New 375 Ruger Guide Gun: Need Scope

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Huntolive

Huntolive

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I am getting a Ruger 375 Guide Gun which I plan to use mostly in North America to hunt elk, moose, black bear, hogs, and particularly unlucky whitetails .

Not planning on hunting other Dangerous Game anytime soon or going to Africa.

Looking for a scope I can use to get accurately out to 500 yards max.
That said I would like some eye relief so I don't get brain damage from scope impalement from recoil.

Please offer any and all advice as I have never had a rifle in a caliber more powerful than 300 Win Mag before. I have taken many Critters with 300 Win Mag and usually handle the recoil fine but as many honest hunters will admit I have also had the experience of getting scope ring around the eye or Bridge of the nose when the adrenaline gets pumping and proper form eludes me.I'm looking to avoid worse from the 375 Ruger
 
For 0-500yard hunting, especially with a relatively slow flying 375Ruger, I would recommend something on the order of a 4-16x with a First Focal Plane reticle, I’d prefer mil based and a Christmas tree, like the G3 or G2H. The Bushnell LRHSi 4.5-18x44mm with the G2H would be a fantastic optic for the task. It gives you the option to hold or dial the elevation correction, has illumination for low light hunting, great glass, and at a relatively affordable price point. I wish I could recommend a Sig Tango4 4-16x44 with the mead Dev-L reticle, but I have seen a couple parallax knobs come off on competition rifles which don’t recoil anything like a 375Ruger. I love the optic otherwise, hits all of the same points as the Bushnell above, but their durability is in question - both of mine are holding up perfectly.

Largely, this class is exactly what I want and expect out of any “hunting scope.”
 
Thanks please tell me more about the scope model she mentioned and where I can find them what brand are the G ones you mentioned? I was also thinking of going with something that started a little lower in case I did get jumped by a bear a cape buffalo
 
If you find yourself hunting cape buffalo, pull the scope off. Alaska Arms makes great QD rings for Rugers. 4.5x or 4x is still plenty large FOV, since you're picking up a bit extra objective diameter.

The "G" reticles I mentioned are Bushnell exclusive, George Gardner of GA Precision (Gnat's Ass, not Georgia) designed the reticles for Bushnell. They're a "christmas tree" reticle which offers hold over stadia plus wind hold stadia below the main crosshairs. The SigSauer Dev-L is similar, as is the new Nightforce Mil-XT. The G2H has a "vital ring" around the center crosshair, a circle which offers fast acquisition and aiming on vital zones. GAP offers a special buy on the Bushnell LRHSi on their website, steeply reduced pricing vs. street.
 
Generally speaking Leupold has the most eye relief of any manufacturer. And their reputation for ruggedness would be an asset on a heavy kicker.

I'd put a Leupold VX3i in a 2.5-8X36 on it. It only weighs 11 oz and has 4.5" of eye relief on the lower power setting, 3.5" on 8X which is more than most scopes. You'll get the vast majority of your shots at close range where the lower power helps and 8X is plenty of magnification for big game out past 500 yards. Even for dangerous game a low powered scope is faster than irons. If you're shooting small varmints at 500 yards you need more magnification, but a moose or elk is a big enough target that you could make a fixed 4X work at 500 yards.
 
I use two scopes on my 375 rifles. Leupold 2.5x8 is probably the gold standard and has always been very reliable, and the VX6 2x12 is my current favorite. Weight, eye relief, and reliability are the important features. Putting a heavy scope on a hard recoiling rifle usually does not work well in the long run.

A 375 should be scoped for cape buffalo, and it should not have a view that is cluttered by a target reticule. I do not scope rifles with recoil greater than the 375 class, but if I did it would be with a low fixed power such as a 2x. My experience is that rifles chambered in cartridges larger than 375 are scope eaters, but 375 rifles work well with the proper scope.
 
I expect a lot of folks who talk about a cluttered reticle with a simple FFP Christmas tree have never used one. Ever.
 
I have a 3-9x40 Burris FF2 on mine, it's got the ballistic reticle and it's fairly close.

Ive done some plinking at 350-450yds, and id prefer a more precise reticle option, like the ones VT is suggesting, if I were to try shooting past 300yds regularly.
I really dislike ffp scopes, just don't like them, but they would be nice for this application.
 
I've got a Ruger #1 in 375 H&H which is pretty much the same as the Ruger caliber and an old Swift 1.5x4 on it that works really well. Generous eye relief and on the lowest power can be used with both eyes open for close in shooting. There are many similar scopes on the market now a days with 1x8 magnification which would be better for the longer shots, but even with the Sierra 300 boat-tail spitzers I'm not comfortable trying to hit things much over 300 yards with it so the 4x is OK but you might want the higher mag versions for your hunting.

Passing up a really long shot is easier than trying to find something grunting at you with teeth up close...so my thinking is make the rifle work at near contact distance then live with whatever range you can still hit with it.
 
I have a Zeiss Conquest MC 3-9x40mm on my Kimber Talkeetna (.375 H&H). It has the RZ600 reticle which is accurate (confirmed to 600 yards) when the scope is set to 7.5X. I've shot hundreds of rounds with that scope mounted without any issues. I did have a machine shop countersink the back of the rear ring to match the ocular bell housing so that the scope sits up against the ring and can't move under recoil. A couple of years ago I used that rifle, scope and 250gr TTSX bullet to take a mule deer at 460 yards. I shot twice, hit him twice and had him in the freezer for a few months at least. The older RZ reticles with numbers are among the best practical hunting reticles available and fortunately I have four of the older Conquests and one of the newer HD scopes that all have RZ reticles with numbers. I can't for the life of me imagine why Zeiss eliminated the numbers on the newer RZ reticles. They lost me as a customer when they did that, but with five scopes (three not being used) I probably wasn't going to be in the market for another anyway.
 
The German no 1 reticle is often overlooked here in the states. I have several old Weavers with the post & crosshair & love them as they are quick & great in low light. I guess there is a reason they were the gold standard for snipers for a long time. I called Leupold a while back & they told me they would do a German no 1 for $50. How can you beat that?
 
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