New Thumper for me. Ruger Hawkeye Alaskan SS 375 Ruger

[bearcove]

Go pick it up tomorrow at GS. Been looking for this for a while. Still looking for one in 416 Ruger. This one was a closet queen, guy bought it and never shot it. Used Unfired. Ordered dies and brass and some blem bullets. GS doesn't have any 375 stuff but does have 416 Ruger brass on their resale shelf. One reason I looked for a 375 is 416 brass was unobtanium. Think I'll pick up the brass too.

[UBER7MM]

Sounds pretty good. Let us know how it works. .375" bore in a standard 30'06 action length. Have you found reloading data for such this unique cartridge yet?

[bearcove]

Yeah I go to Hodgden and find data for 6 bullet wts I think. Ballistic twin to the 375 H&H shorter action. My Mdl 70 375 H&H had too long of a throw. Had to bring the gun down to cycle. The Ruger works nice without losing sight picture. I REALLY like the iron sights! Throw it up and V groove with white line front with white dot pop right up. Have a Leopold VX-3 2-8 for it for hunting. As a beach carry gun it will be with irons. Very handy!

[35 shooter]

Don't ya love running into deals like that you've been waiting on? Especially unfired at a used price!! I would be sorely tempted if i ran across one like that in 375 ruger...good find!!

[smoked turkey]

My son has one of those. I shot it and will say it seemed equivalent to the 375 H&H in a shorter package. I really like it and I am thinking you will too. I say yeah I would go ahead and pick up the 416 brass. It is good to plan ahead. :).

[TXGunNut]

I saw several for sale awhile back, very lightly used. Seems the term "thumper" is pretty accurate, lol. I have enough thumpers and brass issues already but I thought they were very nice rifles, and I don't particularly like Rugers.

[bearcove]

I do a lot of preplanning the scope was for the 416 first, or 375 ruger, christmas gift from wife 3 yrs ago. I get real specific on some things. Went to buy gun and found I couldn't get one, they didn't make them no more. Oh well, still looking for a 416.

Yeah I'll get the 416 brass then when I find a 416 I'll have to buy it cause of all the money I have invested in it already. LOL!

[bearcove]

I saw several for sale awhile back, very lightly used. Seems the term "thumper" is pretty accurate, lol. I have enough thumpers and brass issues already but I thought they were very nice rifles, and I don't particularly like Rugers.

I really like the Ruger Hawkeyes

[dougader]

I saw one go for a good price on gb. If I hadn't spent so much at Christmas, I would have bid on that 375 Ruger Alaskan. What a great cast boolit Thumper for deer, elk, moose, and bear.

[TXGunNut]

I really like the Ruger Hawkeyes


Just bought one in 35 Whelen, starting to warm up to them a bit. ;-) I've been keeping a 30-06 stainless/composite M77 stashed away on hunting trips for years to keep my pretty Winchesters from getting rained on. It shoots as well as or better than most of my pretty rifles. Just a little hard to warm up to.
I don't much care for the stock/barrel interference fit but it works on my M77, hopefully it will work on my Hawkeye. Some days the M77 stock fits me better than my Winchesters but I still prefer the M70. Bolt and safety are close enough to the same, no transition issues.

[bearcove]

What I really like is when I shoulder this rifle the iron sights are lined up perfect. Rifle fits me. Just put the dot on the spot I want. Boom. Trigger is nice, much better than my Rem or win or savage.

Will carry with iron sights, only scope for hunts.

[TXGunNut]

There's something about a rifle that fits me like a M77 does. I guess I'm learning to appreciate that more as I learn to shoot shotguns.

[TXGunNut]

Saw a nice 375 yesterday but my project list is full and my pocketbook is empty. Shot my 35 Whelen today and I'm really warming up to these Hawkeyes. They even had some Hornady brass for your 375.

[bearcove]

Brass dies and bullets coming from midway. Wanted to buy a box of ammo at gun shop but not gonna pay $60 for 20rds.

[Geraldo]

I can't wait to hear more about it. I'd love to have a .416 Hawkeye African, or a Savage if they would chamber their 116 Alaskan in .416 (they already chamber it in .375 Ruger).

[bearcove]

Want a 416 but never seen one. I don't need it as the 375 will take care of anything in Alaska. I'm excited that it only weighs 7 pounds and change. I got rid of my 375 H&H cause 10+ lbs was too much. The Ruger Alaskan is a handy piece, with just iron sights on it is a great gun if you want to carry a gun for bear protection. I will use it a lot. Put on my VX-3 2.5x8 and it will be great to hunt with. I'm interested to see how well the scope holds zero when removed and replaced. If it does well at that I will be very happy and won't use my 35 whelen much.

[warboar_21]

Congrats on the find.

A few months ago I bought a new old stock African in 375 Ruger and left handed. Couldn't pass up the deal that CDNN was running for them. With the newer ones having that awful looking muzzle brake hanging off of them, I just didn't care for them. Anyways I really love the rifle. I thought the same thing you did with the iron sights. They are quick at picking up a target and when I bring the rifle up to the shoulder they are lined up perfectly. The rifle fits me almost perfectly. I need to replace the recoil pad to increase the length of pull just a hair and then it will be perfect. Not to mention it will absorb the recoil better than that thin red pad.
I bought a bunch of the Midway Blemished bullets and some brass and dies. I found a pretty accurate load right out of the gate and haven't changed from it. I picked up some Barnes, Speer, and Sierra bullets as well to try out. Everything from 235 to 300gr. Was hoping this year would've been the year I drew my bull elk tag and I would have used the 375 but again I was unsuccessful.
I have been looking to buy a mold from NOE so I can have a cheap plinking load. Even though the 270gr Remington Blems are inexpensive and I picked up a couple hundred of them I think shooting cast is still the cheaper route for killing paper.

Enjoy that rifle.

[bearcove]

Yeah the muzzle brake is an abortion. Would just cut it off. Would be deaf if you shot without earplugs, I don't wear them while fishing or hiking and that is when I see moose and bear. Muzzle brakes are for range guys shooting with plugs and muffs. NO USE in the field in my opinion.

The midway blems are cheap, bought a bunch also, won't shoot lighter than that since I have a 35 that covers the lighter stuff. The NOE mold is a 270gr or so and looks like it will work with the short neck. Accurate has a bunch of drawings in catalog, just need to do a chamber cast to get a few dimensions and tweek abit.

[CHeatermk3]

According to the info on these at Bud's they are supplied from the factory with a thread protector cap for use without the brake. The factory blurb says the "cap" is weighted the same as the brake--for keeping the barrel in the same resonance I guess.

http://www.budsgunshop.com/catalog/product_info.php/cPath/36_59_110/products_id/84847/Ruger+HKM77RSG+375+RUG+GUIDE+SS

Bud's has the 416 in stock see page 3 of the Ruger lists at Bud's...

[W.R.Buchanan]

bearcove: is that gun a Ruger Guide Gun? I have one in .30-06 with the Muzzle Brake. That gun came with both a sleeve to replace the Brake or a thread protector.

If your gun has the Muzzle Brake and you don't want it, the parts are available from Ruger to eliminate it.

My .30-06 is almost a .223 with the brake on but it does definitely annoy the bystanders.

It's just like any other .30-06 with the Sleeve installed.

Randy

[bearcove]

No this is the ruger Alaskan, SS, syn Hogue stock, 20 inch barrel without any extra stuff out past the front sight. They quit making them. I understand how brakes help but won't own a gun with one. I have tinnitus from shooting, flight line noise, work related noise and other things I guess. If I can't shoot a gun without a brake I figure Its too much. If you need to use it and have the brake on it will deafen you. And they are ugly.

Shoot hot 45-70 in marlin and have had 375 H&H, 458WM so this should be fine. Although at 7.5 lbs it will take some getting used to. My 375 H&H was about 10lbs.

[Old Coot]

Recoil is basically momentum. Or, mathmaticaly : P=MV momentum equals mass times velocity. When you look at a rifle and Newtons second law it becomes: M1V1=M2V2 or , mass of rifle times the velocity of the rifle (in recoil) is equal to Mass of ejecta (bullet, powder gasses, and primer compound) times the velocity of the ejecta. Recoil is usually expressed in terms of foot pounds. Obviously if you lighten the weight of the rifle it comes back to hit your shoulder faster. Therein lies the rub that drives us all crazy: If you make your rifle lighter to be easier to carry and faster to handle it is going to exert an apparently greater or more violent recoil force on your body. Actually the recoil is the same it just acts upon the shooter over a shorter period than before. This gives less time for your shoulder to get out of the way. Hence greater apparent recoil.

The above is why I will happily shoot a .375 H&H or full house .458 Win. Magnum than a .338 Winchester. A friend of mine who had built and often shot a 50 BMG single shot Bolt gun would not fire 338's because he said that they : "Kicked too much.".