Hornady Cartridges: The Backstory Revealed – Part 2

THE BACKSTORY REVEALED: HORNADY CARTRIDGES - Part 2

.375 Ruger & Its Offspring - Hidden Gems or Misfires?

After developing successful rimfire (.17 HMR and .17 HM2), handgun (.480 Ruger), and small-bore rifle (.204 Ruger) cartridges\xa0 (discussed in\xa0Part 1\xa0of this series), Hornady turned its attention to a modern big- / dangerous-game rifle cartridge, again in conjunction with Ruger. The result, released in 2007, was the .375 Ruger. That ".375" caliber sounds familiar, doesn't it? The .375 Holland & Holland Magnum (.375 H&H) is one of the most successful big-game cartridges of all time, both in its own right and for the many other rifle rounds built on its case. Introduced in 1912, it is a large belted magnum with a 2.850" case length and a 3.60" overall length.

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The Hornady/Ruger team set out to develop a cartridge that would deliver .375 H&H performance from a compact 20" hunting rifle barrel. No existing parent case would meet that requirement without making compromises. So they developed a brand-new non-belted 2.580" long case. The resulting cartridge's 3.340" overall length is the same as a .30-06 Springfield, so it will fit in a standard long action.

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But if the case is smaller, how did the folks at Hornady get the shorter .375 Ruger to produce .375 H&H performance? It lies in the beltless case. The two cartridges have the same case head diameter, .532", but where the H&H gets narrower forward of the belt, the Hornady case is quite straight. As a result, the .375 Ruger case actually has\xa0more\xa0internal volume (99gr of water) than the H&H (95gr of water).

\u200b\u200b\u200b\u200b\u200b\u200b\u200bThe .375 Ruger is capable of motivating a 235-grain bullet to move at nearly 3,200 fps, or a heftier 285-grain projectile at a still-impressive 2,946 fps, dispensing between 5,300 and 5,500 ft-lbs. of energy on impact. That is more speed and energy than its "benchmark" .375 H&H, which according to John Taylor in\xa0African Rifles and Cartridges\xa0already had more than enough oomph to cleanly kill the African "Big Five" of dangerous game. It's certainly enough to take down anything on four legs a hunter may encounter in North America, even up in Alaska. (Taylor, a very experienced elephant hunter, considered the .357 H&H the best all-around big game cartridge. What would he think of the .375 Ruger?)

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If the .375 Ruger-Hornady has had any handicap to wider adoption, it's the limited number of suitable targets for it in the Lower 48. It is certainly highly effective "medicine" for bagging moose or elk, as well as a defensive round against aggressive grizzlies. Ruger currently offers multiple variations of its Hawkeye bolt action rifle chambered in the cartridge.

Children of the .375 - Two Compact Magnums

The folks at Ruger intended the .375 Ruger to be the parent of a whole family of new rifle cartridges. With the work of developing the new case done, it was easy for the Hornady developers to shorten it to 2.1" and neck it down to take a .308 bullet to form the .300 Ruger Compact Magnum or .300 RCM. The result is a versatile, powerful .30 caliber round that fits a short action rifle. It was perfect fit for the Ruger M77 Hawkeye.

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The .300 RCM gives excellent performance with bullets from 130 to 220 grains. The lighter bullets have very flat trajectories for hunters who take their game from long distances, while the heavier bullets are resistant to wind deflection and retain their energy, so they're excellent for hunters operating in difficult terrain.

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The .338 Ruger Compact Magnum actually employs an even shorter version of the .375 case, only 2.015" OAL, and the goal was again to produce a magnum-level round that fit in a short action rifle. The .338 RCM pushes heavier 200+ grain bullets to velocities in the 2,750 to 2,950 fps range, giving it the authority to stop any large North American game. A benefit of the .338 RCM over similar Winchester Short Magnum (WSM) cartridges is the .338 RCM's narrower case that typically allows one more round to fit into a magazine. Doesn't sound like much? That extra round may be the one that stops a big trophy.

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Although excellent cartridges that were much loved by hunters who chose to embrace them, the .300 RCM and .338 RCM ran into the "chicken or the egg" problem that has afflicted other excellent cartridges. Not enough hunters bought them to give Hornady the economies of scale to bring down prices, which kept the cost of entry too high for more budget-conscious hunters. Hornady still offers ammo for the folks who own the rifles, but if you want choice in bullet weight, you'll have to do some handloading.

A Replacement for the Classic .416s?

Hornady was not done developing variations on the .375 Ruger. Next up was a project develop a cartridge that would produce the performance of two premier big game cartridges, the classic British .416 Rigby and the newer .416 Remington Magnum and would fit a standard long-action rifle. Thus, the .416 Ruger was born, and it does indeed deliver .416 performance using a version of the .375 Ruger case lengthened to 2.572" and fitted with 350- to 400-grain bullets. It is fully up to the job of dispatching the most dangerous game on any continent.

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There is, of course, a price to pay. That powerful cartridge in a smaller, lighter rifle than commonly used for big game hunting produces a substantial kick. Recoil-sensitive shooters should probably borrow a rifle to give the .416 Ruger a test drive before investing in it.

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Is the extra power necessary? The .416 Ruger does everything the .357 Ruger does, only faster and with more punch. That means if you want an extra measure of insurance that the game animal you hit goes down and stays down, the .416 has it. The price of admission to this club is that very formidable recoil.

Hornady's commemorative packaging on this run of .204 Ruger ammunition celebrated the 100th birthday anniversary year of William Ruger.

In modern times, the demand for such a powerful, classic big game cartridge is somewhat limited. Ruger offers a handsome "African" model of the Hawkeye rifle in .416 Ruger with a 23" barrel, along with a Guide Gun variant that has a shorter 20" barrel. Both come equipped with a detachable muzzle brake to tame the recoil. When the brake is removed, it is replaced with a weight, so the point of impact will not be affected by the change of weight at the muzzle.

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Of course, Hornady loads .416 Ruger ammunition, and handloaders can take advantage of any bullets for the .416 Rigby and .416 Rem Mag to work up their own pet loads. This type of cartridge is always going to be for a very niche market - big game hunters - and only time will tell if the .416 Ruger supplants its predecessors.

Wait, There's More!

We are by no means finished with the children of the .375 Ruger, and in fact its most popular progeny will not be found on the savannahs of Africa or in the wilds of\xa0 Alaska, but rather on the target range. First, we need to tale about Hornady's most popular rifle cartridge of all, a runaway success that has become the "go-to" rifle cartridge of many hunters and target shooters. Stay tuned for Part 3!

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