New Build - .375 Ruger

Mauser98

Mauser98

CGN frequent flyer
Rating - 100%
23   0   0
Location
SW British Columbia
Last year I posted some information about a new 9.3X62 Mauser I had had built. It was a lovely piece built on a JC Higgins M50 action. It's gone now to a new owner.

Near the end of my post I wondered out loud about what I'd be hunting with next year.

Well, 'next year' has arrived and I have my answer.

It's another JC Higgins M50 action that has been modified and re-barreled by Bill Leeper to .375 Ruger.

After a couple of discussions with Bill, we decided to use a McGowan barrel he had on hand. The final length is 21" with a .69" muzzle diameter. The crown is a target-style

Along with opening up the bolt face and modifying the extractor, It's pretty obvious that Bill had to do extensive work on the feed rails and lips. I'm not sure if the feed ramp needed modifying but it was highly polished. The top sides of the mag box have been thinned as much as possible so that the stacking angle of the loaded rounds is reduced.

All the mods really paid off. The rifle feed, extracts and ejects flawlessly. The feeding is especially impressive. The big, fat rounds chamber as smoothly as the original .270 Win rounds.

The extractor has been modified so that it is easily possible to close the bolt on a chambered round. The use of the Vulcan extractor squeeze is required.:)

The barrel band looks like a Talley and the trigger is a Timney at about 4 lbs.

As much as I don't mind the curved bolt handle on the FN action, I prefer a straight, Talley-style handle. Bill did a fine job and the bolt knob misses my knuckles during recoil.

I used the original stock but with mods. These include shortening the forend and installing a ebony tip. The grip cap and bolt stop shelf are also ebony. I lengthened the pull to 14" by installing a 3/8" thick piece of ebony between the butt and the 1" Pachmayr Decelerator Old English pad.

I installed internal cross-bolts behind the recoil lug and behind the mag box. The stock had a small crack behind the rear tang so I cross-pinned the pistol grip with a piece of 1/8" brass rod epoxied in place. The action(including a couple of inches of the barrel) and the bottom metal is glass bedded with Accra-gls gel.

I must say that I don't like the shape of this stock. The excessive drop at heel prevents me from getting a decent cheek-weld when shooting. The rifle also likes to rotate upward excessively during recoil. When I find a decent piece of Walnut at a price I can afford the stock will be replaced.

Once I got the rifle back and finished the stock mods, I slow rust blued all the metal and refinished the stock.

The rings and bases are steel Talleys and I'm currently using a leupold VXI 2-7X33 scope(the VariX in the pictures has been swapped out)

All in all, I really like the rifle. At 9.5 lbs fully loaded and with a sling, recoil is civilized and the rifle is still light enough to pack all day.

I've done some shooting with 225, 270 and 300 gr bullets and accuracy is running from .80" to 1.75" at 100 meters. Velocities are on a par with .375 H&H loads out of a longer barrel.

P6020079.jpg


P6020082.jpg


P6020081.jpg


P6020085.jpg


P6020084.jpg
 
I was going to ask about the drop of the stock. Great for open sights but lousy for a scope. Glad to hear it was the original - I didn't think you could specify extra-plain wood! :D
 
Very stylish rig...not unlike the heym express series.....which I drool over . Especially like the barrel band swivel. Whats in the gunsights first?
 
I like the lines of the stock, and the grain is nice and straight and with your repair it should prove to be a strong reliable stock. But I agree, you might have a chin weld rather than a cheek weld. When choosing a stock it's always a compromise, if the stock is good for a scope you have to mash your face into it to shoot with irons, if it's good for irons, you have to lift your head to seen through the scope. My own preference is for a shorter LOP, but as long as the rifle fits you thats all that matters.

I would consider a front sight, Talley makes a nice little ghost ring that attaches to their base. That might make you more appreciative of the stock. It would be difficult to find a better scope for that rifle than a 2-7X, good choice.

The bolt handle position is really good, you wont get your knuckle smacked when the rifle recoils with it set ahead of the trigger. That's a much better idea than a swept back bolt handle on a kicker, regardless of personal preference. The only concern I would have is that the long LOP might prevent reaching it with the rifle at your shoulder.

Is the rifle a 4 shooter or a 3 shooter? For what we use our rifles for around here, the failing of the Ruger Alaskan is that the magazine capacity is too little.

Overall I think you have a nice clean rifle there. It's interesting that with only an inch more barrel it seems to have escaped the slightly clubby look that my 602 suffers from. This could very well be due to the a combination of the straighter stock, front sight and the drop box magazine which makes the rifle look shorter than it really is, where yours has a more graceful appearance which I believe is enhanced by the drop at the comb.
 
The JC Higgins M50 action, Made in Belgium by FN? Is he the importer? What does he do to the action to be able to call it his own? Just curious?
 
No scope

I havent shot it yet. No scope on it yet. I was thinking of a conquest 3x9x40 hopefully with a reticle like the German Iron Cross. I was thinking of having some work done before adding the scope.
Gatehouse said:
What kind of accuracy are you getting now, is it the Alaskan or African model, and what ammo are you using?
Click to expand...
 
Pblatzz said:
The JC Higgins M50 action, Made in Belgium by FN? Is he the importer? What does he do to the action to be able to call it his own? Just curious?
Click to expand...

JC Higgins was a seller of firearms in the 1900's, much like Charles Daly is today. They buy firearms from other manufacturers and have their name put on it. Kimber does the same with their shotguns, Weatherby does it with their Vanguard rifles, etc.

Think FN Browning; FN stands for Fabrique Nationale (or something like that) in Belgium IIRC, and the firearms were made under contract for Browning in the States.

M98, the drop of that stock looks like it is going to hurt. Reminds me of a #1.... ouch. What about a schnabel (spelling?) style forend, or a classic Alex Henry?
 
mackillan said:
I havent shot it yet. No scope on it yet. I was thinking of a conquest 3x9x40 hopefully with a reticle like the German Iron Cross. I was thinking of having some work done before adding the scope.
Click to expand...

My Alaskan shot very well with no work to it. Sub 1" groups with handloads and 1.5" with factory.

I had the trigger smoothed out and that helped even more.

Eventually I had it bedded in a Mac stock, but the Hoge stock was fine for accurccy.
 
mackillan said:
I have recently purchased a Ruger .375 Ruger. Can any sort of work be done to improve its accuracy?
Click to expand...

First step to improve accuracy would to be actually shooting it. Poor accuracy is usually the result of throwing the ammo at the target.

Makes zero sense to spend money fixing something without even knowing if it is a problem. How would you know if anything was fixed or even broken?

I shot mine with iron sights the first few times and it was dead on at 50 with a decent group...pretty good right out of the box. Not a bad idea if you haven't shot any larger calibers...save the scope cuts for later - although with a Leupold you will experience less of them.
 
Good advice. I like to spend money sometimes lol.
blackwater said:
First step to improve accuracy would to be actually shooting it. Poor accuracy is usually the result of throwing the ammo at the target.

Makes zero sense to spend money fixing something without even knowing if it is a problem. How would you know if anything was fixed or even broken?

I shot mine with iron sights the first few times and it was dead on at 50 with a decent group...pretty good right out of the box. Not a bad idea if you haven't shot any larger calibers...save the scope cuts for later - although with a Leupold you will experience less of them.
Click to expand...
 
Boomer said:
I like the lines of the stock, and the grain is nice and straight and with your repair it should prove to be a strong reliable stock. But I agree, you might have a chin weld rather than a cheek weld. When choosing a stock it's always a compromise, if the stock is good for a scope you have to mash your face into it to shoot with irons, if it's good for irons, you have to lift your head to seen through the scope. My own preference is for a shorter LOP, but as long as the rifle fits you thats all that matters.

I would consider a front sight, Talley makes a nice little ghost ring that attaches to their base. That might make you more appreciative of the stock. It would be difficult to find a better scope for that rifle than a 2-7X, good choice.

The bolt handle position is really good, you wont get your knuckle smacked when the rifle recoils with it set ahead of the trigger. That's a much better idea than a swept back bolt handle on a kicker, regardless of personal preference. The only concern I would have is that the long LOP might prevent reaching it with the rifle at your shoulder.

Is the rifle a 4 shooter or a 3 shooter? For what we use our rifles for around here, the failing of the Ruger Alaskan is that the magazine capacity is too little.

Overall I think you have a nice clean rifle there. It's interesting that with only an inch more barrel it seems to have escaped the slightly clubby look that my 602 suffers from. This could very well be due to the a combination of the straighter stock, front sight and the drop box magazine which makes the rifle look shorter than it really is, where yours has a more graceful appearance which I believe is enhanced by the drop at the comb.
Click to expand...

The rifle is a 4 shooter(3+1). The other choice was to spring for the 5MX bottom metal from http://www.soundmetalproducts.com/ but at US$415.00 the price is a bit steep. Maybe later.

A general rule of thumb is that the forend length should be 1" less than 1/2 the barrel length. IMO this is longer than necessary and can give a clubby look to the whole rifle. With this rifle, I shortened the forend to only 7 5/8" and went with a more tapered tip that tends to blend the forend into the barrel. Check out the rifles pictured on the Martini and Hagn site. I tried to copy their style.
 
Pblatzz said:
The JC Higgins M50 action, Made in Belgium by FN? Is he the importer? What does he do to the action to be able to call it his own? Just curious?
Click to expand...

JC Higgins was a Sears-Roebuck brand name that was used from about 1908 to about 1960. The name was used on all sorts of outdoors equipment including rifles, shotguns, camping gear, fishing gear, etc. The equipment came from a variety of different manufacturers.

The Model 50 was built for Sears by High Standard using Fabrique Nationale(Mauser 98) actions, High Standard chrome-lined barrels and stocks from Fajen or Bishop. The rifles were only available in .270 Win and .30-06.

Here's a picture of an original that looks very much like mine before I got at it.

IMG_6481%20a%20800%20%20Model%2050.jpg
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom