Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Express Rifles and Big Bores Only 375 Ruger {ALL SMOKE AND NO GO}

Yeppers, some time ago, a buddy got a P-64-70 action by stripping a totally thrashed old .300 H&H and then he proceeded to find a Classic STS .375H&H tube here and then a Micky P-64 MC stock and started having a carbine built.

As he often does, he lost interest and offered me the unfinished rifle, "cheap" so, with only one of my three original P-64 .375s left in my safes and being a "gone" rifle nut, I bought it and had it finished. He had already had the bbl. chopped to 20", I would have gone with 21", maybe 22, but, WTF.

The barrel was installed, Recknagel skeleton-fiber optic sights and Leupy QRW bases with 8/40 screws installed and it was bedded into the Micky. It was Gun-Koted a satin black and the stock painted dark brown and a Leupy 2.5C-MHD scope in QRWs mounted.

I took it to the range, shot tiny group after group with 300 NPs and decided that THIS is a good rifle to carry around the BC bush when not hunting. I cut the loads to a MV or 2400 fps and was/am ready to rock and I have loaded a LOT of ammo for it.

This WILL do what the Ruger,etc, rifles will not in that it holds 4+1 and feeds like a hungry hyena, so, I consider it a BETTER using rifle, but, will stress, each to his own.

Un fortunately, this rifle was completed about a month before my wife had to leave work due to serious health/medical issues and so, I have never used it as I have a lot of magnum rifles and only have been able to hunt a very few days since that time.

But, she is healing and I am not finished buchwhacking yet, so, this one is going to stay for awhile, although I am going to sell my other P-64 magnums as I just never shoot any of them anymore.

Is, the Ruger better than the old "ouch and ouch"....well, does anyone REALLY care?????

apparently, steve hornady and some folks at ruger do!

A little better efficiency, and better case life are the only real advantage to the Ruger that I see. I have some 10 times fired Ruger cases (without annealing) that are Just ready to scrap due to neck splits.

I'm guessing that at some time in the past, this same argument raged on- just substitute .300 H&H for .375 H&H, and .300 Winchester Magnum for .375 Ruger- in the end, the .300 WM won out, but certainly didn't diminish the usefulness of the H&H, or its loyal following.

Bob sums it up here pretty well as the standard M-77, like the standard M-98, can be made to handle the longer H&H round. But in order to do it something has to be cut back and on the Ruger it is the bolt stop.
I have the 375 that Bill Atkinson built and it is a great rifle. So far it has worked perfectly and It also holds an extra round over the Ruger cartridge due to the taper of the H&H round -- but the bolt stop ( which takes a real beating on a DG rifle) has been ground back so that it is very thin and I am sure that that was the reason Ruger decided to design a shorter cartridge.
And you have to admit that simply designing a cartridge with the same base as most all magnums, only without a belt, was a long overdue idea that works well.

I'm guessing the reason Ruger did it was to try to create some excitment and sell more rifles. How many of them would they have sold if they just came out with a M77 in 375 H&H? Not nearly as many as they did of the 375 Ruger. It was marketing and nothing more.

Reelman, it is a better case and a better cartridge, but the real difference is strictly academic. Yes its a marketing ploy but its still Chevy -Ford, Coke- Pepsi. I personally like my R375.

If Holland & Holland was designing a .375 bore cartridge today it would be what the 375 Ruger is. Back in 1912 H&H had cordite propellant and it's pressure curve in hot climates. Plus the metallurgy constraints of the era.

There's probably some truth to all the reasons given for the inseption of the .375 Ruger...... ease of manufacturing, action length, marketing, the current trend of going beltless, etc., etc..
What I'm thrilled about is that an American company brought out a left handed, stainless steel, laminated stock, short barreled, well balanced CRF rifle with a banded front sight and swivel, rugged V rear in a .375 bore with enough case capacity to do anything required of it. All for the real world price of around $750 including the scope mounting system. I don't care if it says H&H, Ruger or Remchestershire after the bore size as long as there's a factory churning out cartriges and components. What's not to like?

.........Yep!.......Welcome to "capitalism and private marketplace/enterprise" 101.

It should be the goal of ANY company that provides a good or service to increase its sales via either new innovation, design, a combo of both or whatever.

Would you rather own stock in Ruger or H&H

Go for the best 375 on the market, the 378Bee if you can find one. Excellent brass life and good killing power. They looked at the 375 HH and improved it and no one has reached the level the bar was set at by Roy. Sorry boys for raining on your picnic.

How would that work out of a '06 length action, 20" barrel, 8 lb rifle? Not feelin' the love there!

..............The best 375 on the market?? Yeah! Ballistically on paper you`re right. But then again, most couldn`t comfortably handle a 378 Wby. And most 375 owners I`ll wager, don`t own a 378 Wby or would want to pay for one. So much for the best 375 on the market.....

But I do luv them Wby rounds.

I really would be afraid to shoot a 375 caliber that weighed 8 lbs. It would surely kick harder than my 378 bee.

375 H&H. always imitated never duplicated!

Get a true MaG Action and Juice it to {2800 } . thats All the juice you will ever need!> Enjoy!

375 H&H. always imitated never duplicated!

it takes a little more concentration, but it certainly isn't the worst beating I've had. this is a .375 Ultra loaded with 235 gr. TSXs over 106 gr. 7828 for ~3150 fps. I have one set up similar except slightly over 8# that gets fed 260 gr. AB @ 3000+ fps.