Mauser98, This is the same as Gatehouse who has reported good case life with reasonable loads. Despite our differences, I don't believe he would flat out lie about something like this, so I accept his experience as valid. It would seem some Hornady brass is good while other lots are not, and there has been enough credible people on the negative side of this issue to cause me to believe there are some problems with Hornady brass, beyond just the odd person who loads to the max, like me. The 300 WM to 375 Ruger conversion is my attempt to circumvent these issues, while allowing me to play with this cartridge, which I believe is an interesting design and actually has a place in the big scheme of things as cartridge design goes. This case design is very well thought out and has a lot of positive attributes, in my opinion, and very well could revolutionize the belted magnum world, in time. The 404 case has pretty much been done to death and has spawned some good cartridges, but this design is enough different to potentially spawn some great cartridges as well.
This will all be for nought if other manufacturers don't pick up the Ruger design shortly and start making brass for it. The number of manufacturers who pick up, and make brass and ammo for a cartridge is one of the first indicators of the success and potential life span of a cartridge........so far it's not looking good. But hell, that has never deterred me in the past, with reamers for wildcats based on the 8X68 case, which is anything but common. I also own and have made brass for rifles whose cartridges have been obsolete for nearly 100 years so, where there's a will there's a way.
This will all be for nought if other manufacturers don't pick up the Ruger design shortly and start making brass for it. The number of manufacturers who pick up, and make brass and ammo for a cartridge is one of the first indicators of the success and potential life span of a cartridge........so far it's not looking good. But hell, that has never deterred me in the past, with reamers for wildcats based on the 8X68 case, which is anything but common. I also own and have made brass for rifles whose cartridges have been obsolete for nearly 100 years so, where there's a will there's a way.
