Post by Junior on Apr 4, 2021 0:51:06 GMT -7
I know Ive mentioned this rifle on the forums before, but figured it was time to get into more detail on it.
It all began last moose season when I passed up a shot right at dusk when I just wasn't comfortable making a 220 yard shot with the iron sights on my 458 Win mag when i couldnt make out my target well enough, let alone compensate for the drop of the 500 grain bullet. My initial plan was to just put a scope on the Remington 700 458, which lead into my research on low power scopes and big bores, and the topic of a upcoming article I am having published.
While researching, i got to thunking that it would be cool to have kind of a "do it all" big game hunting rifle for here in Alaska. The 458 in a fun gun, but not the best for all around hunting as it is quite heavy, and cumbersome with the 24" heavy bull barrel. I've been curious about the 375 and 416 ruger cartridges for quite some time, and decided on the 375 Ruger because of the flatter trajectory.
So the hunt began for the right rifle. There are quite a few companies making 375 rugers now, including Mossberg who makes a great entry level big bore rifle. Ruger makes two basic models of their Hawkeye rifle, one with a 20" barrel and one with e 24" barrel. The current versions of these rifle all have threaded muzzles and come equip with a brake. I also decided that since I shoot left hnaded, i would go with a left handed rifle, something I have never owned before. After a lot of hunting I found a great deal on a NIB old stock Ruger left handed Alaskan guide model. This was a early rifle without the threaded muzzle, and I was able to get it for $850 to my dealer which is about 400 bucks cheaoper then dealer price on them. I topped the rifle with a Vortex Viper 1-6x24 and outfitted it with the leather sling.
When I first got the rifle, I did not anticipate people panic buying 375 reloading components, but I was wrong to assume that. It bought a couple boxes of factory ammo, and shot it just enough to sight it in, but at 4 bucks a round i didnt shoot it very much. It took quite a while to find dies and everything else I needed. in this time, I went ahead and did a bedding job on the rifle as well as worked over the trigger and slicked up the action, and hand lapped the barrel.
The only bullets I could get my hands on were 250gn Barnes TTSX, and i bought 400 of them because who knows when Ill be able to find more bullets. The lee dies where another bit of bitternes as they must have been defective. The decapping pin snapped off on the second case I sized, which sucks since Lee uses a one piece decapping rod. the inside of the die must also be rough, because it sticks cases no matter how much lube I use, even neck sizing. Either way, i was able to get something set up that works that allowed me to load ammo finally.
starting with 80gn OF H380 I shot the first three round group just under 1" at 100 yards. most ruger rifles I have had like to be loaded hot, and this one was no different. My final load of 83gn of H380 with the federal magnum primer pushed that 250gn barnes bullet a average of 2830 FPS and shot a a 100 yard 5 round group of .64", which is more the acceptable for a hunting rifle.
Ive got a trip planned for the first week of may to Yakutat to go fishing and hunting with some of the guys from church, and plan on taking this rifle and hope to whack a spring brown bear with it while down there.
It all began last moose season when I passed up a shot right at dusk when I just wasn't comfortable making a 220 yard shot with the iron sights on my 458 Win mag when i couldnt make out my target well enough, let alone compensate for the drop of the 500 grain bullet. My initial plan was to just put a scope on the Remington 700 458, which lead into my research on low power scopes and big bores, and the topic of a upcoming article I am having published.
While researching, i got to thunking that it would be cool to have kind of a "do it all" big game hunting rifle for here in Alaska. The 458 in a fun gun, but not the best for all around hunting as it is quite heavy, and cumbersome with the 24" heavy bull barrel. I've been curious about the 375 and 416 ruger cartridges for quite some time, and decided on the 375 Ruger because of the flatter trajectory.
So the hunt began for the right rifle. There are quite a few companies making 375 rugers now, including Mossberg who makes a great entry level big bore rifle. Ruger makes two basic models of their Hawkeye rifle, one with a 20" barrel and one with e 24" barrel. The current versions of these rifle all have threaded muzzles and come equip with a brake. I also decided that since I shoot left hnaded, i would go with a left handed rifle, something I have never owned before. After a lot of hunting I found a great deal on a NIB old stock Ruger left handed Alaskan guide model. This was a early rifle without the threaded muzzle, and I was able to get it for $850 to my dealer which is about 400 bucks cheaoper then dealer price on them. I topped the rifle with a Vortex Viper 1-6x24 and outfitted it with the leather sling.
When I first got the rifle, I did not anticipate people panic buying 375 reloading components, but I was wrong to assume that. It bought a couple boxes of factory ammo, and shot it just enough to sight it in, but at 4 bucks a round i didnt shoot it very much. It took quite a while to find dies and everything else I needed. in this time, I went ahead and did a bedding job on the rifle as well as worked over the trigger and slicked up the action, and hand lapped the barrel.
The only bullets I could get my hands on were 250gn Barnes TTSX, and i bought 400 of them because who knows when Ill be able to find more bullets. The lee dies where another bit of bitternes as they must have been defective. The decapping pin snapped off on the second case I sized, which sucks since Lee uses a one piece decapping rod. the inside of the die must also be rough, because it sticks cases no matter how much lube I use, even neck sizing. Either way, i was able to get something set up that works that allowed me to load ammo finally.
starting with 80gn OF H380 I shot the first three round group just under 1" at 100 yards. most ruger rifles I have had like to be loaded hot, and this one was no different. My final load of 83gn of H380 with the federal magnum primer pushed that 250gn barnes bullet a average of 2830 FPS and shot a a 100 yard 5 round group of .64", which is more the acceptable for a hunting rifle.
Ive got a trip planned for the first week of may to Yakutat to go fishing and hunting with some of the guys from church, and plan on taking this rifle and hope to whack a spring brown bear with it while down there.
