Naysayers defeated. .375 Ruger legitimized

What is the availabilty of brass like for the .375 Ruger ? I am interested but have not found brass readily available.

I got a bunch through Omineca SOurce for Sports, some form Russels and a coupel of other sources. I've got abotu 500 pc of brass. It's not as common as .308 brass, but not hard to find.
 
I got a bunch through Omineca SOurce for Sports, some form Russels and a coupel of other sources. I've got abotu 500 pc of brass. It's not as common as .308 brass, but not hard to find.

I've been able to get it from Russels when I've needed it, although I haven't bought any in a while. Supply should be better now than it was a year or so ago.
 
Do you lose one round magazine capacity with the .375 Ruger? If so, for this kind of cartridge, I think I would rather have the longer action 375. Probably academic, because I don't buy lottery tickets and have no rich uncles who are going to buy me a safari.
 
Do you lose one round magazine capacity with the .375 Ruger? If so, for this kind of cartridge, I think I would rather have the longer action 375. Probably academic, because I don't buy lottery tickets and have no rich uncles who are going to buy me a safari.

I agree. Considering what it might be used for, it is too bad that Ruger did not consider a drop box magazine for this rifle. Perhaps someone will design an after market DBM for the Alaskan/African models. While I normally don't like things that can be lost from a rifle, I would make an exception in this case.

As to the cost of a Safari, it all depends on how badly you want one. While the cost is certainly intimidating to the working man, a 10 day safari is no more out of reach than is the purchase of a new pick-up. I see more new trucks around than people who sign up for safaris. If your kids are grown and gone, if you own your home, and you are passionate about having the experience, it is money well spent. But if you don't see any difference between hunting in Africa or North America, chances are you won't appreciate the experience.
 
I wouldn't be surprised to see a few more manufacturers chamber rifles for The New King. Ruger has been selling these as fast as they can produce them, thier sales have been far, far greater than they ever expected.

No other .375 caliber rifles have sold this many is such a short period of time...;)

The .375 ruger mostly sold to collectors. No serious hunter has ever bought one from what I've heard. :)
 
How can you call the 375Ruger legitimate just because another company is chambering for it. There have been plenty of cartridges in history (the majority in fact) that have been chambered for multiple rifles that have only to have fallen flat a few years later. The only true test or endurance is time. Ruger might be selling out of them, but I have a suspicion that they are making these rifles in small batches to ensure that they don't find themselves overstocked.

In my opinion, the 375Ruger has yet to prove itself as a dangerous game cartridge, and I would have serious reservations about it as the body doesn't seem to have nearly the taper that a dangerous game cartridge should have for 100% reliable feeding. But I am speaking as an armchair enthusiast, so I could be wrong,:nest:
Mike
 
In my opinion, the 375Ruger has yet to prove itself as a dangerous game cartridge,
Mike

The .375 Ruger is ballistically proven in that a 300 gr bullet at 2500 fps has a fine reputation for killing dangerous African game and it matters not at all that the headstamp says Ruger rather than H&H. Turn bolt rifles and controlled round feed actions are proven, and the Ruger rifle cycles reliably and provides a level of accuracy that far exceeds the requirement of the cartridge. Little about the rifle or the cartridge remains unproven.
 
In my opinion, the 375Ruger has yet to prove itself as a dangerous game cartridge, and I would have serious reservations about it as the body doesn't seem to have nearly the taper that a dangerous game cartridge should have for 100% reliable feeding. But I am speaking as an armchair enthusiast, so I could be wrong,:nest:
Mike

I have a .284 Winchester that has very minimum taper and I have owned three 300 WSMs (2 Win 70's and a Kimber 8400) and a .270 WSM (Kimber 8400) which all have minimum body taper, and every one slipped in and out of the chamber like a greased banana into a 5 gallon pail. Sounds dangerous game-ish enough for me.......
 
Everyone knows the unwritten rule is that if the brass doesn't have a belt, it isn't a legitimate dangerous game cartridge:p
 
As to the cost of a Safari, it all depends on how badly you want one. While the cost is certainly intimidating to the working man, a 10 day safari is no more out of reach than is the purchase of a new pick-up.

Not even that much. You can get in and out for under $15K easily. Maybe even $10K if you plan well.
 
Not even that much. You can get in and out for under $15K easily. Maybe even $10K if you plan well.

Safari cost is subject to the fees charged by the host country and the amount of game you intend to hunt. You certainly won't get off that cheap in Tanzania if you want buffalo in addition to some plains game. If you want big cats, hippo, or elephant I suspect that is beyond what a working guy can manage as it requires a 21 day license which runs about $50K without trophy, dipping, or camp fees. But in Tanzania you are hunting in true wilderness, from a well provided fly in tent camp.

In South Africa or Namibia where you are hunting from a lodge or ranch house, you may have greater selection of game, and lower trophy fees. Zimbabwe has the same opportunities as Tanzania, however there are security concerns in the land of Mugabe. When I told my PH that my wife wanted to see Vic Falls, he advised not to go there with anyone I cared about. Zambia would have been a better bet then Zim. According to Dogleg, the spice of danger adds to the allure.

Botswana like Tanzania is expensive and if one wishes to hunt the Okavango Delta, it too is a fly in gig. Mozambique I don't know much about, and it might be a sleeper with wonderful opportunities and reasonable prices, but I don't know. The key to all this is first determine if you are more interested in wilderness or ranch hunting, then determine what game is important to you, then do some research to see what provides the best opportunity.
 
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They figured out how to make cartridges with shoulders feed a looong time ago...:)

I would say that this statement is due to both lack of experience, and/or lack of knowledge. I have very little experience with dangerous game/ african rifles, but a fair bit of experience with rifles in general. Enough to know that cartridges with little body taper do have a more difficult time feeding, and even rifles from some of the best names can have feeding problems. Also "controlled round feed" is no guarantee that the rifle will not have feeding issues. One of the reasons that double rifles are still common in Africa is that they are, in fact, two seperate single shot rifles; hence, feeding is not an issue.
Mike
 
I would say that this statement is due to both lack of experience, and/or lack of knowledge.

Actually it's from everyone telling me that any AI cartridge, the WSM's, the RSAUMs and the 375 Ruger won't feed, and me trying them.:D

Enough to know that cartridges with little body taper do have a more difficult time feeding

How come I can manipulate the bolt of my 300WSM with one finger? How come my 375 Ruger feeds just fine? How come most AI's I 've used feed fine? Same for RSAUM's? I have experienced failures to feed with a .375 H&H and .338WM and .303 British and .223 and 30-06? :confused:


and even rifles from some of the best names can have feeding problems.

Maybe you are on to something here...Could it be a rifle problem?:p

Also "controlled round feed" is no guarantee that the rifle will not have feeding issues.
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CRF or PF is no guarantee of feeding, accuracy, or reliability. It's just a design that can be done well, or done poorly.

One of the reasons that double rifles are still common in Africa is that they are, in fact, two seperate single shot rifles; hence, feeding is not an issue

Although bolt action rifles outnumber double rifles by about 1000 to 1 in Africa:p

I know some cartridges have a bad rep for feeding, but I think we have to look at the rifle (and rifle design) first and make sure they are suitable matches. Bottom line is that you can get most cartridges to fail to feed if you load them improperly or there is a problem with the rifle...And the .375 Ruger feeds very well...;)
 
The CZ Express rifle is a standard action length rifle for .30-06 length cartridges including the .375Ruger and its .416 brother.
The Express Magnum is magnum length for the long fellows like .375H&H etc...

That should quiet down the guys saying the .375Ruger won't LOOK right in the magazine. Weirdos.

Also, I thought the big deal with the tapered cartridges was not the feeding, but the extraction?
 
Just so happened to be reading the latest issue of Rifle Shooter; March/April 2009 issue. An article by Craig Boddington called "A package deal". On page 34 he states "There is a downside to packaging. It is not always easy to make the short, fat cartridges feed as well as those actions fed with the longer, slimmer cartridges those actions where designed for." For a gun writer to mention an issue, threatening his bread and butter, it really has to be an issue.
And don't get me wrong, I'm not condemning the 375Ruger, but to abandon such a historic cartridge as the 375H&H, the replacement must not have any flies in it's soup, and I would suspect that if there was a chance that the gun could jam when a buffalo was charging, and the jam was due in part to the design; that's one big fly.
Mike
 
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