The goal of the engineers was not to exceed .375 H&H performance but simply to equal it in a cartridge that would fit in a standard-length (.30-06-length) action and fit existing belted magnum bolt faces. Based purely on case capacity, a fairly straight .532-inch-diameter case with a fairly sharp shoulder should do this, and it does. Except that the engineers didn't factor in the bonus delivered by the shorter, fatter case.

Steve Hornady, hunting with PH Paul Smith of Chifuti Safaris, took the first buffalo to fall to the .375 Ruger. The impact of the 300-grain InterBond dropped this old bull, but he got up again and was quickly put down with a follow-up shot.

It turns out that the .375 Ruger easily exceeds standard .375 H&H velocities in all bullet weights, delivering a significant bonus of more than 100 fps with the 300-grain bullet and approaching 200 fps with a 270-grain bullet. The efficiency of the cartridge actually yields a dual bonus. The full velocity increase can be had from a slightly shorter barrel--as in 22 or 23 inches--and a short 20-inch barrel at least equals and will generally exceed .375 H&H velocity.

The velocity bonus is significant because it provides considerably more energy, slightly flattens trajectory and, from a pure marketing standpoint, places the .375 Ruger very close to the .375 Weatherby Magnum and .375 Remington Ultra Magnum in performance. Personally, I don't give much of a hoot about the extra velocity. It's OK, but, after all, the .375 H&H has been adequate since 1912, so I don't think that is what is most important about the new cartridge.

Rather, I think the case design is extremely clever from a manufacturer's standpoint because you have a bigger, fatter case that will not only fit existing bolt faces (as do rebated rims) but also feed well from existing magazine boxes. Is it significant that it fits in a .30-06-length action? As with most things in life, what you see depends on where you sit. It is very significant for Ruger because its .375-length (actually, a full-size magnum that also accommodates the .416 Rigby) action is only built into its M77 Mk II "express" rifle, an excellent rifle that is more than twice as expensive as the standard Ruger M77 Mk II--which is only available in a .30-06-length action.

The .375 Ruger gives the company the opportunity, for the first time, to house this level of power, performance and versatility in the standard Ruger M77 Mk II. It happens to be significant for me personally because its only left-hand action is also .30-06 length. The company is introducing the .375 Ruger in two configurations under the M77 "Hawkeye" name: a wooden-stock, 23-inch-barrel model called the M77 Hawkeye "African" and a Jim Hogue synthetic-stock, 20-inch-barrel version, which will be known as the "Alaskan."

The front sight is Ruger's standard barrelband assembly with a highly visible 3/32-inch bead on the ramp.

Both are equipped with Ruger's scope-mounting system. The only special feature--and it's a good one--is that these rifles have a very good and sturdy fixed-blade rear sight with a 3/32-inch front bead on a barrelband ramp. Left-hand models--good news for me, of course--will be available by mid-2007.

IN MOZAMBIQUE
In early September Hornady's Wayne Holt and Ruger's Ken Jorgensen joined me at outfitter J.P. Kleinhans' camp in coastal Mozambique to film a segment for our Petersen's Hunting Adventures TV show.

I had been in Africa for some time before they arrived, and unfortunately, a left-hand version of the .375 Ruger couldn't be cobbled together before I departed. No matter--Wayne and Ken came in well heeled. Ken had a .375 Ruger in the classic M77 walnut stock, still a prototype but exactly the way this version will be marketed.

Wayne had one in the Jim Hogue synthetic, the only difference from the version that will hit the market being that his still wore a 23-inch barrel rather than the 20-inch tube that will appear on the production model. Both rifles had the new iron sights, and I like them very much; they are far superior to the "mostly for looks" folding leaves long supplied.