.375 Ruger Compared to .375 H&H Mag

[Guy Miner]

Had good results at the range yesterday, doing some rifle practice. Ran my last five Hornady Round Nose 270 grain bullets over the chronograph. They've been quite accurate from my 375 H&H Ruger No 1 rifle.

2583 fps average
8 fps SD
21 fps Extreme Spread

That's the 270 grain Hornady, 69 grains of Reloader 15 (which I'm now out of!) Federal 215 magnum primers, R-P cases. I used that load a couple of years ago at the Safari Rifle Championships and did pretty well with it.

Guy

 

[salmonchaser]

April,
Good catch! The reason for the composite stock is I'm looking for an Alaskan Grizzly bear in hunt. I wanted an all weather rifle.

Thank you for sharing your Secret of Artemis. Sounds like a beautiful rifle that has a few stories that maybe could be shared with us.

JD338

When you’re ready to plan Alaska, let me know. I’ve a good friend who has been very successful guiding out on the peninsula. Takes about 10 hunters per year.

 

[JD338]

When you’re ready to plan Alaska, let me know. I’ve a good friend who has been very successful guiding out on the peninsula. Takes about 10 hunters per year.

Thank you SC. I will take you up on that.

JD338

 

[DrMike]

The bull was taken at just over 100yds. He took both shots with little more than a twitch when the bullets impacted. He fell over when he was good and ready.

Yup, they do have that tendency. But he did fall over!

 

[flyingagg]

From what I hear, 375 Ruger is a fine cartridge. I chose 375 H&H. My thinking was if my ammo did not make it, it would be extremely easy to find it in Africa.
I have one of the last New Haven made M70 classic stainless and one of the few S. Carolina made M70 Alaskan stainless, both with the CRF. Shoot 260 Partitions, 300 partitions and 300 Hornady Solids. No kick, but a big big push.
Ended up doing plains game with 300 WBY.

 

[SJB358]

Maybe 375’s of any Ilk are pretty fun. Mines a 375 Improved since it was made using an old 300 WBY chambered barrel. It amazes me how accurate they are. You just never hear of folks complaining about the accuracy of them.

 

[Cleveland48]

Had good results at the range yesterday, doing some rifle practice. Ran my last five Hornady Round Nose 270 grain bullets over the chronograph. They've been quite accurate from my 375 H&H Ruger No 1 rifle.

2583 fps average
8 fps SD
21 fps Extreme Spread

That's the 270 grain Hornady, 69 grains of Reloader 15 (which I'm now out of!) Federal 215 magnum primers, R-P cases. I used that load a couple of years ago at the Safari Rifle Championships and did pretty well with it.

Guy

Looks like a great load Guy! I love reloader 15 in my 416 Remington and 416 Taylor Improved. Unfortunately I have not found that powder on the shelf since early 2020. Have great success with IMR 4064 and IMR 4166, but I’d really like to find more RL 15. Hopefully you can find some in your part of the country.

 

[Cleveland48]

Maybe 375’s of any Ilk are pretty fun. Mines a 375 Improved since it was made using an old 300 WBY chambered barrel. It amazes me how accurate they are. You just never hear of folks complaining about the accuracy of them.

The 375 H&H’s I have shot were very accurate rifles. My 416 Taylor Imp, and 416 Rem continue to surprise me at just how accurate they are. I’m starting to think a lot of these large bore cartridges are just inherently accurate. I bet that 375 improved of yours is a real shooter.

 

[DrMike]

Don't allow anyone to tell you that larger bored rifles can't or won't deliver sufficient accuracy to stimulate the most jaded rifle crank.

 

[truck driver]

Remember back in the day before all the high BC bullets and super-fast flat shooting magnums you had rifles that won the 1000yd Creedmoor matches that were simple big bores like the Sharps falling block rifles in 45-70/45-90/45-100/45-120 and don't forget the Sharps 50-70 and up calibers.
Even the simple Remington rolling block shined in these long-range calibers.
I remember reading in an old Outdoor life Magazine from back in the 1960's that a Sharps 45-120 was used by a poacher to kill a Sheriff who was tracking him to arrest him. The shoot was reported to have been over a 1000yds and closer to 1mile. Though the bullet never penetrated the armor vest the Sheriff wore the impact of the bullet was so great that it stopped his heart and killed him instantly.

Don't under estimate the accuracy and wind bucking ability of the big bore rifles. The fast small bores get all the hype but the medium and big bores get the job done.

 

[Blkram]

I have shot both the 375 H&H and 375 H&H Improved over the years (friends' rifles, both in Ruger No.1's) and liked both. Since the Improved version is very similar to the 375 Wby, I had thought about going that route to have something a little different.

When they announced the 376 Steyr and I read about many African PH's actually downloading their 375's with softs for better penetration, and with my shoulder issues at the time, I opted to build a 375 Steyr on a left handed Ruger Model 77 Mark II. Also, as it will mostly be used on north american big game, I didn't feel the need for the extra horse power (I have my 416 Taylor for that).
I have a 21" barrel in a full length pepper laminated Wenig stock, and mounted a Leupold Vari-X III 1.5-5x20 scope on it.
My load is 61.0 gr of H-335 in Hdy cases, F215M primer and the 260gr AB bullet for a chronied 2632 fps. It will consistently put 3 rounds into just over 1/2" @ 100 yards (best groups avg .535" centre-to-centre). It is a pussycat to shoot off the bench!
To date it has taken elk and bison.
The bull bison was taken @ 200 yards broadside, humped at shot, took 5 steps and tipped over, raised its head once, and was done.

This performance isn't quite the same as the 375 Ruger, but close enough for our big game that none of our animals are going to know the difference. I know Craig Boddington and many other experienced African hunters are really liking the 375 Ruger, especially noting the handiness of the shorter action and rifles in the thick jungles and jess, and claim the performance as just a tad better than the old favourite H&H.

In my limited experience with big bores (or mediums as some PH's and noted gun writers would label them) has always been stellar. Not uncommon to be able to print sub-MOA groups @ 100 yards (clover leafs where all holes are touching/overlapping) with these rifles and cartridges/calibers, even with open sights!

I have a Schmidt & Bender 1.5-6x42 that I am going to mount on this rifle now, and just picked up some Ruger 30mm rings to do so last weekend. (I have a Kahles 1.5-6x42 on my 9.3x62 and am liking that scope, so when I came across the S&B at a good price, I grabbed it). I have the Leupold 2.5-8's on several rifles, and think that it is also a great scope, anad is another great choice for the Ruger, given it's abilities to carry well out to 300 yards +. As a light ascope, it will have less tendency to want to move within the rings during recoil.

And April, had to laugh at your "older than dirt" comment!
I once cheekily told DrMike that he was older than dirt, and the good Dr, being the scientist that he is, quite frankly told me that "it only takes 12 years to make dirt!"
Touche!

 

[DrMike]

The 376 Steyr will git 'er done--almost as good as a 35 Whelen.

 

[JD338]

Don't allow anyone to tell you that larger bored rifles can't or won't deliver sufficient accuracy to stimulate the most jaded rifle crank.

My Marlin 1895G 45-70 topped off with a Leupold VX-3 1.75-6x32mm and shooting the Nosler 300 gr BST shot a .400" group at 100 yards. I would agree that the big bores are indeed accurate.

JD338

 

[HAWKEYESATX]

The thing I like about the medium bores, is that you can see them in, slow mo hunting videos, create a Doppler effect when they hit a game animal. I haven’t seen that with smaller caliber cartridges, other than a .270 Winchester.
They tend to make a shockwave almost immediately on impact, that disrupts the nervous system of any animal it hits.

Hawk

 

[JD338]

The thing I like about the medium bores, is that you can see them in, slow mo hunting videos, create a Doppler effect when they hit a game animal. I haven’t seen that with smaller caliber cartridges, other than a .270 Winchester.
They tend to make a shockwave almost immediately on impact, that disrupts the nervous system of any animal it hits.

Hawk

Hawk,
The 338 RUM, to your point, has on game performance that is a sight to behold.

JD338

 

[HAWKEYESATX]

Hawk,
The 338 RUM, to your point, has on game performance that is a sight to behold.

JD338

I don’t doubt that whatsoever! As you said,It’s a sight to behold as well.
With medium bores, it seems like they don’t have to work as hard as smaller calibers, along with big bore rifle rounds.


Hawk