375 Number One to the range!

Guy Miner

Master Loader
Apr 6, 2006
17,489
4,653
Ah, this morning was so nice at the NCW Gun Club! Cool, overcast, light breeze.

I took the 375 H&H Ruger Number One out to the range for a practice session. It's currently topped with the 1.5-5x Leupold. Today's ammo was the 270 grain RNSP Hornady over 69 grains of RL-15. The load is accurate & powerful. I've had this rifle for ten years now and have shot three bears with it. It's become one of my absolute favorite hunting rifles, and I wish I'd taken an elk or a mule deer with it as well, but that hasn't happened yet. Someday perhaps.

I'd only intended to shoot about 10 rounds today... But... Well... When I'm shooting one of my favorite rifles, it's hard to know when to quit. So... 35 rounds went downrange. :)

Shortest range I shot at was 20 yards, longest was only 100 yards. I did rest the rifle across my backpack for some shooting, but a most of it was from sitting or standing with no support. I surely do enjoy shooting this nice rifle. Reliable, accurate, great handling. Makes me grin so much. A few years ago I considered selling it, but am so glad that I didn't do that. This one is a keeper.

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You can see where we had the fire department out to do a controlled burn on the range. Seemed prudent, given the summers/fire seasons we've had so often in recent years. They did a great job of burning the grass & weeds!

Am planning to carry this rifle for black bear again this year. Hoping for another success! :)

Regards, Guy
 
Guy, the No 1 is such a classy but affordable rifle. Sometimes a person needs to hunt with style:)
 
lefty315":2apz8gyq said:
Guy, the No 1 is such a classy but affordable rifle. Sometimes a person needs to hunt with style:)

You certainly have! (y)
 
Guy,

The .375 H&H is one of my favorite all time calibers.
What I love about it is that it is extremely powerful, and yet so very easy to shoot. It is extremely accurate.
I remember when I first got mine, back in the late 80's, an Interarms Mauser X, with a 24 inch barrel. I took her out to the local range in Cheyenne, and touched her off. I was shooting the Federal 300 gr Premium ammo.
I was so pleasantly surprised by how soft shooting the gun was, compared to the .300 Win Mag, and .338 Win Mag rifles I had shot.
That's a beauty of a Ruger #1 you have there, and such a classic scope combo to go with it!
Enjoy it, and the upcoming black bear hunt!

Sent from my moto e5 play using Tapatalk
 
Over the years I've had four Ruger Number One rifles. Wish I'd kept at least one of them, or had purchased another in something mild like 7x57, or even 30-06 before the prices went up so fast.

I bought this one used, 2009, for $600, and it seemed like there were a bunch of them avail used for $500 - $600 then, some less. New wasn't a lot more either. Now, it seems like they've gotten considerably more expensive.

I do like this one a lot, and have a very mellow, light-recoiling "plinker" load for it that I use time to time. Mostly though I shoot full power hunting loads, which really aren't bad either.

Regards, Guy
 
What interested me was the 1.5X5 Leupold scope on top. Over the years I've placed a lot of scopes on different hunting rifles and I had no interest in "overpowering" them. My main Elk rifle .338RUM has a Zeiss 1.5X6 and the most powerful scope on my hunting rifles is a 3X9 Kahles which sits on a Christensen Arms .300 Win Mag. I Nailed my last Elk with the .338 at 326 yards and in no way felt underpowered. Back in the "old" days 4 power was considered more than adequate. - - just some thoughts.
 
"I bought this one used, 2009, for $600, and it seemed like there were a bunch of them avail used for $500 - $600 then, some less. New wasn't a lot more either. Now, it seems like they've gotten considerably more expensive."

That's probably because the only time Ruger does a run of Number Ones anymore is if Lipsey's or another distributor calls for a special limited run an a particular model or caliber. That brought the value of used #1s up in a hurry. I probably go my .375 maybe 15 years ago for IIRC $400. The fellow selling it thought it kicked too hard. I never replaced the skimpy excuse Ruger called a recoil pad on mine. In fact my .404 Jeffery and .416 Rigby still have those miserable excuses for a pad. I wonder what Ruger was thinking? :roll:
Paul B.
 
Silent Sam":1iv26j8w said:
Those pads were to protect the rifle, not the shooter...;-)

Ha! Indeed. I'm glad a previous owner used a Pachmayer Decelerator pad on mine. Awfully nice.

Guy
 
My Ruger Number One in 30-06 just got fitted with the Pachmayer Decelerator slip on pad and what a difference it makes. When I was hunting deer in upstate NY with a shotgun I had a Luepold 1.5 - 5 scope mounted on the shotgun. That scope may end up on my Ruger Number One this fall.
 
What a great setup Guy!!

I’ve fired a few .375s over the years and can only describe the recoil as more than a .30-06 but not as bad as a heavy loaded .300 Win Mag.

I’ve kind of been unofficially in the market for a .338 or .375 and have went back and forth on which I actually want. The more I look at it the more the .375 seems to make sense.

Although I would probably go for a bolt action instead of a Number One, I do love your choice of Leupold scope. Perfect for a .375!

Thanks for sharing!

Dale


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