375 RUGER

V

Vince2

Handloader
Jan 21, 2022
287
318
Given that Ruger has had their 375 out for a while I’m curious what you all think.

Ruger seems to try to get their name on a cartridge much like the big two brands. Never having fired one, although I’m friends with a guy that has two of them, I’m curious if this one will get Ruger on the map.

He’s a hand loader so finding ready made manufactured ammunition isn’t an issue. The performance, from what I’ve read and heard is on par with the H & H.

While I don’t think it will ever make the H & H obsolete I’m wondering if there will be enough sales to keep it around. Back when Winchester was introducing a cartridge a month it seems that only two of them have really stuck around. Anybody found any Super Short Magnum around before all this craziness hit?

So what do y’all think?

Vince
 
I've worked up loads for the 375 Ruger. I was very favourably impressed with the cartridge. My experience with several of them was that it was easy to get accuracy with the cartridge. And it would definitely deliver a punch to whatever you wanted to hunt.
 
Vince2 said:
Given that Ruger has had their 375 out for a while I’m curious what you all think.

Ruger seems to try to get their name on a cartridge much like the big two brands. Never having fired one, although I’m friends with a guy that has two of them, I’m curious if this one will get Ruger on the map.

He’s a hand loader so finding ready made manufactured ammunition isn’t an issue. The performance, from what I’ve read and heard is on par with the H & H.

While I don’t think it will ever make the H & H obsolete I’m wondering if there will be enough sales to keep it around. Back when Winchester was introducing a cartridge a month it seems that only two of them have really stuck around. Anybody found any Super Short Magnum around before all this craziness hit?

So what do y’all think?

Vince
Click to expand...
I bought one in 2007, it's been here for awhile and will continue to be..
 
OK, follow up questions.

How would you describe the recoil compared to the .338 Winchester Magnum? Would you consider changing from the .338 Win Mag and would I gain anything for hunting in North America?

Vince
 
Vince2 said:
OK, follow up questions.

How would you describe the recoil compared to the .338 Winchester Magnum? Would you consider changing from the .338 Win Mag and would I gain anything for hunting in North America?

Vince
Click to expand...
Recoil depends on lots of variables, but I don't find the 375 Ruger bad. I've never been a 338WM fan. I thought that if I needed something bigger than a 30/06 or 300WM I needed something a lot bigger, and that starting point for me was 358 diameter and up.
 
The .338 Maggie just happens to be the one rifle I would keep above all others if limited to one.

Vince
 
Vince2 said:
OK, follow up questions.

How would you describe the recoil compared to the .338 Winchester Magnum? Would you consider changing from the .338 Win Mag and would I gain anything for hunting in North America?

Vince
Click to expand...
I wouldn’t. A good 338 is going to shoot flatter, use higher BC bullets and recoil less in a similar weight rifle. At least that’s going by my shoulder comparing my 375 Improved to my 338 Win.
 
SJB358 said:
I wouldn’t. A good 338 is going to shoot flatter, use higher BC bullets and recoil less in a similar weight rifle. At least that’s going by my shoulder comparing my 375 Improved to my 338 Win.
Click to expand...
Thank you Sir.
 
375 Ruger recoil is brutal. I had one and sold it. On the plus side, load development was easy, with 270 gr. Barnes LRX.
 
I didn't find the recoil of the 375 Ruger to be objectionable. In fairness, I was working up loads for and shooting a lot of cartridges with notable recoil (7.82 Warbird, 8.59 Titan, 378 Weatherby, 416 Weatherby, etc.). My observation is that stock design was a more accurate predictor of felt recoil than was cartridge. The most vicious rifle I ever recall was a 270 WSM. It had a 20 inch barrel and a vicious twist whenever it was shot. The rifle twisted and slapped me in the head each time. I broke two sets of earmuffs shooting that rifle. The felt recoil of the several 375 Ruger rifles I shot was only slightly greater than a 338 Magnum. Pacobillie is correct in noting that load development was easy. That was certainly my experience with the cartridge.
 
Being that I really like my 338 Maggie I don’t really feel I need anything else for antelope up to and including the big bears.

It’s fun sometimes to wonder but like the 41 Maggie in a handgun it serves my purpose quite well. To me the 338 Maggie is what the 30/06 aspires to be. I consider the magnum to be more versatile than the 30/06. For coyotes on down I’ll use an AR.

Lots of folks say the .375 is the one gun to hunt the world with. While it might not be legal now a friend did some culling of cape buffalo using his 338 Win Mag years ago. So it can also work on stuff that the .375 is the minimum for. To me that says pretty versatile.

Anyway, just pondering and I appreciate the responses.

Vince
 
Vince2 said:
Being that I really like my 338 Maggie I don’t really feel I need anything else for antelope up to and including the big bears.

It’s fun sometimes to wonder but like the 41 Maggie in a handgun it serves my purpose quite well. To me the 338 Maggie is what the 30/06 aspires to be. I consider the magnum to be more versatile than the 30/06. For coyotes on down I’ll use an AR.

Lots of folks say the .375 is the one gun to hunt the world with. While it might not be legal now a friend did some culling of cape buffalo using his 338 Win Mag years ago. So it can also work on stuff that the .375 is the minimum for. To me that says pretty versatile.

Anyway, just pondering and I appreciate the responses.

Vince
Click to expand...


Then why did you ask the original question?
 
I don't shoot a .375 Ruger but I do shoot the .375 H&H and a .375 Taylor wildcat that will duplicate the .375 H&H. I had to look up the specs on the Ruger and in the Nosler manual they show loads as much as 150 FPS ot so faster than the H&H or the Taylor so comments about higher recoil are not surprising. I don't a problem shooting the Ruger #1H .375 H&H but the Taylor gets uncomfortable fairly rapidly. The cartridge is the .338 Win. Mag. necked up to take a .375" bullet and with IMR 4350 matching H&H velocity is easy. The rifle is based on a Ruger M77 tang safety action and sits in a Ramline stock. The rifle split the Ruger factory stock on the first firing, sad to say. The rifle with a 3X El Paso Weaver scope only weighs 7.5 pounds so recoil is quite snappy. The rifle was built for a dark timber elk hunt than never came to pass. Accuracy is surprisingly very good with all loads tried running MOA or less, Extreme spread for the 270 gr. and 300 gr. Hornady bullets tried ran 5 FPS and 6 FPS respectively. I'll probably add about a pound to pound and a half of lead to the hollows in the stock and change the recoil pasd to a Decelerator. Should tame it down some.
Paul B.
 
Vince - when I wanted a "bigger than 30 cal" hunting rifle, I honestly didn't care if it was a 338 Win Mag or a 375 H&H, except I did have a dream of someday maybe hunting Cape Buff in Africa. In many places the 375 is the legal minimum.

I ended up finding a great 375 H&H Ruger Number One, so I bought it. If I'd found a similar rifle in 338 Win Mag, I'd have likely bought it instead.

I've only used it on three black bear so far. Worked great BTW. I've shot a bear at a bit over 300 yards, and another one at about 15 feet. The rifle, cartridge & bullet all worked just fine. Oh, I was using the 260 grain Nosler AccuBond, one heck of a 375 cal bullet. :)

The 375 Ruger intrigues me because it has just a little more punch than the old H&H, and I like the rifles that Ruger is building around that cartridge, particularly this one:

Ruger® Hawkeye® Guide Gun Bolt-Action Rifle Model 47125

ruger.com ruger.com

I guess if I already had a good 338, I wouldn't bother with a 375 - unless I just wanted a new rifle! :)

Regards, Guy
 
My thought “wants vs needs” , everyone has wants. Since Hornady have their fingers in the 375 Ruger , I don’t believe it’s going away anytime soon. If it’s sometime you want go for it. I’m still thinking someday getting a Vanguard in 375 H&H and running a 375 WBY reamer in it.
 
Though it seems you may have what you came for, I will add what I think I can.

To answer your first question - I like mine. That said, for me it is a strictly reloading proposition since when I bought it, the ammunition was about twice the cost of .375 H&H. I literally bought dies and a box of brass for a little less that the cost of one box of loaded ammunition.

To answer your second question - I concur with DrMike that stock form has a lot to do with perceived recoil. I have a Savage with synthetic stock and I took off the recoil pad that came with it (purchased used) to put on my Whelen. I have never fired a .338 (Maggie or otherwise), so I cannot comment on comparison.

In the end, though, I think there are a lot of all around, do anything cartridges~ 30-06, 35 Whelen, various .300 and .338 magnums in long and short, the .270, etc., etc. In the end, I suppose each of us has to find what we enjoy toting and shooting and just go with that. For me, it's the Whelen. Why did I buy the .375? Simple; she and I were in the same gun store on the same day and the price was something I couldn't pass on. It wasn't until I got home that I realized I couldn't afford to buy ammo for it:oops:.
 
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