.375 Ruger

[Ron Duval]

I am in the market for a .375 crf. The limited options that I have seen (Kimber, CZ, etc.) do not light my fire. I was looking for a .375 H&H, but the Ruger advertising makes me want to know more about their offering. I know the ballistics, and the rifles, but what do you think of the Ruger cartridge in terms longevity and of ammo availablilty in Africa?

 

[RayAtkinson]

375 H&H

You have mail on my English Mauser in 375 H&H....

 

[375lvr]

I really like the Browning A Bolt. The SS Stalker is very durable, shoots nice. Mine has been to the mountains of Utah, the high plains of Wyoming, the woods of PA and South Africa. I like the availablility ammunition for 375 H&H. The 375 Ruger is nice with the short action and barrel. The only issue is that you will have to reload to have more bullet choices.

 

[Red Leg]

My sense is that the Ruger may be catching on. At least I am convinced enough to have commissioned one based on a Montana Rifles barreled action. My rifle maker is creating a long, lean plains rifle that will serve for buff as well (as opposed to a buffalo rifle that I can also use on plains game). My thought is that one rifle seems to make more and more sense for my African trips. The Hornady loadings are awfully good and are available in both 270 and 300 grain/ SP and solid. You are certainly correct that the H&H will be much easier to find should you need to obtain some while on safari.

 

[Calhoun]

,,,Red Leg & 375 IVR really summed it up quite well & I'm in full agreement with them. I do think there is a damn good possibility that the 375 ruger may really take off due to the craze of everything being on a short action!! Personally I think it's a bunch of bull..I can & don't mind one bit that I have to pull the bolt back an extra 1/2". I think its more hype to sell more guns.
..The proven old great calibers will survive & still have a huge following the rest have to prove themselves & get lucky!! Again though if you are a reloader all these new calibers are great as you will have the advantage of making the loads you want instead of what a few manufacturers want you to have!!

 

[Skyline]

I am going to ride the fence on this one. There is a place for this cartridge but really, as a handloader and to be able to use all bullets on the market, you need it chambered in a regular magnum action so that you do not have to seat the bullets too deep, etc. This is also the case with the new .416 Ruger.

Also, I am not enthused about the somewhat proprietary nature of the new releases by Ruger/Hornady.

As with Calhoun...........the shorter bolt throw........big deal. I also feel the same way about a few ounces of action weight. Apparently most people seem to have problems with the weight of a regular .375 H&H and the recoil....so now a shorter more compact rifle is better for them in some way?

People buy into things way too quickly and after a while and reading how they should think enough times, they soon think it is gospel. Just like the current trend of "belts are bad" on magnum cartridges when in fact it makes little or no difference from a real world stand point for hunting rifles.

But...................people are sheep and most are not capable of independant thought any longer, nor do most get enough field experience with anything to form an honest to goodness opinion based on THEIR OWN experience with rifles, cartridges or bullets. So they merely read, adopt and repeat.

I am not saying don't get one or any other new cartridge or rifle, but at least we should all view things for what they actually are and then make a choice based on the real world and not some mystical nonsense designed to sell new rifles.

 

[Ron Duval]

.375 Ruger ammo

I am interested in finding out about ammo availablilty outside of the U.S., and if anyone has any insight into whether the .375 Ruger cartgidge will still be around in 10 or 20 years.

 

[Big5]

I am not saying don't get one or any other new cartridge or rifle, but at least we should all view things for what they actually are and then make a choice based on the real world and not some mystical nonsense designed to sell new rifles.

From my point of view very well said. For the sake of 'sales' marketing and advertising campaigns have been highly successful (as they were designed to) in shaping the way hunters and field sportsmen view the need for equipment (muzzle brakes, camo patterns, knives, huge objective lenses, super high power scopes, light weight rifles, 6 way rifle slings, etc). In mass we sometimes just follow along in support of the belief that we really need this new ‘thing’ or to join into the new ‘trend’ for our next hunt to be successful. In my view many new things and trends can actually become a hindrance. But I suppose at the end of the day it’s truly all in the eye of the beholder.

BTW- I am speaking in general and in no way trying to dissuade anyone’s choice in favor of the new.375 Ruger or disparage its specific characteristics. Sorry, I’ve probably gotten way off topic anyway.

 

[Ron Duval]

I am not a big fan of the currennt "short-fat" cartridges, don't really care about action length, nor do I follow trends like a "sheep". I am not asking any questions about the excellent .375 H&H.

I just want another crf .375 and would like to get some feedback about future availability for the Ruger .375 cartridge in Africa.

 

[Skyline]

Ron my comments were general, not aimed at you being a sheep. As for it being around in 20 years..........all anyone can do is guess. It is not common here yet in the great scheme of things and as for ammo over seas, that occurs when it is a common chambering in the hands of hunters across the pond, which it is not yet. I am sure there are a few over there and a bit of ammo but I would imagine it is a lot more common in Alaska right now than Africa. If accepted worldwide it could take a few years before ammo is common overseas.

My mention of the proprietary marketing was made because that directly influences how common something becomes. If rifles and ammunition for them are limited in manufacturer to just a couple of companies it can cause problems. Not everyone wants to buy a Ruger and not everyone wants to buy Hornady ammunition.

Compound this problem with the ammo being loaded with a special 'light magnum' type powder to attain the velocities .......something not available to handloaders and they are unable to match or beat the published velocities of the commercial ammunition.............and that further influences the choice of that group of shooters.

My guess is it will probably stick around because it is 'American' and there are a lot of guys interested in big bores these days.......plus it is cheap to buy for the average hunter who lives in big bear country. It is not like there is a plethora of .375 caliber factory cartridges.

On the other hand many, such as myself, will never give up a perfectly good .375 H&H to get the Ruger version. Not much point to it unless I just have to have one. Someone looking for a new rifle would of course consider the new chambering.

 

[browningbbr]

A bit of info about ammo availability in Africa - I took a short mag with me to RSA in May. Just out of curiosity, I asked if I could have purchased ammo if mine had been lost in transit. I was told by 2 PH's that the availability of the "new stuff" like short mags, compact mags and new cartridges was still very, very limited and that I would have been out of luck if my ammo didn't arrive. Both advised me to stick with the established calibers for the next hunt.

As a result, I'm selling my RSAUM and buying a .300 Win Mag for my next trip. I'm also picking up a big bore in .416 Rigby or .458 Lott.

The short mag is great and if was only going to hunt in the US, I'd keep it, but going back to Africa is a priority for me.

 

[Mike70560]

I feel the 375 Ruger will be around for the long term. I own two 375 H&Hs but would not hesitate to buy a Ruger or hunt in Africa with a 375 or 416 Ruger.

The 375 Ruger case capacity is approximately 6% greater than the 375 H&H. That 6% is net value with a 300 grain bullet seated to correct OAL. Ruger velocity is equal to or greater with the same bullets. (The velocity comparison is regurgitated intenet info)

This is a good article on the Ruger vs H&H performance

Real Guns

I do like the nostalgia of the H&H. The weight difference is minimal. Recoil is negligible in a 375. I also do not believe the Ruger will replace the H&H, but there is room for both.

 

[Arild Iversen]

When I gave my 375H&H/M70 to my son as a PHd graduation present, I was in no doubt that my next 375 rifle would be a Ruger Hawkeye.

I have no problem with the length and weight of the 375 H&H rifles owning and shooting a few over the last 35 years.
But this new cartridge / rifle combo has a lot of common sense, and I for one is pretty sure that it will be a stayer.

In my neck of the woods it is looked upon as a good moose/bear rifle, and ammo is no problem ,neighter factory or brass for handloading.

How common was the 375H&H when the first pioners took their to Africa?
And what about all the double rifles in different odd and old calibers who see Africa each year?
I feel that the scenery about loosing ammo while traveling is to much hyped up.

The microscopical chance of loosing ammo that are not readely aviable over the counter , will never hinder me in buying a firearm that I fancy.

Another thing is that some of the 375H&H fans dig in like someone has said that the 375 Ruger will try to take over the Queens hegemony.
Nobody did as far as I know, the 375 Ruger is just another great cartride we can take to the fields.

Likewise, I will not name any 30-06 lenght action (as the Ruger is) a "short action".
When did it become that?

My 375 Ruger will go with me to Namibia in 2011, and if not hit by a meteor or something falling out of the sky, I will report back in due time.

Quite another thing, I see that some Americans call it the Rooger, Rogger or other fancy thing just to show how much they dislike this creation.
The old gentleman Bill Ruger should be held in moore esteem than that as the cartridge bear his name.

 

[375lvr]

There is nothing wrong with the 375 Ruger. Only issue I can see is the ammunition is proprietary. If you don't reload, your bullet choices are limited to what Hornady offers. If Hornady would license to the other large ammunition manufacturers, they would really help themselves out. The H&H will always be around. I think that the 375 Ruger will also have a following. Howa/Hogue is now chambering for 375 Ruger. This will help to create a larger fan base. I have not heard anyone bad mouth the 375 Ruger.

 

[Plains99]

I have a .375 Ruger African. I bought it because I could have a big game rifle caliber for a wide variety of uses at a relatively modest cost. The short action was only important to me because of the purchase price. Like most guys, I won't be using it a lot... certainly not a whitetail or feral hog rifle but it will work on that game plus elk or any large North American animal... and is still viable for Africa. So far after a year of ownership, I've only hunted with it twice as I expected and it performed extremely well on elk and aoudad sheep. It is a perfect match with my Mark II Ruger .30-06... same scope on each, same operating controls, quite similar size. And I have a Ruger .458 Win Mag that will also go with me to Africa next time... so if things went south on the ammo thing, I'd still have the bailout .458.
I believe the .375 Ruger to be a good compromise rifle. If I were a big time, go to Africa every year or so, hunter, I'd probably go with a more conventional cartridge such as the .375 H&H. But I'm not. Probably only get over there one or two more times. But I hunt a lot in North America. The .375 Ruger works very well for me.