.375 ruger alaskan guide gun

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Werndl

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Was kicking around the idea of building a" sunday go to meeting" custom big bore bolt gun a while back. After a good piece of advice from a fellow on here, i saw the folly of dropping $1000 plus on getting a siamese mauser action color case hardened and tuned for .458 wm. So then it was gonna be all cerakoted and manners tacticool(not a siamese btw). But about the is time i started thinking i dont really need a .45 bore other than the .45-70 and maybe i want something a little bit flatter shooting. So's about this time my mind runs to the .375 H and H. And about that time it considers the ruger cartridge, likes what it reads, and decides thats what must be had to feed this addiction:D So before i spend all sorts ofthousands on building one, why not see whats available commercially... Thats when i find the aforementioned alskan guide gun. Opinions seem to we will say " vary" (putting it mildly) on the inherent attractiveness of this rifle. Well as always beauty is in the...blah blablah. Long story short this gun is my new favorite! I find the green laminate and matte gray (or is it grey) a cool combination. Fit and finish are fantastic and my god does she purr!! That brake on the front (while admittedly hideous), makes her shoot like a 20ga w field loads. Was shooting a 220gr bullet at a little over 2900 fps and absolutely smashing 1/2" steel and rocks with it. Was putting scuffs on the steel with 325 gr 45-70 loads at over 1800fps while this light load in the ruger actually stretched the steel enough in the crater to make it separate half way around. Everyone who shot her had a grin a mile wide and commented how mild she was on the shoulder (not on the ears though). Anyways, im in love and moving to idaho next week so the accuracy testing and hunting will commence asap. LOVE THIS GUN!!
Best of luck all
 
Understood! Hahah I do have pics on my phone now but ive never posted on here soooo im a little behind the curve. I can try tonight when i get a little more time. Funny u should say that about the ar. I was just saying that if u figure it takes 3x as much powder to fill the .375 vs the AR to get the velocity im looking for, i can honestly say its 3x as much fun for me so as far as component usage vs fun goes. Essentially its a wash ( and yes component usage vs fun is a real scientific thing)
 
I've actually been eyeballing one of those new guide guns. I am desperately in "need" of yet another DG capable medium bore rifle...:D

Actually if that rifle had been available back in the day when I built my custom short barrel .375H&H. I would have saved myself a whole bunch of time and money and just bought one of those and shot it right out of the box.
 
I really like these rifles. I've got a 77RSI in bead blasted stainless steel and really like the matte finish. I only wish the stock on the Guide Gun came in a brown laminate or walnut. However, Ruger's pistol grip design has always been a bit too shallow for me and I've read several complain about it with the big bore chamberings. Still, I'd love to have one and would have a hard time deciding between the .375 and .416. I still want to have a custom CZ .500Jeffery built and may color case harden its receiver and mounts.
 
Theres a few .375's in the ruger lineup. One called a guide gun w a wood stock and one with a hogue stock. Then comes the "alaskan" guide gun which is where the opinions come in as far as aesthetics. I for one thought it looked cool before whereas now that ive shot her i think shes downright sexy:D
 
I've got an easy cure for the green laminate on the guide guns. Bead blast repaint in color of choice and seal with a flat lacquer. Problem solved.
 
My brother has lived in AK now for almost 40 years and lives a subsistence lifestyle. His go to caliber is 375 H&H - he has three of them and swears by them.
 
I don't really have a need for a 375, but if I did that would be near the top of my list. They have a used one at a nearby Cabelas that I've had a chance to fondle. Based on what I've read the 375 Ruger is the real deal and ammo is actually available in Alaska and Africa unlike many of the other new chamberings.

I can do anything I need to do with 30 caliber and smaller and I'm at the point in my life where I'm not interested in "fun" guns. BTDT in the past and I've pared down to just what I actually use. But if I did want something bigger than 30 cal, I'd skip over everything else and go straight to 375. I like all of the Ruger 77 family of rifles too.
 
Problem?!?!? Heck i wouldnt change a thing about her!!That green laminate just makes sure i dont lose her on the gun rack and of course keeps me hidden from grizzly bears!:what:
 
Werndl, looking at the specs of that rifle ...

http://www.ruger.com/products/guideGun/models.html

... am I to assume that the muzzle brake is 1-1/2" long?

H&Hhunter, what's the barrel length on your custom .375 H&H? I seem to remember that it's 20". I absolutely love my Kimber Talkeetna in .375 H&H even with its 24" barrel.
 
Yeah. 1.5" seems about right. It comes with a thread protector and a portless brake replacement for if u wanna take the brake off for hunting and still keep it same poi (in theory)
 
I really admire that rifle and wish Ruger would offer it in 9.3x62. I'd grab one of those in a heartbeat
 
I bought one of the left handed ones back when Davidson's was selling them for $599. I just bought it on a stupid whim; I know I'm never going to Africa but I might get lucky and have the opportunity to pursue a moose or bison someday. Or the genetics lab down the street might accidentally release one of their cloned velociraptors.

I bought a nice .379 bullet mold from NOE that casts a 270 grain hollow point and I have thoroughly enjoyed shooting it with loads in the 1500fps range. I also loaded up some full power 300 grain round nose loads. I didn't enjoy them quite so much...

It's a great gun. I love the way it handles and I actually like the look of the laminated stock.
 
The .375 Ruger is supposed to offer improved performance over the .375 H&H but in a belt free cartridge that uses a shorter action. I don't know if it offers any real world significant ballistic advantage or not but based on what I've read it doesn't. I'm shooting a 250gr bullet at 2,800 fps out of my Talkeeta (.375 H&H) which seems to be on a par with the .375 Ruger. My take on this is that if you really like Ruger rifles and want a .375 caliber then you have to go with this cartridge. If you're not set on a Ruger rifle then you have a lot more choices with the .375 H&H.
 
MCMXI said:
H&Hhunter, what's the barrel length on your custom .375 H&H? I seem to remember that it's 20". I absolutely love my Kimber Talkeetna in .375 H&H even with its 24" barrel.
Click to expand...

Yes my .375H&H has a 20" barrel.

The .375 Ruger is supposed to offer improved performance over the .375 H&H but in a belt free cartridge that uses a shorter action. I don't know if it offers any real world significant ballistic advantage or not but based on what I've read it doesn't. I'm shooting a 250gr bullet at 2,800 fps out of my Talkeeta (.375 H&H) which seems to be on a par with the .375 Ruger. My take on this is that if you really like Ruger rifles and want a .375 caliber then you have to go with this cartridge. If you're not set on a Ruger rifle then you have a lot more choices with the .375 H&H.
Click to expand...

The .375 Ruger offers a very slight ballistic advantage over the .375H&H in short barrels. In all honesty it is an improvement over the H&H in that it is non belted, standard length and it can be had in shorter lighter factory built rifles. In real world numbers over a chronograph my 20" H&H is about 100 FPS slower than the 20" Ruger with 270gr bullets. With 300 gr bullets the 375 Ruger is about 200 fps faster. Is that enough to justify me turning in my H&H's for a Ruger? Not even a little bit, but if I was starting over with a worldwide all weather medium bore DG capable hunting rifle the Ruger would be a top pick.
 
I have the .375 Hawkeye African with 23"bbl and walnut stock. I get 2800+ fps with 82.0gr of IMR4350 and 270gr bullets. My reduced recoil load is 77.0gr RL15 and 225gr Hornady PrSpt. With all RL15 and IMR4350 loads it's moa accurate (3 shots). As it was intended it does give a slight increase in velocity over th H&H. (5-6%) But that's not it's reason for existence. It fits in a standard action, and, gives the superlative ballistics of the H&H with ease.
I did replace the 1/2" hard pad with a Pachmayer 1" red Old English pad, and cut th stock by 5/8th" to compensate. It handles like a shotgun and wears a Burris Fulfield III 3x-9x Ballistic-plex. I had a Leupold VX-3 1.5-5x, but this scope feels and looks to be a better match to the rifle and cartridge. Also I reduced the trigger pull to ~3lbs crisp.
I've only had the occasion to kill deer with the excellent Speer 235gr Semi-spitzer. It was marvelous, but I had seen it used from a .375h&H 30+yrs ago. No surprises. (Fwiw I use 75gr of Rl15, and reformed .300winmag; yeah, they are kinda "coke bottle" lookin, but it works, and keeps from loosing the $.$$ .375Ruger Hornady brass.
I plan on taking it to Wyoming for elk this fall.
If this cartridge had come out in the 1920's it would have surpassed the H&H. With a 90yr head start, it'll never overtake the H&H, but is too good to die. Continued support by Hornady with brass should ensure it's survival. I'll be keeping mine. I've scrounged a lifetime supply of bullets at pennies on the dollar. (Ie: 300 Sierra 250gr btspt's for $35.00!)
Got 300rds of discontinued Hornady 270gr rn for $24/100.)
And, it IS enough gun...
 
GooseGestapo said:
. (Fwiw I use 75gr of Rl15, and reformed .300winmag; yeah, they are kinda "coke bottle" lookin, but it works, and keeps .
Click to expand...

Wait a minute.......

You are using reformed .300WM brass in your .375 Ruger?

How exactly does that work, being that a .300WM is a belted case and the .375 Ruger is non belted?
 
How exactly does that work, being that a .300WM is a belted case and the .375 Ruger is non belted?
Click to expand...

What's that got to do with it ? :)


Here you guys are extolling the virtues of a 375 H & H or a 375 ruger on deer
and down here on another thread, I'm hearing how the 260 remington is the best thing since mash potatoes on elk at 600 yds plus and a video posted on the virtues of a 243 win on elk at near 700 yds all with thin skinned target bullets.

Am I confused or what ? :) OYE
 
Case head of .300winmag is (belt)same diameter as head of .375Ruger.
1. Run .300wm case into ..375R sizer, expanding neck to .375". Case length oal is near same.
2. Either load 12.0gr of Unique under 255gr cast bullet, case full of cream o'wheat or grit with Dacron wad holding cow in place.
3. Load gun, point in safe direction, pull trigger!

Presto, a .375R case with a slight constriction ahead of belt. Forward of the belt ~1/2", the thinner case body expands to full chamber diameter which is same as belt diameter.

I tried 7mmRemMag but necks were too short. I have a lot of range pick up brass...

When I got the ?375Ruger, new brass was not to be found and loaded ammo ~$60/20.
With cast bullets ($20 Lee mold), I can shoot the big Ruger for penny's a shot. Performance on par with .375win or .38-55. Or, for 25cents more, equal or slightly exceed .375H&H magnum performance.

Added: I also have a .260Rem. Killed a few deer with it.
Difference? The .375 digs a much longer and wider trench behind the deer! I don't think the deer know the difference. Hogzilla? No problem! Nor two, or three, just line em up!
 
I bet those are one heck of a conversation starter at the shooting range !

I'm starting to get the 375 ruger bug I'm afraid. OYE
 
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