375 Ruger vs 378 weatherby is it worth the extra $$$

Weatherby2

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Good day folks i’m Gonna stick this out there! Is the 378 wby worth spending more money on then the Ruger? It appears you’re only getting around 100fps faster outta the same bullets. Or am I wrong I’ve never owned a 378.
 
375 Weatherby is 100+fps faster.

378 Weatherby is another 150+fps ontop of that.

Only the Ruger fits a standard long action though, and the recoil on the others is greater.
 
IIRC I was pushing a 260 grain AB to 2850 fps with the Ruger (23" barrel.) The 378 should be well over 3000 with the same bullet. I guess the question is what do you need it for? I have a friend who is pushing a 270 grain TSX to 2900fps with the 378. Very mellow load for the big Weatherby, he says it is for accuracy, but recoil may have something to do with it too. Regardless, it worked for him in Africa.
 
For comparison, following Barnes reloading data my 416 RM with a 24" barrel can fire a 300gr bullet at 2960 fps, a 350gr at 2700 fps and a 400gr at 2400 fps.

35051057840_71164f040d.jpg
 
the 378 is an amazing round, the 300gr can be pushed to 3000fps. I still prefer the 375 ultra mag though. killed a moose some years ago with the 375 ultra mag with a 270 X bullet @ just over 3000fps
moose just vibrated for a few seconds and fell over
that being said the 378 Wby is an amazing round, and very flat shooting
 
The Ruger case is excellent. I have built a couple of Ruger customs on it. A 375 Ruger in a stainless mk2 and a 416Ruger in a 77 tang safety. I didn't foresee the need for more speedin either situation.
 
You can look at it this way..........anything the 375 Ruger can do the 378 Wby can do it better, farther away and get it there faster. I have both and the 375 Wby and several H&Hs..........
 
You can look at it this way..........anything the 375 Ruger can do the 378 Wby can do it better, farther away and get it there faster. I have both and the 375 Wby and several H&Hs..........

All true things, but the vast majority of shooters can't properly handle a 300 Winchester so to settle them in behind a real head-turner like the 378 Weatherby is borderline criminal. I doubt that 5% of the hunting population could even be taught to shoot a 378 marginally, let alone well.
 
Yeah, I have a 375 H&H and I'm curious where these dinosaurs you are hunting are :) I figured I had enough power with a mild load for North America.


Ah well, you see young fella, that this is one of the most highly guarded secrets of SOMA..........if you don't qualify for membership, then it's no dinosaurs for you.

BUM.........I was just answering the OPs question, he brought up the 378 Wby.........:d:d:d
 
I'll just keep trying to learn how to not have a flyer in my 5 shot groups with that rifle. It's like, I know what's coming and I'm ok with it, but then I mess it up somehow and turn an inch group into a 2 or 3 inch group. I just need to shoot it more.


Ah well, you see young fella, that this is one of the most highly guarded secrets of SOMA..........if you don't qualify for membership, then it's no dinosaurs for you.

BUM.........I was just answering the OPs question, he brought up the 378 Wby.........:d:d:d
 
When I decided to go down the .375 road, there were 3 rounds I considered, the H&H, the Ultramag, and the .378 Weatherby, the .375 Ruger had yet to make it to the drawing board. I already knew whichever one I chose would be chambered in a Brno 602. First off, I discounted the H&H, I wanted to have a short barrel rifle, with long barrel H&H ballistics, which could be easily achieved by choosing a cartridge with greater powder capacity. True, with normal weight bullets, the difference is only 50-75 fps, but with 350 and 380 gr bullets, the difference is more like 150 fps. It was a more difficult decision, but I finally decided to dismiss the .378 Weatherby. These big cartridges eat up magazine capacity, taking an unmodified 602 down to 3, and while still recovering from a love affair with the .416 Rigby which at the time cost nearly $200 for 50 brass by the time they made it to my mail box, I wasn't anxious to go down the expensive brass road again. As a result I chose the .375 Ultra. It comfortably holds 100 grs of H-4831 with a 300 gr bullet, it drives a 380 gr bullet at 2350 fps from a 20" barrel, and the 602 magazine holds 4, actually it hold 5, but with 5 its too tight for reliable cycling. The down side is the rebated rim of the Ultra cartridge; contact with the bolt face is minimum, but that said, I never experienced a failure to feed due to this "perceived" problem. Was I going through this exercise today, it would be difficult not to recognize the benefits of the .375 Ruger, although I prefer the original Alaskan rifle to the offerings today.
 
When I decided to go down the .375 road, there were 3 rounds I considered, the H&H, the Ultramag, and the .378 Weatherby, the .375 Ruger had yet to make it to the drawing board. I already knew whichever one I chose would be chambered in a Brno 602. First off, I discounted the H&H, I wanted to have a short barrel rifle, with long barrel H&H ballistics, which could be easily achieved by choosing a cartridge with greater powder capacity. True, with normal weight bullets, the difference is only 50-75 fps, but with 350 and 380 gr bullets, the difference is more like 150 fps. It was a more difficult decision, but I finally decided to dismiss the .378 Weatherby. These big cartridges eat up magazine capacity, taking an unmodified 602 down to 3, and while still recovering from a love affair with the .416 Rigby which at the time cost nearly $200 for 50 brass by the time they made it to my mail box, I wasn't anxious to go down the expensive brass road again. As a result I chose the .375 Ultra. It comfortably holds 100 grs of H-4831 with a 300 gr bullet, it drives a 380 gr bullet at 2350 fps from a 20" barrel, and the 602 magazine holds 4, actually it hold 5, but with 5 its too tight for reliable cycling. The down side is the rebated rim of the Ultra cartridge; contact with the bolt face is minimum, but that said, I never experienced a failure to feed due to this "perceived" problem. Was I going through this exercise today, it would be difficult not to recognize the benefits of the .375 Ruger, although I prefer the original Alaskan rifle to the offerings today.

For 375's, I started out on an easier note and picked up a Winchester model 70 Super Express chambered in 375 H&H. Then, :redface: in another moment of weakness and after reading P.O.Ackley's info on the 375, I acquired a 375 Chatfield Taylor. ;) A little additional variety in the 375 chapter.
 
All true things, but the vast majority of shooters can't properly handle a 300 Winchester so to settle them in behind a real head-turner like the 378 Weatherby is borderline criminal. I doubt that 5% of the hunting population could even be taught to shoot a 378 marginally, let alone well.

Just to keep the conversation going, a handloader can make a .378 do anything he wants from .38-55 on up, but a .375 H&H or a Ruger will never be a .378.
 
Instead of getting fixated on driving 375 caliber bullets faster I went with a 416 RM which fires a 300gr bullet as fast as a 378 WBY. About 25% more cross-sectional area for transmitting greater shock. Plus there are 416 VLD bullets available suited for the standard 1:14 twist such as the CEB 340gr MTH which has a 0.78 b.c. for impressive long range ballistics. As well as 416 bullets up to 400gr for greater versatility.

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Instead of getting fixated on driving 375 caliber bullets faster I went with a 416 RM which fires a 300gr bullet as fast as a 378 WBY. About 25% more cross-sectional area for transmitting greater shock. Plus there are 416 VLD bullets available suited for the standard 1:14 twist such as the CEB 340gr MTH which has a 0.78 b.c. for impressive long range ballistics. As well as 416 bullets up to 400gr for greater versatility.

I'm afraid I will have to disagree with this statement..........I can tell your information is coming from loading manuals and not first person experience. Loading manuals are notoriously prejudiced against Weatherby cartridges and tend to do their testing from non-Weatherby rifles without the proper Weatherby spec chambers. I have manuals that try to tell me that a 300 WM will match a 300 Wby.......I know for a fact it ain't so.
So I'm here to tell you that I know for a fact that a 26" barreled 378 Wby Mark V will drive 300 gn Partitions at 3100 fps without any pressure signs and the brass is still like new and the bolt literally pops up with no more resistance than an empty chamber. I don't have a 416 Rem to try but I would accept a pic of your chronograph driving 300 gn 416s at 3100 fps..........Common sense alone should tell you that what you purport just isn't possible......check out case capacities to bore diameters, expansion ratios, frictional coefficients etc, etc, etc.......and you will immediately see that what you have written just cannot be the case.
 
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