Enter The .375 Ruger
The first Hornady/Ruger joint rifle and cartridge venture, the .204 Ruger, debuted nearly three years ago. The first nonwildcat .20-caliber centerfire, it quickly achieved resounding acceptance from varmint and target shooters. Soon, almost all armsmakers added this chambering to their product lines. However, the Hornady/Ruger team's expectation of success for the new big-bore cartridge is likely more subdued.

Using Hornady loading dies, the author assembled .375 Ruger handloads with Speer, Nosler, Hornady, and Swift bullets and Winchester, Hodgdon, Alliant, and Accurate Arms powders.

When a new cartridge is introduced, the question "Why?" naturally follows. In this case, Ruger needed an alternative choice to its excellent but expensive Mark II Magnum rifle, chambered in .375 H&H and .416 Rigby, to compete in this market. The new .375 Ruger Hawkeye African rifle indicates they believe they have a better product to offer today's sportsmen. As you can see in the charts, it fully achieves the design objective to meet or exceed the belted .375 Holland & Holland's performance specs.

The Hornady/Ruger team faces formidable competition in a niche market already well served by the .375 H&H, .378 Weatherby, and .375 Remington Ultra Mag. However, the .375 Ruger cartridge/rifle package is soundly postured, both technically and historically, to successfully meet the challenge.

Handloading The .375 Ruger
When I first saw the new .375 Ruger cartridge, I assumed Hornady achieved its exemplary ballistic performance via heavy magnum propellant chemistry and loading techniques. Therefore, I assumed it was impossible to reload it to factory performance levels.

RUGER'S NEW HAWKEYE RIFLE

The .375 Ruger rifle I used for this report was the African model of Ruger's new Hawkeye bolt-action rifle. It's a very traditional rifle, featuring a cut-checkered American walnut stock and matte-blue chrome-moly barreled action. The bolt is matte-finished stainless steel. The steel floorplate is tastefully embellished with the Ruger eagle logo. The new Hawkeye Alaskan model is less traditional, in that it comes with a black Hogue rubber overmolded stock and 20-inch barrel. Ruger Hawkeye African With Trijicon 3-9X AccuPoint (To enlarge this image, please click HERE The African's 23-inch barrel is fitted with rugged express sights. The rear V-notch blade is solidly attached to a windage-adjustable base. Its bold white vertical bar is readily aligned with a prominent white bead that's set in the front-sight blade. They are regulated for a 50-yard zero. In a recent conversation, Ruger Engineer Todd Wilkinson pointed out that the Hawkeye's fixed sights are much closer to the bore centerline, as compared to a higher mounted scope, so the difference in point of impact at 100 yards is minimal. Of course, the integral scope-base receiver and supplied rings will accommodate most optical sights. I fired three rounds at both 50 and 100 yards without the scope mounted on the rifle, and the vertical difference in point of impact was just about an inch--just as Wilkinson indicated. Shooting The .375 Ruger BULLET POWDER VELOCITY (fps) ENERGY (ft-lbs) RECOIL (ft-lbs.) 100-yd. ACCURACY (inches) (TYPE) (GRS.) Speer 250-gr. TBBC W760 81.0 2837 4468 43.4 3.00 Nosler 260-gr. AccuBond Reloder 15 71.0 2631 3997 36.6 1.30 Hornady 270-gr. SpirePoint AA 4350 78.6 2567 3951 39.7 1.70 Swift 270-gr. A-Frame H380 79.5 2778 4627 45.4 1.30 Hornady 270-gr. SpirePoint FACTORY LOAD 2762 4574 47.1 2.40 Hornady 300-gr. RN FACTORY LOAD 2682 4792 50.2 2.80 NOTES: Accuracy is the average of three five-shot groups fired from a sandbag benchrest at 100 yards. Velocity is the average of five rounds measured eight feet from the gun's muzzle. The Hawkeye African rifle's weight is nine pounds with scope. I have an early prototype of the original Mark II Magnum bolt action chambered in .416 Rigby, so I could compare it to the review rifle. The first thing you notice is the new Hawkeye model weighs at least two pounds less. The Magnum's multiple-leaf rear sight is mounted on a stout quarter rib integral with the barrel. The capability to select a different rear-sight blade could be nebulous in the unpredictable and potentially chaotic situation one might expect when hunting dangerous game. Model 77 Mark II Magnum (top); Hawkeye African (bottom) The review rifle has a nice stained walnut stock with minimal figure, while the Mark II Magnum's Circassian wood is simply beautiful. The Magnum's barreled action is highly polished and blued. Both have a stout crossbolt mounted just behind the angled recoil lug to reinforce the stock. However, the Mark II Magnum's special features and massive magnum-sized action double its MSRP compared to the new Hawkeye African rifle. The Hawkeye model is the third generation in Ruger's bolt-action rifle lineage, which dates back to 1967. Its stock retains the classic shape prescribed by Lenard Brownell for the original Model 77. Two features of the Hawkeye model that remind me of the original Model 77 include the trimly contoured forearm that hugs the oversized barrel and the red rubber recoil pad. The pad is more resilient than ever, but even it can't actually tame the .375 Ruger's severe recoil. Another feature of the new Hawkeye rifle deserves special attention, too. When the Mark II version of the Model 77 was introduced nearly 20 years ago, one of the least visible but most noted changes was the trigger. While the original Model 77 had a fully adjustable trigger, the Mark II trigger was purposely redesigned so that it was not adjustable. Gunsmithing to smooth it up and reduce trigger pull was an iffy proposition at best. I own several Mark IIs, and the trigger qualities--pull weight, creep, and overtravel--range from pretty good to pretty lousy. The new Hawkeye features Ruger's improved LC6 trigger that promises to provide consistently better performance. .375 CARTRIDGE BALLISTICS CART. BAR. LENGTH (in.) M.A.P. PSI WEIGHT (grs.) MUZZ. VEL. (fps) MUZZ. ENG. (ft-lbs.) 300-YD. DROP* (in.) CASE CAP.** (wtr grs.) PWDR. CHRG. RIFLE (lbs.) RECOIL (ft-lbs.)*** .375 Ruger 20 62,000 270 2840 4835 8.0 91 80 9 47.7 .375 Ruger 20 62,000 300 2660 4713 10.8     .375 H&H 24 62,000 270 2690 4337 10.0 89 79 8.5 44.9 .375 H&H 24 62,000 300 2530 4265 11.5     ,375 RUM 24 65,000 270 2900 5041 8.9 108 93 9 55.4 .375 RUM 24 65,000 300 2760 5073 8.8     .378 WBY 26 4370 (bar) 270 3180 6062 6.0 124 115 10.5 67.7 .378 WBY 26 4370 (bar) 300 2925 5699 8.5   * Rifle was sighted-in with a 200-yd. zero; **To the base of the bullet; *** With 270-gr. bullets Albeit belatedly, Ruger had actually recognized customers' dissatisfaction with the Mark II's trigger, and the engineers were directed to correct the situation. Wilkinson explained, "We reduced the trigger mass and changed the sear engagement angles slightly to lighten the trigger pull to an average of 4 to 4.25 pounds." I thought about that a moment and replied, "You mean you lightened the trigger in order to lighten the trigger, right?" Wilkinson chuckled and responded, "Exactly!"The external rear surface of the LC6 trigger is slotted to help reduce its overall mass. This distinctive feature readily differentiates the new trigger from the Mark II design. It's still not adjustable, but I've handled several recent production rifles, and their triggers were pretty good. As you can see in the accompanying charts, the .375 Ruger Hawkeye African model delivered on its performance objectives. This was my first opportunity to shoot a lightweight, large-caliber, dangerous-game rifle. I fired 120 rounds of factory ammo and handloads--most from the bench--in two extended sessions at the range. The .375 Ruger's ballistics proved to be on par with the proven performance of the .375 H&H Magnum. Another chart notes the typical recoil energy generated by the .375 magnum rifles fitted with approximately 1.25 pounds of optics and mounts. Recoil is markedly greater when shooting 300-grain factory ammo without the scope and mounts. As you can see, the .375 Ruger will hammer you about like the .375 H&H does in a comparable rifle. The Remington Ultra Mag and Weatherby loads are in a class of their own--that is, recoil runs from 20 to 50 percent higher. In comparison, an 8.25-pound .30-06 rifle (with scope) firing a 180-grain bullet (over a 58-grain powder charge) at 2700 fps generates 21 ft-lbs of recoil. Shooting any of these rifles is not the most pleasant thing you can do on a nice afternoon at the range. But this cartridge was not designed for that; it was created for hunting dangerous game. Loaded with 270- or 250-grain bullets at up to almost 3000 fps, the .375 Ruger would be a fine round for hunting Africa, and it would be great for elk and big bears. Actually, I suspect it's in for a serious battle to approach parity with the .375 H&H's popularity, but not because it lacks in performance! Let the competition begin.

"Not so," exclaimed Hornady's Steve Johnson when I discussed the new round with him. "The .375 Ruger actually has about six percent more case capacity than the .375 H&H. So it should be easy enough to meet or beat that round's performance with several propellants available to handloaders."

"Do you have loading data?" I asked.

"Not just yet," he replied. "We're still finalizing the factory ammo specs for the 300-grain FMJ loading. We have reloading dies, and of course, the .375 Ruger fits the same No. 5 shellholder as the belted magnums. I'll put together a package of ammo, brass, dies, and some bullets and ship them out next week."

While I waited for the shipment, I pulled out my trusty Powley slide rule to compute which and how much propellant to load with 270-grain bullets. Unlike the more recent PC-based programs like Quick Load or Load-From-A-Disk, you don't need case dimensions to use Powley load, velocity, and pressure calculators. It was designed to predict which IMR powder was suitable to generate 50,000 CUP/PSI--back when copper units of pressure were considered essentially equivalent to pounds per square inch; but that's another story.