.375 Ruger Project

[WildRose]

The longer I think about it the more I'm considering another .375 Ruger, but one purpose built for medium to long rage shooting.

The Ballistics of the round are just great, better than I'd expected when I got the first one and I keep thinking with another 6-7" of barrel 2850-2950fps with .270-280gr rounds should be more than "doable".

One thing I've considered is just taking a Model 70 in .375 H&H and having it rechambered to .375 Ruger. When I look at the case dimension differences it seems like a reasonable possibility but I'm not the expert on such things that some of you are.

Help me out guys, which is the smarter way to go, a rechamber or starting from scratch with a custom barrel?

 

[sable tireur]

WildRose,

There seems to be a significant increase in this cartridge in the last few weeks.

Re-chambering a .375 H&H to the .375 Ruger will only work if you have enough tenon for a set back.

While the dimensions may appear to be 'close', you will need to get rid of the length of the H&H chamber to clean it up. Normally I like to clean up the throat area as well. Some of the folks don't recommend this because of the potential for carbon build up and possibly damaging the reamer. I personally, prefer to start fresh with a new barrel in order to avoid any potential problems with an existing barrel and some else's work. Remember to check the reamer so you can accommodate some longer seating of the bullets.

Regards.

 

[WildRose]

WildRose,

There seems to be a significant increase in this cartridge in the last few weeks.

Re-chambering a .375 H&H to the .375 Ruger will only work if you have enough tenon for a set back.

While the dimensions may appear to be 'close', you will need to get rid of the length of the H&H chamber to clean it up. Normally I like to clean up the throat area as well. Some of the folks don't recommend this because of the potential for carbon build up and possibly damaging the reamer. I personally, prefer to start fresh with a new barrel in order to avoid any potential problems with an existing barrel and some else's work. Remember to check the reamer so you can accommodate some longer seating of the bullets.

Regards.

Thanks. I had already emailed Scheider to see if they would like to make me a barrel and enquire about the costs. They are substantially higher than most of the top end MFG's but produce an incredible barrel.

If it doesn't scare me off completely I may just go that route rather than taking the gamble.

 

[HARPERC]

I'd go with the new barrel. The better smith's I've known shy away from recutting a chamber. Just another variable to contend with.

Some of the barrel makers are 6-8 months out. If it can be set back enough, and if you had someone willing to do the work quickly-re-chamber could be an interesting while you wait project.

From a cost standpoint the only re-chamber in this instance, that would interest me would be to the Weatherby, AI version. or whichever we're calling it these days. I've seen a few of those come out nicely, but they only had to be minute of buffalo. If long range is the goal the best barrel you can find is the way to go.

 

[sable tireur]

They are substantially higher than most of the top end MFG's but produce an incredible barrel.

I got a chuckle out of Gary's answer when I asked him about a price increase maybe 4 years ago. He said he had to pay for his new airplane somehow! I nearly choked while taking a drink of coffee...

There will be some compromises when reloading for this cartridge. The heavier, longer, high BC bullets will take up a lot of case capacity, especially if you try to run the solid lathe turned bullets. The traditional cup and core bullet selection for long range is a little limited.

Regards.