Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Express Rifles and Big Bores Only 375 Ruger prevalence?

Riflehunter,
Until surefire7 answers,
my first year production M77 Hawkeye African .375 Ruger, walnut & matte black, 23" barrel,
weighed 7.75 lbs as out of the box.

Barreled action is 6.0 lbs.
Slim walnut stock is 1.75 lbs.

OEM Ruger rings:
#3 + #4 set = 2.0 oz + 2.4 oz = 4.4 oz.
#4 + #5 set = 2.4 oz + 2.8 oz = 4.8 oz.

Leupold VariXIII 2.5-8x36mm = 11.4 oz.

Scope + rings: either 15.8 oz or 16.2 oz = 1.0 pound +/- 0.2 oz.

Scoped rifle = 8.75 pounds +/- 0.2 oz.

It would take a very light synthetic stock to get it down to 8.14 pounds with scope and rings on board.

Yes, I expected the 8.14 should have been 9.14. If a Winchester Model 70 was rebarreled to .375 H & H perhaps from .300 WM or .338 WM, would the B & C Medalist stock which has the aluminum bedding block and weighs 30.5 oz, be strong enough to withstand the recoil of .375 H & H and 350gn Woodleighs with only a single recoil lug? Or is the stock likely to eventually crack? Could get the weight down to an ideal 9lbs with scope with 23" barrel if so.

What ! My arithmetic error corrected below:


... my first year production M77 Hawkeye African .375 Ruger, walnut & matte black, 23" barrel,
weighed 7.75 lbs as out of the box.

Barreled action is 6.0 lbs.
Slim walnut stock is 1.75 lbs.

OEM Ruger rings:
#3 + #4 set = 2.0 oz + 2.4 oz = 4.4 oz.
#4 + #5 set = 2.4 oz + 2.8 oz = 4.8 oz. OOPS ! make that 5.2 oz

Leupold VariXIII 2.5-8x36mm = 11.4 oz.

Scope + rings: either 15.8 oz or 16.6 oz = 16.2 oz +/- 0.4 oz
Or scope + rings = 0.9875 to 1.0375 pounds.
Shucks, just call it 1.0 pound, instead of 1.0125 +/- 0.025 lbs.

Scoped rifle = 7.75 lbs + 1.00 lbs = 8.75 pounds

It would take a very light synthetic stock to get it down to 8.14 pounds with scope and rings on board.

I have no doubt that the B&C medalist stock can handle the job with only the primary recoil lug of the action.
I have a done a .458 WinMag in the long action from a .416 RemMag M70 Classic,
and no secondary recoil lug on the barrel of this "custom" .458 WinMag.
Used a B&C Medalist stock glass bedded,
Burris Xtac 2-piece cross-slot scope bases,
McGowen No.4 sporter contour cut to 23" length,
banded front sight that came off a CZ 550 Magnum.

Unloaded weight of above = 7 lbs 10 oz = 7.625 lbs.

Add that mythical 1.000-pound scope and rings and you get 8 lbs 10 oz.

I once did a .375 H&H on a Pre-'64 M70 H&H action in a Brown Pounder stock with No.3 sporter 24" long,
NECG banded front sight and steel Weaver-style scope bases.
6.75 lbs, perfectly balanced by light stock and light barrel.
That rifle was a great success in Alaska and Africa.
I always used the Leupold VXIII 2.5-8x36mm scope on it.

Some will claim to have done lighter .375 H&H or .375 Wby rifles than that.
Ouch.

Riflecrank, Thanks for your calculations. For myself, I think right on 9lbs including scope is perfect for a .375 H & H running 350's in terms of the balance between carrying it and shootability.