Nuggets 375 Ruger arrived! *BIG pics!*

Noel

Noel

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Bouncing around on the Farmall
:D

Over the past several months my favorite pastime when seeing my BIL has been to ask him when his Ruger would be coming in.:p The plain African or the silver Alaskan isn't too hard to find but we had fun trying to get the all blacked out model.
I was just bugging him at work Thursday asking where it was. He called me back 20 minutes later to say it had arrived.:) Not a moment too soon with his bear trip coming up next weekend. He picked up a box of 270gr factory loads and headed out to try the rifle with just the irons. In just a tee shirt he fired a dozen or so rounds and yet did not have a mark on his shoulder! Meanwhile I stayed up til 11:30 that night loading 70 rounds for him.:rolleyes:

Last night I held it for the first time and I thought I'd share the first impressions. I thought at first the grip being so tight it would be awkward but quite the contrary. The grip and the soft rubber coating on the whole stock actually provide a very good grip for a confident hold. This will be a great help for those who hunt in rainy weather.

The only surface not coated matte black is the trigger. The rifle has a very utalitarian almost military look to it. Contrary to my usual love for Walnut and Blued steel this gun has some appeal to me. Not saying my name is on a waiting list for one but it is the only synthetic stock I have liked. A rap of the knuckle on the stock doesn't give the usual hollow tone because of the coating, it is quiet.:cool:

The recoil pad is quite thick and seems to have a hollow void in the middle. When I fired a factory 270gr with it I was suprised with how well the recoil was managed. I am about 155lb and it did not toss me around like my H&H used to. Recoil is stout along the lines of a 338 Win Mag and 250gr load.

I hope to post some picks and initial range results of it later tonight or tomorrow. The wind is picking up so the conditions may be less than tolerable. At any rate it will be fun.

The only thing I think they could have done different was to use a barrel band swivel instead of the QD stud in the stock. I doubt a persons hand could move much with the recoil unless one is not paying attention when touching it off.

So Dan finally has his squirrel gun. I hope it works well for him. Hopefully we will have some bear pictures to share after next weekend.
 
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Well we got to shooting the beast. With IMR4350 and the 260 Accubond the best Dan did was two in one hole and then the next 1 1/4" left at 100yds.
Chronograph was not working in the dim light, reading 649 FPS. I seriously doubt that.
The Factory 270gr were said to do 2830 on the box but read 2720 on the chrony. Will try again tomorrow in better light conditions. 300gr Hornady RN's average group was about 1 1/2" but being it is the first time shooting the load it has lots of potential. The groups were generally in a nice triangular formation.

I have to take back what I said about the butt stock not sounding hollow, it does have the typical hollow thunk to it when rapped. Hate to steer you kids wrong.:p

Here are some pics though.
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LOL .... Great pic!

Looks to me the kids trying to block out Uncle Nugget's raving about his rifle being the new "King of the 375s" :)

PS .... Don't tell Clarke I said this, but that IS a nice rifle! :redface:

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I think I like the look of the all black better than the black and stainless! Glad it shot so well for him.

I'll tell him the same as I told my pal though, get an extension mount to move the scope forward a bit, say even with the back of the cocking piece of the bolt. My pal didn't listen either, but the mark should fade soon.
 
Mountain Toy said:
Nice looking rifle. How heavy is it?
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Don't have a scale here to weigh yet but a guess is 9 1/4lbs. It is a bit stout, heavier than you would first think when looking at it. Not a bad thing tho, the barrel rocks upward a little but the weight is balanced well.


Davey, he already told me he was excited about getting that Ti but it doesn't compare at all to how much he looks forward to using this one.;)

Mark, I mentioned the scope relief to him. He said he is happy with it as is. The scope cap was tapping the brim of his hat, hopefully the first touch he gets is a light one for a warning.:slap:

Paul, the 270gr factory ammo was $72.99 The bullets don't hold up well at all from initial tests. Hope to show some pics to back that up in the near future.

Dan bought 100 pieces of brass to keep us loading for a long time. IIRC it was $62 per 50.

Brad, it is an all stainless built rifle far as I know, all coated with that Diamond black coating. Hope it stands up well.
 
The Alaskan is listed at 8lbs by Ruger.

I don't believe the black finished ones are stainless. They weren't stainless to begin with anyway, but they may have changed their production.
 
264magnum said:
Hey Noel


As far as I know the rifle that has the Diamond black coating is cro-moly not stainless. Does anyone know for sure?
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Very possible I am wrong there. I am getting the info third party from Nugget. I'll ask him again but I was pretty sure ti is all stainless with the black coating.

It Chronied 2620 tonight with the 300gr Hornady. Good enough for near any squirrel that walks the earth.
 
Boomer said:
I'll tell him the same as I told my pal though, get an extension mount to move the scope forward a bit, say even with the back of the cocking piece of the bolt. My pal didn't listen either, but the mark should fade soon.
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The problem I see with what you suggest is that the eye relief on the 2.5-8 VX-III is very critical. By looking at the way Dan has it mounted I don't think he would be able to move it forward very much at all without running into the same problems I have recently had with the same scope.
 
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