.375 Ruger Alaskan vs African

[Viral_SIGness]

I've never been able to find anyone who has compared the two side by side.

Well, Saturday I'm trading my Long Range rifle for a Ruger African, thats been Cerakoted. So I now own the Alaskan and African, and I will be doing chrono testing the first day, and I will post all the data here.

Wish I had some factory ammo, but that will have to wait until they get caught up lol

Here is my Alaskan

Here is the African

I hope this will be of some help to others in the future asking "what's the velocity difference in 20" vs 23" "

 

[pete458lott]

Look forward to your feedback as I own a new Alaskan.

 

[USMA84DAB]

This could start to address the skepticism of the .375 Ruger besting the .375 H&H. "Normal" H&H barrel lengths seem to be 24", so the 23" African barrel will not be exact, but will be getting close.

 

[375 Ruger Fan]

A few of us actually have a Ruger Alaskan with a laminated stock and a 23 inch barrel. I do and I believe @jduckhunter does. Ruger made a few.

Last week I tested some 250 gr Hornady GMX ammo and was getting 2800 fps. My 300 gr Swift A-Frames are 2550 fps.

 

[Bonk]

A few of us actually have a Ruger Alaskan with a laminated stock and a 23 inch barrel. I do and I believe @jduckhunter does. Ruger made a few.

I have one too and it's a favorite.

 

[Philip Glass]

Also check out the Ruger Hawkeye FTW Hunter rifle. FTW Ranch & SAAM shooting school is owned by Tim Fallon and he came up with this configuration. The easily adjustable LOP is a real selling point for me.

 

[Philip Glass]

I wish my African had a 20” barrel. Many of us are starting to realize that for most hunting scenarios we don’t need such long barrels.

 

[BeeMaa]

By all accounts the 375RUGER beats the 375H&H on paper.
And does it all in a smaller package.
The 375RUGER has been doing extremely well for the past 15 years.

Competing with the H&H isn't easy with all of the history it has.
The 375WBY, 378WBY, 375RUM & 375DAKOTA would love to have had such success.
Stigmas of the Wby brand, muzzle breaks and wicked recoil have plagued these calibers.

The only sticking point is ammo availability but that is changing as well.
I'm sure the H&H and RUGER will both go on...side by side, giving nearly the same results.
Results that the animals will never be able to differentiate.
I'd say the 375RUGER is a keeper.

Looking forward to your range results.

 

[AZDAVE]

Will be interested in seeing your results. I have a african model and a savage brush hunter with a 20 in barrel but have never shot them side by side or crono'd them.

 

[Viral_SIGness]

A few of us actually have a Ruger Alaskan with a laminated stock and a 23 inch barrel. I do and I believe @jduckhunter does. Ruger made a few.

Last week I tested some 250 gr Hornady GMX ammo and was getting 2800 fps. My 300 gr Swift A-Frames are 2550 fps.

Yeah, I've heard about them, but never seen one in person. Wish I could have found one of those!

Tell me about your 300gr handloads.

 

[lwaters]

My Alaskan got 2830fps with win. 760 powder and 250 ttsx barnes

 

[Viral_SIGness]

My Alaskan got 2830fps with win. 760 powder and 250 ttsx barnes

I thought the beauty of a .375 was to use a 300 grain for everything from ground hogs to elephants lol

 

[Viral_SIGness]

I've never been able to find anyone who has compared the two side by side.

Well, Saturday I'm trading my Long Range rifle for a Ruger African, thats been Cerakoted. So I now own the Alaskan and African, and I will be doing chrono testing the first day, and I will post all the data here.

Wish I had some factory ammo, but that will have to wait until they get caught up lol

Here is my Alaskan
View attachment 385275

Here is the African
View attachment 385276

I hope this will be of some help to others in the future asking "what's the velocity difference in 20" vs 23" "

Just noticed in my post, my pictures got posted wrong and I can't edit it.

 

[375 Ruger Fan]

I wish my African had a 20” barrel. Many of us are starting to realize that for most hunting scenarios we don’t need such long barrels.

Easy job for a GS.

 

[USMA84DAB]

Viral - one way to employ the platform is as you stated - one bullet to slay them all.

However - Barnes are supposed to punch above their weight when kept moving as fast as possible - a 250 moving faster than a 300 would do this.

Another angle to .375s - I can buy 270 grain Hornady for $25/box of 50. Barnes are $45/50, Swift is more. I can shoot more at $25/box and the bullet is tough enough for PG and elk or bear domestically. Flatter trajectory by a bit, less cost/more practice.

When/if I ever do get to chase DG, the .495 A-Square is coming out. If I did want to use the .375 Ruger for DG, I just practice some with 300 gr and tweak the scope adjustment.

 

[curtism1234]

How different do they handle?

I have not held either model but have held a hogue stock as well as shot a wood m77. I am no fan hogue as I find it to be too thick and heavy

 

[USMA84DAB]

Curt -

I can speak to the handling from 2 perspectives.

I built my own .495 A-Square while I worked there, so had the Coil Check stock on my rifle. I makes the 6,000 ft-lbs. a hard shove vs. a terrible punch.

I own the Alaskan version of the .375 and .416 Ruger. Both are in the hogue stocks. This stock captures the pistol grip of the Coil Check pattern well. My feeling is that this DOES transfer some of the recoil to your grip hand vs. allowing all of it to go through your shoulder. The Hogue is not as thick in the buttstock as the Coil Check, but is certainly not thin. This helps with the perceived recoil. I never wore a recoil pad to fire my .495. However, the .416 Ruger working off the bench is a bit more energetic than I care for, so I do wear the PAST pad.

I find the overmould to not only silence the stock against brush, but it provides an enhanced ability to hold onto the stock. This attenuates perceived recoil by a minor amount - maybe 5%? Every little bit helps. I always feel as if I have positive control of the rifle due to the rubber.

The forend shape is conducive to holding down the rifle in recoil.

Each time I pick up either rifle it is a joy. They balance well (with 20" barrels), are not a truck axle in your hand, and are easy to move with in the brush. One CARRIES the rifle 99% of the time and fires it 1% of the time while hunting. The animals cannot tell 20" velocity from 24" velocity. 4" of steel x thousands of steps = more fatigue - ounces = pounds, pounds = pain, as the grunts say.

I will put each one on the scales to see how they tip them.

 

[USMA84DAB]

The .416 Ruger tips 'em at a touch over 9.25 lbs. It has:
- VTAC padded sling
- Leupold Vari-X3 1.5-5x20
- Beartooth Creek comb riser

The .375 Ruger tips 'em at 9.75 lbs.
- Same sling
- Leupold Vx-5HD 1.5-5x24
- Same comb riser

The smaller hole of the .375 bore seems to leave more steel to carry!

I also have a modified bolt knob on the .375, but I can't imagine that has really changed much - I milled off the existing steel knob and added an aluminum one, so it should have dropped the weight an ounce or two.

Basically 10 lbs. with ammo - just like an M-1 Garand in WWII, but with optics to see better for old guy eyes, and a bit more punch on both ends!

 

[Viral_SIGness]

How different do they handle?

I have not held either model but have held a hogue stock as well as shot a wood m77. I am no fan hogue as I find it to be too thick and heavy

I'm the complete opposite. I love the Hogue stocks. As USMA said, they do a fantastic job of mitigating recoil. I got tired of my my boat paddle Ruger .338 Win Mag leaving my shoulder with a rainbow of bruises lol I put a Hogue on it, and after that, you could shoot 50+ rounds, from the bench and never hurt. Plus, I hunted with that 338, and got rained on a couple times. The stock grips as well wet as it does dry. Again, as he said, you do not hear brush hitting it at all.

I think you really should, reevaluate your view on them. Get one, and try it in the field. I believe you will change your mind.

Curt -

I can speak to the handling from 2 perspectives.

I built my own .495 A-Square while I worked there, so had the Coil Check stock on my rifle. I makes the 6,000 ft-lbs. a hard shove vs. a terrible punch.

I own the Alaskan version of the .375 and .416 Ruger. Both are in the hogue stocks. This stock captures the pistol grip of the Coil Check pattern well. My feeling is that this DOES transfer some of the recoil to your grip hand vs. allowing all of it to go through your shoulder. The Hogue is not as thick in the buttstock as the Coil Check, but is certainly not thin. This helps with the perceived recoil. I never wore a recoil pad to fire my .495. However, the .416 Ruger working off the bench is a bit more energetic than I care for, so I do wear the PAST pad.

I find the overmould to not only silence the stock against brush, but it provides an enhanced ability to hold onto the stock. This attenuates perceived recoil by a minor amount - maybe 5%? Every little bit helps. I always feel as if I have positive control of the rifle due to the rubber.

The forend shape is conducive to holding down the rifle in recoil.

Each time I pick up either rifle it is a joy. They balance well (with 20" barrels), are not a truck axle in your hand, and are easy to move with in the brush. One CARRIES the rifle 99% of the time and fires it 1% of the time while hunting. The animals cannot tell 20" velocity from 24" velocity. 4" of steel x thousands of steps = more fatigue - ounces = pounds, pounds = pain, as the grunts say.

I will put each one on the scales to see how they tip them.

I agree with everything you said. Save for the balance. I feel the 23" feels more balanced. I do know one thing, for and giggles, I decided to shoot my steel plate that I use for pistols, with a 270 grain TSX from my 375 Alaskan. I indeed regret that decision lol

Also, a 120 lb VA whitetail said she couldn't tell the barrel was 20". 3/8" entry hole, 3/4" exit hole, lungs and heart destroyed, and virtually no bloodshot meat.

 

[Viral_SIGness]

I apologize to the moderator. I didn't know the poop emoji was a no-no.