Finally Shot the New .375 H&H

[Jeff Higgins]

It looks like it's a keeper. I mounted up an old Leupold (what else?) 1.5-4x scope and took the new Ruger #1 Tropical Rifle to the range today. I brought along the old standby Winchester Model 70 as well, just by way of a side by side comparison. Here are the rifles:



The M70 has always shot well, with just about any 300 grain bullet and a number of different powders. One of its favorite loads is the Sierra 300 grain boat tail over 79 grains of W-W 760, for about 2536 fps.

As luck would have it, they actually chamber in the #1 after having been fireformed in the M70. I prefer not to full length resize, especially with the extremely tapered .375 H&H case. So this was a stroke of good luck. Cases fired in the #1 also chamber in the M70, so it looks like I'm business from that standpoint.

Even luckier, the #1 seems to like them. It shoots them well enough, considering they were worked up specifically for another rifle. I would love to have one load that is used in both. I have found .375's (and I've been through a few...) to be generally friendly rifles, shooting just about any reasonable combination reasonably well. Anyway, one of the 100 yard targets:



Bottom three are the M70 (I was using the bottom of the bull as an aiming point) and the top three are the #1. Nowhere near match accuracy, nowhere near varmint rifle accuracy, but certainly good enough for a pair of hunting rifles generating darn near 4,500 ft lbs of muzzle energy. Certainly good enough to hit anything I'm likely to point them at.

[SlowToady]

Certainly good enough to hit anything I'm likely to point them at.

And molly-wop the hell out of:-D

Good looking groups for a hunting rifle of that caliber. Fine looking tools you have there, Mr. Higgins. I've recently tossed around the idea of getting a Browning X-Bolt in, say, 7mm WSM, but then the reality of my bank account slaps me

ps: That *is* a stroke of good fortune to get the fire formed brass to switch rifles. Very cool, and lucky you!

[9dreizig]

Jeff, good looking gun!! I love my Winchester Classic 70.. I however had three inches whacked off the end and it makes a HUGE difference in balance. What do you plan to kill with it ?? I like the extra few rounds in my 70 since I hunt brown bears with it..

[Jeff Higgins]

I do the vast majority of my hunting with muzzle loaders or revolvers. Including bird hunting with a side by side 10 guage, believe it or not. I own very few "modern" rifles or rifles in "modern" calibers. Even my varmint rifle is a '30's era chambering - the .220 Swift (in a custom Ruger #1, by the way). So, when I head for open country and need a flat shooting rifle, I normally grab a modern, flat shooting, bottlenecked chambering - the 1912 vintage .375 H&H. I have used one all of my life for game ranging from pronghorn to caribou. Deer, elk, black bear - you name it. It shoots as flat as a 180 grain .30-'06 load. The heavily constructed bullets and moderate velocity combine for full penetration on everything I have ever hit, with far less meat damage than lighter bullets at higher velocities. So, essentially, if I'm hunting any sort of game with a "modern" rifle in open country, that's what I grab.

[pwd72s]

over 4,000 ft. lbs.??? You do indeed believe in the "big club" theory. I like the shorter length of the #1...easier in the dense brush of the western Cascades.

[Jeff Higgins]

I do like the short length and good balance of the #1. Coupled with a low power scope it is, for me anyway, one of the great all-time hunting rifles. It is a single shot of and for our generation, and can hold a candle to any of the greats from the 19th century. It has classic lines combined with modern function. It can be (and has been) chambered in any rifle or revolver cartridge from the .22 rimfire up to the .600 Nitro Express. It is somewhat unique in the world of single shots, it that it readily accepts rimmed, rimless, and belted cases where most will only accept rimmed. Ruger hit a home run with this one.