First Hunt with my 375 Ruger and Barnes 235 gr TSX

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hgeo33

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Hey guys,

I put together a 375 ruger this year. Although somwhat overkill for whitetail deer I was eager to test it out so I brought it along for the hunt.

The rifle is a Ruger African with an Accuracy Innovations stock and Leupold vari-x II 2-7.

For deer I loaded 235 gr Barnes TSX's with just above a starting load. The book value would suggest somewhere around the 2800 fps area for velocity.

I really expected the recoil on this guy to be more and was pleasantly suprised. 300 gr factory loads are ... stout however the lightly loaded 235 gr rounds i found quite comfortable off the bench.

Not the best pictures but here is a couple of the rifle:

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About day three of the hunt I ran into a large doe at about 40 Meters. I was up pretty high hiking a rock #####ula. She was coming down a v-shaped cut in the rock heading to a large wooded ravine area.

The shot hit her high on the shoulder/neck and passed diagonally down and accross her body as she was facing me but on a slight angle.

The bullet shattered the shoulder. It then came through the upper rib cage taking out two ribs and leaving about a 2.5 " hole. From there it passed through the heart which pretty much poured out of the chest cavity, hit a bit of the stomach area and came to rest under the hide close to the junction of the back leg and the belly.

This is the first bullet I have ever recovered! The deer needless to say went one direction ... straight down. It was the most dramatic bang flop I have ever had.

Here is some picks of the recovered bullet. I weighed it after I cleaned it up. It was exactly 235 gr. Average expanded diameter was about 0.75".


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The pics do not quite do it justice. I really like the wood on it. I find it shoulders very well. The high comb on it brings the scope up just perfect for me.

The negatives with it are that it took a long time to get. Also action dropped in on it perfectly but the barrel channel was a little to close on the right side. It took me about 1 hour to sand and apply a bit of laquer to fix that.

Overall I am very happy with it.
 
I have a question regarding the 375.

From what you have described, the bullet bounced around and could have caused meat damage.

Why not load up a hot 300gr? Would that not go straight through the deer making less of a mess?

Kody
 
The only meat damage that was done was to the front shoulder. It hit heavy bone so I would guess even a 300 gr would have caused a bit of damage. It definatly was fully opened when it came in the top of the rib cage.

I will admit i really scratched my head after we skinned it to figure out the exact path of the bullet but I think it went in a straight line. I was standing level but on a rock area below the deer. The deer was almost facing me but coming down the steep cut its body was on a downward angle with its head down to navigate the terrain. The path of the bullet seems to make sense with the angle of the deer's body related to me. I did my best when skinning it to confirm.

This was my first deer shot with a 235 gr bullet. I think it would work better than a 300 gr broad side but ... destroy more meat on a shoulder shot.

Here is a pic of where is came through the rib cage. This is the front of the deer and you can see the hole is very close to the spine. It came from here down through the vitals to the other side of the deer.

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I have read a little bit about using the .375H&H on deer.

Some say that it does less damage than a smaller round because the bullet should just go right through instead of bouncing around.

What do you think?

Kody
 
The last few prior to this I have shot with a 300 WSM with lightly loaded 165 gr bullets. I have not hit one in the shoulder but broadside they usually blow a 3"+ section of ribs out upon exiting. My estimate is that it would do the same or more damage to the shoulder.

If you wanted to control meat damage as you mentioned the heavier bullet would be optimal. I just do not know how they would open up on a broadside shot.
 
A local gunsmith tells me he used to take a .375 H+H and load up a light load for a 300 grn cast bullet. Apparently it would flop deer quite well and leave a nice hole without all the damage caused by a high velocity round.

Thanks for sharing the Barnes 235 info!
 
hgeo33,

Thank you for this report! I have a .375 Ruger Alaskan on it's way to me, and have been thinking about what might be a good deer load for it. Your description is excellent, and thanks for the pictures. Those Barnes bullets sure look nice expanded, don't they?

Jeff/1911.
 
hgeo33 said:
The rifle is a Ruger African with an Accuracy Innovations stock and Leupold vari-x II 2-7.
Click to expand...
Nice set up, but why replace the factory walnut? Lots of guys don't like the Hogues on the Alaskan model and replace them, but the Africans seem to come with a nice stock from the factory.


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I also used a .375 Ruger for Whitetail this season. I was using factory 270 gr soft points. When I saw the doe she was about 80 yards away in a bit of a clearing, she was walking away from me, broad side but kind of cornering away. I pulled up and hit her just behind the shoulder facing me,and hit the shoulder on the other side. Instant bang flop, with a 3" exit on the far shoulder.

Oh I have the Alaskan Model, I love how the rifle handles and the way the sights come up.

And I almost forgot, the butch amputated (spelling?) both front legs because the meat was full of bone and blood shoot. Like I said the shoot was a little low and forward, but it worked.

Even though my doe was missing her front legs, she was still 5 pounds heavier than my budies 5 point buck.
 
What!!?!? The New King, the .375 Ruger, cannot penetrate through a whitetail doe!!!:eek: Gatehouse has been lying to us all along! :runaway:
 
A Barnes TSX not shooting through a doe?:eek:
(small jab at the Barnes kool-aid drinkers):D

Weird.

Nice rifle by the way, stock looks good.
 
Brainless said:
I also used a .375 Ruger for Whitetail this season. Instant bang flop, with a 3" exit on the far shoulder.


And I almost forgot, the butch amputated (spelling?) both front legs because the meat was full of bone and blood shoot.
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375 Ruger on whitetail doe..... and I thought I was power freak carrying 35 Whelen in deep woods!
 
bcsteve said:
What!!?!? The New King, the .375 Ruger, cannot penetrate through a whitetail doe!!!:eek: Gatehouse has been lying to us all along! :runaway:
Click to expand...

I believe you have your answer right here:


For deer I loaded 235 gr Barnes TSX's with just above a starting load

and here:

The shot hit her high on the shoulder/neck and passed diagonally down and accross her body as she was facing me but on a slight angle.


:dancingbanana::dancingbanana:
 
The best bullet you can use to minimize meat damage, is the one that hits the animal where there is no meat! ;)

All kidding aside, I'm found the TSX of any variety to damage very little meat compared to C&C bullets...
 
I've got some 235gr TSX bullets but haven't tried them out yet. I'l get on it next spring, maybe shoot a bear wiht them.

What powder you using and how is accuracy?:)
 
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