Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Ask The Gunwriters .375 H&H and .375 Ruger

Sure you can use a single-shot successfully on dangerous game...most of the time. And three shots will be all you need...most of the time. Just have faith in your PH to finish the job on those few occassions when things don't work out as planned - just make sure you're not holding his hand too tight. And I hope you're using 350 grain projectiles on heavy dangerous game in your .375's.

I think the actions are the same but the receiver bridge is milled differently. If the rear base is .670 (from memory) between screw holes, I don't think it was originally chambered for a 3.6" OAL cartridge but was chambered for a "standard" length cartridge. I think the post-64 .375-length would be something like .435 between screw holes. Look up Talley's mount specs to confirm. The pre-64 standard length actions were the same .670" between holes on the rear for standard actions but different on the longer action, possibly .330" between holes. Again, easy enough to confirm with mount manufacturers.

Yours look to me like standard .670" rear bridge mounts.

Perhaps you can share with us the numerous examples of big bore single shots failing to kill dangerous game ?

Certainly, for an armchair gentleman such as yourself. First off, there's all the times that the single-shot was aimed correctly and hit the desired target in the right place, but the buffalo (for example) still ran 60 yards which just happened to be straight at the hunter and his PH, and of course the PH finished the buffalo off with his double. Then there are the times when the same thing happened but the PH wasn't able to stop the buffalo in time, and of course the client couldn't assist because things happened too fast to reload a single-shot. Then there are the times when the buffalo (for example) ran into the thick vegetation after the shot and the client couldn't put a second or maybe third shot into the buffalo...so the PH has to go in himself after a wounded buffalo. Then, there are all the times that the client's first shot wasn't exactly in the right place, because the client really wasn't as good at shooting his large-bore single shot as he thought he was. And then there's the times when the buffalo (for example) cunningly circled back and ambushed both the PH and the client, and all the client could do was pull-off one shot which missed the desired target area. And there's more examples but, either you know about them and you're acting ignorant or you don't know about them, in which case, I wouldn't want to put you off hunting dangerous game.

Hot air, no documented examples. BTW my Ruger No.1 450-400 has killed 3 Buff in the hands of its previous owner. ONE shot each.

Your "one shot one kill" post together with you quoting what a third person has told you when you weren't even there, as well as you yourself adopting the name "armchair" indicates that you have no relevant experience at all, and would be better off continuing to sit in your armchair and just learn rather than give "opinions" which have no weight at all.

Interesting comments about the 375 Ruger. Based on what I read here I’m not sure all are based on personal experience with either the cartridge or the Ruger M77s designed for it.

I’ve only had 3 M-77 MK 2 Hawkeyes in 375 Ruger - 2 Africans and one Alaskan. Duplicating 375 H&H ballistics in the 23” Africans is not hard but takes some pushing with the 20” Alaskan. RL-17 has been my go to powder with both 270s and 300s.

Also interestingly, I usually check the 375s - both Ruger and H&H - out to 300 yds after sighting in the 1.75-6x scopes I’ve gravitated to in these cartridges, because you never know when a longer shot presents itself on an unexpected prize. They have proven accurate and easy to shoot.

Of the 3 Rugers which I still have, the Alaskan is now rebored to 404-375 Ruger, and of the Africans one is now rebarrelled and restocked to 458 WM+. The other remains in an OEM wood stock and 375R chambering. That rifle is trim, handy and everything Mr. Shoemaker described as the positive attributes of the original 375 H&H rifles.

If there’s a difference ballistically - either in trajectory or terminal effect - between the Ruger and H&H variants I confess I’m not astute enough to discern it. I like my Win M-70 25” bbl Transitional and have and will use it in Africa again. I prefer the Alaskan M-77 for its use in its homeland’s wet/harsher terrain.

It all boils down to bullet choice, load, user preference and how finely we want to split already split hairs. After all, we are loonies - all.

Post 64 CRF Winchesters are all the same action length Ed except for the WSMs

All the 308 based cartridge family, along with the other short action cartridges were housed in their short actions.

I don’t believe this is correct. The M-70 358 Win FWT was built on the standard length action as were all Pre-64 M-70s. This spanned 22 Hornet to 375 H&H and 300 H&H Mags.

I'll just comment that my old friend Jon Sundra killed ALL of what was then the Big Five with Ruger No. 1s: leopard, lion, buffalo, rhino and elephants.

And this wasn't always done on guided hunts. When he started hunting in Africa it was still possible for non-residents to hunt on their own, in several countries. Jon hunted in Botswana over the years, thanks to becoming friendly with a local tribal area, where welcomed due in part thanks to all the meat he contributed to the tribe--which is sometimes the case with recent safari hunting, but not always--especially in other countries.

He specifically said post 64’s and that is what I was referring to. The CRF post 64 Winchester Model 70 short action cartridges are built on short actions. All of them.

I think it was an interview with Kevin Robertson where he talked about one of the PH proficiency exams. One participant used a Ruger #1 and was faster than anyone using a bolt gun and faster with 3 and 4 shots than anyone using a double.

Yeah, you can get pretty fast with a No. 1--if you practice. Which means having extra rounds handy. I keep them in the left-hand pocket of my hunting shirt or jacket, with the bullet pointed to the left. (Am right-handed.)

Plus, the ejector is very effective--and can be adjusted to vary the "fling."

I think he mentioned that he had a cartridge holder sown on the shoulder of his shirt somehow.

That could work too!

Sew at your front right-hand corner half-way between your belt and top right-hand shirt pocket if you are right-handed. Doesn't foul your rifle when carrying on your shoulder, allows you to sit down without the cartridges digging into you, is not near your right shoulder when you have the butt against your shoulder, don't have to reach across to your left to get a cartridge.

Repeating, the biggest pluses for the H&H are feeding and extraction in hot, humid, dirty places.

The Brits knew far more than bean counters at Ruger.