Will 375/416 Ruger Survive?

[off road]

From another post, there seems to be some question whether the Ruger only loads will survive over time. http://www.rugerforum.com/phpBB/viewtopic.php?t=98637

My son and I fired the 416 the other day, and fell in love with the handy rifle! While we don't really need a dangerous game rifle where we live now (I have a Marlin .45-70 Guide Gun anyway), I am a former Alaskan resident and my son would like to return there some day. Would go .357, which is probably overkill for even the biggest bears.

Any guess on what ammo availability will be like in the future?

 

[wwb]

..........
Any guess on what ammo availability will be like in the future?

Just a guess, but I'd wager it's going to become very hard to come by. If you own a rifle and like the caliber, get a boatload of brass now, and take up reloading if you aren't already a reloader.

Nothing wrong with the RCMs, but they don't offer anything that really stands out from the more established cartridges, making long-term survival unlikely.

 

[Sugar River]

First off, the 375 and 416 are NOT RCMs. They're based on a full (30-06) length cartridge.

Second, in the first 12 months of production, Ruger sold over 8,000 375s. That, my friends, is a staggering number of rifles in that category.

Third, according to professional guides in AK, the 375 Ruger has taken the state by storm and has become extremely popular.

If you are still worried about future brass availibility, buy a couple hundred rounds and rock on.

Pete

 

[Rocdoc]

375 Ruger seems to be very well received. As previous posted said, just buy a bunch of brass, much easier to find these days than a year or two ago. Get a bunch of brass, a set of dies and you'll be set for life. Popularity or potential limited life never sway my opinion of a cartridge, if I want it I get it and go the brass/die route to feed it from now on.

 

[mike-c]

Greetings All,

I own a 375 bolt action Alaskan version, and a 416 stainless number 1. Got more brass coming, and I like them both. Good rounds for anything that walks on this earth.

Mike 8)

 

[buckeyeshooter]

I'll venture a big "NO". They are nice light rifles, but frankly do not hold a candle to the recently discontinued RSM's in 375 H+H, 416 Rigby and 459 Lott. Those were fine guns!

 

[sp]

Yes, the .375 Ruger Mag should survive.

Ballistically the .375 Ruger mag is slightly better than the famous .375 H&H with the advantage that it fits into a regular long action M77, MK II except for the bolt face and probably magazine modifications.

Trajectory ballistics of the .375 R Mag with the 270 gr. are very close to the .30-06 with 180 gr. - 90 gr. more bullet weight and .067 inch larger bullet diameter.

I don't know about the .416 version. My thoughts are that it would be primarily a close range large beast shooter and that would limit its use.

I like the .375 260 gr Nosler, 250 gr Sierra GK, and 270 Hornady SP in my .375 wildcat, that is sort of like the .375 Ruger Mag. Despite the recoil and expense these are fun to shoot at targets like steel plates up to 400 yards and I am told that they are real effective on North American large game.

 

[4Sixteen]

I really like my 416 Ruger Alaskan, shown here with a Leupold 4x compact scope. No worries ever about finding ammo for it because I handload my own. I bought an ample supply of brass so I will be doing a lot of shooting with it for a long, long time.

The 416 Ruger has long range capabilities when loaded with Barnes X bullets.

 

[Stump Buster]

If a major ammo company brings out a load with the new 350gr. Barnes TippedTSX bullet at around 2550fps in the 416 Ruger, I think the rifle and ammo would sell MUCH better here in the US and Australia (probably even Africa).

My replacement 416 just got in last week and I've only been able to sneak off to the range for a quick 10 shot test (so far so good). The recipe above is what I plan on loading up for this rifle when I get my loading room all set up.

I hope they (the 375&416) both live long happy lives and I hope Ruger get's the stock issues sorted out with the 416 African so I can buy a wood stock for this thing soon (although, I am one of the folks who has no issues with the Hogue stock, it would be nice to dress her up for summertime treks :wink: ).

Stump

(eta: 4Sixteen....Thanks for the Photo!!!)

 

[sp]

About the stock issues -- I take this is with wood stocks.

I have a .375-.338 that has a laminated stock and was once a .338 Win mag. I first epoxy bedded the stock then after about 100 rounds I noticed the stock behind the tang started to break. This was sort of like a compression that started a chip just behind the tang. I rebedded the rifle using Brownells stainless steel bedding compound, cut a 1/16 inch gap in the stock just behind the tang, contact bedded the entire barrel with the stock with regular epoxy gel (nylon) bedding and made cross bolt just behing the locking lug using a 1/8 stainless machine screw. If the tang problem did not go away I planned to make another recoil lug attached to the barrel. I did not have to, some 400-500 rounds later no stock damage.

My impressions of the recoil is that it does not hurt as much as the .338 that really stung with 250 gr. bullets with 67 gr H4350.

I would guess that Ruger has reinforced their wood stocks on the .375 Rugers so they can take recoil. My thoughts on this is the recoil lug on the MKII could be bigger. The Ruger magnum rifles probably have an added recoil lug attached to the barrel.

If a .375 Ruger bites the .416 Ruger would bite more. A pointy .350 gr. bullet at over 2500 fps would probably reach out there and make the rilfle more useful. My knowledge, that is limited to reading stories about African hunting big beasts, leads me to believe that velocities about 2200 - 2400 with 400 grain would be used for animals that I could only see in a zoo.

 

[4Sixteen]

The look of that 416 caliber barrel provides me with a certain level of confidence that lesser calibers might not when hunting in big bear country -

 

[martyj]

375 out of the African series rifle shoots 1 MOA which is very good for that large of caliber. Im really impressed with this cartridge and the rifle.

 

[Sugar River]

As an addendum, I see that Howa is now chambering rifles in the 375 Ruger, and CZ is offering both the 375 and 416.


Pete