375 Ruger vs 375 H&H

[Daisy]

I have no DG or even Africa experience, but I do have a pair of .375 Rugers in the safe. If all goes to plan, I'll be doing plains game in 2025.

I chose the .375 Ruger for several very important (to me) reasons, neither of which have anything to do with which is the better cartridge. Without further ado, those reasons were cost, and availability of left-handed rifles. IIRC, I paid $600 each for my two Ruger Hawkeyes. They were both closeouts from CDNN and are the older versions before they added those infernal muzzle brakes with their goofy/useless thread pitches.

The African came first. I wasn't sure what to expect in terms of recoil, but I found it to be very shootable. It's not the smoothest action and the trigger isn't good, but I liked it enough to order an Alaskan as well. I actually like the Alaskan even better, mainly due to the shorter length and being stainless/laminate. Both actions have slicked up some with use, but they'll never win any awards for smoothness. Both of them have been glass bedded and now have 1" Decelerator pads. I had the Alaskan threaded 5/8-24 so that I can use a suppressor on it too.

While I like my Rugers, I would have chosen the H&H if rifle cost and availability were equal. Should I ever decide to build a custom .375 it will definitely be the H&H, if for no other reason than ammo availability. Now that my customs in .223, .308, and .300WM are finished I'm starting to get the itch to do a .375. If I do it, the Ruger African will be sold to partially fund it.

Great informative post. Thanks my man

 

[375 Ruger Fan]

To answer your question about my comment on the .375 taking more large (as in dangerous) game than any other cartridge, consider this…. The 375 H&H first came to market in 1912. At that time there were not a lot of people hunting in Africa for sport, but there were game departments and meat hunting operations in many countries. The 416 Rigby was developed a year earlier but not a lot of rifles were built in this cartridge. The 458 Winchester didn’t come along until 1956. So, for a very long time the 375 H&H was THE most available and affordable bolt action offering. It was offered by more than a few rifle manufacturers. So it got used more than anything else, by default.

The game departments and market meat hunters needed affordable rifles with plenty of available annd anffordable ammunition, so the 375 H&H won by default.

Keep in mind, not a lot of people ever hunted with doubles in large Nitro Express cartridges. There had not been all that many double rifles built up through the 1980’s. There are almost certainly more doubles in use today than ever were used in the 1900’s.

The 375 H&H got there because there weren’t so many options until the last 50years and by then many thousands of animals had been taken with the Holland & Holland chambering. For probably 50 years (1920- 1970) it may have been the single most common chambering to encounter in Africa.
Lots more choices today, but not many are a lot better for their intended role.

In your initial post you said “large game” and now you added (as in dangerous game). You might be correct that the 375 H&H has taken more DG. I will speculate that the 303 and 7mm Mauser (7x57, 275 Rigby) have probably taken more large game (PG & DG).

 

[DLSJR]

In your initial post you said “large game” and now you added (as in dangerous game). You might be correct that the 375 H&H has taken more DG. I will speculate that the 303 and 7mm Mauser (7x57, 275 Rigby) have probably taken more large game (PG & DG).

Fair enough. I did mean large, dangerous game. You know, stuff that requires a .375 or larger caliber rifle.

 

[375Ruger416]

.375 H&H vs .375 Ruger - Which is the Best? - Guns and Ammo

The two most popular .375-caliber rifle cartridges - .375 H&H vs .375 Ruger - square off to see which is the best for big game.

www.gunsandammo.com

Craig Boddington’s thoughts in 2019. His conclusion - take your pick . Mentions some slight differences - shorter, handier less expensive rifles favor ruger, ammo availability favors H&H. At the end of the day, not a truly significant difference between them. If the rifle you like, is available in 375 H&H or Ruger, buy it.

That’s pretty much where I landed…

 

[Rule 303]

.375 H&H vs .375 Ruger - Which is the Best? - Guns and Ammo

The two most popular .375-caliber rifle cartridges - .375 H&H vs .375 Ruger - square off to see which is the best for big game.

www.gunsandammo.com

Craig Boddington’s thoughts in 2019. His conclusion - take your pick . Mentions some slight differences - shorter, handier less expensive rifles favor ruger, ammo availability favors H&H. At the end of the day, not a truly significant difference between them. If the rifle you like, is available in 375 H&H or Ruger, buy it.

That’s pretty much where I landed…

About the best summary of the of the two I have seen. That is how I ended up with a CZ550 in 416 Rigby. I wanted a 404J but all were too expensive for me and a 416 Rem was a build job and somewhat more expensive than the Rigby. 416 Ruger was not out at that time and when it did come out apparently suffered functioning issues due to trying to match the 416 Rigby performance. I understand they eventually settled for around 2250fps instead of the 2400 fps.

Sorry for going slightly off topic.

 

[375Ruger416]

Seems relevant to me. Of course, I've never really believed the shortest path from Point A to Point B is the best route

 

[Scott CWO]

Well, that settles it. 375 ruger all the way. I acknowledge the wider availability of 375 H&H overseas and it is definitely an advantage for that cartridge but the Ruger has its advantages too.

Whether they are significant to you or not I couldn’t give a damn. If I’m reduced to borrowing a rifle, I’ll borrow/rent a camp gun too and use ammo that that rifle is actually zeroed with. No big deal to me. In fact, I may end up doing that anyway until I find the right 375 rifle for me.

I’m contrarian by nature, so the fact that some, ahem, vintage proponents of a classic rifle round like the 375 H&H lose there -&/);2-!! minds if someone says ‘Ruger’ or ‘Creedmoor’ is a good enough reason to get one. I wonder if you would relate to the people who thought hunting Africa anything but a double rifle in a ‘classic’ caliber was crazy when that new fangled 375 H&H came out and helped popularize bolt actions in Africa.

Yes, the ruger is better. It is making rifles more affordable the same way the 375 H&H did when it came out. It is more efficient, better in shorter barrels and therefore better in suppressed rifles. The advantages to either don’t amount to a hill of beans to me, but why some people get positively religious about it baffles me. ‍

Well then why ask us then?