A healthy person of ordinary stature should not be troubled by the recoil of a .375, providing the rifle fits them. Zero it from the bench and spend the rest of your time shooting it from the sticks and offhand. Perceived recoil from the sticks and offhand is much less than bench shooting. You will hardly notice the recoil when shooting at game.
As stated in previous posts, magnaporting will reduce muzzle jump and hence, reduce perceived recoil. For various reasons, I don't like muzzle brakes.
I have no personal experience with the .375 Ruger, but much experience with the .375 H&H. The .375 Ruger has been around for about 5 or 6 years, the H&H for about 100 years. Ammunition for the H&H is available in most safari camps.
If you are hunting plains game only, consider something less powerful, such as a .30/06, .300 Winchester, .338 Winchester, 35 Whelen or 9.3x62 Mauser. They will all do the job with less recoil. For plains game, I would suggest any .30 caliber or above that you shoot really well using premium bullets. Shot placement is more important than the power of a cartridge (within reason). If leopard is on the menu, anything from the .30/06 to the 9.3x62 will do you just fine.
If you are hunting lion or buffalo, the .375 H&H should be considered the practical minimum, though many lion (where legal) have been killed by much less, given good bullet placement.
Pick a rifle that fits you well in a cartridge that doesn't punish you and practice, practice, practice. Many people err by using a scope that has too much magnification. For most bushveldt shooting, a 1.5-6 or 1.7 -10 is all you need and you should keep it towards the low end of the magnification range unless some compelling reason requires you to crank it up. An illuminated reticle is a help.
I have no experience with the .416 Ruger, but a .416 Rigby (backed up by my .470) is my primary hunting rifle. Recoil is noticeably heavier than a .375, but still is quite manageable in a rifle of adequate weight that fits well.
If you are only hunting plains game, I emphasize again that you do not "need" either a .375 or a .416 UNLESS your concession has elephant and buffalo as well. Then carry a minimum of a .375 with a soft up and solids in the magazine. You can always eject the soft and chamber a solid in case Jumbo or Nyati unexpectedly come up on you.
Last edited by Winchestermodel70; 01/13/12.
