Well that was unpleasant; Ruger #1 chambered in .375 H&H Ackley Improved.

[Pat Riot]

I have never shot a Ruger #1. They are very good looking rifles.
The hardest kicking thing I have ever fired was a 6 pound rifle (including scope) in .300 Win Mag. The gent told me told me about his rifle shortly before I fired it. I don’t recall the details of it, but I do remember he was going to use it hunting Dahl sheep in Alaska.
I fired one round. It felt like being hit in the shoulder with a ball bat while Mike Tyson punched me in the face (right cheek). My right arm went numb.
I got up from the bench and thanked him for a very memorable experience.

 

[Trey Veston]

The hardest kicking thing I have ever fired was a 6 pound rifle (including scope) in .300 Win Mag. The gent told me told me about his rifle shortly before I fired it. I don’t recall the details of it, but I do remember he was going to use it hunting Dahl sheep in Alaska.
I fired one round. It felt like being hit in the shoulder with a ball bat while Mike Tyson punched me in the face (right cheek). My right arm went numb.
I got up from the bench and thanked him for a very memorable experience.

He sounds like the typical flatlander that the Alaskan guides dread. They show up with a rifle that is more powerful than what they need, and that they have hardly shot because it kicks so badly, so they are not familiar with it and end up wounding animals. There is a reason that Jack O'Connor favored the .270 for sheep hunting. A .300 Win Mag is a bit ridiculous.

 

[1948CJ2A]

Random observation... a 375 H&H Ackley Improved should be the ballistic twin of the 375 Weatherby Mag. I've fired a CZ550 chambered in 375 H&H and it was nothing more than a firm push with 300 gr factory loads. That rifle probably weighed in excess of 10lbs.

 

[Pat Riot]

He sounds like the typical flatlander that the Alaskan guides dread. They show up with a rifle that is more powerful than what they need, and that they have hardly shot because it kicks so badly, so they are not familiar with it and end up wounding animals. There is a reason that Jack O'Connor favored the .270 for sheep hunting. A .300 Win Mag is a bit ridiculous.

That very well could have been the case. I was sighting my new Remington 673 in .308. He liked it. I offered to allow him to shoot it. He did and then offered to let me fire his. He explained he was going on a once in a lifetime hunt for Dahl sheep and would be climbing rocky crags, hence a light rifle. He said he expected to be shooting sheep at 600 yards or more. This is about all I remember.

 

[Andrew Leigh]

I bought a near new Sako .375H&H, these are rather light weight rifles. When I got the rifle it simply could not shoot, 5" groups were the order of the day. To cut a long story short what followed was range time to see if the problem was me or the rifle, every Saturday for about 5 or 6 weekends every session consisted of benching 33 rounds, 3 foulers, and then 10 each 3 shot groups of varying powders and loads but with a 300gr. bullet.

My shoulder was blue, black, purple and yellow every week, but I found the problem, which was solved by bedding the action and then opening the barrel channel to 5/64th's.

At the end of the exercise the group shown in my profile pic on the left was the result, 0.28MOA three shot group. I must qualify this but stating I have never got close to this again as I seldom shoot the rifle on the range, it is used for hunting.

 

[Show Me]

Pull both triggers on a double 12 Guage with mag turkey loads. You won't again

 

[Roverguy]

That is a very elegant rifle. Wouldn’t want to shoot it at the bench.

My Patriot in 375 Ruger is at the limit of my tolerance for recoil. I have a Ruger No3 in 30-40 that I load rather hot shall we say. That has a bit of bite, so yours seems like it could be a bit brutal. But it is lovely.

 

[natman]

Had a friend ask me about a No. 1 at a gun show. I told him to get a 458 and I would get a box of ammo so we could say that we had shot one. I was just kidding but he walked up with it an hour later. Ammo at that time was $95 a box. Yeah, I know it was a lo-o-o-ng time ago. We each shot it one time. It was sold at the next show. No mas por favor!

When I worked in a gun shop, a customer put a like new Ruger 77 African in 458 on consignment. It came with a box of ammo that contained one fired case and 19 rounds.

 

[lightman]

My #1 in 45-70 kicks more than I like if I load it much hotter than the original 45-70 ballistics. I shoot mostly my cast 405 grain bullet but have loaded a few 500 grain ones. I wouldn't want to shoot a #1 in 375 H&H.

 

[Riomouse911]

.375 H&H Improved is no slouch! Any critter walking on the planet will easily be taken with one, with penetration and energy to spare. ( 300 gr bullets approaching 2,750 fps/5,000 ft-lb of energy at the muzzle.) I bet its a thumper in a No. 1, especially if its a factory stock/pad!

Lots of “mild recoiling” guns aren't fun to shoot if the gun doesn’t fit you well. My long-gone Savage 99F .308 was a stout kicker, Winchester 94’s hit some folks harder than others, etc.

Add a decent-recoiling cartridge to an ill-fitting rifle? Ouch!!

Stay safe.

 

[Savage30L]

This is not in the league of .458, but it illustrates not matching the gun to the cartridge.

Back in the 80s I owned an Ithaca 37, 12-gauge, without a recoil pad. I bought a 20" deer barrel for it and went out to a friend's farm with a box of Foster slugs to test it out on a paper target. I took one shot with it and was startled by the recoil, so didn't shoot any more that day. It was a warm summer day and I was wearing only a tank-type T-shirt. After a few hours there was a blue-and-green bruise on my shoulder that was the perfect imprint of the butt plate--you could read the Ithaca logo, and see the checkering and butt plate screws, on my shoulder! It was like a backwards tattoo.

 

[trackskippy]

I wonder sometimes, how much of the recoil complaints come from people who arent properly shouldering/shooting the gun?

I also think a lot of that may be "bench" related (instilled) too, and in a couple of respects. First, the bench generally wont let you properly shoulder the gun, and because of that, you tend to get beat up shooting it.

And second, the guns these days seem to be more set up for shooting off a bench, or similar rest, and not for field positions, where you and the gun become one when shooting. LOP is usually too long for proper shouldering of the gun, and is somewhat more of a benefit for those shooting off a bench, although not really much of one.

Theres no doubt, some calibers have fairly heavy recoil, but how the gun fits you, and how you shoulder and shoot it, makes a world of difference in your experiences with it.

 

[3Crows]

Shooting a rifle like that on a bag while sitting with your shoulder rolled into it is going to hurt. The rifle was meant for shooting offhand or on sticks.

And a Marlin 1895 even with hot .45-70 loads is not bad, standing. And historic loads of 405 HCL at 1000 to 1300 fps is not much and I only weigh soaking wet 175 pounds. Kicks about like my boyhood .410 single shot:



Surely a 300 pounder could absorb the recoil of a little ol' .375?

 

[Hookeye]

All I care about is group size and dead animals.
Aint got nuthin to prove.
Im all about comfy these days.

If shootin thumpers is fun? Have at it.

 

[trackskippy]

Im all about comfy too, and I hate getting beat up when I shoot, but there's a lot more to this than just what the caliber might be.

How the gun fits and proper technique can make most things a fun and comfortable experience, even the thumpers, depending on what your perception of that is.

From what you hear around here pretty regular, it seems a lot of people think a 308 or 30-06 are considered thumpers. Must be a new age generational thing.

 

[highlander 5]

Ages ago I had a chance to fire a No.1 in 375 H&H and as I recall the rifle was heavy 8 maybe 9 lbs don't remember if it had the red recoil pad,fired it standing up recoil was stiff but tolerable. Heavy loads loads in my No.1 in 45/70 were worse but that rifle was a good lb less. I did note to myself that this is not a rifle I'd want to fire from a bench. Wonder if that replacement stock is lighter than factory wood making the rifle lighter.

 

[Hookeye]

Ive shot 12 ga slugs debugging/testing a problematic deer shotgun.
Dozens of rounds, from the bench over 2 back to back afternoons.
Had good groups at the end, but I was pretty tender.

Id call that a thumpin LOL

As for .30-06/.308.............I had a boatpaddle Ruger w factory pad (which supposedly was horrible).
150's in .308 werent bad.

Good shooter, knowledgeable guy, has hot stuff............said he had a .308 win Rem 600 that was painful.
I don't doubt it.

If something doesn't fit its gonna bite ya.
Have a .50 cal Hawken TC that absolutely bashes the crap outta my cheek.
Other Hawkens, don't.
Something about that one is different and it sucks.

 

[dh1633pm]

I find the No 1 hard to shoot. My hands are large and keep hitting the release lever. I shot one in 30-06. Recoil was as expected. Much more than my normal 30-06 rifles. Sure do love the design. Recoil is subjective of course.

 

[Savage30L]

I don't think I've ever shot a Ruger #1. Is the recoil just a matter of the weight of those guns? If so, would a heavy-contour 26" barrel help? That, plus a muzzle brake, might provide an answer.

 

[Roverguy]

I don't think I've ever shot a Ruger #1. Is the recoil just a matter of the weight of those guns? If so, would a heavy-contour 26" barrel help? That, plus a muzzle brake, might provide an answer.

Light rifle, very traditional stock geometry. Makes for a very elegant rifle but can have heavy recoil. Adding weight will diminish recoil. Fitment and an appropriate recoil pad will diminish felt recoil.

 

[1KPerDay]

I don't think I've ever shot a Ruger #1. Is the recoil just a matter of the weight of those guns? If so, would a heavy-contour 26" barrel help? That, plus a muzzle brake, might provide an answer.

IMO if you put a muzzle brake on a Ruger No. 1 you should be flogged.

 

[Hookeye]

The .450 BM Ruger #1 came w a brake from the factory.

 

[Show Me]

Pull both triggers on a double 12 Guage with mag turkey loads. You won't again

Funny yes. Should say I won't do it again. Then tried my 20 and still never again.

 

[silicosys4]

Light rifle, very traditional stock geometry. Makes for a very elegant rifle but can have heavy recoil. Adding weight will diminish recoil. Fitment and an appropriate recoil pad will diminish felt recoil.

The #1 tropical in .375 H&H at 8lbs 7oz isn't exactly light. Add a scope and mounts and its pushing 10lbs. I'd like to try a #1 in .375 with the factory recoil pad. I don't know how much recoil the limbsaver absorbs but it sounds like a lot.

 

[LoonWulf]

He sounds like the typical flatlander that the Alaskan guides dread. They show up with a rifle that is more powerful than what they need, and that they have hardly shot because it kicks so badly, so they are not familiar with it and end up wounding animals. There is a reason that Jack O'Connor favored the .270 for sheep hunting. A .300 Win Mag is a bit ridiculous.

So is the 375 Ruger for sub 200 lb deer, or clanging steel at long range...... But it's a lot of fun....

6 lb .300....... Doesn't sound real fun, but practical if you're only going to own one custom ultra light rifle.....