Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Express Rifles and Big Bores Only Your Pick .375 Ruger, .375 H&H, .338 Win Mag, .416 Ruger For A Big Game Rifle?

A rifle for hunting Alaska Black Bear, Bou, Moose and of lucky to draw a Brown Bear tag one day? .375 Ruger, .375 H&H, .338 Win Mag, .416 Ruger Big Game. They have all been proven in the field and have done well and ammo is not very hard to come by on any of them.

Edited title

Is this a question or a statement?

My pick was the 375 Ruger....S/S 700, Brux, McM, Loophole....

I think the the .375 Ruger is here to stay, there are like 4-5 makers of the gun now.

Just edited the title, sorry about that.

Any of the first three....don't think you need the 4th.

.375 H&H.

Mine is the 375 Ruger. It's a left handed bolt action. I've got dies, brass, bullets & powder. I'm ready for a grizzly hunt.

I'll trust Bob on this. What was the question again, or was it really a statement??

I suppose this will be a rambling internet answer because:
I have rifles chambered in 375 Ruger, 375 H&H, 338 Win Mag; no 416 Ruger, though a 416 Rem Mag. I consider the 338 Win Mag a definite all-arounder for larger game. If I got down to only one rifle, it would be chambered in 338 Win Mag.
I do really like .375's, and the past few years having been toting a 375 Ruger. For me, the difference between the Ruger and the H&H is strictly the rifle platforms, nothing to do with the belt or the purported/actual velocity differences. I do like the Ruger case design. But, hell I like the sloping classic H&H design also.
My logical side (Not my purchasing side) says; Bob's comment above is correct, regarding the 416. Though, I have never wished that I had a smaller caliber when carrying a 416 or larger. But, this has very much to do with the terrain that I hunt and travel in.

I have a serious hankerin' for a 358 Norma. I need to sort out this 270 WSM I just picked up though...... I agree the 338WM is serious business but I've never had a problem sitting down elk with 180+gn 30 cals.

They all have the power to do what you want. I have the first 3 and out of them I'd pick the .338 as an all around. Quite frankly, I can shoot the .338 better than the .375s and it's better to stick a smaller bullet in the right place than a big bullet in the wrong place. If you haven't any experience with them, try them out before you decide.

I opted for the .416 Ruger. I have enough various .375 calibers that despite my respect for the .375 Ruger I opted for its bigger brother. Haven't regreted it yet!

375 H&H for me because I have one. But the 338 would do the job more than likely just about as well. The 416 would too but maybe the 375's would be the best all around cartridges .

To elaborate a bit....

I've had all on your list, except my 416 was a RM.

I had a Custom KS mountain rifle in 338WM, sold that for a s/s 338 Ultra, which I felt was too much of a good thing, so then traded back for the KS, which I ended up selling again.

I built a 358 STA with the intent of killing a BB some day, which I did, but then realized you couldn't kill a bear too dead, and bought the 416, in case there was another bear hunt in the future.

The STA also had barrels in 375 H&H and a H&H Improved. Shot 'em some, but never hunted or killed anything with them.

I finally decided to sell off all of the above, and build the 375 Ruger. Hell of a round, great brass, and a bit more velocity than the H&H, w/o the offending recoil of the two 338's, and scary accuracy.

As it stands, I sold the Ruger because I had built a 338-06 Ackley, as Africa is now out, another BB hunt is barely a long shot possibility, but an inland grizzly being kinda in first place for another bear hunt. I'll feel fine with the 210 or 225 Partition or X bullet in that case.

I'd probably pick a 338 WM if I was in your boots now.

Originally Posted By: wildchild2010
A rifle for hunting Alaska Black Bear, Bou, Moose and of lucky to draw a Brown Bear tag one day? .375 Ruger, .375 H&H, .338 Win Mag, .416 Ruger Big Game. They have all been proven in the field and have done well and ammo is not very hard to come by on any of them.

Frankly I am a H&H fan and use it for everything and have since '96.
That said once you get to Alaska I'll bet ammo would be everywhere for the H&H, 338 WM, 300WM & 30/06. Not so much the 375 or 416 Ruger, but I've been wrong before.
Black bear, caribou, and moose are not hard to kill & if you have hopes to draw a Brown Bear tag then why not reconsider your choice. With a more user friendly rifle/cartridge and go with an stainless steel 30/06 with a Tupperware stock. It'll costless to feed, ammo can be found everywhere, and very usable even for the big bear you hope for. Plus it will be lighter & very handy with say a 22" tube on it.
Of course the best possible choice would be one 06 & one 375H&H, the later for the possible brown bear tag!

Thanks for the reply, i have take a lot of deer and a few black bear with the NP and did a great job. Some folks say it isn`t enough gun, but you do your job an down goes the animal. I know many who hunt black bear, moose, bou in Alaska with the .223 and do a fine job at feeding the family. Im not rich so that is why i been asking a lot of questions on rifles. Heck an old 8mm mauser or 7.62x54 nagant may be a good biggame rifle.

Yes, mine would be the .375 H&H, as I've got a pair of .375's now and shoot them well.

That said, a good .30-06 would likely do just fine.

Guy

My choice was the .375 Ruger, as much for the Ruger Hawkeye African rifle I shoot it in as the caliber.
Now stocked in a McMillan McWoody, it is a light, handy, accurate, CRF rifle suited for anything big I might want to take on. It's going with me to Texas next month on a Nilgai hunt, and to Africa in August for African Lion.
With Barnes TSX 270 gr. bullets at 2800 fps, and great accuracy, it is about as versatile a caliber as you can find for bigger stuff, at short to longish ranges.

I would say the one that fits You!> no one talks much about that! Are you a small guy ? a big Guy!> the way you are talking about Big Bear the first thing I would say find a rifle that comes to your shoulder like MOTHERS MILK then talk about the cartridge.