Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Express Rifles and Big Bores Only 375 ruger

www.bigbores.ca[/quote]

And yet Darcy Echols will happily build and chamber DG cartridges on M70s.[/quote]

D’Arcy will build whatever caliber the client requests and pays for. The vast majority of his clients accrued their wealth by means other than hunting.
Although I know of one African PH who ordered a 375 Ruger[/quote]

And if memory serves, didn’t he also build your daughter a 416 Rem on a M70 that she uses for backup and her own hunting?
If folks think an H&H based cartridge is long, they should try a 416 Rigby or other super large rounds such as the 505 Gibbs!

Many African hunters have used magnum Mausers for a long time. Are there known instances of hunters being killed because they were using a magnum Mauser instead of a standard Mauser?

I'm not convinced that the .375 Ruger is such a wonderful design for a dangerous game cartridge or the Ruger rifle that houses it is so wonderful either. I would rather see perhaps a 20-23 degree shoulder rather than 30 degree on a dangerous game cartridge for better feeding as opposed to a match-winning cartridge where 30 degrees is fine, I'd rather see the shoulder pushed back a little and the case shortened slightly so it houses the 350 grain Woodleigh's better. If it had the same powder capacity as the .375 H & H in such a light rifle it would be better, rather than more powder capacity. There should be an easy remedy to hold 4 .375 Ruger cartridges in the magazine...especially for dangerous game. The wooden stocks splitting isn't desirable either.

Hey, I pointed out at least once on this thread that I'm neutral on the matter. The .375 H&H came my way as a matter of convenience. I was in the market for either, and I had tried and found a .375 Ruger twice at my local emporrium but no dies and no brass, nor factory ammo, which were all available for the H&H, and the price I paid for the H&H was a "steal" in my view, so I wasn't bashing the Ruger! The point I was making - because it came up on this thread several times - was: Why was/is the "improved" version in the Wby and Al NOT compared with the Ruger in the matter of a better deal for safety's sake? It is quite apparent to me, at least, that is due to the "improved" versions bettering the Ruger in ballistics, which has nothing to do with the matter of "swiftness" of one over the other. Have I made the point? Is the (honest) question understood, that has NOTHING to do with preferences of style, compactness, etc?

Perhaps we all have our preferences and tastes in rifles as we do in other matters, and that's legit, but for the ordinary "joe" it has little to do with the finite improvement of swiftness in working the action. Over 60+ years of hunting I've often enough chosen a single-shot in small, medium and large calibers, just because I like 'em.

Bob
www.bigbores.ca

The shape of the375 H&H aids in case extraction and feeding. Very important on a dangerous game rifle

Tapered cases were highly useful for EXTRACTION with temperature sensitive powders . That was the reason for the taper. But for feeding, once the tip of the bullet goes into the chamber the rest will follow and the taper has very little useful effect.

"Who Says The Bolt-Action Is Slow!"
By FINN AAGAARD
AMERICAN RIFLEMAN September 1982, pp. 36-39, 72-73

"Smoothness is of much consequence in a bolt-action, whereas the length of the bolt travel really is not.
The slickest action in my rack is that on a 35-year-old Model 70 chambered for the .375 H&H Mag. cartridge.
Despite its half-inch longer bolt throw, it is significantly faster than a new and still slightly rough short-action
Ruger Model 77 in .243 Win.
"A new bolt-action is usually anything but slick. A chap who knows what he is doing can quickly remedy that
by polishing the cocking cams and lapping the bolt into the receiver. But the ignorant or careless
can ruin the rifle equally quickly, especially if he gets lapping compound on the mating surfaces of the bolt lugs
and their seats in the recesses. Cleaning all the oil off the bolt, cocking cams, and inside the receiver,
then putting the rifle in a padded vise and cycling the action 200-300 times with the trigger removed
will improve things considerably. And it's a lot safer."

Yep, I sure do like the 20-degree shoulders on anything.
They put that shoulder angle on the .338 Lapua Magnum when it was developed for possible machinegun feeding ease.
Actually has lots of case body taper too, like the parent .416 Rigby.

The taper on the body of the .404 Jeffery is quite minimal, but it sure makes up for it with the slope of the 8*30'31" shoulder angle.
The .416 Rigby has much greater body taper than the 404 Jeffery, and then the crazy abrupt 45-degree (exactly !) shoulder angle.

Somehow, both of those odd ducks had a great following, and still do.
No extra life insurance required for working those bolt throws, same as with the .375 H&H.

Approximate bolt throws:
Short action: 3.1"
Standard action: 3.4"
Long action: 3.6"
Magnum action: 3.8"

That would make the difference between a .243 WCF and a .375 H&H like Sir Saint Finn said, half an inch.

Work those bolts hard and fast whenever they are worked,
but get them slick first.
Maybe you will live to tell of it.

With use and a little smoothing the Ruger M77 action becomes one of the slickest and quickest to operate
No small part of that is due to the rugged, spring buffered bolt stop. When operated with the alacrity required on a Dangerous game rifle, the spring gives a noticeable forward assist when you are chambering another round.

With feeding on a case that hasn't got much taper, it's not the lack of taper per se that sometimes results in rough feeding, but the wide shoulder (together with the wide-angle of the shoulder) that "catches". The wide shoulder results in less taper, but it's the wide shoulder as opposed to the lack of taper that can cause a problem or lack of smoothness in feeding.

What part of the action does this “wide shoulder” catch on?

Riflehunter,
Alaska arms llc makes a very sleek +1 mag plate for the 375 ruger.

Regarding feeding, my ruger african feeds smoother than two mausers. One an oberndorf, one an FN.

Also, the ruger cartridge fully snaps into the bolt face earlier in the bolt stroke, than either of my mausers.

These ruger cartridges feed slicker than anything.


I ain't got no dog in the fight though. I got rid of my 375 ruger, in favor of my 9.3x62. I see no point of either the .375 ruger or the 375 h&h, over the 9.3x62. Far too many advantages of the mauser cartridge over the 375 hype.

Very well said. From its inception, I considered the 375 Ruger little more than a marketing gimmick, a solution in search of a problem. As stated, the miniscule reduction in bolt travel is a complete non-issue in the real world.

My 375 Ruger purchase was pure economics- I had booked a trip to Africa, and with the possibility of dangerous game being on the menu (as well as large plains game) I found myself in need of a large caliber rifle. ANY 375 H&H cost $1500 and up at the time I was shopping, the CZ 550 being the most available, the Ruger African 375 was available and was $800, nearly $700 less for the same ballistic performance, and in a really good looking gun. the difference in price gave me plenty of ammunition, and reloading components, as well as more cash to spend on the trip!

Maybe in your world , I won’t argue that.
But as I pointed out, serious hunters from WDM Bell to Richard Harland have stated numerous times that shorter actions have a slight speed advantage ! It is something you may doubt and never notice, but I have on numerous times when adrenaline and tachycardia come into play.

I just picked up a stainless/synthetic Ruger Alaskan carbine in 375 Ruger. It's one of the originals without the muzzle brake. Perfect rifle if I make it back to Alaska.

That +1 magazine floorplate is exactly what the .375 Ruger rifle needs. Thanks.

Anyone who has shot a brown bear, a Cape buffalo, or an elephant at close range recognizes the incredible speed those animals display when they either wheel and flee or come towards the hunter. Speed working the bolt, which only comes with countless accurate repetition - from the shoulder, with sights remaining on target - and reliable tuning of the DGR, are the only controllable factors that will allow a successful follow up shot. Every part of a second counts.

But everyone is entitled to his opinion, whether based on experience or not.