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posted 09 June 2008 03:39Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by 458Win:
Demonical, I am not trying to sell anything, only reporting on my experiences and I stand by everything I have said about the 375 Ruger. In my opinion it is an genuine improvement over the 375 H&H.
No one will notice any difference on game and only a very few who are intimately familiar and competent with bolt rifles, especially those who use them on dangerous game, will see any difference in a shorter case. A slightly shorter bolt throw doesn't seem like it would matter that much, unless you are under stress and your life is at stake, then it seems to matter a lot!
The real difference is that they can be chambered in standard actions which are commonly available and cheaper to manufacturer. That is why the 300 Win so quickly supplanted the 300H&H.

I purchased two Ruger 375"s as soon as they came out - one Alaskan and one African - and have used them now for over a year. My son recently returned from working in Zambia in order to guide this spring bear season. He was so impressed with the Ruger that as soon as bear season ended he went out and bought a stainless ALaskan and swapped me out of the wooden stock from the African. He has pronounced it THE perfect Alaskan rifle that will do for everything is Africa as well.

I have not sold either of my 375 H&H rifles but I have been able to compare them all side by side and, nostalgia aside, I like the Ruger better. I am not alone in this opinion either as I know one quite famous Zambian PH who is currently having D'Arcy Echols build him a 375 Ruger on a pre-64 action. They started to build a 9.3x64 but decided the 375 Ruger was a better choice!

As to the wooden stock cracking problem - yes they do crack, but so will virtually every wooden handle if used long enough. The famous pre-64's were notorious for it. The one on my African model recently started to develop a crack due to the soft Am walnut compressing behind the recoil lug. I glass bedded it and added a second recoil lug and am hopeful that will solve the problem.


Phil,

I believe I saw a picture of you with your 375 Ruger and a rather large brown bear as well at Sportsman's Warehouse. How big was that sucker?
 
Posts: 409 | Location: Alaska | Registered: 06 February 2005Reply With Quote
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Picture of 458Win
posted 09 June 2008 04:01Hide Post
Unless someone else put up another photo at SW it was at Chimo guns. I squared the hide at 10'5" but when we hung it on the 12 foot ladder it streched to the ground. The skull only went a little over 28" B&C. We took a larger one this spring.


Anyone who claims the 30-06 is ineffective has either not tried one, or is unwittingly commenting on their own marksmanship
Phil Shoemaker
Alaska Master guide
FAA Master pilot
NRA Benefactor www.grizzlyskinsofalaska.com
 
Posts: 4226 | Location: Bristol Bay | Registered: 24 April 2004Reply With Quote
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posted 10 June 2008 20:30Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by The Slug:
quote:
Originally posted by onefunzr2:
quote:
Originally posted by gohip2000:

The ruger verrsion is supposed to duplicate the velocity of the H&H in a shorter 20" barrel, but I think the African has a 23" barrel for more velocity and to look more like a rifle you would take to Africa.


Since when has Rooger ever cared about looks???


Why do you have such a bug up your ass about rugers? Just wondering.


Bug up my ass, you say? OK, fair enough question.

Rooger comes out with this new .375 cartridge and their haughty ad campaign stresses over and over that their cartridge betters the H&H version while only needing a 20" barrel to do so. Agreed? They make a point to compare their cartridge to the time-honored .375 H&H, which is surely synonymous with African safaris. But the rifle they bring forward to chamber their cartridge for African safari use has a 24" barrel. I wondered why Rooger didn't follow their own hype. That's what's got the bug up my ass.

I suppose you got a bug up your ass because of my phonetic spelling of Rooger?

Wasn't Rooger's boat-paddle stock cute?
 
Posts: 4799 | Location: Lehigh county, PA | Registered: 17 October 2002Reply With Quote
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Picture of rnovi
posted 10 June 2008 21:11Hide Post
Wow, such heated "debate" over an inanimate object! I get scared thinking about you guys in a dark alley with knives!

I recently fired a .375 "Roogah" Alaskan and honestly thought "you know, that wasn't bad at all". One of my concerns about buying a rifle, ANY rifle, is weight. And truthfully, it's a stupid concern.

I'm 39 years old, 190#, 5'8". I leg press 600#, calf press 700# +, work out with an instructor and put 20 minutes of cardio down three days a week. You'd think a 10# rifle (with scope) wouldn't be a big deal. You'd think a 24" tube wouldn't be any kind of concern.

So when I picked up the Roogah Alaskan with a 20" tube you can imagine I had a bit of trepidation about firing a round that was supposed to be the equal of the vaunted .375 H&H. Based on what I've read I figured I'd be heading off to the hospital to have my shoulder put back in it's socket or have my retinas ruptured by recoil.

Nothing could have been further from the truth. Maybe it's the stock design (Hogue stock), maybe it's that I've developed some recoil management skills, but I really didn't find the Roogah to be bad at all.

Now, why would I choose a Roogah over an H&H? Two reasons: price & weight / handling. 8# rifles with manageable recoil is a great thing and, to be honest, I don't even like a 30-06 length action. I'd actually prefer an even shorter action (which is unrealistic). A Roogah magnum rifle just plain feels BIG to me. The Alaskan just plain felt "right". Light, handy, even inviting. It pointed well.

The .375 H&H Roogah mag I played with felt like a club by comparison.

And Price: IMO, the perfect DG rifle truly is a double-gun. But I don't have a spare $8k or so lying around for one. And since I don't really care to spend much money on stuff that I don't have seething emotions for (Double Rifles just make me drool) then does it matter if the rifle cost me $800 or $3000? To me, a bolt gun is a bolt gun. It's just a tool. I'd buy it, use it, and not really care.

So, does an $800 Alaskan make sense to me over a $3-5k Dakota? Yes. To me they are the same thing: a bolt gun that I'd carry around and just not care much about. Stainless in a synthetic stock? Sure, it's ugly as sin, but $3k in savings for no appreciable increase in effectiveness is not a negative thing.

So, what did Roogah really do? They made a rifle that's actually affordable to a more average income earner. IF that cost savings allows someone to reach out and go to Africa then that is a very good thing.

Let's not forget that for most people $3k is a helluva lot of money and truly can be the difference for someone making a dream happen.

So let's giver Ruger some credit for the evolutionary step that is the Hawkeye and the .375 Roogah. No, it's not going to change the world or revolutionize African hunting.

You don't have to like the .375 Roogah, but I think we can all accept that no animal is really going to feel any difference between that and the H&H.

The "new king of .375's"? Nahhh. Just another viable choice in a world driven my marketing research.


Regards,

Robert

******************************
H4350! It stays crunchy in milk longer!
 
Posts: 2326 | Location: Greater Nashville, TN | Registered: 23 June 2006Reply With Quote
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Picture of Gatehouse
posted 10 June 2008 23:32Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by onefunzr2:
[
Bug up my ass, you say? OK, fair enough question.

Rooger comes out with this new .375 cartridge and their haughty ad campaign stresses over and over that their cartridge betters the H&H version while only needing a 20" barrel to do so. Agreed? They make a point to compare their cartridge to the time-honored .375 H&H, which is surely synonymous with African safaris. But the rifle they bring forward to chamber their cartridge for African safari use has a 24" barrel. I wondered why Rooger didn't follow their own hype. That's what's got the bug up my ass.



Well, not quite. The African has a 23" barrel, for starters.

Ruger marketed the cartridge as fitting into a standard length Ruger action, equalling H&H performance in a 20" barrel and slightly surpassing it in the 23" barrel that the African comes in.

Sounds like you were confused.


375 Ruger- The NEW KING of the .375's!!
 
Posts: 3082 | Location: Pemberton BC Canada | Registered: 08 March 2001Reply With Quote
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Picture of The Slug
posted 11 June 2008 09:02Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by onefunzr2:
quote:
Originally posted by The Slug:
quote:
Originally posted by onefunzr2:
quote:
Originally posted by gohip2000:

The ruger verrsion is supposed to duplicate the velocity of the H&H in a shorter 20" barrel, but I think the African has a 23" barrel for more velocity and to look more like a rifle you would take to Africa.


Since when has Rooger ever cared about looks???


Why do you have such a bug up your ass about rugers? Just wondering.


Bug up my ass, you say? OK, fair enough question.

Rooger comes out with this new .375 cartridge and their haughty ad campaign stresses over and over that their cartridge betters the H&H version while only needing a 20" barrel to do so. Agreed? They make a point to compare their cartridge to the time-honored .375 H&H, which is surely synonymous with African safaris. But the rifle they bring forward to chamber their cartridge for African safari use has a 24" barrel. I wondered why Rooger didn't follow their own hype. That's what's got the bug up my ass.

I suppose you got a bug up your ass because of my phonetic spelling of Rooger?

Wasn't Rooger's boat-paddle stock cute?



Oh I don't care if you like them or not but I find it amusing that you would feel so venomous towards a comercial product. Whatever. Enjoy whatever it is you do like.

By the way, I didn't like the "boat-paddle" stock either but hey, you know what opinions are like!


-+-+-

"If someone has a gun and is trying to kill you, it would be reasonable to shoot back with your own gun." - The Dalai Lama
 
Posts: 733 | Location: New Hampshire | Registered: 15 January 2003Reply With Quote
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posted 25 January 2009 04:44Hide Post
Eurocentric:
"One of the sales persons mentioned complaints numbered around 50, from cracks to chipping to loosening, from estimated 5,000+ sold."

If I were the owner of a gun manufacturer, I would be elated with a 1% product return for repair. For a high power menchanical device I think that is more than an acceptable return rate, and I'm speculating well below what their accountants planned for.


SCI, NRA Life Member

Warm trails and blue skies!
 
Posts: 182 | Registered: 11 May 2005Reply With Quote
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posted 02 February 2009 16:45Hide Post
I just purchased some of the 100 or so stainless left hand .375 Ruger Alaskans produced. These guns have a laminated wood stock which I think is the best of both worlds. This gun has a nice cross bolt behind the recoil lug. I'm not especially large, but this gun doesn't kick me that much as is. I have a 7.5 pound Blaser in .375 H&H and I don't mind that recoil either, if that tells you anything. What I don't like is the .300 Weatherby barrel on the Blaser. I think the difference is recoil velocity.


Quick, Cheap, or Good: Pick Two
 
Posts: 2199 | Location: Tennessee | Registered: 18 February 2007Reply With Quote
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Picture of cmfic1
posted 02 February 2009 21:36Hide Post
quote:
Originally posted by Idaho Sharpshooter:
What is up with you man?

Haven't you read the Canadian's glowing reports of the most perfect blend of cartridge and rifle designs in the last 96 years?
Don't you know that the 375R and Hawkeye are without flaw or blemish? They are above criticism from us 'tards south of the border.

diggin

Just kidding, but this is not supposed to happen; must be that tremendous velocity and the easy packing rifle it's chambered in.
Where are the defenders of the 375R...?

Rich
DRSS
Knowledge not shared is knowledge lost...



ahhem......Canadian? (coorect me if I'm wrong)But I'm guessing your talkin about Shoothataway?

If you are, please, please dont group us with him..........he's from Quebec!!! Big Grin


Rod

--------------------------------
"A hunter should not choose the cal, cartridge, and bullet that will kill an animal when everything is right; rather, he should choose ones that will kill the most efficiently when everything goes wrong"
Bob Hagel
 
Posts: 977 | Location: Alberta, Canada. | Registered: 10 May 2005Reply With Quote
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Picture of FOOBAR
posted 05 February 2009 08:12Hide Post
I don't quite understand all the HooHaaa about bedding rifle Confused ...I've bedded every rifle I've ever built, bought, stole or otherwise acquired ESPECIALLY WOOD STOCKS...that also includes some of the cheap, floppy synthetic offerings...for as far back as I can remember...EVERY CALIBER...bedding a rifle has less to do with the recoil than the fact that wood compresses and you can't hold any kind of torque for any length of time...ergo...the action will wiggle around like a horny worm. Let a hard recoiling action get a head start and you will bust a stock every time...including those with cross bolts if the mag well sides aren't thick enough.

I was doing pillar bedding before it was called pillar bedding...an old timer took pity on a dumb beginner that couldn't figure out why his "benchrest" rifle would shoot for sh** and learned him up. Nothin but a 1/2" - 9/16" bolt, threaded rod or allthread, brass, steel, AL, whatever was handy...thread the stock and glued it in, drilled out well oversize so the stock screws wouldn't touch, then mill to match the receiver and the trigger guard. I still do the same thing today...torque to 50-60 in lbs and forget it...if you have sealed up the stock right once it stabilizes, for the most part it will stay that way unless something breaks. I've even used threaded Delrin rods or just filled the threaded hole with epoxy mixed with swarf.

Any one who has busted knuckles and twisted wrenches for any length of time knows just how good torquing metal to metal can be, and that's just what pillar or FL AL block bedding is all about.

Those of you who don't think bedding on a new rifle stock is worth a damn need to read up on stock making or at least some of the rhetoric in the adds of those selling bedding compounds and pillars...you might just learn something really interesting. Big Grin

As far as Rugers go...welllll...we all have opinions and what did the ol' farmer say...everyone has a butt and an opinion and they both smell just about the same. Eeker rotflmo

Luck with your projects.
 
Posts: 1338 | Registered: 19 January 2006Reply With Quote
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posted 12 February 2009 00:58Hide Post
Folks,
Remember that wood is unique to each individula tree and its natural for there to be imperfections.
My 1930s vintage model 70 in 375H&H has the woo it came with and is still solid.
Isn't it possible that out of 8000 rifles a mere trifle of wood balnks could have an inherrent weak spot that can lead to a crack.
If it were me and I bought the 375R because of feel and esthetics, I wouldn't just change to a heavier stock, I would let Ruger have another chance and be ready to chance if that didn't hold up.


Bob Nisbet
DRSS & 348 Lever Winchester Lover
Temporarily Displaced Texan
If there's no food on your plate when dinner is done, you didn't get enough to eat.
 
Posts: 830 | Location: Texas and Alabama | Registered: 07 January 2009Reply With Quote
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