Guys,
I'm getting an urger for one of these but I have a few questions for those with them already. I like wood better than plastic so I'm leaning towards the African. My questions are:

1) What do you have, Alaskan or African, and what do you like about it & don't?
2) What does it weigh?---I'm tired of carrying heavy rifles. My Sauer 202 375H&H weighs only 8lbs.
3) Is the wood model floated & or bedded? Wood doesn't scare me for Alaska as I can easily seal it for them elements as well as the metal but I am interested if the barrel is floated or not.

I have several Rugers so I'm familar with them

I can help you a little. I have the Alaskan and fired it for the first time a couple of hours ago. Accurate as heck!
Weighs 8 lbs 14 oz with a Leu VX-II 1-4x20 scope on it. Got quite a bite to it, but I love it!
I know it wasn't part of the question, but the Alaskan is free floated.

I've also got the Alaskan and am mightily impressed. It's more accurate than I am and with a 1.5-6 30mm scope it weighs just a hair under 9 lbs. The Alaskan has a much better recoil pad than the African so the recoil isn't much of an issue to me. I'm going to have a wooden stock made by Accurate innovations over the winter 'cause I also prefer it to plastic.

I have an African. Love it. "Mightily impressed" by the MIGHTY 375 Ruger is a good way to put it.

Haven't had a chance to use it on anything bigger than deer yet, but assume it will behave just as well as my 375 H&H ever did.



It weighs just under 9 lbs with a Leupy VXI 2-7x scope on it.

I have temporarilly added a slip on recoil pad just to get some more LOP. It will be replaced in due course by a spacer and a Pachmayer Decelerator. As mentioned, the African model factory recoil pad is nothing to write home about anyway.

The barrel is floated, near as I can tell with a cursory inspection.

Cheers,
Canuck

I have the Alaskan, weighs just about 9lbs with a VX III 2.5-8, and shoots a big ragged hole at 100yds with 260gr Accubonds. I love it.

quote:

The barrel is floated, near as I can tell with a cursory inspection.

Canuck, can you wrap a dollar around the barrel and slide it cleanly past (what I would've guessed is) the pressure point?

I have the Alaskan but am dyin to buy the African, too. The shape of the Hogue sucks, but the recoil is soft. The African stock is terrific.

i am darn near just building on, sticking it in a bell and carlson, and having a VERY light 375...

but, i keep bouncing between a 280rem, a 10,75x68 and this

jeffe

quote:

Originally posted by JohnDeere:

quote:

The barrel is floated, near as I can tell with a cursory inspection.

Canuck, can you wrap a dollar around the barrel and slide it cleanly past (what I would've guessed is) the pressure point?

Nope. That's why I called it cursory. I tried the dollar test and found it pretty tight all along the barrel channel (had to pull on the stock a little to get it in). But I also couldn't find anywhere that the stock actually seemed to be touching the steel....so I think it is free for the entire length, but can't tell without spending more time looking at it.

Cheers,
Canuck

Canuck, you must have muscles in your shyt if you can wrap a Canadian dollar around your barrel and check for free-floating

quote:

Originally posted by Mauser98:
Canuck, you must have muscles in your shyt if you can wrap a Canadian dollar around your barrel and check for free-floating

Reminds me of an old Nestor Pistor joke about wiping your butt with a dollar.

I actually used a CDN $20 bill...do you think they are thicker than regular dollar bills?

Cheers,
Canuck

quote:

Canuck, you must have muscles in your shyt if you can wrap a Canadian dollar around your barrel and check for free-floating Smiler

Ah, I be an ignorant Southerner. I suppose your buck is a coin. Fortunately, Canuck's great intellect converted idiot-speak into action. Thanks Canuck.

quote:

Originally posted by JohnDeere:

quote:

Canuck, you must have muscles in your shyt if you can wrap a Canadian dollar around your barrel and check for free-floating Smiler

Ah, I be an ignorant Southerner. I suppose your buck is a coin. Fortunately, Canuck's great intellect converted idiot-speak into action. Thanks Canuck.

And now you know why Canadian's get crap on their hands if they run out of TP and follow an Americans advice to just wipe it with a dollar.

Cheers,
Canuck

I shot my African this past week. I sighted in with some handloads using 300gr NPTs. It was a 1.5-inch or better grouper right from the start.

What do I like about mine? It's just a great looking rifle. It fits me well. The best thing though is the glass I put on it...a Burris Signature Safari 1.5-5x32 with illum reticle. Now that's some nice glass.

Went hog hunting over the weekend and shot a 100-lb sow in the head at about 150yds at dusk.

Great gun. Your instincts are right. Buy one!

Thanks guys for the info. I'm leaning toward the African but not sure yet. Does anyone remember, isn't the African matte blued carbon steel and the new Alaskan's a black-finished stainless??

That is correct. Alaskan also has a 20" barrel.

I have an Alaskan just because I wanted the shorter barrel. I weighs 9lb 1oz with a VX III 2.5-8x in Warne QR rings. The barrel is free floated with a pretty generous, but even, gap between barrel and stock.

I both love and hate the stock. It gives a good solid grip even when it's wet and it's pillar bedded. But it is a little clubby, and much to heavy for my liking. I am considering getting a lighter stock, but that probably won't happen for a while.

The gun shoots well so far. I've only done limited load developement but the best groups with the Hornady 270gr SP are right at 1". I have some 260gr Accubonds loaded up that I'll try as soon as I get to the range.

I'm very happy with it over all. It's the first Ruger I've owned, and I'm really impressed with it. If you get either one though, stock up on brass. I had a hard time finding it. Once I did find it I just stocked up.

You know, it has been said that the first 100 or so Alaskan's with 20" barrel were made with chromoly and the same matte-black finish as the African.

All the 20" Alaskan's I have seen since that first shipment have had a Ruger "Target Gray" matte stainless finish. They are a dull gray stainless finish, pewter-like/gunmetal-gray, like mine, and I like that just fine. No question about whether that is stainless all over or not. Of course a matte-black finished stainless would please me more.

Don't ask me about the serial numbers on the first batch of Ruger Hawkeye Alaskans in .375 Ruger.

Sumbuddy who know?

The 23" African in walnut weighs 7.75# bare.

The 20" Alaskan stainless/Hogue weighs 8.25# bare.

The 23" African in an HS Precision synthetic stock (full aluminum bedding block) weighs 8.5#.
Add a Leupold 2.5x-8x scope in Ruger rings to this and it weighs 9.5# without ammo.

there's one in the classifieds now at a good price.

Rich
DRSS
Knowledge not shared is knowledge lost...

quote:

but I am interested if the barrel is floated or not.

Whichever way it is, it is so easy to change to the other way that it shouldn't matter how the factory sends it out. Just make it however you want it.

Bruce

The one suggestion I'll make, in addition to having a simple trigger job done, is to replace the blued steel sling swivel studs on an Alaskan w. stainless

That (African) is a nice looking rifle!
Peter

The black Alaskan is not stainless. Here is where on Ruger's website where it says so. http://www.ruger-firearms.com/Firearms/PDF/NewProducts/HKM77RSPHHM.pdf

quote:

I'm going to have a wooden stock made by Accurate innovations over the winter 'cause I also prefer it to plastic.

I looked into Accurate Innovations laminated stocks. Your 9-pounder is about to move closer to 10 pounds, if you make this change. They give their typical stock weight at 3#, versus the hogue at 2.25. That's just too heavy for what this rifle ought to be.

quote:

And now you know why Canadian's get crap on their hands if they run out of TP and follow an Americans advice to just wipe it with a dollar. Big Grin

Given the choice of having to wipe my arse with a $20 bill or devils club, it would be a tough choice. For sure another shirt tail would go missing.

You might want to read my post on stock problems.
https://forums.accuratereloading.com/eve/forums/a/tpc/f/4711043/m/664108987
Bill