Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Alaska Budget .375 Rugers seen there?

I see where the Savage and Mossberg are both chambered in the .375 Ruger. Since they are very affordable, have any of you guys seen them in use up there? Maybe they would not be used on brown bear, but for moose, etc, they could be. If you have, do they look like they are holding up? Do they kick themselves apart or break parts, etc? Just wondering really...

I have seen a few for sale in pawn shops but not heard of any tales from the bush. Although the Howa 375's are considered viable rifles .

Why not use it for brown bear?

I had a Savage Brush Hunter 375 Ruger for a short time. It had a very heavy short barrel I hated. It should have been a bit trimmer, IMO. It made what should be a fast handling gun a bit sluggish.

My buddy had the savage 375r, he’s taken moose and bear with it and has no complaints. I’m actually planning on getting one just to have a 375 Ruger to load Ammo for. It’s obviously not as nice as the river rifles but from what I’ve seen it’s been a reliable and accurate rifle.

458- by Howa, do you mean the Vanguard 375 H&H model?





Why not use it for brown bear?
/quote]

Well, I guess I was being a bit harsh...50yrs ago ( and a bit more) I grew up around people using Mossbergs/Savages and they were not the most dependable....seems the Mossberg "rifles" were their best and Savages "shotguns" were their best. Saw many 110 Savage bolts fall apart on guys, same with the Mossberg bolt action shotguns. Affordable they were, mind you, just not the best.
I've held the Mossberg Patriot, and the newer Savages, never shot either. The Savage seemed stouter to shoot the 375 ruger in, the Mossberg felt very fragile. this is why I asked about them, as a "working class sportsman" up there is not that different than here in the Lower 48, ha. Your critters just are bigger and will eat you! We didn't have Black bear in Texas, but a failed Savage/Mossberg has had a few Texans get cut by mean hogs! Just saying...:)

I owned a "stainless" synthetic Mossberg. Got it as a boat gun worked fine, however, as it was a 6.75 pound rifle it was absofreakinglutely brutal to shoot. Added a mercury vial which helped, but not enough. It went down the road.

Thanks for the reply, Jim.

I misunderstood you to be referring to the cartridge, not the platform.

I don't think that any of the Mossberg Patriots are stainless, but some are Cerkoted in a matte gray color.

I have a Mossberg Patriot in 6.5 CM and like the way that it feels/handles better than the RAR and Savage Axis. I have shot the synthetic stocked Patriots in 22-250, 243, and 6.5 CM. I can imagine that the recoil of the 375 RUG in such a light rifle would be difficult to handle and that a heavier laminated stock, like something from Boyds, would help tame the recoil. I've shot a couple of rounds from a V2 IN 375 H&H and found that recoil felt a little sharper than my heavier Winchester 70.

Hence the quotes around stainless.
They call it marine coat, or they did when I purchased if I remember correctly

Little brother to that Savage 375 is the Hog Hunter in 338 federal. A great canoe carbine with good open sights. Affordable at $500. Take about 7 days to arrive if u order online.

VV N133 Will push a 250 grain A frame about 2350 fps.

I would never turn my nose up at a savage 110 variant used in Alaska. Cheap, beat-up savage rifles fed me and my family during hard times.

260 rem,
Few years back I loaned my truck, tent, hip boots, jacket, Rubbermaid tough tote and boat motor to a young kid. My buddy loaned out his canoe and other gear.

We sat him down and schooled him on where to go and how to safely get there. All he had was 7 nosler 180 grain partitions and a mossberg rifle.

He came back cold and sore with a broken canoe and motor, full of caribou meat and pride. He likes his mossberg rifle.

So far, sounds as if both of the models I asked about are "reliable", if not hard "to hang onto", ha. I know Savage has upgraded their rifles, just wasn't sure how well they held up to the 375 Ruger. I have several family members in East Texas that use the snot out of the Savage/scope combo rifles from Academy. They are the 4 wheeler/mudders type of crowd, its usually a bent/broken via wreck that has them run out to Academy and get another one, ha Their favorite? 7mm Magnum...for 90# deer mostly. My friends daughter up here uses an older Mossberg 4x4 in .270 for deer/elk likes it just fine too.

Howa rifles are very well built and a good value for the price. They are very heavy. The 300 win mag I own is only used at my cousin's place where I drive to a stand with a golf cart. My 416 Ruger Alaskan I use in Africa weighs less.

There has been a 375H&H version of the savage 116 with a 20ish inch barrel for a decade plus.

I've seen them draw blood on both ends of the barrel. Never saw one fall apart, but was also never tempted to acquire one.

cwh2,

I was tempted for a 375 carbine and when I got back from my third one year tour in Iraq, I picked up a new 375 Ruger Alaskan. It had the Hogue stock. This wouldve been January 2010. First time at the range, a factory hornady round was fired, and the brass case stuck in the chamber. Slow taps on the bolt with a 2x4. When the bolt was taped rearward, the mauser extractor slipped off the case and the case was still stuck.

I eventually took a stainless steel one piece cleaning rod, wrapped it in electrical tape to prevent rifling damage and hit cleaning rod with a hammer until the case fell out.

I found that the rough tooling marks in the chamber combined with such a straight, minimal case taper/high pressure cartridge was the problem. It went back to Ruger and they were great about fixing the rifle.

I eventually lost interest in the rifle and went back to my 5-down CZ 550 9.3x62 carbine. It is one lb lighter, holds two more cartridges and has worked well on moose and caribou shot from 25 yds to 500 yds. Forum member VernAK made a 400 yard shot on a big bull moose with his.
Far less recoil too.

Even going Ruger 77 isn't a guarantee that the gun will work flawlessly when subjected to the ferocious 375 Ruger.

Don’t forget, the weatherby vanguard comes in 375HH as well.

Speaking of HOWA...

I've known a couple of guys that bought the Savage and Mossberg versions of the .375 Ruger. One guy that bear baited with me said he had a Mossberg for a few months, and would never own one again. He just said he couldn't trust his life with it, so it went bye, bye, I have known and hunted with a couple of guys that have the Savage version and never heard a bad thing about them.

The Zastavas are being imported again and you can get a 375 H&H for a reasonable price, these are commercial Mauser 98's and are pretty bombproof. The 98 is a great action for dangerous animal gun proven for over 120 years. I know it is not a 375 Ruger but performance wise they are twins.

I have commercial FN's and Zastavas in 270 Win, 9.3x62, 30-06, 375 Ruger to name a few. I hunt almost exclusively with Mausers as they just work, the only mods I do to the metal is have a three position safety installed on them.

The Howa would be a cheaper route and now they have three position safeties so the bolt is locked back instead of just blocking the trigger, I like that feature in a hunting rifle and almost require it. The Howas are fantastic guns for the money and are very accurate out of the box, I have a number of custom Howas in the safe, the downfall of having your own shop is you can make just about whatever you want.

Some people say the Howas are heavy and they are right, but I little extra weight with a 375 Ruger is not a bad thing. The 98's I mentioned are not the skinny kids on the block either. I could peel off 10 pounds before a hunt if I was worried about weight.

I don't think the Savage or Mossberg is a bad way to go, I don't see them as poorly made. Savages have been truck guns for around 50 years and they still go bang when the trigger is squeezed.

Just my thoughts,
Wade

Wade, those savages are ah slick beat-around. I see savages used for $300-350 on Alaska's list. For a cheap medium bore, A guy could pick up a 338 federal, 338-06, 358 winchester, 35 whelen or 9.3x62 carbine barrel for $175. Pull the barrel nut and head space new barrel off ah good brass case if your too cheap for a go and no-go gauge.

With the 9.3, the 286 grain prvi is a tough budget bullet.

With the 338 federal or 338-06, the 225 grain speer fusion is an equally tough budget bullet.

Could a zastava 9.3 be had used for 300-350? $500 new from common gun stores?

I think the rifle companys have a good idea with the carbine concept. I think they really "missed it" by chambering them for the 338WM-375 Magnums. They should have made them , in addition to the 338 Federal, the .358 Win, 338-06, 35 Whelen, 9.3x62 (especially this one!) I too, would put a 9.3x62 barrel on a Savage, cut it to whatever length I wanted, get after it!

Don’t overlook the classified ads either, I got a like new Remington 700 xcr2 375HH here on the classifieds for under 700 bucks and it’s an awesome shooter.

My buddy has one. We shot a brown bear on Tustemena with it this fall. He has a savage. Im not a fan of it. I love the caliber but the rifle feels cheap. Real heave barrel and cheap feeling bolt. I was looking at the ruger guide gun but I cant get past how ugly those butt pad spacers are. Sorry to sound like such a sinic. Good luck.

welcome to the campfire Matty

Thanks man. I was on a couple years ago but forgot the password.

lol, I think I remember you, teacher, came to AK from MI or MN?

Matty, yah there are some things on those savages that are suspect:

The new magazines have a plastic clip exactly what you'd find on a TV remote battery cover. A plastic clip as a spring, youch! That is supposed to safely hold a magazine in your rifle?

I then picked up a Howa rifle at this same gun counter. $419 and had an all-steel hinged floorplate bottom metal. If that isn't a dmn good deal, I don't know what is.

The HOWA bottom metal is the best on a factory rifle anywhere, if you like anything other than a blind magazine.

I don't see the point of bottom metal. Hinged or otherwise.

Neither do I, but if you are one that does, HOWA does a better job than the rest...

I would just buy the Ruger if you want a 375 Ruger if its not right Ruger will make it right. Prefer the 375 Ruger to the 375 H & H especially for reloading. Had 2 case failures with 2 375 H&H probably my fault but tough to resolve in the field. When Ruger came out with an affordable SS LH rifle with sights in 375 Ruger I sold a LH Win 375 H&H and a Rem LH 375 H&H and bought the Ruger never regretted it.

Although the 375 H&H was much more comfortable to shoot!

I agree with you just buy a Ruger if you want a 375 Ruger or 416 Ruger. I bought the 375 Ruger Guide Gun and have never looked back! Have Alaskan Arms LLC quick detach rings with my Leupold VX3 2.5-8x36mm then Have NECG quick detach Ghost Ring Sight that fits rear scope ring notch on receiver of the Ruger Guide Gun.