This nostalgic article comes as a retrospective of my Texas Whitetail Hunt where shots are limited 150 yards or often 90 to 100 yards. I was missing my big bore super accurate .375 Ruger with reduced loads.
On that hunt a larger caliber and slower bullet is not necessarily bad, as my 50 cal TC Muzzleloader can attest. But I needed to special order powder and primers to ship ahead. If your shot distances are short, accurate big bore round nose or even flat point should be an option to consider such as a 30-06 or 300 win mag or larger to hammer one down as long as you can shoot it accurately. It just so happens that I own a .375 Ruger that shoots 1/2 inch groups at 100 yards and have taken Red Deer. It is my Hammer when I need one and It was missed.
Bull Moose
American Bison
A full power 300 grain bullet with a full power load out of the .375 is way more than you need producing over 4000 ft-lbs at the muzzle unless you have a Cape Buffalo staring at you with malice, it is not necessary. However a reduced hand load from my loading bench is just the ticket for A Big Bore Hammer when you need one to drop’em where they stand.
Checking my inventory of rifles the .375 Ruger is staring me in the face. Yes my 30-06 is also a great choice with 180 grain bullets such as the Nosler Partition Protected Point.
In retrospect, personally, I have done exhaustive testing with the .375 Ruger years back with reduced loads and worked up loads that were potent for Whitetails and accurate as all get out. I used Speer Hot-Cor™ in 235 grain back in 2014. You can’t get these heads right now. I have two boxes but there are other choices as you will see.
Through the Chronograph they exit the barrel at around 2200 fps (energy for deer needs at least 1000 ft-lbs). Trajectory and energy are as follows and near to my 50 cal Muzzleloader:
Yards Energy ft-lb Drop
- 75 2128 0.3
- 100 2002 0.0
- 125 1881 -0.9
- 150 1767 -2.4
The Barnes Bullet in 235 grain TSX is another great option. See reduced load data at website below.
https://www.chuckhawks.com/reduced_big_bore_loads.htm
A 300 grain TSX with 45 g 5744 will produce a MV of 2000 fps with a ME of 2664 ft lbs and a recoil of 22 ft-lbs.
Accordingly the table looks like this for the 300 grain TSX head that opens up like a buzz saw in .375 size.
Yards Muz Energy Drop
- 75 2275 0.5
- 100 2151 0.0
- 125 2033 -1.1
- 150 1921 -3.0
The .375 Ruger cartridge is so versatile in the appropriate rifle can cleanly kill any game on the planet provided good shot placement. My friend Larry Weishuhn is a .375 Ruger believer and he owns one too. A one rifle for the world kind of gun we say. By hand loading, it can shoot exactly the same as the .38-55 and the .375 Winchester for deer or bear or beefed up can equal or better the .375 H&H Magnum for Brown Bear, Cape Buffalo or Elephant. For those considering Alaska as a hunt destination in your lifetime. I would consider a 375 Ruger Rifle on the future purchase list especially if you hand load.
Good Shooting!
© 2018