Ruger No. 1 375 H&H range report

[Cosmoline]

Wow. Just did some shooting with the cream of my crop--a beat-up but functional No. 1 Tropical in 375 H&H magnum. It's going to be the go-to bear gun for my new homestead, complete with tactical light (yes, that's what I said). With five dog pens and the smell of dog food in the air, I'm anticipating trouble. And I remember seeing brownie prints in that area a few years back (Willow, near the Susitna) that were *impressive* to say the least. My size 13 boot fit well inside the enormous footprint.

Anyway, the last No. 1 I owned was a .45-70, and it had a BRUTAL kick with buf. bore and similar handloads. It was also not the most accurate rifle in the world.

This No. 1 is quite a bit heavier than my last, with a very thick heavy barrel. It fell off a cliff on a remote Alaska island, but still functions fine. Group size at 50 yards was 2" semi-rested, but that was with a terrible sun in my face. I expect to get that down to 1", but I'm going to do most of my practicing with quick off-hand shots since that's what I'm likely to use it for. Recoil with standard 270 grainers was not bad at all. Certainly nothing like the .45-70 with hot loads.

My biggest problem with it is the expense of ammo. This is one I'm going to have to handload for sure--or go bankrupt! The prices are absurdly high, and nobody seems to make inexpensive target loads. On the plus side, there are some awesome commercial high-end loads on the shelves. Even some custom production runs loaded with Barnes-X bullets! Never seen that before. I could just save the ammo I have and not shoot it, but I figure if I ever need this rifle I'm REALLY going to need it, and I can't miss. So I'd better practice a lot with it.

 

[Dave T]

I have wanted one of those (#1 in 375 H&H) for a long time. It would be the ultimate classic for me. Trouble is, I can't for the life of me come up with any kind of justification. What it actually would be is the "classic" toy.

 

[Al Thompson]

You are practicing the rapid reload drills aren't you? If you'll hold the extra rounds between the fingers of your weak side hand, it's surprisingly quick to drop the lever, grab one of your spare rounds and reload. Heck of a lot eaiser to show than describe..

 

[Glamdring]

A No 1 in 375 is the next rifle I plan to buy (still have one or two CCW handguns to get).

What are the prices that your seeing for ammo?

I'll admit I have already started buying ammo for the 375 (have one box of Federal's 300 grain Trophy Bonded Solids). I hope to have about 8 boxes of ammo before I get the rifle.

Planning one box of Speers AGS-Solid and a couple boxes of Federal Trophy bonded 300 grain Bearclaws. And couple boxes of Winchesters 270 grain failsafe and a couple boxes of Hornady 270.

Figure that should give me enough brass to start with, plus I will be able to figure out what bullets it likes.

 

[Gewehr98]

Shucks, I was thinking about rechambering my #1S...

From .45-70 to .458 Lott (Screw the .458 Win Mag), because the Buffalo Bore and Garrett Hammerhead loads were feeling just fine to me, as were my own Beartooth 405gr 2000 fps numbers. Accurate, too!

 

[Cosmoline]

Good tip on holding the ammo in the off hand. I've heard about that before, but never tried it.

In real life, the best I expect to do is get one shot off, then throw the rifle at the bear and run away

 

[Al Thompson]

While it's not as fast as a bolt gun, it's no slouch either. Hold the cartridges with the bullets in, base out, between the fingers of your off hand. Fire, slap the lever open, grab new cartridge from between fingers of off hand, shove in chamber, bring lever up and re-engage.

With a little practice, it works like a champ.

 

[tex_n_cal]

Well, I have one of late 70's vintage. It's hard to control with full power loads, but it shoots well if you hold on.

MIne seems to really like the 285 Speer GS, with lots of Varget.

It REALLY likes light loads though, and is amazingly accurate with 375 Win equivalent loads and Hornady 220's