I am starting to work up a Ruger African in 375 Ruger . It has a single stock crossbolt whereas my 416 Ruger in the same rifle has 2 crossbolts .
Should I have a second crossbolt fitted or is the single bolt satisfactory for the 375 ?

Mark

One is plenty!
375 don’t have that much recoil.

Cheers

Nick

If it bothers you one could always glass a hidden cross bolt in.

I am not a home gunsmith. But I shoot 3, 375 Rugers. All with one crossbolt.

My first one after the first four rounds split down the length of the forend on the left hand side. Only thing I could figure was the barrel vibrating and contacting the barrel channel while vibrating.

Sent it to Ruger and got a new stock. Then sent it and it’s subsq 2 sisters to Hill Country Rifles to have actions bedded and forearm/barrel channels glassed. No issues splitting. They actually did there accurizing package. I am sure it is great/triggers are much better. But strengthening the stock is what I cared about. They delivered.

I do not think a second cross bolt would have prevented that forend splitting length wise.

Cross bolts in a 375 are mostly cosmetic, the recoil does not justify them, good inletting is however necessary...That said they do add a touch of class to a big bore and I use them on all the .375s I build..

A second cross bolt in your Ruger is fine and it does add a tad of stability to the wood. I suppose some would consider it a bit of overkill, but sure won't hurt a thing, and it looks African, that can't be all wrong.

Thank you for all the responses . I pulled the stock off and it is noticeable that the wood between the magazine and trigger cut-outs is so thin you could not put a cross-bolt through .
As an alternative I will ask the gunsmith to pillar bed the action .

Mark

I have a double cross bolt on my Ruger African 375 Ruger.
I know the first run models only had the one cross bolt. I read a lot of negative reviews where stocks were cracking so the next run had the second bolt added.

Then the third run they put that god awful muzzle break on.

The God awful muzzle brake has a thread protector, so you don't have to use it..I, like you, felt the same, but that's all I could get on my 338 African..After using it at the bench and for working up loads, Ive become quite fond of the muzzle brake, I even hunt with it these days, a complete turn around..Anything that can asssit for better shooting is a good thing and I can shoot the big bores like I shoot a 22 L.R., that is without a thought to recoil..I like that in my old age..Noise, no problem I lost my hearing in the 140s or 50s best I recall.

Interestingly Saturday I picked up a current Ruger African in 375 Ruger from my gunshop. It has the two crossbolts like the 416 Ruger. I am not sure if they found it necessary or if it simplifies production to make a standard stock for both rifles.

Mark

Beware of hidden cross bolts, folks assume they work, but they don't last long in many cases..It you think about it, a cross bolt is supposed to hold the gun together as the magazine well expands on firing and that action pulls the stock apart in that area, splitting the recoil lug with force...The cross bolt has a head and pulls the wood together, the head is the working part of a cross bolt and the more wood it has to hold the heads together strengthens the system..hidden cross bolt normally have no head and just pull out of the glass, if they have a head one has to take a lot of wood out to secure them, Whoever designed the cross bolt understood the problem, and decided it best to bolt the stock together like you do with timbers on a log home if your wise..Just my two bits. I believe cross bolts should be engraved to one degree or another, and they add a touch of class to any rifle, but I lean towards English rifle or African rifles if you prefer..