While handloading some 375 Ruger rounds for my wife I paused to reflect on the balance of the 375 Ruger case.

It seems just about perfect for the mid 30 calibres.

2.58" length allows it to fit in standard length magazines (3.4").

.532" boltface is common for most manufacturers.

The capacity is about the same as the 340 Weatherby and about 5 grains above the 375 H&H.

It is probably a little more than needed at the smaller calibre range of 27 to 30 calibre. The 300 Win Mag and 300 Weatherby already have 30 calibre handled fairly well and the Ruger case would only equal the 300 Weatherby level, which is not significantly more than the 300 WinMag in terms of huntability.

From .338", .358", .366", and .375" the Ruger case truly shines. One wonders why it took until the 21st century for such a great, balanced case.

At .416" and .458" the case starts to lose its breath at its top form. Yes, it can match the 416Rem and 458 Lott, and do that in a 3.4" magazine, but it has no reserve for reaching out to the 416Rigby and 450Rigby or 460 Weatherby. The over-40 calibres certainly benefit for the shortened-RUM (Accurate Reloading) csses (100-110 grain capacity) if not the Rigby-case (120-130grain capacity).

It would seem the the optimal provenance of the Ruger case would be the 338 to 375 range.

The 375 Ruger case is quite a gift to modern hunters from the Ruger and Hornady companies. Thank you Ruger and Hornady.

i think a .338 ruger mag would be good, but there are so many good .338 rounds now its just not likely to sell ! tj3006

Being a lover of the 358 and 366 calibers, I, like many others I'm sure, instantly began thinking of necking this case down as soon as the round was introduced. I discussed a 358 with a custom gunmaker for awhile, as I felt it would be my dream of the ultimate 358 caliber. In the end, I could not convince myself of its value over the 375 cartridge itself. End of project. But it still niggles my mind...

They're starting to make reamers

http://www.4-dproducts.com/dis...wid=635&tname=rental
http://www.4-dproducts.com/dis...wid=467&tname=rental

With the 30/375 Ruger starting at about 94 gr capacity and the 375 Ruger ending at 100 gr capacity, you can infer that the 338/375R and the 35/375R will be somewhere in between, say 96 gr for the 338 and 98 gr for the 35

The 338/375R would be close to the 340 Wtby but the 35/375R would be halfway in between the 358 Norma and the 358 STA (88 & 105 gr respectively)

The 338/375R would be a significant improvement over the 338 win mag at 86 gr but substantially lower than the 338 RUM at 107 gr. Beltless and brass a lot cheaper than the 340 Wtby which has to go in a magnum length 3.6" action

Personally I'm planning on a 30/375 Ruger when I run across the right action. It should push the 200 gr bullets at an honest 3000 fps which the 300 win mag won't do without a long barrel or skating on the edge

300 win mag, 30/375 Ruger, 375 Ruger

Standard action length

Near 100 grain capacity

No belt

Great combination

quote:

From .338", .358", .366", and .375" the Ruger case truly shines. One wonders why it took until the 21st century for such a great, balanced case.

LOL... As I've stated many times, the 30 Newton, 35 Newton, and 40 Newton cartridges were available design wise from late 1914 and production wise from 1915. The caveat being the 40 Newton was produced less than 5 in total including factory mules. Western cartridges produced the 30 Newton and 35 Newton until the mid-1930s. Speer produced 35 Newton cartridges post WWII until I believe for about 10 years.

The difference between the 375/416 Ruger and Newton mfg cartridges are case length (2.58” vs 2.52”) and shoulder diameter (.515” vs .501”) - they share rim and initial body diameters. The case capacities of the 30 Newton and 35 Newton virtually match the slightly longer 308 Norma and 358 Norma cartridges respectively.

The primary issues with necking down the .375 Ruger case are the progressively shorter neck lengths. I perceive the better solution is to adopt the neck lengths of the RCM cartridges for their respective full-length .375 Ruger derivatives. Case capacities will not much suffer but there'll be nice neck lengths for reloading.

Anyway, that’s my 2¢s...

Yes, the shoulder would need to be set back or the overall case would need to be lengthened in order to practically use the Ruger in smaller calibres.

The short neck is the only design quibble that I have with the 375 Ruger. Its neck is minimal but it seems to hold bullets well enough. I suspect that the engineers at Ruger/Hornady probably went around and around on that issue before coming up with the final design. I suspect that the winning argument was a desire to have a larger case capacity than the H&H. Or maybe someone thought that 87% of bore was better than the traditional 100% of bore for a neck. Two of my favorite rounds have relatively very long necks, the 270 Win and the 416 Rigby.

I really don't think that any game animal well be able to tell the different.

From a well placed shot.