kind of game they're intended for.

The Kimber Caprivi incorporates many features often found on custom rifles: good English walnut, beautifully classic styling, matte blue finish, good open sights and barrel band sling swivel.

The Ruger Hawkeye is, of course, chambered to the shorter, fatter .375 Ruger cartridge co-developed with Hornady. Able to fit into a .30-06-length action, the .375 Ruger is an unbelted cartridge with a .532-inch rim and case diameter, the same diameter as the .375 H&H's rim and belt. However, the .375 Ruger doesn't "step down" ahead of the belt; it's a very straight, sharp-shouldered case.

So even with a shorter case length, its capacity slightly exceeds the .375 H&H, and it's a bit faster-- maybe 100 to 150 fps, depending on bullet weight and load. This bonus velocity yields a bit more energy, and it does slightly flatten the trajectory--not enough that any buffalo will know the difference, though.

Last year I had one of the first factory Hawkeye rifles, the variation of the Ruger M77 designed around this cartridge. The .30-06 action length makes it a wonderfully tidy package. The .375 Ruger tends to burn its powder in a bit shorter barrel, so the "compromise" 23-inch barrel length adds to the handiness of the package. Total weight with a 3-9X Trijicon scope is a bit less than nine pounds.