Experience with .375 Ruger?

[smoke]

Anyone have thoughts on a .375 Ruger? Toying with the idea of an African hunt and it sounds like a good caliber. Any input is appreciated. Thanks!

 

[hodgeman]

I've had a couple. It flat works.

 

[thinhorn_AK]

I like the 375HH better but the 375 Ruger is cool too.

 

[rifletuner]

I have had a 375 H&H and just bought another one. My son is building a 375 Ruger at the moment. Ballistically the H&H and the Ruger are very similar, and I would expect terminal performance to be identical.

I hunted plains game in South Africa and took medium to large animals with my 375H&H using 250gn Barnes X bullets that I loaded myself. All were one shot kills, and pretty much all dead on the spot. I left my ammo with my PH at the end of the hunt, and a guy I met in camp on that trip when back for a cape buffalo hunt the next year. He used a camp 375 H&H with my 250gn Barnes X loads to shoot his buffalo.

The 375s are comfortable to shoot and very capable.

 

[MaraviaDave]

If you’re going to get a custom rifle….George Gardner at GA Precision designed a modified 375 H&H reamer, that will still shoot factory ammo and maximizes performance for hand loaders. The Barnes 270 grain LRX shoots well and has been devastating on moose!

 

[AZ_Hunter_2000]

Toying with grabbing a 375 Ruger as well. No reason other than why not.

What scope(s) are folks looking at on theirs?

 

[marshland_max]

I with the other guys. I m a 375 H&H fan. Easy to shoot and load for. Plenty of power, but zi still prefer a soft 270 gr bullet as my short barrel tops out at about 2700 fps with them out of the muzzle. The barnes are good I have the 235 gr ones myself. At any rate the 375 Ruger is just as good in a bit shorter action!

 

[MaraviaDave]

Toying with grabbing a 375 Ruger as well. No reason other than why not.

What scope(s) are folks looking at on theirs?

NightForce NXS 2.5-10x42

 

[thinhorn_AK]

One of my 375s has a 2.5-8 leupold, the other has a 1-4 Nikon African. I’d like to get a 1-6 trijicon though.

 

[Jacack]

I have one of the first ruger .375 Africans. Great gun a d cartridge. And one of the original Alaskans that I swapped the houge stock for a McMillan, one of my favorite rifles.

 

[WildGooseChase]

I have an Alaskan in .375 Ruger with a 2.5-8 Leupold. It's comfortable to shoot and hits big critters hard. I would buy it again.

 

[rifletuner]

Toying with grabbing a 375 Ruger as well. No reason other than why not.

What scope(s) are folks looking at on theirs?

Depends on how you hunt, but with a bullet like the 260gn Accubond, the 375 Ruger can provide good mid range ballistics. On my son's rifle, we are going to put a 1-10 March on it. That way he can stalk in thick timber with the scope set on 1-2 power, but if he gets a cross gully shot at 400-500 meters he can dial up the elevation and use the top end of the magnification range. That really lets us make use of all the flexibility the 375 Ruger can offer.

 

[Sevens]

Unless you’ve got something really large on the menu like Cape buffalo, elephant, hippo, etc., don’t think the 375 is necessary. If just hunting plains game, whatever you use for elk will work great and save your shoulder.

If do have the heavy critters on the menu, shoot the 375 Ruger in confidence. Shot placement is still important though, even on the plains game.

 

[BDWMT]

I love my 375 Ruger. Montana Rifle action with a Lilja barrel. Shoots 270 Barnes into ragged holes and hits like a sledge hammer. I’ve done load work with 2 others and they both shot amazing with very little effort. I’ve seen 5 moose and 1 elk go down with them and all with authority.

 

[Wapiti1]

Sevens is spot on. Anything in the plains game category, including eland, can be handled by a 30-06. My wife took a 7mm Mauser on both hunts and it managed sable, and mountain zebra without any drama.

For the bigger critters, the .375 is the right choice. I prefer the Ruger version over the H&H solely because it is shorter. That makes it much easier to work with in any long action without the issue of loaded rounds being difficult to eject. On a lot of the H&H chambered rifles, a loaded round will hit the front ring when you try to eject it. Very annoying. You can also handload the Ruger a little stouter than the H&H. There are no downsides to it. Same amount of magazine capacity, slightly higher power, same wide variety of bullets from 235 up to 350, fits in any long action. It's just not nostalgic.

Jeremy

 

[FLATHEAD]

I have an Alaskan, just because.
300 gr. Partitions.
Hope to take it for Nilgai one day.
I should probably take it for black bear and shoot
a big ole Mtn. Boar hog with it.

 

[thinhorn_AK]

Sevens is spot on. Anything in the plains game category, including eland, can be handled by a 30-06. My wife took a 7mm Mauser on both hunts and it managed sable, and mountain zebra without any drama.

For the bigger critters, the .375 is the right choice. I prefer the Ruger version over the H&H solely because it is shorter. That makes it much easier to work with in any long action without the issue of loaded rounds being difficult to eject. On a lot of the H&H chambered rifles, a loaded round will hit the front ring when you try to eject it. Very annoying. You can also handload the Ruger a little stouter than the H&H. There are no downsides to it. Same amount of magazine capacity, slightly higher power, same wide variety of bullets from 235 up to 350, fits in any long action. It's just not nostalgic.

Jeremy

I’ve never had an issue ejecting or feeding rounds through any of the 4 375HH rifles I’ve owned. I always felt that the round fed and ejected great just because of the shape.

One downside to the 375 Ruger is that the only company that makes factory Ammo is hornady. Not a big deal I guess if you buy 5-10 boxes and use the brass to reload. I’d buy a 375 Ruger if I came across an early model alaskan without that stupid muzzle brake thing.

 

[Wapiti1]

I’ve never had an issue ejecting or feeding rounds through any of the 4 375HH rifles I’ve owned. I always felt that the round fed and ejected great just because of the shape.

One downside to the 375 Ruger is that the only company that makes factory Ammo is hornady. Not a big deal I guess if you buy 5-10 boxes and use the brass to reload. I’d buy a 375 Ruger if I came across an early model alaskan without that stupid muzzle brake thing.

Not an issue with feeding. The H&H design is a dream to get to feed.

Ejecting loaded rounds on many actions is a problem due to the standard length ejection port. They made the magazine long enough, but didn't lengthen the port. Weatherby Vanguards, some Sako's, even some Winchesters (push feed) won't do it. 300gr spitzers at max COAL can hit the front ring. You see the same thing with the RUM and full length Weatherby rounds (.300, .340) in those actions.

Good point on brass/ammo.

I have nothing against the H&H. In the right action, it's everything you need.

Jeremy

 

[BCsteve]

Big fan of the 375 Ruger. I have a Ruger Alaskan in a McMillan stock. It’s my northern BC moose hunting rifle. Shot three bulls with the 250gr TTSX so far, works very well, as expected. Gives you a little boost of confidence in grizzly country .

 

[bradb]

I but a Brux barrel on a Win action I had around, sits in a Mcmillian and shoots great as expected. Hell I really have no good use for it but what the hell I like guns! I have shot plenty of steel out to 600 with a little 1-6x on it. Have shot a couple black bears with it. Fun gun