338/375 ruger finished

rifle is a Weatherby Vanguard that was 300wm
Barrel is from McGowen 1:9 30" howage w/barrel nut in 338RCM straight taper
Member here loaned me his reamer and I hand reamed it to 338/375 ruger (campfire, demon)

Today I did some load development with berger 250gr elite hunters and h4350
Found a good node w/77gr @2990 but seated deeper than I'd like due to my current mag setup. I think I could get more speed if I load single feed.




9 round group plus one pull 4 w/ v3 on and 5 +1 with it off
Poa was shot below group

Nice job! Love my .375, may need to make a 338 as well some day.

toecutter said:

Nice job! Love my .375, may need to make a 338 as well some day.

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im loving it so far. Never thought I would get these results. Everyone kept saying I should just go 33 nosler. I'm happy with the ruger. I bought a 50 ct of brass from midway. Then another from local sportsmans and they were the same lot! I was stoked to say the least

1000yds, correct?

Your using Hornady brass, right? No one else manufacturing .375 Ruger brass last I knew.

This is the 375 Ruger simply necked down to .338? All other angles and dimensions identical to the factory round?

Thanks for posting.

phorwath said:

1000yds, correct?

Your using Hornady brass, right? No one else manufacturing .375 Ruger brass last I knew.

This is the 375 Ruger simply necked down to .338? All other angles and dimensions identical to the factory round?

Thanks for posting.

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i wish I could shoot that well at 1000
100 yard group

Yes Hornady brass and yes simple neck down using a properly set up 338rcm die set and a 375 ruger FL sizer with expander removed to bump shoulders

I could fire form RWS 8x68s brass but at more than double the price I dout I'll bother.

I was living off a 50rd pack for a while. Opened up some primer pockets after a few loadings at ludicrous speed, but nothing that i didnt expect. Saved most of those and im gonna experiment with the ball bearing trick to tighten those up one of these days.

toecutter said:

I was living off a 50rd pack for a while. Opened up some primer pockets after a few loadings at ludicrous speed, but nothing that i didnt expect. Saved most of those and im gonna experiment with the ball bearing trick to tighten those up one of these days.

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i have never heard of this ball bearing trick you speak of?

Use maybe a 1/2" ball bearing to hit the primer pocket of a case supported in a vise on as big of a steel rod as will fit through the neck. Someone on here posted a vid on it a few years back. Hammer + ball bearing + primer pocket + steel rod in vise. Havent done it, but it looks pretty simple. Good way to keep expensive cases going from what i saw.

Hmmmm sound legit to me. May have to try that some time

Search for a Thread by tbrice23. He's the member that posted the thread on tightening up primer pockets. I use his method. Works as well as all the fancier more expensive tools. Even better.
You'll benefit from it.
I used Hornady brass for ~5yrs. You'll loosen some primer pockets. Some unexpectedly.

Here's the link to the Thread: https://www.longrangehunting.com/threads/tighten-primer-pockets-heres-how.152361/
And here's a photo of my high tolerance tools - a must for the brass cartridge casing 'professional'.



Custom manufactured by Moi!


I'd recommend welding the ball bearing to the steel plate. Otherwise you'll spend a lot of time chasing that little sucker around the gargage/shop floor.


My inexplicable blown primer in a Hornady casing. Other cases held together with 2 grains additional powder. No explanation for why this one let go other than inconsistent case head strengths. I see the plunger impression around the A and the D in Hornady. A Hornady Trademark/Copyright!

The primer pocket tightening tools won't salvage a primer pocket this loose. But it works well on the PPs that enlarge 0.002-0.004" (thousandths).

Thank you. I was reading the thread while you typed

Thats my kinda high tolerance tool!! Well done!

That turned out really well and the performance is right there with what you were hoping for. I love the fact that you ended up at 77.0gr H4350 when my go to load for years has been 76.5gr H4350.

When I get a little more time I'll get around to testing the reformed 8x68s brass to see how it compares to the Hornady cases.

left to right: 8x68s, 8x68 trimmed to length and necked to 375 then down to 338 to make a false shoulder, 8x68s case fired in a 338/375 Ruger chamber


Fireforming load using a 277gr MTAC and Trailboss powder next to a fireformed case. I just happen to have a bunch of the MTACs sitting around that I won't use for anything else, so I used them to fireform.

The freebore on that reamer isn't super long so I'm not sure how much further out you can seat the bullets. I've got my .338 PTG Uni-Throater here though if you end up wanting to open it up a little more.