Opinions please: Pros/Cons of .375 Ruger vs .375 H&H

[colorado]

375 Ruger

375 H&H

 

[akrifleman]

375 Ruger

375 H&H

How is your mistress the Ruger? And how is a picture of a new model the H&H? If your gonna post a pic, at least try and be clever...

If you'd have put say Hedy Lamar as the H&H and then some modern flash in the pan, you'd have at least been clever. This just makes your joke even dumber without context. Come on man, step it up.

 

[Daisy]

How is your mistress the Ruger? And how is a picture of a new model the H&H? If your gonna post a pic, at least try and be clever...

If you'd have put say Hedy Lamar as the H&H and then some modern flash in the pan, you'd have at least been clever. This just makes your joke even dumber without context. Come on man, step it up.

Was gonna say the same thing. At least hit the golf ball that’s up on a tee

 

[Tex .416]

375 Ruger

375 H&H

.416 Rigby

 

[akrifleman]

.416 Rigby

View attachment 676466

Ooooh... Nice choice... A true classic, that one.

 

[Tanks]

In the early stages of considering another trip to Africa and possibly Cape Buffalo and plains game. Not looking to spend $ thousands on a rifle I may or may never use. I reload several calibers and could load either .375. Mossberg, Ruger, Savage rifles available in the .375 Ruger. Thoughts?

Both are rat calibers and marginal for DG.

 

[generalzip]

I recently went through this debate. There are pros and cons to both. I ended up with a 375 Ruger for the following reasons:

1. More production rifles at a reasonable price available thanks to Ruger. I bought a Ruger Hawkeye FTW 375 Ruger. Vx3i 3.5-10 scope in Spuhr rings, silencerco muzzle brake and silencerco Hybrid. Toying with the idea of chopping it to 18.5" but want to see how it balances and shoots as is first.
2. Its simply a better case design. I'm not sure how anyone without bias could argue this. Shorter to fit in a shorter lighter action. More case capacity for 100fps more even in shorter barrels than the H&H. Removal of the stupid belt that is obsolete on modern firearms.
3. Same or greater ballistics in a shorter barrel. Shorter barrels are very handy for a brush gun or in places like Africa especially if you want to shoot with a suppressor.
4. Good factory ammo from Hornady and I hear they are doing a run of brass in June you can stockpile up on.
5. The 375 is inherently a more accurate cartridge (This is conjecture from many wiser than I)

The only disadvantages are 1 less round in the magazine. Factory ammo availability, but if you reload it's a moot point really. Those are the only ones I can really think of, so for me the pros for the Ruger outweighed it's cons. Perhaps one could say the H&H may feed more reliably, but I have not read of a single complaint of a 375 Ruger not feeding reliably so I did not consider this in my comparison because from my research they seem equally reliable in quality modern rifles.

Holding on to a caliber because of nostalgia is fine, but don't sit and act like it's a better cartridge by design because it is objectively not all other things equal.

 

[KJE81]

I went with .375 H&H even thought it made my custom rifle about 25-30 percent more expensive then it would have been with the .375 Ruger as chambering, the reason being that I think the .375 H&H is more classical for Africa, the increased ammo availability and I must confess also because I think that the .375 H&H as a cartridge looks more classy

 

[Daisy]

 

[Tony Landino]

Ammo availability is the major issue

 

[jimbo1972]

Ammo availability is the major issue

Not as of right now. Not cheap but easily available

 

[generalzip]

Not as of right now. Not cheap but easily available

In general the bullet selection in factory ammo is much better with the h&h. To me it really boils down to this. If you hand load the 375 Ruger is a much better cartridge. If you don’t, the h&h is probably the better option because it’s here to stay for sure and there’s lots of bullet options. The hornady options aren’t bad but who knows how long they will produce it for and if the round you want doesn’t shoot well in your gun you’re kind of screwed

 

[375er]

Another point being if you are in Africa you can practically trip over every 3rd rock and find 375 H&H ammo. Ruger not so much.

 

[generalzip]

Another point being if you are in Africa you can practically trip over every 3rd rock and find 375 H&H ammo. Ruger not so much.

While true I personally wouldn’t care about this. If it’s not my gun with my ammo I’m not screwing around with an unknown variable. I’m renting a gun from the outfitter and dine with it. They will know it’s sighted in and reliable. I’m not going to last minute change loads to some unknown bullet or load in my rifle I haven’t thoroughly tested. Especially if I’m hunting dangerous game.

 

[375Fox]

Not as of right now. Not cheap but easily available

From only 1 source Hornady.

 

[dogcat1]

The .375 HH will ALWAYS be the preferred rifle in Africa. The Ruger is fine, does good things, but cannot ever replace the H&H.
I have shot about 12-15 different .375 HH's and all perform. No matter the ammo.

 

[CoElkHunter]

The .375 HH will ALWAYS be the preferred rifle in Africa. The Ruger is fine, does good things, but cannot ever replace the H&H.
I have shot about 12-15 different .375 HH's and all perform. No matter the ammo.

I agree, but my .375 Ruger Guide Gun with a 20” barrel is a sweet shooting rifle. But, I still enjoy my Whitworth and CZ 550 .375 H&H Magnums. The .375 H&H is still the king for many reasons.

 

[generalzip]

I agree, but my .375 Ruger Guide Gun with a 20” barrel is a sweet shooting rifle. But, I still enjoy my Whitworth and CZ 550 .375 H&H Magnums. The .375 H&H is still the king for many reasons.

It’s the “king” for one reason and one reason alone. It’s been around forever so many rifles were chambered in it. The 375 ruger is a “better” round in every way you can objectively measure. I’ve yet to see one person make a point as to how it’s better than the ruger. The only 2 I can think of is ammo availability (has nothing to do with the actual cartridge itself) and you can likely fit 1 more round in a similar sized mag. That’s the only two. Otherwise h&h is slower for the same recoil, longer and heavier action, longer barrels required for same velocity, more expensive ammo, and a stupid belt that’s outdated.

The animal won’t know the difference of what it’s hit by, but if you hand load why choose a h&h? You can get a shorter lighter higher performing rifle in 375 ruger instead. For less money as well. Some people just want the classic vibe with a classic gun for Africa. And for that, no cartridge from this century will scratch that itch. But that does not make it “king”. Just old and well established. Like saying the 308 is king when for hunting a 6.5 Creedmoor is proven to be better in basically every way.

 

[375Fox]

It’s the “king” for one reason and one reason alone. It’s been around forever so many rifles were chambered in it. The 375 ruger is a “better” round in every way you can objectively measure. I’ve yet to see one person make a point as to how it’s better than the ruger. The only 2 I can think of is ammo availability (has nothing to do with the actual cartridge itself) and you can likely fit 1 more round in a similar sized mag. That’s the only two. Otherwise h&h is slower for the same recoil, longer and heavier action, longer barrels required for same velocity, more expensive ammo, and a stupid belt that’s outdated.

The animal won’t know the difference of what it’s hit by, but if you hand load why choose a h&h? You can get a shorter lighter higher performing rifle in 375 ruger instead. For less money as well. Some people just want the classic vibe with a classic gun for Africa. And for that, no cartridge from this century will scratch that itch. But that does not make it “king”. Just old and well established. Like saying the 308 is king when for hunting a 6.5 Creedmoor is proven to be better in basically every way.

The more I’m on AH I realize most people participating choose not to read or acknowledge things that are inconvenient. You’ve really not seen one single point made as to how the H&H is better than the Ruger? You can objectively measure these and put a number to them. How many rifle manufacturers make a 375 Ruger? How many ammo manufacturers make 375 Ruger? How many brass manufacturers make 375 Ruger? The 375 Ruger may be a superior cartridge, but the rifle availability and ammo/brass availability is not. 375 Ruger is really a choice of how much you like Ruger rifles paired with Hornady ammunition. The 375 H&H is available from a large number of quality rifle manufacturers past and present and ammo and brass is widely available. If 375 Ruger were available from other quality manufacturers this would be a different discussion, but unless you’d like a custom rifle that isn’t an option.

 

[DLSJR]

The more I’m on AH I realize most people participating choose not to read or acknowledge things that are inconvenient. You’ve really not seen one single point made as to how the H&H is better than the Ruger? You can objectively measure these and put a number to them. How many rifle manufacturers make a 375 Ruger? How many ammo manufacturers make 375 Ruger? How many brass manufacturers make 375 Ruger? The 375 Ruger may be a superior cartridge, but the rifle availability and ammo/brass availability is not. 375 Ruger is really a choice of how much you like Ruger rifles paired with Hornady ammunition. The 375 H&H is available from a large number of quality rifle manufacturers past and present and ammo and brass is widely available. If 375 Ruger were available from other quality manufacturers this would be a different discussion, but unless you’d like a custom rifle that isn’t an option.

This sums it up nicely. The cold hard truth is that neither kills game such as buffalo any deader than the other. No animal shot with either cartridge’s bullet will know the difference. For me, the H&H was the logical choice and there isn’t a single time I’ve regretted that choice. It’s simply excellent.

I’ll be shooting a 375 Ruger on a hunt next year, but only because that’s what my PH has in the Congo and I can’t take my own rifle there. Shooting a Bongo at 10 yards, it won’t matter what I’m shooting.