Hi Guys,
Boy was I impressed when I opened the box today. You get a whole lota gun for the money. I think Ruger have outdone themselves when you consider the price tag. Better still I got it for a complete bargain as it had been on the dealers rack for 12months. Must have got him on the right day as I ended up walking off with it at his cost price! It feels a little barrel heavy, the recoil pad seems rather hard, the safety catch looks a little small and I think the front sight will need a white or fibre optic bead. Can't wait to try this baby out at the range. My biggest rifle I've ever tried was a petite 9.3x62 mauser...and that kicked like a mule. I think the rifle only weighted about 7 pounds though. Now to try the thing...I'll be off to get some ammo this weekend.

fordnutter
Congratulations on you new rifle. Do you reload?

If not the standard Remington and Federal 375 ammo is good for your first range sessions. No need to shoot $$$ Premium ammo when learning your new rifle.

If/when you start reloading the Speer 235gr makes a good deer pig bullet at 2300 to 2500fps, with reduced recoil as well.

Hello fordnutter,
I own one of the rifles you now have and can say that it is a real bargain when one consideres the features, performance of the rifle compared to the cost of custom rifles and current factory versions by other mfg.'s. Recoil on mine is very manageable and lot of that is due to it's weight and somewhat slight muzzle heavy balance. Stock is first class design for handling recoil and hope you enjoy the rifle for many years/hunts to come your way.

Good Luck!!

Great purchase!

First thing put on a good pad or at least a slip on Limbsaver. The stock "pad" is realy bad. The good news is that the 375 should be very accurate and heavy for a 375...a nice rifle to shoot. I enjoy my RSMs in 416 Rigby and 458 Lott very much!

John

fordnutter,

You got it right on all points, IMO. Enjoy a very fine rifle in classic chambering.

Good going. You'll enjoy the RSM. On most RSM regardless of caliber that I seen so far, the wood is nice for a production rifle and the trigger is usually 4# or less. Accuracy is right up to all the others and is softer to shoot. Even with that recycled car tire for a pad, recoil is very nice. I've had RSM's for a little while now and I love the way they shoot. Now, if you go up in caliber later on, get rid of the car tire pad.

Congrats and nice job!

I look forward to the range report. Are you going to scope it?


Keith

New England Custom Guns has a replacement white bead or fibre optic that replaces the factory front bead.. Enjoy..

Hi Guys...thanks for all the replies. Picked up a couple of packets of federal 270gr powershok
to visit the range with. I don't reload yet.. I may not even need to with the way the federal powershok ammo is priced if it shoots well. However in saying that I like the sound of trying the 350gr Woodleigh or Rhino's 380gr bullet though. I like tinkering so that will probably come next. To start with I'm just going to use the open sights till I can afford to scope it with something nice. Probably something like Leupolds 1.5-5 vx3 or like in warne detachable rings.
If and when I get bored with the 375HH can the RSM be rebored to a larger calibre. The RSM are very far and few to find here in New Zealand. An RSM in 470 Capstick would be fun!!

Fordnutter, Congrats!

A RSM 375 was my first 'real' bigbore too, and it was a slippery slope from there (I'm up to bore rifles now, another story). I eventually replaced the front sight with a NECG bean as another poster did above and last year fitted a silvers-type red rubber pad.

When I first got mine a local store had Fed 300gn softs on sale for $20/box, so I laid in a good supply for range work while working on handloads. Turns out they shoot right at 1" and I've used'em on 2 bears so far. It's not perfect, but I agree it is a TON of gun for the money! I smile every time I take it out of the safe. Good hunting with your's and please keep us posted.

Cheers

Bob

She should be a shooter.

Finally took the Ruger to the range. I wanted to see if the express sights point of impact was on for the Federal 270gr at 50m. So I set up on the bench rest and nervously took the first shot. Wow that was fun!! Once I realised that it wasn't going to break by shoulder my 5" goups turned into 1" groups. Another shooter seeing the rifle passed me his 338 Lapua on A CZ action to try. Gees that was painfull compared to the 375HH. I found the 375 to be a slow long push where the 338Lapua was an incredibly fast, hard jolt. So I handed that rifle back and packed up and went home before I started developing a flinch. Well you guys weren't wrong about the factory pad being hard. i'm sending the rifle off to the smith for a red Pachmar decellerator pad. Now just have to save some money for a good scope. I think shes going to be a shooter.

Now you're hooked for life. ALL RSM's in 375 seem to shoot a lot better than the shooter can. Soft shooting, wasn't it?

You have bought a premium rifle destined to be a classic. I am a Ruger collector of many years and the RSMs in my opinion are the next "flatbolts or Hawkeyes" Dr.C

I haven't handled many Big Bore rifles.. and for me the Ruger was a big ticket item that took a lot of saving to afford.. I think they are a real bargain. I looked at the CZ's but found the finish Lacking...I didn't see the point in spending a whole lot of money to improve it when A ruger is almost acceptable as is for large game.
Just out of interest when I bench tested the rifle the Federal 270gr Power Shok ammo shot to point of aim at 50m on the express sights. Next time I visit the range I'll try the 300gr Federal stuff. The front bead was hard to see so before I go ordering NECG's white bead I'm gouing to check the point of impact of the 300gr Stuff.

Fordcutter, now you have ammo line worthy of that gargantuan rifle. It's called Norma PH. Someone stated 670m/s with 380gr slug!

Back again..every time I take that ruger out I'm impressed. Tried the 300gr Federal PowerShok with the express sights at 50m. Prints to exactly to point of aim (identical to the 270gr) and from what I can tell no difference in recoil from 270gr to 300gr items.
Like the 270gr stuff it printed 1" 3 shot groups. Just sent the rifle away to the gunsmith this morning for a new recoil pad, some action & feedramp polishing and a nice visible front bead.
For practise ammo I don't think it's worth reloading when the cheap federal stuff shoots this well. It's going here for $50 New Zealand a box of 20 (about $43 US)and that's what you pay for a box of 30-06 Ammo so it's certainly great bang for your buck.
Can't wait to scope this puppy and see what she can do at longer distances!!

I've shot the .458, .416, and .375 RSM's and all were MOA out of the box. I've heard there is a .338 Lapua in the werks but don't know status.

The stock design is a plus off shooting sticks.

The Hawkeye 375 Ruger is being touted as God's gift to hunting. In the magazines and certainly on this forum. Aren't you sorry you bought the RSM in that H&H caliber?

C'mon you 375 Rooger guys. Tell this poor schmuck what he's missing.

Oh, by the way. A .375" caliber anything is NOT a big bore except on this forum...cause Saeed said so, and it's his decision not the rest of the rifle community.

Don't take the wind out of his sails.

We are Saeed's guest so it is in good form to address the grand ole 375H&H as a big bore on this forum. At the very least, most agree that the 375H&H is a gateway cartridge to the bigger boys.

The new 375Ruger and the new Hawkeye "African" are indeed winners that add to the fine RSM, not take away from it. Out of the box, I find few 375H&H rifles as classy for the $$ as the RSM.

GVA

Hey Guys,
The 375Ruger African is a nice rifle but in no way am i dissapointed. The wood on my RSM is simply beautiful compared to the African I handled recently. Then there's the Integral rib and traditional express sights. Sure the African would carry like a dream compared to my RSM but I like the additional weight. Helps soak up the recoil and makes for steady off hand shooting. The RSM satisfied my dream of a "safari rifle"...I'm probably never going to get to africa but this rifle makes me smile when I pull it out of the safe.

My RSM .375 is my favorite rifle by far. It's accurate and recoil is mild. I do wish it was about a pound lighter is my only criticism, otherwise it's near-perfect right out of the box. I changed my front sight to a white bead otherwise the rifle is stock and "just right" IMHO.

Like an expectant child I pounced on my RSM when it arrived back from the gunsmith. He did a beautiful job of fitting a orange decellerator recoil pad, did his magic on the trigger, polished the bolt - feedramp & raceways and the best suprise a platinum front bead with larger HH style 4mm flip up ivory bead for low light. The action is slick like butter now and I can actually see the front bead properly now. Can't wait to get out and try it out on the local feral goat population.