Hello Everyone.. new to the forum and have been looking for a new bolt gun in 375 for an upcoming elk trip. I am torn between 375 H&H, 375 Weatherby, or possably 375 Ruger. Have shot a few 375 which were mod70's though have looked at the sakos. Looking for any advice any information to steer me in the right direction.

I will stick with my old .375 H&H Mauser, but if I were looking for a new 375, I would opt for the Hawkeye Ruger mod 77 African in .375 Ruger caliber. It is really one of the nicest factory rifles I have seen since the pre 64 Win. and the caliber will duplicate the old H&H and then just a tad more perhaps.

quote:

Originally posted by Atkinson:
I will stick with my old .375 H&H Mauser, but if I were looking for a new 375, I would opt for the Hawkeye Ruger mod 77 African in .375 Ruger caliber. It is really one of the nicest factory rifles I have seen since the pre 64 Win. and the caliber will duplicate the old H&H and then just a tad more perhaps.

that's pretty good advice.

You can load with a TTSX 250 grain Barnes having a BC of .424 for FLAT shooting.

Enjoy the irony: get the "African" 375 Ruger with 23" barrel for NorthAmer elk, then get the "Alaskan" 416 Ruger with a 20" barrel for Africa.

I recently bought a 375 Ruger in Hawheye African, because I am a Walnut and blued steel type of gun owner. So far it is shooting every thing I load in it between 0.8 and 1.2 MOA.
I like it because it short, fast, handy, and light weight even with the Leupold 1.75X6 scope on it. I specifically bought it because I do not like belted cartridges -- never have and never will if I can get a traditional rimless cartride to do the job.

It seems to like powders in the Rl-15 to IMR 4350 burn range and has digested bullets from various companies from 260gr to 300gr, with very similar results. I am going to get a 335gr bullet mold built for it to do my plinking type work at about 2000fps.

I like the case so much, my next wildcat build is probably going to be a 338-375 Ruger.

Barstooler

quote:

I like the case so much, my next wildcat build is probably going to be a 338-375 Ruger.

That too, will be a great cartridge. Equivalent capacity to the 340 Weatherby in a standard package. Ruger missed it on that one by going to the compact magnum instead of using the 375 Ruger case.

Seasons44,

I was wondering why you have picked .375 caliber?
I've many an elk hunter tell me that .338 Win Mag
is enough power to shoot through a big bull back
end to front end. What more could you need? The
post right above mine here is very cool thinking!

You can make a 375 H&H as slim and trim as any other rifle. The skinny case always seems to assume proper feeding.

I applaud Ruger for giving it a go so that their cartridge fits in their short(ish) action and yes it is something new but I would suspect the 375 H&H will be around when they are asking "What the hell is a Ruger?"

the 375 ruger is as easy to shoot as anything, and readily available...
if this is a limited use gun, that will be your first real big bore, go drop 600 on a ruger

quote:

Originally posted by jeffeosso:
the 375 ruger is as easy to shoot as anything, and readily available...
if this is a limited use gun, that will be your first real big bore, go drop 600 on a ruger

Yeah but only if you like Rugers

sure enough .. or a CZ or a howa... of course, 400 bucks for rebarreling a mauser 300 win or a winchester 7 rem mag would do the trick.. some money... if you DONT like rugers

Bigjack...i have always had the belief i rather have a little more gun than less. the 375 can be loaded up and down so i like that ability. The 338 tends to have a much sharper recoil but the versitility was driving force of the 375.

Well, you will have "enough gun".

quote:

You can load with a TTSX 250 grain Barnes having a BC of .424 for FLAT shooting.

I was just thinking last night how i wish there was a TTSX for .375! After reading this i checked in with Barnes websight and sure enough... there it is. Great news for me. I have shot the 235gr bullet but am excited to have this option as well.

As for cartridge choice, I'm sure the 375 Ruger is great. I am a bit nostalgiac i guess and like the classics so mine is the H&H. I have never been to a gun shop that did not have at least one box of 375 H&H on the shelf, but (and this is just my experience) they don't all have 375 Ruger on hand.

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The 338 tends to have a much sharper recoil but the versitility was driving force of the 375.

You'll love a nice 338. My wife thinks it jumps more than a 270, which is good, cuz then you know it fired.

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As for cartridge choice, I'm sure the 375 Ruger is great. I am a bit nostalgiac i guess and like the classics so mine is the H&H. I have never been to a gun shop that did not have at least one box of 375 H&H on the shelf, but (and this is just my experience) they don't all have 375 Ruger on hand.

You won't find flatshooting 250 TTSX in the store. Get your ammo to the hunt and bring a second box.

If we're gonna talk store bought ammo then let's throw
away evey caliber except for the 10 or so obvious ones.
.458 WM, 45-70 .375 H&H, .338 WM, .300 WM, 30-06, 30-30,
.270, .243, .223, 22 Rim Fire

Been shooting my 375 ruger for everything for the past 3 years. The rifle is well built and affordable. Buy one and never look back. The alaskan 375 is starting to get very popular up here and I personally have 3 other friends that use it as their primary deer/elk/bear rig.

All the the ammo i shoot will be my handloads so i wont be held to what i can find in the store. You guys have been great, great info but i am still up in the air about what will be my next bolt gun.

quote:

Originally posted by Atkinson:
I will stick with my old .375 H&H Mauser, but if I were looking for a new 375, I would opt for the Hawkeye Ruger mod 77 African in .375 Ruger caliber. It is really one of the nicest factory rifles I have seen since the pre 64 Win. and the caliber will duplicate the old H&H and then just a tad more perhaps.

What Ray said. Except that I sold my 375H&H Win 70 and bought a 375 Ruger African in 2007. Still lovin it.

I recently purchased that Hawkeye African in a .338, mostly to hunt elk here in my home state of Idaho..I love the .338 caliber and believe it a better all around elk rifle than my 375 H&H, but either one suits me fine. I can't tell much difference in recoil between the two and I think my .338 with 210 gr. Noslers is a bit better out yonder a ways, but may be just mental, both are great calibers. they also make a 9.3x62 and that is a great elk caliber also.

It seems to me the over all opinion is 375 rugers are the new H&H. Also the 338 is a far more superior when the need arises to reach out. Ok, well I kno very little about the rugers, have seen them and read the reloading data though never shot them. I have always had the opion you either pay up front or in the end, this goes the same with gunsmithing, for a very reasonable priced rifle how do they stand up to the winchesters, sakos and so on. Will they need work. So guys heres another level to this post,
Thank you
Matt

Alright guys finally had some time to check out the rugers and nice rifles overall though i not a huge fan, I will be honest, the look didnt do anything for me. Though i stumbled upon the new sako brown bear and the new browning xbolts. The sako looks great and the slingstud on the barrel keeps it away from your hands which i feel is a plus, while the brownings look just as good, the slind stud being on the fore end is a minor. The weight of both rifles is almost exactly the same as the rugers, sako is 7.5 with a 21in barrel and the browning is 7lbs with a 24 in barrel. These are all chambered in 375 h&h.

So any experances with the new Brownings or Sakos.

Thanks Guys
Matt