I figured I'd give you guys a little good news about the loads I recently worked up for my 375 Ruger African.
I found superb accuracy with the rifle using a 270 grain TSX on top of 74-74.5 grain of RL 15. I settled on 74.5 grains of RL 15 with 5 shot groups averaging .68". I have the rifle sighted in 3 inches high at 100 yards leaving it dead zero at 240 yards.
I was hunting the coast from Valdez, AK spotting and stalking bears from the boat. We had originally planned to stay on the water for 10 days or until the party limited on black bears. Anyway, we ended up coming home early. Our party ended up killing 7 bears for 7 hunters in 7 days.
I was holding out for a really big bear this year, and on what ended up our last day of hunting we spotted what I thought to be a really nice blackie across the bay. We jumped in the small boat and headed ashore for a better look. After getting a good look at him I was definitely sure he was a shooter. He was a huge bear and was without a doubt one that would make a great rug.
We ended up sneaking to 240 yards of the great beast and I rested the rifle on a log just waiting for him to turn broadside. Once he turned broadside I squeezed the trigger and let her roar. Slam! Bear down in his tracks! I hit him with a high shoulder shot through the scapula. The bullet entered the hide with a .375 diameter hole, then it expanded immediately leaving a 2" diameter hole through his scapula. The bullet drove bone fragments through his vitals and came to rest in the off shoulder on the opposite side of his body. The bullet didn't pass thru his hide which to me was a bonus for a bear of this quality. (He was a thick sucker!)
To me this is absolutely ideal! My beautiful bear hide has one bullet hole and a perfect hide filled with guard hairs and beautiful blackness. What more can you ask for? The situation played out perfectly. I couldn't have scripted it any better.
The hide ended up measuring 7'2" nose to tail with a 19 3/4" skull. He was truly one of the most beautiful black bears I've ever seen!
Great bear. I've been meaning to take my 375 H&H out for bears one of these days, but I haven't got to it yet. The 45-70 or the 35 Whelen do the trick nicely.
Sounds like everything went well for you, congrats on a big bear.
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