Home Forums Hunting & Shooting General Big Game New Cartridge: .375 Ruger (375/.338 win.mag) Best Grizzly/African use?

For you lefties, perhaps a #1A??

Mark D

Us lefties have the world so backwards we NEED a magazine fed rifle....... <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

I blew out a shoulder playing ball years ago, was forced to learn to do all left handed 4 quite a while including shooting.

I am sort of fortunate as I can kind of shoot off of either side..sort of that is.

Mark D

On a good day I can ring a doorbell left handed <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" />

I'm confused by that photo. One looks like a weatherby shoulder and the other a Win mag shouder. Why are they so different? What are they comparing? a 270 and a 300 grain bullet side by side?

Maybe just my monitor but the shoulders on those two cases look nothing alike to me!

From the picture, it looks like a RUM, right down to the COL and case length, as determined by using the bullet diameter as a calibration point. Not very exact with the tools I was using, but very similar.

Are you sure this ISN'T a RUM?

i found out afew years backwhile exterminating ground squirrels on my uncles farm that i can shoot a rifle using iron sights pretty darn well left handed, however for some dang reason if the rifle has a scope i cant do it. won a bet with my brother over it. me shooting left handed i took out more squirrels than him shooting right handed(both of us are naturally right handed)

as for the new round cant wait to see it but i already have a 375WSM <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> hows that for giving yah heart burn JJ? <img src="/ubbthreads/images/graemlins/grin.gif" alt="" /> if i ever make it to Africa though ill find a 375 H&H to haul with me. for screwing around here in Montana after everything from ground squirrels and jackrabbits up to elk, i use whatever catches my eye cause i always have a second rifle with me anyways

Rattler-most every time I go to the range I abuse the gong from standing from both right and left side.

It helps to work on it from time to time. I had to use my off hand once in a stand a deer came in from I way I could not get to righty so I just took it lefty.

Fun practice for sure.

Mark D

Having shot a lot of different calibers a lot, I am in the camp with JJ that NOTHING feeds like a 300 H &H in a nice slick action (like a pre-64) THey still feed, but often with a hitch or a hiccup.

The ONLY reason Ruger would do this is that they don't make a magnum (H&H) length action. If they want to sell bigger rifles- they had to make a round that would work. THis doesn't mean it's bad, just that it's probably silly at this point.

If you want a lightweight elk rifle that will work with heavy bullets for whatever reason, I guess this is your baby.

As for me, my next rifle will be a 375 Holland- although I really do like JBs 9.3 BS. it was a true SHORT action with nearly the stuff of the H&H, It fed fine, but not like my H&Hs.

JMO

Ruger makes and sells quite a few "big rifles" in 375 H&H, 416 Rigby and 458 Lott. HERE

Those are the bolt guns - not counting the No. 1 which doesn't really have an action length to speak of. In the No1 thumpers include 375H&H, 405 Win, 416 Rigby, 458 Lott and the 458 Win.

I don't think Ruger did it to have a thumper - they already had them - I think they did it to offer a gun in the general MK II line that a guy could use as a DGR. The Magnum line before this typicaly featured upgraded wood and an upgraded price to go with. CZ has been offering large bore rifles at a good price and I think Ruger wanted a piece of the pie. Now they could have just offered the thumpers in a MKII and been done but whats the fun in that?

I like Ruger guns, and the strength they offer, I like that they are the only folks on eath making true SS rings. I love their three position safety, argueably the best ever made. The integral scope bases are also very nice.

However if it was truely their intent to get into the DG market with this in a big way, they should start by making the CRF action work like a CRF rifle should!

Once that shell leaves the magazine it should be controlled by the bolt face 100% of the time, not just when it's 1/2 way to the chamber and snaps up from the magazine. With all the effort they put into this action, it's a horrible shame they fell just short of making their CRF function actually work!

JJ- I am not a CRF guru - but could rail work make that happen - 100% control ? To be honest I never paid much attention - all I know is on the 6 Rugers I owned - they all put rounds in the chamber and ALWAYS took them out. I hunt deer and went after black bear 2x so my needs and expirences are different than yours but I would bet that most guns sold in the US over 338 caliber are never used anywhere near a cow much less cape buff.

I mean there can not be that many people going to Africa or dropping 20k on a bear in AK hunt can there?

It's not relevent to me what anyone hunts. What's relevent to me is that a claim of CRF is made, and it's not true. Kinda like Barnes saying that the four petals on their expanded bullets are "razor sharp" Or the old black talon ammo marketing that their bullets spin through flesh like a "buzz saw". Or scent lock clothing actually has some function aside from making you hot and sweaty( stinking even more)

All that is crap information, not a word of truth, yet the uninformed hunter is sucking it up. It's a shame more people don't call manufacturers on these out and out lies and deception.

My 30/06 (now 25/06) Ruger feeds and ejects flawlessly, however it's not working as a CRF rifle until the bolt is more then half way closed. So it's not a CRF rifle. I tried 6 other Rugers in the few months. All were exactly the same. It's not that mine is bad, it's just how they all work. Whether or not you "need" this function is your decision. It is however decieving the public to show you have this yet it does not function like the Mauser/Winchester/Dakota/Olympic arms/Montana rifles, etc etc.

Just my opinion of course, and you're probably right most guys have probably never even noticed this. But for the guy who really believes he has purchased a CRF rifle because his mind was made up to have one, he's been ripped off! I do think it's possible to correct the way it works. All the parts are there. It's the feed angles and timing that are way off.

I would like to see a Ruger 458 Lott or 416 Rigby to see if anything different was done to make them feed properly ...........if they do? I have only seen smaller cartridges from the 25/06 to the 338 and none feed with a real CRF function.

Well it would be nice to see a LH Ruger in SS in any kind of .375! I agree they are not a true control feed the early Ruger MK11 had a lip on the bottom of the bolt to prevent controlled round feed but were advertised as CRF. The only case failures I have had, have been with the 375 H&H which left the case in the rifle and head came out with the bolt.
So I use new or twice fired brass in my hunting loads.

Took this pic this morning.

From L to R



.338 Win
.375-338 w/Win 270 gr PP
.375-338 w/300 gr Partition
.375 H&H empty
.375-338 empty

I don't like Ruger trying to put their name on it. Kinda like A-Square naming the .338-06 A-Square.

My knocks on the 375 H&H - length of case/action req'd. Sloping case may feed well, but increases back thrust. This is why the H&H is generally loaded to lower PSI levels and why it's so easy to match H&H performance with the Taylor.

MM

Since I don't buy/shoot factory ammo, reloading for it is not an issue for me.

MM

Greater backthrust do to the less parallel shell case to chamber wall bearing surface. (not as much grip)

Also coincidentally why the HH design extracts 100% reliable even in horrible conditions and with high heat.

I think the Lower pressure has to do with the greater case volume? What is the difference in case volume? Does the blown out 338 case have a close capacity to the HH case?

I use RL15 with the 270 grain bullets. I have loaded to 77 grains where I saw pressure issues. Those bullets left the barrel in the mid to upper 2800 range.

With 76 grains I never have pressure problems and the velocity was about the same. With 75 grains it's absolutley no problem and the velocity is just over 2800 fps at 60-70DegF
This leaves me margin for error in South Africa for the higher temps. My loads are now and have always been used with 210's not magnum primers. When I used Magnum primers my accuracy was a bit inconsistant. With the large rifle Primers they shoot like a target rifle! I also crimp them fairly tight with a Lee factory crimp die. I can have no risk a bullet comes lose from the shell!

I have shot a few Hornady Heavy Magnum factory loads with the 270 grain bullets. They were 2850fps dead on the money and shot into the same clump of holes in the target as my handloads do. They also used 76 grains of powder( I took one apart)

I suspect I could fit 80 grains of powder or a bit more into this case. What is the capacity of the 338/375 case?

Here's some .375 Taylor data:
.375 Taylor

jds, that's our own BW's website...

I saw the name BW on the site, but wasn't sure if it was ours or not. Learn something new everyday.

Well here's my capacity results (to base of neck of fired case:)

375 H&H (Fed Nickel) = 80.5 gr RL15
.375-338 (RP Nickel) = 75.7 gr RL 15

6.3% difference

I used Fed 210's also. I don't think you need a magnum cap for the likes of RL15, 4064 and Varget.

My practical max loads for lead core bullets are:

270 gr / 71.0 gr RL 15 / 2,675 fps / 21" bbl
300 gr / 66.0 gr RL 15 / 2,500 fps / 21" bbl


MM