I've been thinking the same thing. I've enjoyed my Ruger #1 .375 as a brush gun, though it has a 24" barrel, there is no action length, so it's 40 1/2" long overall. I'm currently building a stainless steel .375 H & H "scout" rifle based on a Montana 1999 bolt action. It will feature a 19" or 20" barrel and long eye relief forward mounted scope, hopefully about 7-8 lbs. I need a lightweight all purpose rifle for wandering the Alaskan outback and I think this will fit the bill for me. 30 f.p.s. per inch seems a small price to pay for handiness....I'm hoping to mitigate that somewhat by careful handloading with a chronograph to compare different powders, etc.

Todd