Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Express Rifles and Big Bores Only 375 Ruger for big black bear

Nope, never happened to me...........

Dober

.........No, not really.

Any hunting bullet from 225 gr up to and including a 300 gr offered for a 375 by Sierra, Hornady, Barnes etc, should be fine for black bears. There maybe one or two brands and weights that might work a little better than others, but I see no issues where any 375 caliber hunting bullet won`t be OK.

I would be more inclined though (assuming I were using my 375 Ruger for black bears), to use the 270 grain and lighter bullets. Imo, one doesn`t need 300 grain pills out of a 375 for smaller black bruins.

I used a 300 grain Hornady on a good size black this spring, it took care of him in short order.

did you get an exit wound?

No, but I have never seen two shoulders with that much damage.

Those are sure nice bears Mark! Below is the only thing with claws I have gotten with my .375 Ruger. I think it was a B&C candidate but the skull was broken when I caped him;) I used the 225 Hornaday but I still got "way over-penetration" in the dirt behind it. Good luck on your bear hunt leverite2.

Over bait, the 250 or 300 SGK would be just the ticket outta your Rugger.

Took this Washington black bear at 306 yards yesterday with a single 260 gr Accubond from my .375 H&H Number One:



It did a fine job!

GuyM...so did you! Not an easy shot.

Loaded up a few test 270 gr TSX's over 74.0 gr RL 15. Cloverleaf 3/8" group at 50 yards...1/2" high.. This load will do...now to load more and see where it prints at 100 yards. Should be about an inch high.

I didn't feel much recoil off the bench...gonna have to keep on letting my son sight my rifles in for me! ;>]

That load ought to work just fine! I got a few of those 270 gr Barnes TSX loads with the rifle when I bought it used last year. Bullet looks like it would penetrate a wooly mammoth, let alone a bear...

Go for it!

Thanks for the good idea! I just picked up a 375 Ruger Hawkeye African last week. I'm gonna have to see if I can recruit my son to help with bench testing the loads.

For my 375, it's 270 gr TSX's for everything.

I've always figured my 270 was a bit overkill for black bear up to about 400 lbs. My first 7 bears I killed with a 243 ... I bought my 270 when I moved to Montana in 1973, grizzlies are a lot scarier.



Chuck

What powder are you putting under those TSX's? I'm just starting to work on handloads for my 375 Ruger.

DocRocket,

I shoot 72 grns. of RL-15 with the 270 TSX at 2725 fps out of my .375 Ruger, 20" bbl., with good accuracy.

Check this thread for lots of load information:

http://www.24hourcampfire.com/ubbthreads/ubbthreads.php/topics/3980778/1

Manny

Thanks!

75 grains of Reloader 15 turns my 375 H&H into a target rifle!

Funny thing how Reloder 15 keeps cropping up in my own pet loads. Thanks, Brian.