Seinfeld Voice What is the deal with 375 Ruger?

[rookhawk]

Well, lets be honest. If your ammo goes missing in Africa there is no round so pedestrian that you are sure to find it. You have a 50/50 chance of finding something with only three cartridges: 30-06, 375HH, 458Win.

Most of us prefer other calibers meaning we are willing to play with fire when it comes to ammo availability in case of emergency. The difference between a 30 Newton and a 7x57 in Africa is Nil, they do not have either of the ammo on the shelf! (but they've all heard of the latter and never heard of the former!)

 

[Clayton]

LOL. Bring up Newton is almost as rare as the cartridge itself.

 

[CTDolan]

I hear the lost ammo argument ALL the time (with regard to a multitude of cartridges). How often does this actually happen...1% of the time, 2%?

 

[Ryan]

.375 cartridges are a niche but much bigger one than .40 cal on up. It's works well on bears in the US, Asiatic and African buffalo elsewhere and it's well known to work on the smaller stuff while you hunting the big stuff without generally killing you or your wallet. So I think the 375 Ruger will stick around. If I were to predict one dying it's the 416 Ruger. That is definitely a niche market, filled mostly by the Rigby and Remington. Just my guess.
I got to agree, ammo honestly doesn't seem to disappear. I suspect delayed luggage might be a higher chance, though rare too. In that case both the firearm and ammo don't initially show so you use an outfitters back up rifle until they do.

Funny thing, 7x57 must exist in Namibia, my host there had one just a couple weeks ago and said that was his go-to for years until he recently got a .308.

 

[sestoppelman]

Its the old newer is better argument. If you load the H&H and Ruger to the same pressures and shoot the same bullet from the same length barrel, you may get a slight increase in speed in the Ruger, maybe. No animal could tell the difference, not possible. I will stick with the H&H.

 

[wesheltonj]

The H&H has been killing everything in Africa since 1912. Why change now, because the gun is cheaper?

 

[700xcr]

Seriously, I don't know anything about it and everyone on this forum is having a love fest about this cartridge. Educate me. Why would I want something?:






That has a limited amount of rifles chambered for it as a caliber

That has unique reloading requirements that are more expensive than 375H&H for brass

Please educate me as I'm looking for an upside that I've not found yet. I'm assuming its more powerful than a H&H but so is a 404J and a host of other options?

Thanks!

I find more rifles chambered in 375 Ruger then 375 H&H in my local Sporting Good Dealers. Also $52.99 for a box of 50 Hornady 375 Ruger cases and $56.99 for a box of 50 Hornady 375 H&H cases. Along with Ruger manufacturing rifles for 375 Ruger, Savage, Howa and Mossberg is manufacturing in it too. Hornady, Nosler and Double Tap ammunition producing 375 Ruger. I my 375 Ruger Guide Gun with 20" barrel, I load 78.5gr. of RL17 powder under a Nosler 300gr. Accubond and get a chronographed 2590fps. average. I also load a Woodleigh 350gr. PP with 73.0grs of RL17 powder and get a 2390fps chronographed average. Both loads shoot under MOA.

 

[Desperatezulu]

The flatter shooting bit I think is myth after doing further research. The bullets are so set back on the 375 Ruger it appears that it makes the case capacities about identical I learned this morning. Then I looked at the fine print on ballistics and they are quoting performance for the 375 Ruger from a 28" barrel to give it 75-125fps better performance than the 375HH which is almost completely absorbed by the deviation between a 26" and a 28" barrel. Chopping the barrel down to 20-21" like some do with the 375HH and the way it appears the 375 ruger often comes from the factory all this is irrelevant as the unburnt powder surely is flying out the end of the barrel for both guns.

My conclusions is this is exactly the same as the 6.5x55 versus .260 debate. One is very old, one is very new. The older one needs a longer action. The older one is much easier to find ammo and brass for. The newer one's future is uncertain. The older one has a longer neck on the case allowing more powder in the case and adjustment of the bullet to get closer to the lands. It also allows for a heavier bullet because of that.

Net result of what I've learned, the .260 remington IS the 375 ruger. I personally have now concluded I just want 6.5x55 and 375H&H because I'm not happy with the primary benefit offered with the other two: shorter actions.

You scored a clover-leaf in the bull with this post!! The vast majority of these modern (let's say post-2000 as that's when the latest reinvention craze started roughly) cartridges are a result of marketing. Big manufacturers trying to create a new market that they can fill with their own products.

My personal view is that owning guns, shooting and hunting is my hobby - ergo it needs to be FUN, fun by my standards. If I want efficiency or to save money with the selection of toys for my hobbies, then the fun goes out of it quite quickly.

I guess all the exponents of the 375 Rugers and 260 Rems drive Toyota Prius's or other small, high-efficiency cars, drink no name brand booze, use supermarket knives on their hunts etc etc? In the name of efficiency of course! [This comment is tongue in cheek and not intended to offend]

Variety is the spice of life and some people like the latest craze, and I understand that. But there is a danger of trying to use a technical argument to justify what is purely personal preference.

 

[sierraone]

As a factory ammo shooter, I am always hesitant to buy a new cartridge until it's longevity and popularity is proven. Yeah, you can get a rifle for $500 but it doesn't help if they stopped manufacturing the rifles tomorrow and 10 years from now the ammo is 2-3 times that of a h&h.
This is a hard one to judge because this is a niche market to begin with; it's not like the millions of medium big game hunters are buying them. For me, there is still too much uncertainty.

You are absolutely right. We tend to forget that everyone on this forum either hunts in Africa or wants to hunt in Africa. The vast majority of American hunters never think about, let alone go to Africa. So for most this argument we are having here doesn't apply to them. For me personally, to hunt in Africa would always be with a classic African calibre. Of the people I know that have the big bears in AK, most have use 300 Win Mags, or 300 Weatherbys. If I ever were to hunt a 1000 pound bear,(too old now) I would want the .375 H&H. But that's just me!!!

 

[enysse]

Well the .375 Ruger guns are cheaper to manufacture so they are now outnumbering new production .375 H&H. There is still a large used gun market out there.
I know in a old post I mad fun of the .375 Ruger and .416 Ruger. But I have changed my mind. There is practicality to the new cartridges. They are more efficient, but I will stick to my .375 H&H. I'm a traditionalist and like the history of this grand cartridge.
I foresee a future with a lot less .375 H&H's being made. They are more expensive to manufacturer!

 

[sierraone]

Well the .375 Ruger guns are cheaper to manufacture so they are now outnumbering new production .375 H&H. There is still a large used gun market out there.
I know in a old post I mad fun of the .375 Ruger and .416 Ruger. But I have changed my mind. There is practicality to the new cartridges. They are more efficient, but I will stick to my .375 H&H. I'm a traditionalist and like the history of this grand cartridge.
I foresee a future with a lot less .375 H&H's being made. They are more expensive to manufacturer!

A previous poster stated that in his sporting goods store, there were more makes of 375 Ruger calibre rifles than .375 H&H. That depends entirely on where you shop!

 

[375 Ruger Fan]

As a factory ammo shooter, I am always hesitant to buy a new cartridge until it's longevity and popularity is proven. Yeah, you can get a rifle for $500 but it doesn't help if they stopped manufacturing the rifles tomorrow and 10 years from now the ammo is 2-3 times that of a h&h.
This is a hard one to judge because this is a niche market to begin with; it's not like the millions of medium big game hunters are buying them. For me, there is still too much uncertainty.

I had the same dilemma back in 2012-13 when I was debating what caliber and make of gun to buy for an Alaskan brown bear hunt. I bought the 375 Ruger Alaskan with a 23 inch barrel and bought about 200 rounds of various Hornaby ammo. I figured I'd save the brass and could reload if factory ammo became unavailable, like some of the RUM caliber ammo has. I believe the 375 Ruger has more than reached critical mass and is here to stay. Time will tell. Need a CZ, Remington or Winchester to start making.

Marketing and simple naming of cartridges plays a big role in whether a new caliber succeeds. About the same time that Ruger came out with the 375, they also came out with the 300 RCM and 338 RCM (Ruger Compact Magnum). Both of these are essentially dead. The 416 Ruger, I think will survive and grow.

If you go back to late 1950's and early 60's, Winchester came out with the 243 Win and marketed as a deer caliber. Remington came out with the 6mm Rem and marketed it as a varmit cartridge. The 6mm actually is slightly better ballistically, but the marketing and perhaps the metric label didn't work in the US market. There are numerous other examples.

 

[colorado]

It's not the availability of ammo for the 375 Ruger in Africa or anywhere else that's the issue, it's the fact that most of the 375 Ruger ammo is Hornady is what bothers me most.

 

[375 Ruger Fan]

Custom ammo at Hendershots: https://hendershots.net/custom-ammo/
Barnes, Northfolk, Nosler, Swift & Woodleigh all available. The H&H and Ruger basically the same price.

 

[enysse]

Sports Afield ran a article recently, that basically said the 375 Ruger has over taken the 375 H&H in new production. And basically what the article said was that it's cheaper to build a 375 Ruger rifle. They say ammo is becoming widely available. The article also said in Africa the 375 H&H is still more popular but in the future that could change.