Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Express Rifles and Big Bores Only Range practice

I've been shooting and hunting for 35 years, but I finally aquired one of my "dream" guns a couple of months ago. I don't have a need for one, but have always wanted an "African" big bore rifle. I bought a Ruger #1 in .375 Ruger, and shot it for the first time last weekend. The rifle shoots well with the factory iron sights, and I'm not going to scope it. And just as I thought, it is FUN!!!!! My question is, what is a good routine to use at the range for practice.? How many rounds do you shoot per session? I shot 12, and my shoulder is still a bit sore. I've been hog hunting with a Marlin .45/70 Guide Gun for years, but the .375 takes the recoil to a whole new level for me. I don't want to develope any bad habits, so I thought I would seek the advise of people with experience with big bores. I'm shooting from a a Stoney Point Polecat tripod. I didn't buy any factory ammo, just went straight to reloading components. The load is 70 grains of RL15 under 300 grain Hornady RN Interlocks for about 2500 fps. I'd like to stay with the 300's, and according to the loading info I have, I could go up or down a bit with the powder charge. Is this close to the Hornday factory load ballistics? I'd appreciate any advise. Thanks.

P.S. - I very much enjoy reaading this forum. It fuels my fantasies about Africa!
Steve

Now that you have the rifle..you need to go to Africa!

Everyone tastes differ on practice, but I always liked to shoot my .375 from offhand, though practicing off sticks is entirely pragmatic..As for number of rounds, that will also vary with your tastes..I was shooting a .375H&H and it was in a bit heavier rifle, so recoil was
"softer" than your Ruger..it was not unusual to shoot 2 boxes of ammo per session...


FWIW when I saw that first Ruger come into the shop, I immediately handed it to JB and told him " If I had it to do all over again, I'd do it with this rifle...."

Have fun!

Ingwe

i chronied hornady factory 300 rn's thru my 20" alaskan at 2460 f/s.

i shoot a lot, and i shoot a lot thru a lot of rifles, but the 375 ruger is my heaviest recoiling rifle. nothing else i have recoils as heavy, even my 338 win mag. thus, i limit my practice time with the 375 to 10 'perfect form' shots, taking the 'quality is better than quantity' approach. hopefully by the end of the year i won't have to concentrate quite so hard to operate the rifle...

I would say it's up to each individual shooter. I took out the 460 and shot 6 and felt good. Two days later I shot it 3 times and felt great. Next time might be 3 or 10. I did do about 25 one time and felt the pain the next day. My 375 I can shoot 40 easy but it took a while to get there. I have shot with some guys that like 3-5 shots with a 7mag. Tolerance levels vary.

If you are a reloader then why would you punish yourself like that. Personally I would cast my own bullets. But if you do not want to cast your own bullets then call a reputable cast bullet company and buy a sample pack of different bullets. Work yourself up a good load in the 1600 to 2000 fps range. After you find a good bullet then order 500 of them and shoot away. That load will not punish you hardly at all. You will get tons of fun practice. Tom.

I've got the #1 in .375 H&H, and thoroughly enjoy time with it at the range. Often shoot it out to 300 yards on the gongs. Good fun! Prone, sitting and standing.

That said... I have started looking at lighter loads for practice. Have some 220 gr and 235 gr jacketed bullets, and a buddy gave me some cast gas-checked bullets for it as well. I haven't gotten around to many of the lighter loads, but the 235 gr Speers I tired were very accurate, with considerably less recoil than the full-power 270's & 300's I'd been using.

No problem shooting a couple of boxes of the 235's at a time. I think the low-velocity 220's & cast bullet loads will be silly fun to shoot from the .375 Number One.

Regards, Guy

daddywpb,

I just obtained a Ruger .375 as well. I just went through load development and I am going through practice sessions now.

The most I have shot through the rifle at one range setting was 28 rounds, all from the bench. This was during the intial load development phase. Most trips to the range had me shooting no more than 12-15 shots, in 3-shot groups.

I've been going once a week, and now am shooting off the sticks at ranges from 50 to 200 yards. Off the sticks the recoil is more of a push rather than the jolt I got when shooting from the bench.

I know what the ballistic tables say, but I like to actually shoot my rifles at various distances with the same sight setting, and measure the drop or rise in trajectory out of my rifle with my load. So now I have my own trajectory table with my load out of my rifle, out to 200 yards. I will continue to do this out to 300 yards in preparation for an upcoming hunt.

For me, I want to practice with the same loads I will be hunting with. In this rifle for me, I have been making more frequent trips to the range, and shoot less rounds each time than with lesser caliber rifles, because of the recoil. Each trip to the range I have a plan; something I want to accomplish during the range trip, and I complete that plan, ie., four 3-shot groups at 200 yards. I take another rifle to shoot so the Ruger can cool down between the 3-shot groups.

Listen to yourself as your threshold for recoil is unique to you. If 12 rounds is too many, cut it down and go more often if you can. The other option mentioned above is to load down for practice, which works for some, but keep in mind recoil, trajectory, sight settings, etc., may be different than your full loads.

Good luck!

Manny

Congrats on the pick up. I have the same - #1 in .375 H&H and it's a good time taking that to the range (sadly though, this may have to go on the market soon). Personally, I just dress for the occassion. I shoot off concrete benches, so I wear elbow pads. Then I place a beanie between the rifle and my shoulder. The rifle still throws me back some, but it never hurts. As long as my mind knows it won't hurt, I can concentrate on everything else I need to do to shoot that .375 (or .243, or 30/06, etc.) the best I can. Pardon the pun, but shooting that .375 is really a blast!

The load I mentioned shoots well, and I'd like to keep practicing with my hunting loads if I can. I've got until this coming November to get used to the rifle. I really like it. It's compact, light and easy to carry. It's going to be going on a lot of hog hunts later this year. It's nice to have a rifle that slings well when Im crawling under palmettos in the mud after hogs. Shots are usually close and the opportunity very brief. Africa would be great, but it's not likely to happen - I was lucky to be able to get the rifle. But I can let my imagination run with it! I appreciate the comments very much. Thanks to all!!!!

About the push you feel instead of a kick. I have come to the conclusion that people who fear kick have spent way too much time at a shooting bench.

Good for you taking the time to rally learn how to get the most from a very good piece of equipment.

Shooting reduced loads in a big bore is no way to learn to handle recoil, were that true then shooting a 30-06 would make you a good shot with a 375...Better to shoot a 458 Win then go shoot a .375 and it will feel likd a maidens caress to you..

I would stick with 300 gr. bullets at about 2500 FPS in the .375 H&H, that's a good combination..I also really like the 350 gr. Woodleighs at 2450 FPS...

The Ruger No.1 isn't the best rifle in the world to suck up recoil but you will get used to it and its a neat little gun. The 375 is pretty easy to get used to, and a very capable rifle caliber for all that walks on this planet.

My Ruger #1 strung vertically, so I sold it. Just waiting for mounts and scope for the new-to-me Caprivi. Anybody tried the Sierra 250 grainers yet? I'll be trying a box soon.

That's kind of what I was thinkin'. I might try some reduced loads just to mess around, but the majority will be my hunting load. I plan to just shoot it enough over the summer to get used to it. I think the 300 grain Interlock will work just fine, and they aren't expensive, so I'll be able to shoot, shoot, shoot! Recoil isn't THAT bad, just more than I'm used to. The compactness and ease of carry will be worth the effort, and the factory irons present a wonderful, fast and easy sight picture. I am excited about getting this rifle in the woods this fall! Thanks again for the comments. All are helpful!

The 250 gr. Sierra is super accurate in most .375s..A bunch of the locals around here use them on elk at about 2800 FPS and they show up every year at the coffed shop with these perfectly expanded 250 gr. Sierras out of their elk..Apparantly they work well indeed...I have shot them in my .375 and they sure worked on a couple of Mule deer, but there is no such thing as bullet failure on deer with a .375 H&H...

I think you will more than pleased with them or the 300 gr. Sierra BT that I have seen used successfully over the years on about everything in Africa except elephant and Hippo...

atkinson - Thanks for the info! I haven't tried Sierra bullets in it, but I certainly will. I won't be shooting them into any elephants or buffalo, just some onery old Florida hogs. The 300 grain BT sounds interesting. It's probably just my preference - I don't think the piggies are going to care which .375 bullet they're hit with.

I'll be taking it out to the range again today. Not so many rounds this time!

I have always thought it a good practice to take a 22 along when I'm planning to shoot heavy recoiling stuff. In addition to giving me something to do while waiting for barrels to cool, somehow seems to help catch any sign of a flinch early enough to kill it.
Atkinsons advise on the Sierra's is sound. The modest velocity of most 35-375 cal cartridges are reliably effective on game shooting plain old...accurate...C&C bullets, like the Sierra.

I agree, shoot off sticks, sitting or offhand and it isn't bad. My practice payed off with a couple freezers full of moose meat from my 375 Ruger M77 African. I like 260 Accubonds at about 2700 fps with H-4350.

Well, went to the range today, and had a BLAST - so to speak! All shooting was done off a Stoney Point tripod from 50 yards for two reasons - the 100 yard range was full, and my shooting with iron sights at 100 yards leaves something to be desired.

I shot the remaining 8 rounds from the box of 20 that I used last time. Same load of RL15 and Hornady 300 grain Interlocks. The first three shots went high, about 3" above the bright red 5 1/2" bull, with one shot off to the right that I knew would be bad when I pulled the trigger (read FLINCH). I buried about half of the front bead in the rear post, and the last five shots went into a 3" group just above the 1 1/2" center ring. I'm guessing that setting the bead on top of the post would work pretty well at 100 yards?

Everyone has a different expectation of accuracy I guess, but I was VERY happy with the group. The range officer came over and said that he heard me say "YES!" after the third shot hit with the others. I'm looking for minute of hog, and I've already got that with the first load I've tried. A 3" group at 50 yards may not be good enough for some, but for me, with iron sights, off sticks, I'm happy!

I took along a Ruger 10/22, and shot the .22 for a while in between shots with the .375. I think that really helped, because last time I only shot the big boy and my shooting got worse as I went along. I could tell I was flinching with the .22, and I've got to get over that, although the most important shot in hunting is the first one.

I took pictures of the targets with my iphone, but I don't know how to post them, so if someone can help me with that, I'd appreciate it. I've got some reloading to do before the range is open again and I'm looking forward to that, and I can't wait to get it out again. I LOVE THIS RIFLE!!!!

Thanks to all for all of the help here!
Steve

daddywpb,

I do most of my practice without ammo. That goes for my .375, .454 and 7Mag. I dryfire. I can always call my hit or miss. After awhile you will almost never miss. There is no recoil to start bad habbits and you will be able to spot things you are doing very quickly.

I've done a little dry firing, mostly after cleaning, but probably not enough. Thanks!