Home Forums Hunting & Shooting The Lefty Forum Ruger African

Am entertaining the idea of buying a Ruger 375. I absolutely detest the look of the stock on the current Alaskan model. My first Alaskan had issues with feeding the middle round in the magazine and it took a new spring and a gunsmith to sort that out. Afterwards feeding was OK but it never felt very smooth.
Has anyone here compared the Alaskan to the African? Is the African smoother with its non stainless steel?

Maybe ask 458WIN (Phil Shoemaker) directly. When those first came out, he got an example of each and ran them for a year before publishing a review.

Mine is a stainless Alaskan but one of the first 100 that were "leaked" into the market (no barrel band sling swivel, no brake) in a nice, tidy laminate stock. It ain't smooth like a M70 but functions fine. Just my experience but I don't think the Hawkeyes are as slick as the MK IIs. One option would be a MK II with a magnum bolt face and re-barrel.

I cannot speak to the Alaskan, but I've seen them and liken the action to the stainless Gunsite Scout rifles. I do have one of those, and it wasn't very smooth either. A month or two of very light oil in key spots and working that action over and over sure has made things better. Many have mentioned the bolt on the Scout rifle sticking. Mine did, but no longer. As OGB said, it sure ain't a M70, or even an older M77 from the 80's, but it's more than acceptable to me and getting better every day. The fact that the little .308 will shoot around 1/2" at 100 yards may be helping my opinion a little.