Whenever shooters mention a “three-seven-five” calibre, one naturally assumes they are referring to the famous .375 Holland & Holland Magnum, also known as the .375 Magnum Rimless Nitro-Express. In 95% of all cases, this would be a correct assumption. The .375 H&H Magnum is the most popular .375-calibre cartridge ever invented and certainly Holland & Holland’s most successful cartridge. However, some people are unaware that Holland & Holland also built rifles in other, more obscure .375 calibres. It is not particularly well known that the .375 H&H Magnum was neither Holland & Holland’s first attempt at a sporting cartridge in this calibre, nor was it their first belted cartridge. In this article, we take a closer look at this and examine some rifles.
.375 FLANGED 2½” NITRO-EXPRESS
The oldest amongst the .375 cartridges discussed here is the .375 Flanged 2½” Nitro-Express. Developed by Holland & Holland and Eley Bros. in 1899, it was based upon the .303 British case, lengthened to 2,5” and opened up to accept a .375” round-nose bullet, resulting in a straight-tapered rimmed case. Two factory loads were available: The low-pressure version (12 tons per square inch) used 40 grains of cordite and a 270-grain bullet to produce about 2 000 fps muzzle velocity. The high-pressure factory load (15 tons per square inch) used 40 grains of cordite with a320-grain bullet, producing approximately 1 900 fps muzzle velocity. The 270-grain load was adopted as the standard load (and is most frequently encountered), with the 320-grain load offered to hunters who required more power. Interestingly, Kynoch is currently offering new loaded ammunition for this classic old calibre, now using a 270-grain bullet at 1 975 fps.
Holland intended this cartridge for use in double and single-shot rifles as well as magazine rifles. Because Rigby held the exclusive right to the Mauser action in Britain,
