The Accurate Reloading Forums THE ACCURATE RELOADING.COM FORUMS Hunting African Big Game Hunting Field experinces with the .375 Ruger?Go | New | Find | Notify | Tools | Reply | |
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I posted this on another forum and am looking for some response diversity, especially since the round has been out for a little bit now: I ask because I'm already commited to a custom Remington 700 in this chambering and want some performance feedback. Why am I asking after I've committed to it? Well, it gets a bit convoluted, but the bottom line is that the caliber choice is tied loosely to an African hunting DVD I'm filming next Spring. I can't go much further than that because I don't want to jinx anything, but back to the point... Has anyone used this new caliber in the field just yet? On paper, there's a lot that I'm liking about it. The gunsmith building it has basically told me that it's a good choice because I can get .375 H&H ballistics in a shorter, handier-barreled rig. For guy who's 5'7" and all of 180 lbs., that's a very compelling reason right there. I HATE long barrels in the field. That aside, the factory ammo that is available from Hornady is boasting some very good numbers on the chrono. I figure with the right bullet choice in a Superformance load, the legs and trajectory on a short-barreled rig will still be plenty qualified for 250+ yards. How does this compare to the experiences of folks who have used this caliber? Heck, even if you've only fired it from the bench, how did it do? | ||
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Have not taken mine to Africa yet. From the bench it shoots very accurately and recoil is minimal. Used my rifle a little last deer season and took 2 does with it. One at 30 yards and the other at 125 yards, both deer dropped where they stood. Good Hunting,  | |||
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Reminds me of a quote from a fellow who's Dad left him a pre-64 M70 in 375 H&H in Western Montana. There was a charity event in Seely Lake Montana in the early 70s. Part of it was "Shoot the Buick" for a dollar. There was a 1955 Buick on blocks in a field people took turns shooting at. It was a great money raiser. He let me shoot the 375 H&H, it really rocked that Buick. It was my first experience with a big bore. I asked him what he did with it. He said he hunted deer and elk. I said "Really?". He replied, "They don't get up."  Chuck Regards, Chuck "There's a saying in prize fighting, everyone's got a plan until they get hit" Michael Douglas "The Ghost And The Darkness" | |||
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I have seen more .375 Blaser's in africa (3) than .375 Rugers (0). Both deliver very similar performance- good on buffalo/lion, bloody awful on elephant. Client gave the one PH in my neck of the woods the rifle at the end of the safari. Needles to say scrounging up brass and dies has been a handstand but fortunately both Barnes and Woodleigh offer 350grn bullets for the hand loader. | |||
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I have no field experience with it yet, but have some on paper. I have the Alaskan version, and with full power loads it is lively off the bench. I've only fired it at paper, but plan to take it after deer and hogs this fall. It shoots well, with every load I've tried going under an inch and a half, with the better ones under an inch. I traded a CZ 550 in .375 H&H Magnum for it and have been happy with the trade. The CZ was huge, long, and heavy and the Ruger is short light and easy to handle. The CZ sat in the safe, the Ruger is going hunting. I swear the Ruger does not kick as much as the heavier CZ.I do plan to restock it and add a Limbsaver pad. TANSTAAFL | |||
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Shot a buffalo in Cameroon with my left handed 375 Ruger. Shot it in the shoulder, knocked it down, got back up and shot it in the shoulder and knocked it down again. It got back up facing me and I whacked it in the neck .. Finis ... I took it instead of my 416 Remington Sako as I thought the rig would be lighter to carry on those long long walks ... but with a big Euro Diamond scope, laminated stalk, and eight shells on the side of the stalk .. sheesh !!! I let the tracker carry it finally ... Hard to get ammo for before I left Canada and finally took hand loads .. Hornaldy softs and some solids .. I shot the buffalo with the soft points ..  | |||
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I am taking one to Zim this September for a double tuskless hunt in Makuti. I will let you know how it does. However, there shouldn't really be any difference between it and the 375 H&H. In the meantime, I have decided to hold on to my 458. STAY IN THE FIGHT! | |||
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and before anyone jumps on Luis' case about the R700, he is left handed, options are very limited. I helped him look for LH options at the time he was starting the project but we came up empty handed for something within his price range for this rifle. And he has a 458 win for the real heavy work  the 'smith already has a replacement extractor in hand waiting for the action to arrive.If you think every possible niche has been filled already, thank a wildcatter! | |||
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I do not understand these kinds of post asking about the perfromance of a new cartridge when it basically duplicates the ballistics of an old cartridge and when we know that actual velocity for a given cartrdige varies rifle to rifle... My point is... A 375 Ruger launches a 300 grn bullet at nominally 2600 fps. A 375HH launches the exact same projectile at nominal the same speed. Why would there be any difference in the performnace on game of the same projectile launched at the same velocity It's like saying Pitcher A hits you with a 90 mph fastball, will it hurt any different if Pitcher B hits you with a 90 mph fastabll given they are htrowing the same ball? Mike Legistine actu quod scripsi? Never under estimate the internet community's ability to reply to your post with their personal rant about their tangentially related, single occurrence issue.  What I have learned on AR, since 2001: 1. The proper answer to: Where is the best place in town to get a steak dinner? is…You should go to Mel's Diner and get the fried chicken. 2. Big game animals can tell the difference between .015 of an inch in diameter, 15 grains of bullet weight, and 150 fps. 3. There is a difference in the performance of two identical projectiles launched at the same velocity if they came from different cartridges. 4. While a double rifle is the perfect DGR, every 375HH bolt gun needs to be modified to carry at least 5 down. 5. While a floor plate and detachable box magazine both use a mechanical latch, only the floor plate latch is reliable. Disregard the fact that every modern military rifle uses a detachable box magazine. 6. The Remington 700 is unreliable regardless of the fact it is the basis of the USMC M40 sniper rifle for 40+ years with no changes to the receiver or extractor and is the choice of more military and law enforcement sniper units than any other rifle. 7. PF actions are not suitable for a DGR and it is irrelevant that the M1, M14, M16, & AK47 which were designed for hunting men that can shoot back are all PF actions. 8. 95 deg F in Africa is different than 95 deg F in TX or CA and that is why you must worry about ammunition temperature in Africa (even though most safaris take place in winter) but not in TX or in CA. 9. The size of a ding in a gun's finish doesn't matter, what matters is whether it’s a safe ding or not. 10. 1 in a row is a trend, 2 in a row is statistically significant, and 3 in a row is an irrefutable fact. 11. Never buy a WSM or RCM cartridge for a safari rifle or your go to rifle in the USA because if they lose your ammo you can't find replacement ammo but don't worry 280 Rem, 338-06, 35 Whelen, and all Weatherby cartridges abound in Africa and back country stores. 12. A well hit animal can run 75 yds. in the open and suddenly drop with no initial blood trail, but the one I shot from 200 yds. away that ran 10 yds. and disappeared into a thicket and was not found was lost because the bullet penciled thru. I am 100% certain of this even though I have no physical evidence. 13. A 300 Win Mag is a 500 yard elk cartridge but a 308 Win is not a 300 yard elk cartridge even though the same bullet is travelling at the same velocity at those respective distances. | |||
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It worked just fine for me. Two buffalo on same trip. Never used a H & H so can't compare. | |||
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Mike - I hear what you are saying, but you have to be careful not to oversimplify the performance down to bullet weight/velocity. A perfect example of why this can be misleading would be comparing a .30-06 to a .30 BR load using the same projectile. While they can be made to shoot the same weight projectiles in overlapping velocities, there's a reason why one is labeled a benchrest round and the other is not. In a gross generalization, the case design of the .30 BR lends itself to accuracy better than a .30-06. In the same regard, a .375 Ruger uses a shorter, fatter case that (based on what I'm hearing from the gunsmith building this gun) can give identical or greater velocities than a 375 H&H shooting the same projectile in an identical barrel length. This opens up a whole can of worms that I'm seeking direct or implied answers to: is the round seeing easy-to-achieve accuracy, are there problems with ejection or extraction related to the case shape? Are the factory loads made by Hornady working as advertised and giving the advertised velocities? Broken case lips due to a poor case design? These are just a few things I can think of off the top of my head, but hopefully folks have other stuff they can address. The bottom line is seeing how well the round drops game, but that bottom line is directly affected by the shooter and a plethora of potential factors surrounding the cartridge. | |||
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I have also post questions for the 375 Ruger. I leave in less than two weeks for buffalo and sable-- I do not reload----I wanted to know about the factory Horandy DGX and DGS bullet preformance. Even though the Ruger is "the same" as the H&H, the bullets are different. I received great info from the AR crew and Thanks to all. I will report experience with the Ruger in about a month.-- Good Luck to All!  Skip Nantz | |||
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I put together one Legend chambered for 375 Ruger for a Zambian PH and shipped it over last summer. We used a Pre-64 action as requested and a 23" barrel and got 2380-2400-fps velocities in 95 degree temps with 350gr Woodleighs. Measured case expansion showed it was a safe but Maximum load with no sticky bolt lift, etc. Unfortunately he only got to shoot one buffalo with it before the season ended last year. Accuracy was just excellent with both Soft and FMJ bullets. Athol Frylinck purchased this rifle for clients to use in the event their rifle went gunny sack for any reason The one thing I noticed was the chamber pressure with the Hornady factory ammo was way to excessive even in temps of 60 degrees with this one particular chamber. The barrel was a Bartlein C/M, the reamer was a Henriksen and made to the Hornady/Ruger specs to the T. If I remember the factory velocity was around 2600-fps with the 300gr. DGX Ammo. I'm sure fired at 90 it would lock this gun up as we had to beat the bolt open with the heal of our hand at 60 degrees after 3 rounds of each expansion was around .003 over the virgin brass. We found the Honrnady brass to be well made. | |||
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Luis, I based my comment on the nature of your post...to me your post implied pefromance in the field on game. You are correct feeding, extracting are different issues. But how many factory cartridges have feeding and extraction problems where the feeding and extraction problem is related to the design of the cartridge as opposed to trying to fit a cartridge into the wrong kind of action. With respect to accuracy for a hunting rifle, 95+% of that will be achieved will be from the build of the rifle as opposed to the design of the cartridge. Mike Legistine actu quod scripsi? Never under estimate the internet community's ability to reply to your post with their personal rant about their tangentially related, single occurrence issue. What I have learned on AR, since 2001: 1. The proper answer to: Where is the best place in town to get a steak dinner? is…You should go to Mel's Diner and get the fried chicken. 2. Big game animals can tell the difference between .015 of an inch in diameter, 15 grains of bullet weight, and 150 fps. 3. There is a difference in the performance of two identical projectiles launched at the same velocity if they came from different cartridges. 4. While a double rifle is the perfect DGR, every 375HH bolt gun needs to be modified to carry at least 5 down. 5. While a floor plate and detachable box magazine both use a mechanical latch, only the floor plate latch is reliable. Disregard the fact that every modern military rifle uses a detachable box magazine. 6. The Remington 700 is unreliable regardless of the fact it is the basis of the USMC M40 sniper rifle for 40+ years with no changes to the receiver or extractor and is the choice of more military and law enforcement sniper units than any other rifle. 7. PF actions are not suitable for a DGR and it is irrelevant that the M1, M14, M16, & AK47 which were designed for hunting men that can shoot back are all PF actions. 8. 95 deg F in Africa is different than 95 deg F in TX or CA and that is why you must worry about ammunition temperature in Africa (even though most safaris take place in winter) but not in TX or in CA. 9. The size of a ding in a gun's finish doesn't matter, what matters is whether it’s a safe ding or not. 10. 1 in a row is a trend, 2 in a row is statistically significant, and 3 in a row is an irrefutable fact. 11. Never buy a WSM or RCM cartridge for a safari rifle or your go to rifle in the USA because if they lose your ammo you can't find replacement ammo but don't worry 280 Rem, 338-06, 35 Whelen, and all Weatherby cartridges abound in Africa and back country stores. 12. A well hit animal can run 75 yds. in the open and suddenly drop with no initial blood trail, but the one I shot from 200 yds. away that ran 10 yds. and disappeared into a thicket and was not found was lost because the bullet penciled thru. I am 100% certain of this even though I have no physical evidence. 13. A 300 Win Mag is a 500 yard elk cartridge but a 308 Win is not a 300 yard elk cartridge even though the same bullet is travelling at the same velocity at those respective distances. | |||
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You are correct in that my main concern is going to be field performance. I agree that the build of the rifle is the chief component in assuring good accuracy. The main thing I'm looking for there is a general theme of good results from various factory builds. While there's no garauntee that one gun will shoot as well as the one before it on the same assembly line, it's always nice to hear that folks aren't having to go to exceptional lengths to attain respectable accuracy with the round. As far as the cartridge feeding/extracting issues, you raise a good point in that it's rare to hear of a round that itself causes problems, but it does happen. The .22 Jet comes to mind when thinking of a case that was never tested properly will full power loads and the guys in the field found this out the hard way when their revolver cylinders were locking up on hunts. Don't take my post(s) the wrong way. I'm not trying to be nitpicky. In fact, I hope I DO get a lot of vanilla replies with nothing significant to report regarding the round, it's just that handful of off-color cases that can give some insight and the potential to prevent a problem before it happens. | |||
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Thanks for that post D'Arcy! A D'Arcy Echols Legend chambered in 375 Ruger for an African PH, so that he has a good rifle to loan to clients. If that ain't positive endorsement of a cartridge! I think IdahoSharpshooter predicted that such a thing would NEVER happen.  Cheers Canuck | |||
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Ganyana, I always value your opinion. Why, in your experience, is this cartridge "bloody awful on elephant?" Not enough energy? Something else? Do those same remarks also apply to the .375H&H? If not, why not? Thanks. | |||
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DArcy_Echols_Co - Thank you very much: this is a prime example of the kind of info I'm after since we'll be hunting the Eastern Cape during the late Summer next year. The heat (having hunted the same area and timeframe this past March) can be flat-out oppressive out there. We hit somewhere in the neighborhood of 113 F while I was out there and I was mightily concerned that the near-max handloads in my 7mm-08 were going to start getting pressure signs roasting in the sun. Thankfully, that never happened and there were no ill effects, but it was certainly an initial concern. Now I have something to consider if I go with factory loads with the .375 Ruger. | |||
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You might want to ask Darcy how many more rifles he has made in this chambering...or how easy it was to make feed and function to his standards. | |||
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I have shot mine a lot off the bench testing loads. It is incredibly accurate out to 400 yards with 260 grain Nosler Accubonds. I work all of my load data up here in the Arizona desert in the summer. 103-115. If they are going to be hot loads then I will see it here. With my load I have no issues. So far the only animal I have killed with it is my Kodiak Mountain Goat. I have reports on my loads and on my goat hunt here on AR. I hope to take my .375 Ruger to Africa in 2013 or 2014. We are headed to South Africa this September but it is an archery only hunt with my wife. Best of luck with your new rifle. | |||
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Hey Will, That load is what I shoot as well, it carries downrange ballistics almost identical to my .300 win mag, with 180 grain accubonds. Are you coming to the Big Bore Shoot? Steve Formerly "Nganga" | |||
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I have a 375 Ruger finish reamer and gages for sale, used once. John's right Athol got the only 375 Ruger I'll ever build as I can't seem to find any real practical reason not to use a Std H&H or step up to the 375 Wtby. But that's just one guys opinion. | |||
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Canuck, 1. he says the cartridge jams the friggin bolt stuck at 60-degrees. "beat the bolt open with the heel of our at sixty degrees after three rounds...". I definitely need one of those! I don't have enough trouble these days; I need a rifle to take to Africa that could pass for a pipe bomb or a cricket bat. 2. The reamers, etc are for sale as he states he will never build another one. There's a deal for you, and likely pretty cheap too. 3. The PH isn't using it, it's a spare for clients. While they are beating the bolt open he gets to kill the clients game. What! did he go to the Mark Sullivan PH School last year? If that ain't a glowing endorsement, I haven't ever read one. Some days you just kills me, man... regards, Rich packing a stodgy old H&H after all these years | |||
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I took a Ruger 375 to Africa last year and took a kudu, blue wildebeest and a gemsbok with it. I used the older 300 grain RN loads from Hornady and in each case it did the job wonderfully. I couldn't be happier with my choice of rifles. | |||
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Reading comprehension...the first casualty of the internet Mike Legistine actu quod scripsi? Never under estimate the internet community's ability to reply to your post with their personal rant about their tangentially related, single occurrence issue. What I have learned on AR, since 2001: 1. The proper answer to: Where is the best place in town to get a steak dinner? is…You should go to Mel's Diner and get the fried chicken. 2. Big game animals can tell the difference between .015 of an inch in diameter, 15 grains of bullet weight, and 150 fps. 3. There is a difference in the performance of two identical projectiles launched at the same velocity if they came from different cartridges. 4. While a double rifle is the perfect DGR, every 375HH bolt gun needs to be modified to carry at least 5 down. 5. While a floor plate and detachable box magazine both use a mechanical latch, only the floor plate latch is reliable. Disregard the fact that every modern military rifle uses a detachable box magazine. 6. The Remington 700 is unreliable regardless of the fact it is the basis of the USMC M40 sniper rifle for 40+ years with no changes to the receiver or extractor and is the choice of more military and law enforcement sniper units than any other rifle. 7. PF actions are not suitable for a DGR and it is irrelevant that the M1, M14, M16, & AK47 which were designed for hunting men that can shoot back are all PF actions. 8. 95 deg F in Africa is different than 95 deg F in TX or CA and that is why you must worry about ammunition temperature in Africa (even though most safaris take place in winter) but not in TX or in CA. 9. The size of a ding in a gun's finish doesn't matter, what matters is whether it’s a safe ding or not. 10. 1 in a row is a trend, 2 in a row is statistically significant, and 3 in a row is an irrefutable fact. 11. Never buy a WSM or RCM cartridge for a safari rifle or your go to rifle in the USA because if they lose your ammo you can't find replacement ammo but don't worry 280 Rem, 338-06, 35 Whelen, and all Weatherby cartridges abound in Africa and back country stores. 12. A well hit animal can run 75 yds. in the open and suddenly drop with no initial blood trail, but the one I shot from 200 yds. away that ran 10 yds. and disappeared into a thicket and was not found was lost because the bullet penciled thru. I am 100% certain of this even though I have no physical evidence. 13. A 300 Win Mag is a 500 yard elk cartridge but a 308 Win is not a 300 yard elk cartridge even though the same bullet is travelling at the same velocity at those respective distances. | |||
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Rich This 375 Ruger project began as a 9.3x64 and the PH had hoped to use 320gr Woodleighs. We chose the Pre-64 as he likes those actions a great deal. The first barrel I used was a 24" Krieger C/M. I have used a lot of Kriegers and really like them. However 300 rounds later, 9 to 10 different powders, and shooting 286gr to 320gr bullets into randomly abysmal groups I tossed in the towel. The best groups typically ran 2"-3" and we could never exceed 2275fps safely in 90 degree temps and only with one powder. The Second 9.3 barrel installed was Douglas also a C/M. This was the only Douglas barrel I ever could not get to shoot to acceptable standards. Same Velocity/pressure issues, same accuracy issues. Was the Reamer ground to tight ? Hardly , throat length to short ? nope. 200 rounds later we tossed in the towel. Finally I told Athol I was going out of the 9.3x64 business as the profit margin was now in the red. Now what ? the 375 Ruger looked like it would be the alternative he had in mind. It had wider selection of bullets and fit in a 3.400 length magazine. So I order the reamer and barrel. This one rifle chambered for 375 Ruger really worked just fine and is a "drill" accuracy wise. Both Athol and I have shot many 3 shot groups in the low .200's, that's one enlarged 375 caliber hole, particularly with the 350gr FMJ. Velocity is right where he wanted it. Getting it to feed was time consuming to say the least and NO it will not feed empties. The magazine and follower were a one of a kind like did Jim Kobe's conversion and held 4 down without being a drop box. So it was hardly a waste of time and gave the owner exactly what he wanted in the finished Rifle. But !!!!!! in retrospect it is much easier to assemble and for us make a PROFIT MARGIN with a STD H&H. If I wanted added velocity with less pressure the 375 Wtby makes much more sense to me than the Ruger. No reason to keep a once used reamer as it served it's purpose as will this one 375 Ruger. You live and learn | |||
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Darcy, I have a definition you may have heard. Do you know what experience is? Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted... Sound like you got experience with the cartridge. And rather high pressures to boot! I appreciate what you have said here, and it reinforces what is said by folks with no axe to grind. The 375 ruger accomplishes nothing the grand old lady has not been doing well for about a hundred years. It just took my gunsmith here about an hour on my CZ 375 H&H to tune the set trigger to my liking, and it WILL feed empties. Ditto with the one I have in 416 Rigby, and he's about got the 505 Gibbs there. As much as I admire your work, you couldn't give me one in 375 ruger. with admiration for your work, I remain, yours, Rich DRSS | |||
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D'Arcy, I have a definition you may have heard. Do you know what experience is? Experience is what you get when you didn't get what you wanted... Sound like you got experience with the cartridge. And rather high pressures to boot! I appreciate what you have said here, and it reinforces what is said by folks with no axe to grind. The 375 ruger accomplishes nothing the grand old lady has not been doing well for about a hundred years. It just took my gunsmith here about an hour on my CZ 375 H&H to tune the set trigger to my liking, and it WILL feed empties. Ditto with the one I have in 416 Rigby, and he's about got the 505 Gibbs there. As much as I admire your work, you couldn't give me one in 375 ruger. with admiration for your work, I remain, yours, Rich DRSS | |||
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Again, thank you very much for the insight into the issues you faced. Just a quick question regarding he feeding troubles: do you think the issues you saw were specific to the pre-64 action/feeding chain or were they something you can see being a case-related issue across just about any action? | |||
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I take everything Mr. Echols writes to heart. This is a post to save for future reference! Bad Krieger, "first" bad Douglas, 375 Ruger feeding issuses, H&H or Weatherby "better". Jason "You're not hard-core, unless you live hard-core." _______________________ Hunting in Africa is an adventure. The number of variables involved preclude the possibility of a perfect hunt. Some problems will arise. How you decide to handle them will determine how much you enjoy your hunt. Just tell yourself, "it's all part of the adventure." Remember, if Robert Ruark had gotten upset every time problems with Harry Selby's flat bed truck delayed the safari, Horn of the Hunter would have read like an indictment of Selby. But Ruark rolled with the punches, poured some gin, and enjoyed the adventure. -Jason Brown | |||
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I agree that it's good stuff from someone who knows their trade, but be careful when referencing each of the highlights in red: it's important to note that the barrel troubles were related to the 9.3x64, not the .375 Ruger. The feeding issue, on the other hand, were related to the .375 Ruger. | |||
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Being of the downtrodden left-handed minority, and also having both Ruger and Hornady as sponsors of TV shows I'm involved with (which is different from having them as a personal sponsors or being on their payroll--I don't do that!), I have used a left-handed .375 Ruger since it was created. Cameroon, Zimbabwe, Tanzania, South Africa, Mozambique, Namibia, et al, ad nauseum. No elephant (prefer not to use a .375 for elephant, though you surely can), but lotsa buffalo, eland, and plains game on down. As Mike_Detorre said, the .375 Ruger performs like a .375 H&H, which is not damning with faint praise. All with Hornady factory ammo, 270 and 300 grain. No jams, no problems, no bullet failures, nothing but dead animals (lots of them) provided I did my part. But no wounded and lost animals, no scary followups--even if I didn't do my part. The worst thing I could say about the .375 Ruger: "It performs as well as a .375 H&H." The best thing I could say about the .375 Ruger: "It performs a bit better than the .375 H&H." Actually, I think it does! Why wouldn't it? What a silly thread! | |||
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Craig - Thanks for chiming in. The thrust of this thread is really to get a feel for the "outside of the box" issues that can appear with new rounds: case-related issues, feeding problems, ejection issues in certain actions, etc. that may be unique to the round. Being completely new to the safari game, I've missed a lot of the talk surrounding this cartridge until an industry representative explained some of the perks. It's good to hear from a heavy user (and a fellow lefty) that it hasn't had any issues in the field and the terminal performance has been up to snuff. | |||
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Luis Craig's input address's a major portion of your original question in regards to field use. In fact he may have the broadest view of anyone I know of so I'd take what he said that to heart. As to feeding issues (boy this is going to open a can of worms)I wanted to give the owner 4 rounds in a non drop box magazine. To do just this requires making a new magazine box as the PRE-64 Model-70 30/06 box or the Std Magnum (264, 300, 458) box was not wide enough nor had the correct taper in the ID of the box to allow 4 rounds into the original magazine design. I have found that when you increase the bullet diameter, reduce the case taper and then move the centerline of the bullet further away form the centerline of the bolt race way to add magazine capacity you increase the the amount of work SQUARED to get this conversion to work as planned. Others may see it differently. So the "Feeding Issues" I created. Before it was all said and done I had some serious time in the project making the die and die cavity to punch the box to correct shape mathematically, new follower, vise jaws to hold that particular follower, rail work etc. Getting the 4th round down was no free lunch but it was not due to the Ruger case design, brass quality, pressure ,etc. Ruger makes a wider Magazine box for their 375 & 416 Ruger, they don't use a 30/06 box or follower. The 77 holds 3 and they work fine for a mass produced rifle. We still could not generate the same velocities without major pressure spikes as those advertised by Ruger or Hornady but data from one barrel is hardly a base line of empirical wisdom. The hand-loaded 350gr Woodleighs worked out perfectly and was what the owner wanted to use. When most people get the idea to put together a rifle they choose the cartridge 1st and not near enough thought into the choice of the action they plan to stuff it in. If you do decide to use a Rem 700 for your 375 Ruger you may in fact run into some grief due to width issues in the 700 magazine box for starters, going to a RUM magazine may help but I suspect the overly long magazine ID will generate it's own problem when the rounds start to move in recoil. But that is only a guess. If you want one by all means go for it. It make more sense to me than a Short Mag or RONCO electric dog polisher Do you need a reamer ? I know where there is one. | |||
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You took the words right out of my mouth, Craig. It looks like Luis will be your next competition:
It seems to me a rational person would seek answers to the preceding questions before giving the go-ahead to the gunsmith to build it. Silly indeed! There's a lot of that going around here on AR. | |||
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chuck375 Your post said it all for me! My own personal opinion is that Ruger simply wanted to ride on the back of an old established African cartridge by using its name for some rather indifferent pistols -and a quite good bolt action rifle. (I carried one in 375) A marketing sales decision, pure and simple. The 375 H&H remains, in my humble opinion, one very superb cartridge. I leave it to the experts about whether to use it on elephant -if you don't have to. I know it handled a buff that made the SCI Record book. A very fine cartridge that does not "kick" but rather "shoves" - and we all know the difference! | |||
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Trust me - I'm no competition to Craig. I'm a rookie at this whole thing, including safari hunting in general. As for why this thread came after the go-ahead for the rifle, as I stated earlier, there's some background activity that I can't go into just yet regarding this particular caliber affecting why it will be the one. Personally, I think that asking if there are potential issues with the cartridge that can be addressed before the build is compete is quite a rational thing to do, particularly if those issues can be corrected by a simple part swap. | |||
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Don't ask me why we have so many Ruger .375's ending up in the hands of former Marines, especially left handed ones. Maybe the idea of a reasonably priced, accurate, factory rifle with a common sense chambering is more appealing to us than others. I dunno. Regardless, both the cartridge and rifle are proven performers in my book. YMMV  | |||
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Beautiful wildebeest, Chet! First and foremost, as an active duty Air Force captian myself, I'd like to thank you for your service. It's also good to see yet another lefty military guy getting great results with this chambering.  The factory rifle cost issue was one that I didn't touch since it didn't apply to my case, but it certainly is a compelling point. I think rifle cost gets pushed aside a lot when it comes to safari hunting because the sport is considered to be expensive anyway. I'm sure there are many hunters who can appreciate that a reasonably priced rifle puts them a few dollars closer to that safari of a lifetime. Again, it sounds like the folks in the field are not having issues with the round and that's great to hear. I'll be calling the gunsmith tonight to make sure he gets D'Arcy's feedback regarding the magazine/feeding notes and see to it that he's prepared. | |||
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one of us |
nuff said.... Antlers Double Rifle Shooters Society Heym 450/400 3" | |||
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The Accurate Reloading Forums THE ACCURATE RELOADING.COM FORUMS Hunting African Big Game Hunting Field experinces with the .375 Ruger?
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