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I have previously owned two of the Made in Japan 378 Deluxes as well as having been directly involved with two other Japanese made 378s. Of the latter two 378s one was one of the few ClassicMarks and the other was an early 1970s rifle.

I have a pair of 378 custom shop upgrades that should get to Nioa Trading by end of May/June.

As to the ballistics I have always simply loved the 375 H&H and to me a 378 is about doing those ballistics with sheer ease (Probably do it with blck powder

) while at the same time knowing you can turn it into a giant 300 Magnum. Often "knowing you can do something" provides the best pleasure.

The Made in Japan rifles have barrels that are far too light and when combined with only average barrel quality and huge freebore they can be very fussy for accuracy. The US Made rifles have the heavier contour barrel, the same contour as the 416 Wby.

Some parts from your posting:

The rifle has never failed to feed!!!
it will feed EMPTY cases 99 times out of
100-try that with a mauser!

That is because of the vertical stack magazine. In addition, feeding empty cases is greatly aided when the calibre has a big chamber diameter in relation to the neck diameter, just like the 378. When all else is equal a staggered magazine feed can never equal the vertical stack for reliable feeding.

The two recoil lugs never both bear evenly and I suspect the stories I have heard about the mags. bursting open
and spilling the rounds onto the ground were because neither recoil lug was properly bedded and the mag. well was acting as a recoil lug.

If the floorplate opens it is not related to the bedding. For one thing the magazine box is quite loose in the 378 based calibres. Secondly, even if only one lug is making contact the other will be only missing contact by thous.

The rifle is MUCH too LIGHT.

Just about everyone agrees with that statement. But the US Made rifles have the heavier barrel and detachable muzzle brake.

The ejection port is small in relation to the cartridge size-it is near impossible in the heat of the moment to recharge the mag. from above.

The vertical stack magazine should be loaded from the bottom. That is, open the floorplate and drop two into the magazine. Many individual 378 based Wbys (30/378, 338/378, 378, 416 and 460 all use the same magazine) will need someone with an iron hand and the strength of superman to load them through the top.

I think the light weight Made in Japan 378s do not recoil....instead they launch a personal attack on the shooter

Mike

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