One round to hunt the world? 375 Ruger!
- Thread starter Gatehouse
- Start date
375 H&H ballistics are superb. Just housed in a goofy outdated cartridge design. It's the best choice if you like to sit in an arm chair and dream of african safaris in khaki short shorts while you nod off after your 4pm supper listening to the weather network on tv
It's pretty amazing that several other .375 cartridges have been introduced to challenge the H&H but all pretty much fizzled out, meanwhile the 375 Ruger has been outselling the H&H in new rifle sales for a number of years. The reason for the success of the NEW KING while others failed was Ruger determining what the people wanted and delivering it to them- and Ruger did that very, very well.
Fixed it for you.
The .375 Ruger does have merit, and is well worth consideration for one gun global hunting. I wouldn't call its success fantastic, but it certainly has been successful and the title of most successful medium bore introduced this century probably belongs to it. In my opinion it would have to create more popularity in medium bores and for it to be fantastically successful, I haven't seen that.
There is a certain 6.5 short action cartridge that has stolen interest away from every cartridge between .243 Win and 300 magnums that is fantastic success. Some say driven by marketing more than merit but still it is what fantastic success looks like. When I hear fudds debating giving up their .30-06 or 300 Win mag for it then I will believe that it has caught the hunting world on fire.
Perhaps once I see a factory Remington 700 and a Model 70 in it I'll consider joining Gatehouse in singing its "great merit."
dgradinaru
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- British Columbia
I agree with the above. The 375 Ruger is a good cartridge but not quite a great one. Great needs to be associated with length of service, history, performance and the 375 H&H has definitely achieved that. While im a fan of Ruger M77 rifles i'd also like to see the 375 Ruger in a factory CZ, winchester, Sako and etc.
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If you haven't seen it, then you haven't been paying attention. Cartridges over .30 caliber are never going to be as popular as the .30 and under crowd, but thousands of people that would have never considered a .375 in the past have embraced the 375 Ruger. And why not? It offers all the attributes of the H&H with none of the H&H's shortcomings and Ruger (and now other companies) packaged them in appealing and affordable rifles. Giving the people what they want- even if they didn't know they wanted it- is usually a successful path to take!
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If you haven't seen it, then you haven't been paying attention. Cartridges over .30 caliber are never going to be as popular as the .30 and under crowd, but thousands of people that would have never considered a .375 in the past have embraced the 375 Ruger. And why not? It offers all the attributes of the H&H with none of the H&H's shortcomings and Ruger (and now other companies) packaged them in appealing and affordable rifles. Giving the people what they want- even if they didn't know they wanted it- is usually a successful path to take!
The love for 375 Ruger in this post reminds me of Steve Irwin's love for reptiles...I know the love is there, I just can't figure out why it's is at it's current level?
Does not compute...or do you 'four or five' fans need to troll that badly?
Does not compute...or do you 'four or five' fans need to troll that badly?
dgradinaru
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- British Columbia
When we see most companies producing a rifle in 375 Ruger i'd say its reached that length of service/ acceptance needed to be deemed Great. At the moment we only see Ruger, Mossberg, Howa, and savage producing factory rifles in 375 Ruger. No Remington, winchester, CZ, Sako, Tikka, Mauser and the list goes on.
With a fan base like the OhPee, do you blame them?
But how many years does "length of service" take?
Those 4 companies you list producing rifles aren't exactly bit players in the industry. Anyone that wants a 375 Ruger rifle can find one.
dgradinaru
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- British Columbia
If the 375 Ruger is still going strong in 2027 which would make it 20 years old and chambered by most companies i'd say it has gotten there....Even if it reaches into its 60's or 70's i doubt it will ever be as majestic or glorious as the H&H espically with the rifles they're associated with. A savage or a mossberg in 50 years from now will be deemed garbage and by some they're already considered garbage but a Ruger, Winchester, CZ will still be appricated. In reality by then there will probably be another new 375 cal cartridge and someone else claiming this new 375 is the True King with Dancing Bananas! LOL
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dgradinaru
CGN frequent flyer
- Location
- British Columbia
All the marketing/internet/hype helped the ruger pretty good. Even i bought into the hype from the main 375 Ruger thread years ago. Bought a Ruger African. It shot excellent groups but i sold it and went to a CZ 550 in 375 H&H. I like both cartridges and they preform well but i chose nostalgia. Same argument goes for the 7x57 and 7mm-08. Ill choose the 7x57.
The .375 H&H didn't take off until Winchester chambered it in the M70. Prior to that, it was an expensive custom proposition. The Ruger was available in relatively inexpensive bolt rifles from the get-go. When the H&H was introduced, the .30/06 was considered a "big" gun in North America, and as far as that goes, the .30/06 was none too common at that time either. There simply wasn't much demand for anything larger.
The second boost to the .375's popularity was when African countries started mandating it as the minimum cartridge allowed for dangerous game.
the 9.3 in those days was a better option and the 9.3 was given a derogation for seasoned hunter.
In the first year or two Ruger sold more 375 Rugers than 375 H&H rifles Holland & Holland has sold in 100 years. Obviously more people can afford a Ruger than a H&H rifle, but that's pretty impressive.
