338 win mag vs. 375 ruger

laker

Beginner
Jun 25, 2006
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I am planning on buying a new rifle for elk,bison,moose, and bears. I will not be taking either of these rifles to africa. Which one would you choose for hunting these animals? why would you choose it? The 338 would be a ruger hawkeye stainless and the 375 would be a ruger hawkeye alaskan stainless
 
I'd choose the 338. Brass is readily available, whereas though Hornady makes brass for a variety of newer cartridges, it is seldom available for hand loaders (witness the 376 Steyr which has been out for quite some time). The 338 is more than adequate for elk, bison, moose and bears. Whilst the 375 Ruger is a good cartridge, the game you mention will not die any quicker with that calibre than they will with a well-placed 338 bullet. That should be worth two cents!
 
laker

Either caliber would be more than enough for what you want to do.
The 338 WM has the advantage of finding ammo almost anywhere and at a lower cost.
The 375 Ruger has a larger frontal area which will make for more on target energy.

JD338
 
+1 375H&H. It is common and readily availible almost anywhere. An improved version will get you great performance and cheap brass.

JT.
 
I have both a 338 WM and a 375 R. I love them both. The 338 has a 26 inch tube so I can get 2900 out of a 225 TSX pretty easily. The 375 R is more in the 2880 range with a 260 gr. AB from a 23 in tube. If you handload both should be fine as far as components go. If you don't, the 375 H&H out of a 24 inch barrel should be about the same as the 375 R with a 20, and as mentioned earlier ammo is more readily available. I know hornady claims alot more speed out of their 375, but I have not been able to get that far above what a handloaded H&H can do.

The recoil of the 338 is alot more manageable than that of either of the 375s so if you are recoil sensative I would lean that way. If recoil is no issue go with either one of the 375s. The 375 R if you handload or the H&H if you don't. Any of the three will do the job, but I vote for the bigger ones :twisted:
 
laker":3i9pw414 said:
I am planning on buying a new rifle for elk,bison,moose, and bears. I will not be taking either of these rifles to africa. Which one would you choose for hunting these animals? why would you choose it? The 338 would be a ruger hawkeye stainless and the 375 would be a ruger hawkeye alaskan stainless
..............Since both cartridges are ideally suited for the game, you can`t go wrong with either. It should then boil down to which rifle would suit you best in the field.

As a 375 Ruger Alaskan (matte) owner myself, I will tell you that because of their shorter length, these rifles are great in the field, balance very well, are very fast handlers and are very accurate. Also because of its increased powder capacity, the 375 Ruger (depending on the individual rifle) from a 20" barrel, will duplicate and may even exceed slightly 25" barreled 375 H&H ballistics.

Using some H-4350, I can sling a 270 gr Hornady SP at 2808 fps for an average 1.15" OD group size @ 100 yards from a 20" barrel. That H-4350 load BTW, I duplicated from Jeff Quinn`s loadings on "gunblast.com" "archives" from 2/6/07, in which his test rifle was the 23" African that gave him a chrony`d 2875 fps for the same load. Also from my 20" er, I can hurl a 225 gr Horn SP @ 3016 fps using 79.8 gr RL15. I worked up those loadings carefully.

Because the Ruger round is fairly new and contrary to some belief, 375 Ruger brass can be had from just about every major distributor. Hornady may even be able to send you some. If you reload, you`ll never have a problem with the 375 Ruger component availability. Also, the availability for factory ammo is growing in many areas on the N/A continent and although you`re not going there, even over in Africa too. Hornady has been working on and is currently working on the acquisition of various permits for So. African ammo distribution as well as world-wide distribution in many other areas. Some permits have already been approved according to my last conversation with Hornady.

Like no other cartridge that I can remember, I have never seen such rapid growth in popularity for a cartridge that is only 2 1/2 years old. The shorter, handier Ruger rifles, their lower prices, along with Ruger/Hornady advertising certainly are the major reasons. Not to mention the wonderful 375 Ruger case design itself. My dealer here in So Cal. sells more 375 Rugers than all 375 H&H rifles by a 3 to 1 margin. CZ and Howa are also getting on the band wagon, with probably more makers to follow.

The Alaskan`s Hogue stocks will also help dampen the felt recoil and are very quiet.

The 338 Win is a wonderful round. But between these two I`d go the 375 Ruger for the Alaskan rifle, its performance from only a 20" barrel, for its shorter OAL which offers great handling and for its flat shooting capability as well, which should also not be forgotten.
 
Well, Big Squeeze, I was waiting for you to jump in :grin: Figured you'd want to weigh in and make sure the 375R was represented, I'm glad you enjoy you Ruger so much, just had to rib ya a bit.

It makes hunting so much more fun when you have a rifle that you can count on hitting where you want it to. Especially, without alot of thought or trouble, just raise, the cross hairs come up with a good sight picture in the scope and the stock finds it's spot on your shoulder every time, the trigger breaks right where you know it will and the target gets the Nosler treatment just as you knew it would.



JT.
 
jtoews80":nubt70zg said:
Well, Big Squeeze, I was waiting for you to jump in :grin: Figured you'd want to weigh in and make sure the 375R was represented, I'm glad you enjoy you Ruger so much, just had to rib ya a bit.

It makes hunting so much more fun when you have a rifle that you can count on hitting where you want it to. Especially, without alot of thought or trouble, just raise, the cross hairs come up with a good sight picture in the scope and the stock finds it's spot on your shoulder every time, the trigger breaks right where you know it will and the target gets the Nosler treatment just as you knew it would.



JT.
.............Well! Laker did ask opinions about the 338 WM and the 375 Ruger, asking which one would we choose and why. As a possible choice, he asked for the 375 Ruger to be representated. I was happy to oblige.
 
Factory ammo the 338Win mag takes the day. Reloading I would go with the Ruger 375mag. As for rifle I would buy either cartridge and have it in a Ruger Hawkeye and not just because I have purchased two of them as of late.

The Ruger has a fine control feed system and has a very strong, I mean strong extractor and that can mean a lot or be the difference when it comes to dangerous game. You can buy a rifle that will shoot tighter groups (not my 358Win though) but not by much and certainly not make any difference in terminal performance considering the distances you will shoot with these cartridges.

On top of that with a nice VX-III like the 1.5-5 or 2.5-8 you will have a very well balanced rifle that is easy to shoot and carry in the field.

I am with POP and BigSqueeze on the cartridge and that would be the 375.
 
jtoews80":1fm1x4yj said:
+1 375H&H. It is common and readily availible almost anywhere. An improved version will get you great performance and cheap brass.

JT.

Yes, I have thought of that, a 375 Improved that would fire H&h, 375Wea
& 375Improved.

But I do like the Ruger & esp. the 20" version, it may be my choice.
 
It is hard to beat the 338 Win Mag for an all around BIG game rifle for the normal guy. Rounds are available anywhere, they are hard hitting and the ballistics the 338 has are really very good, SD's and BC's are pretty good on every 338 bullet available. But the 375 Ruger does look pretty tough with a 260 ABOND. Scotty
 
I like Both........have one of each........used the 338 win for many years very happy......bought a 375 Ruger Alaskan.......very accurate with Reloader 15 and 260gr AB.........big bear country the 375 Ruger is with me.......everwhere else here in Alaska the 338 Win.
 
I'm a little late on this one, I haven't properly tested my .375 Ruger on anything other than paper but I don't have a bad word to say about that rifle. Mine is built on a M70 action with a 24" barrel topped with a 1.75-6X33 VXIII. Presently I'm working on 300 grain Partition loads, and will be moving on to 260 grain Accubonds next. I don't think you could go wrong with a 375 Ruger in your lineup.

The only .338 I've got is an 06 so I can't speak for the Win Mag.
 
Laker -

You said you were going to hunt elk, bison, moose, and bear. I presume these would be in the lower 48, correct? If so, then the .338 WM is all you would ever need. If you plan to go to Alaska a lot and do a lot of Yukon Moose and Brown Bear hunting, then the .375 Ruger may be what you are looking for.

I went with a .338 WM because I can hunt whitetail to big Moose with it. I know you can use the .375 R for whitetail but.......

That is my two cents.
 
Scott Spencer":3txniyf0 said:
Laker -

I went with a .338 WM because I can hunt whitetail to big Moose with it. I know you can use the .375 R for whitetail but.......

That is my two cents.

POP uses his 416 for varmints, so a 375 for deer maybe a little light. :p :p
 
Wait'll Pop gets his 458 Lott Ruger #1 loads worked up with those 350 gr. TSX's. Now there's a varmint load!!! :wink: I shot my first ground squirrel with mine and if I could figure out how to post the pictures you would be impressed, if you like RED. :oops:
 
The .375 Hoot and Holler will work just fine without any help,especially in North America. :lol: I also like the .338 Win. Either one will deliver the goods.
 
That .375 Ruger in the Hawkeye sure makes an attractive package... Very workmanlike rifle/cartridge combo.

I've heard rumors of some of the wooden stocks breaking. Anyone know more about that?
 
I am with you Guy. I really like the look of the Alaskan in 375 Ruger. I like it so much it may be my next big purchase. I figure it would be a monster with Accubonds on Elk. Someday, I may get to carry it against big bears. Either way, it seems like a very good looking working rifle. Scotty
 
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