Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters Is the Ruger 375 dead?

Yeah, but you're a professional gunwriter. Get Travis to test it for you in the "real" world, and then get back to us!!!

Don't you know that the fat guys NEVER win those contests!

Alas, it has been discontinued already. The best never last.

They only discontinued it to make their new model. The Ruger Guide Gun and they are still making it in the African along with the 416 Ruger. Savage and Howa are available in 375 Ruger. I am not no gun writer either. So take it for what it is worth.

Right! But "Skinny Asian man at a hot dog eating contest" just doesn't have quite the same ring to it.

I really have no need for a .375, but I saw one of the Alaskan models and just had to have it. I managed to find a single one left at a gun shop in the city, with no more being ordered or available. Having let a couple good deals slip by me due to excessive humming and hawing, I decided to drive to the city and get it. Very glad I did, it turned out to be as accurate a rifle as I have owned, and I find it very nice and handy to carry. I thought recoil would be bad but it is actually quite manageable. I imagine the new guide gun would be a pussycat with the brake, but unless they offer a different stock than that green laminate I don't think I'd buy it. I know nobody seems to like the Hogue rubbery stock on the Alaskan but so far I've had no reason to change it.

The muzzle brake on the Guide Gun does make the recoil easier and like you said a pussycat. As far as the green laminate stock the pictures does not do it justice. I thought by the pictures that I would hate it. But after handling it it warms up to you. The adjustable LOP is nice. Left the same spacers that gun was installed with which makes it a 13.25" LOP. Liked it because gun won't snag on day pack shoulder strap or heavy cloths. I real like my 375 Ruger Guide gGun.

When the 375 Ruger was introduced I predicted that it would eventually replace the 375 H&H just as the 300 Win replaced the 300 H&H. And for the same reasons. Now that it has been around for a few years I have seen nothing to change my opinion.
If you want nostalgia then the 375 H&H may be for you but if you want better performance at a cheaper price then get the Ruger.

CDNN-375

Walnut-$599.99
Stainless-$649.99

As long as a hunters keep buying new 375 Ruger rifles the cartridge will thrive.

I think one thing that might keep it alive is its affordability I have owned 2 of them I paid $600.00 for each. If you just want to own one for no particular reason you can. The first a stainless/Laminate African with a 23" barrel I figured I really could lose any money on it. Very accurate sub 1 in. groups @ 100 yards. Later I ran into a Stainless Alaskan 20" barrel, which was really what I wanted to start with , what a sweetheart sub 1 in @ 100 yards easy. recoil is very manageable. But alas, even I couldn't see a need for 2 so the African went on down the road. Funny thing for me is I wanted a 375 H&H forever they were running $875.00+ really never ran into a "deal". A lot of them had 24" barrels, longer than I liked. I couldn't imagine cutting the long action 375 H&H down to even a 22" barrel. When I saw the Alaskan it was love at first sight the perfect gun for me.

If John's tests do not measure up to your standards then I will give you mine. I may not be a fumble fingered as Travis but all the new Ruger 375's I have used feed perfectly. Both fast and slow.

My 375 Ruger Alaskan is also a great feeding rifle. So much so, it's a fun one to just sit and cycle cartridges though sometimes. Shoots much better than it should too. They should become American classics, IMO.

It was supposed to be a joke! I'm sure that JB's and your tests are plenty good.

But now that you mention it, I'm sure hoping you're not as "fumble-fingered" as Travis. Somehow, I just imagine that he's got that all sewn up. I don't even want to think about it!

I had a savage bear hunter with stainless fluted barrel with on/off muzzle break for a week. Got a deal I couldn't pass up, Never got to shoot it and I just don't need a ruger 375 right now. sold it and made some $$. I will get another one someday.

I need another rifle, particularly a powerful medium bore, about as much as I need another weewee, but the various Rugers are very attractive and at an amazing price for what you get. Decent, CRF H&Hs at reasonable prices don't exactly grow on trees these days. A Number One might make an interesting cast-bullet gun.

For those that DO need that kind of power, the choice between the Ruger an H&H might boil down to where they live or plan to hunt. The Ruger round is a natural for Alaskans, but someone planning to use it in Africa would likely be better off with the H&H, due to the widespread availability of ammunition.

Yep - That's my thinking, too.

Nothing wrong with most of the new cartridges Ruger has developed (or helped with rifles/hand guns) over the years.

Most haven't caught-on.

Off-the-cuff, I can think of only 1 that "HAS", but a long list of "HAS NOTs".

do believe some dont understand a niche cartridge.....really dont think Ruger planned on selling a million 375 Rugers....from the looks of things they pretty well knew and nailed what the market share was going to be for the round.....not to mention as John said you can find ammo for it on the shelves in the out of the way places where a 375 rifle makes sense so it really doesnt sound like its dead or stillborn....if you got two braincells to rub together anyway.....not every round is brought out expecting to crack the top 10 or even top 20....companies do understand the term 'niche' even if alot of the public doesnt seem to....

Friend of mine in South Africa bought one, the Ruger, but over there, due to the red tape, took him 14 months to get it, and cost him $1,200.00. I took him brass last year when I went over for a hunt.

There's always a lot of drama on the Campfire, especially when it comes to cartridges. Apparently you can't see any value in the .375 Ruger without insulting the .375 H&H, which is of course as "venerable" as Mom and apple pie, even if it is British in origin.

Same deal with the .17 HMR and .22 Magnum, Leupold and any other scope, pre-'64 Winchester M70 and Remington 700, etc. etc. This seems to be particularly true when somebody has never even tried the newer stuff, yet they still "know" all about it.

Personally, I kinda like having choices.