I'm going to be getting a Ruger 375, and I'm trying to decide which one to get, the Alaskan or the African. I'll be hunting in Africa and AK, so no clear winner there. They feel like completely different rifles. The African feels almmost like a shotgun, the Alaskan feels more like a DGR with some mass and weight. I'm tending towards the Alaskan due to its weather-proof finish, but I'm a little hesitant to give up the longer barrel and velocity it gives. I guess I could always get the African and put a synthetic stock on it, but not really sure if it would be worth it in the "real world" of bears and buffalo. Anyone see one as a clear winner over the other?

Even if you give up some velocity (which seems to be unclear, AFIK) you'll still be at 375 H&H velocities. My Alaskan is one of my favorite rifles, precisely because it can be dragged though the muck and mire -- of course, you could take the traditional AR advice, and buy both...

I was in your shoes a few months ago and opted for the African. I went that route mostly because I didn't care for the looks of the Hogue stock on the Alaskan.

When I next go to Alaska for Brownies, I'll probably put a synthetic on it. Hopefully, McMillan comes up with one that will fit. When I go to Africa, I'll probably put the wood back on it.

Isn't loss of velocity in mag chambering only 25-35fps/" of barrel length, and speed change has to be >200 fps to be meaningful?

I went with the African. Love it. But I still covet an Alaskan.

I think the only solution is to have both.

Cheers,
Canuck

I second Canuck's notion of buying both. I bought the Alaskan and will probably replace the stock. The velocity loss is meaningless, especially if your pursuit is dangerous game where yardage is necessarily reasonable. Frankly, out to any reasonable plains game yardage, the velocity loss is meaningless. I happen to like the shorter tube's handiness and stainless construction. That said, I wouldn't be surprised to one day add the African to my safe as well. The .375 Ruger makes a .338 Win obsolete.

Thanks for the replies. I'm going to think on it some, I'll let you know what I decide on.

quote:

Originally posted by JohnDeere:
The .375 Ruger makes a .338 Win obsolete.

.........One place where the short barrel shines is when transporting ,. essespecially if you have it sideways on the handle bars of your 4 whlr or snow go ..,.,I will replace the stock on the Alaskan when I get one with a canoe paddle or newer rubber stock ...,The only thing I wish is that Ruger would make an 18" barreled frontier w/ express sights & quarter rib w/ dovetails ..In 375 , & 416 Ruger cals...

I just read that McMillan is looking to make a stock for the Ruger .375. That could be nice.

I live in the Pacific Northwest and I bought the African. I love blue steel and walnut. The Alaskan may have been the most utilitarian, but I'm not all that hot on Stainless in a rifle. I already have two stainless big bore lever guns.

So I will clean and lube my African and I'm sure it will last my lifetime. As my other rifles have and the ones I inherited from my father.

I sent my barreled action to McMillan a couple
of weeks ago They are going to use it to setup
their CNC equipment to get the barrel countours
etc, This came about when I called them about the
stock. I procrastinated a bit. They then e-mailed me wanting it "yesterday". So I'm guessing that
they will soon announce they are making stocks for the Ruger 375.
Charlie

RSM...

blah, blah double the weight, double the price...

........I think the Africai is coated stainless isn,t it ..

I didn't think the African is coated stainless, I thought it was blued steel. But is the Alaskan black coated stainless? I thought it was but I seem to get conflicting views on that and Ruger's website didn't seem to clear it up.

I have the afircan and I am pretty sure it is carbon steel not stainless. The Alaskan is stainless and coated stainless. Just my $.02.

Sorry double post.

quote:

Originally posted by Jim Z.:
I have the afircan and I am pretty sure it is carbon steel not stainless. The Alaskan is stainless and coated stainless. Just my $.02.

That's what I thought. Unless its a weird grade of stainless, a magnet sticks to my black finished Alaskan barrel just as hard as it does to my cast vise. I was under the impression that stainless was much less magnetic than iron.
Unfortunately, I had hoped it was stainless underneath...But I love the gun. If I can get my friggin' brass, I'd like to shoot it, too!!!

For the price of the RSM buy both, but personally I would go with the African and never look back, I too don't care for the Hogue stock but that's subjective, it works, and has a great recoil pad. If your going to Alaska wax the wood and the barreled action, good to go.

simple! you can split the difference....source a standard length mag action (should be cheap this time of year after too many noobs blasted their shoulders out with big magnums they "needed" for texas whitetail) and have a 22" barrel put on with a nice syn stock

......The magnet in my boresighter sticks just as hard to my stainless barrels as it does to the cro moly ...If someone will send me their African I will tie it to a pileing under my house and let a few tide cycles come and go then put it on the deck for a week or 2 and see if it rusts ....That would be a pretty definative test ....JUST KIDDING .....Don,t get all excited ...

quote:

Originally posted by gumboot458:
......The magnet in my boresighter sticks just as hard to my stainless barrels as it does to the cro moly

That makes me feel a WHOLE lot better. Think I'll go out and get a VX-II 1-4x20 for it while I wait for my damned brass to come!

from my understanding the african is blued steel, the alaskan with the black coating is stainless also it comes matte stainless also

Old 4x4,

I thought that you found some brass already. Is that not correct?

SD..Yup, just found the box next to my garage an hour ago...a very strange place for it to be and it's probably been there for 2 or 3 days. DUH. Needless to say, I'm very happy now.

GREAT! Sounds like you will have a fun weekend.

Merry Christmas!

After compairing the 2, I ended up with the Alaskan. The Alaskan felt an little more robust, and appears to be as weather-proof as a rifle can be. I'm going to mount a Nikon 1.5-6 with a 30mm tube on it. I've just got to lap the rings and I'll be ready to shoot it. I hope it shoots as well as a lot of people have been reporting.

The African Safari model is a much better rifle for the money..I don't know anywhere else one can get an integral quarter rib, barrel band swivel, barrel band front sight for that kind of money, that alone on a custom rifle would hit you for around $2000 to $3000 on a custom rifle.

For just a using gun the Alaskan is a nice rifle, but will never hold the value of the African in years to come IMO...I look for production costs to void the African in time.

Ray,

I believe they're discussing the new Ruger African Hawkeye:



Not the older M77 Magnum with the spiffy stock and quarter rib.

Yeah, No barrel band on the African. I do think it is a nicer looking rifle, but the Alaskan appears to be as bomb-proof as a rifle can be.