338/375 Ruger Striker is done!

[yorke-1]

It's taken almost 6 months since I started, but I think that the Striker is finally done. There have been a number of setbacks and complications. It's over budget and behind schedule. It's still not 100% done, but at least it's ready to shoot.

Specs:
-Savage Striker action (started as a 300WSM)
-18" Benchmark Barrel in 338/375 Ruger
-Centershot Rifles Muscle Brake (installed by Benchmark)
-Burris 3-12x LER scope

I haven't had time to shoot it, and won't until next weekend at the earliest. Right now I have 50 Rounds loaded. 20 are just some 250gr Hornady Interlocks that I had sitting around. I'll use these for break in and to get the scope zeroed. Then I have 15 loaded with 225gr Accubonds, and 15 loaded wtih 225 TTSX. I'm using 338 Win Mag load data as a starting point, and working up from there. I believe that the 330 Dakota is similar in capacity, so that is where I expect to end up.

As soon as I sell the scope that's on there I plan to try mounting a rifle scope, probably something like a VX3 . Until then I'll try it with the Burris.

This should be pretty fun.

Andrew

 

[Ernie]

Andrew,
Very cool!

 

[winmag]

It's taken almost 6 months since I started, but I think that the Striker is finally done. There have been a number of setbacks and complications. It's over budget and behind schedule. It's still not 100% done, but at least it's ready to shoot.

Specs:
-Savage Striker action (started as a 300WSM)
-18" Benchmark Barrel in 338/375 Ruger
-Centershot Rifles Muscle Brake (installed by Benchmark)
-Burris 3-12x LER scope

I haven't had time to shoot it, and won't until next weekend at the earliest. Right now I have 50 Rounds loaded. 20 are just some 250gr Hornady Interlocks that I had sitting around. I'll use these for break in and to get the scope zeroed. Then I have 15 loaded with 225gr Accubonds, and 15 loaded wtih 225 TTSX. I'm using 338 Win Mag load data as a starting point, and working up from there. I believe that the 330 Dakota is similar in capacity, so that is where I expect to end up.

As soon as I sell the scope that's on there I plan to try mounting a rifle scope, probably something like a VX3 . Until then I'll try it with the Burris.

This should be pretty fun.

Andrew

Im sorry Im a bit uneducated here, so maybe you can help.
The 375Ruger is based on the 404Jefrey case right, (thus the 300wsm donor action-boltface), but isnt the 375ruger a ''long action'' like 30-06 type length? How does it fit in your wsm action?
This sounds like one BITCHEN conversion even for a rifle!
Id guess it between a 338 win. and a 338 rum. Am I close? Cause I think a hopped up 338 win mag equivilant, would be a SLICK rifle, depending on how hard it is to get brass. Do you just neck down 375Ruger brass, or do you have to change the shoulder too?
Isnt the 338 rum based on the 404Jefrey case also?
Is the 375Ruger just shorter?
Im behind the times a bit I guess, but thanks in advance for bringing me up to speed.

P.S. Very nice rig. Congrats.

 

[yorke-1]

Im sorry Im a bit uneducated here, so maybe you can help.
The 375Ruger is based on the 404Jefrey case right, (thus the 300wsm donor action-boltface), but isnt the 375ruger a ''long action'' like 30-06 type length? How does it fit in your wsm action?
This sounds like one BITCHEN conversion even for a rifle!
Id guess it between a 338 win. and a 338 rum. Am I close? Cause I think a hopped up 338 win mag equivilant, would be a SLICK rifle, depending on how hard it is to get brass. Do you just neck down 375Ruger brass, or do you have to change the shoulder too?
Isnt the 338 rum based on the 404Jefrey case also?
Is the 375Ruger just shorter?
Im behind the times a bit I guess, but thanks in advance for bringing me up to speed.

P.S. Very nice rig. Congrats.

The 375 Ruger case is designed to fit into a 30-06 length action. I have a Ruger Hawkeye Alaskan in 375 Ruger and the action is the same length as a 30-06 or 300 Win Mag. The Ruger case is fatter than a 30-06 case, but not as fat as the WSM or Ultra Mag case. Here's a picture that will give you an idea.

Left to right: 375 Ruger loaded with a 260gr Accubond (this will function through a standard long action), 338/375 Ruger with a 250gr Matchking (this will not fit in a standard length action with the bullet out this far), 300/375 Ruger with a 185gr Berger VLD (this won't cycle in a standard action either), and a 300 WSM factory loaded 180gr SP.

You can see that the WSM case is fatter than the Ruger case. What this means is that the Ruger case feeds better out of a standard magazine with no modifications. The short, fat WSM cases don't feed well from a push feed (like a Rem 700) because the short fat case wants to "pop" up out of the magazine. Plus, the Ruger case will feed out of any belted mag (300 or 7mm) magazine with no mods.

So now we have a case with more capacity than the belted mags, without the feeding problems of the WSM, or the long action length requiremnts of the full length Ultra Mags. The way I have the Striker here set up, I can't eject a loaded round. But an empty case gets kicked out perfectly and flung across the room. Since the gun is a single shot, The only limiting factor on OAL is the the length of the throat that I had cut. I had the reamer made so that I could seat bullets close to the lands and still have the rounds cycle through a standard length action. I did this so that I can chamber a rifle with the same reamer, and use the rifle as a repeater without modifying the mag box. As a single shot though, I could have the throat lengthened to seat the bullets out as far as I want.

So what we have here is a round with more capacity than the 338 Win Mag, but less than the 338 Ultra Mag. It's basically a way to reinvent the 330 Dakota without the expensive brass or magazine modifications (the 330 Dakota is considerably fatter than the Ruger case and won't feed without some work). 375 Ruger brass is only available from Hornady, but it is easy to find and reasonably priced. To form the 338/375 Ruger case, I just run 375 Ruger brass into a 338 RCM (Ruger Compact Magnum) full length die. The shoulder angle doesn't change, so it's a very simple process. Once I get a few fired cases I'll send them in to have proper dies made.

Does that help?

Andrew

 

[winmag]

Thank you. I appreciate the info.
Thats a very good idea with the reamer. I like the idea of a rifle and a hand-cannon chambered alike. Very cool project.

 

[sscoyote]

That is 1 big boy! Very well thought out too--excellent explanation.

 

[yorke-1]

I got a chance to shoot it today. I absolutely love this gun! Recoil is similar to a 357mag in a heavy revolver. It feels amost identical to my 10" 7mm TCU Contender.

I went out to zero the scope and test a few loads. The scope was dead on at 100yds after 3 shots. I did a little more break in using 250gr Interlocks over 75.0gr of H4831sc. These were grouping around .75".

When I started to work on actual load development, I started getting erratic groups. I decided to check the tracking on the scope and see if that was the problem. That did it. The Burris 3-12x scope doesn't appear to have held up very well. This scope was on the Striker when I bought it used, so I don't know what it's been through. Either way it has to go before I burn up anymore ammo.

I swung by Cabelas today and picked up a Leupold VX-3L 3.5-10x to try on there now. I was going to go with a 4.5-14, but this is my first rifle scope on a handgun. The lower magnification and the larger objective seem to give me a little better eye relief since I'm still a little nervous about creeping up too close to the scope. Besides, I'm not shooting a crazy ranges. A 10x top end should be plenty for now.

I'll post some results when I get back out with the new scope. Maybe by then I'll have some chronograph data as well.

Andrew

 

[mg151]

Hi Andrew,

Greetings from Australia!! Can you please advise me of who the manufacturer is of the stock on your 338/375 Ruger Striker? It looks great!

Are you happy with the 338/375 Ruger? Any more updated comments or feedback? I have heard a lot of good reports about it, hope Ruger releases this round commercially.
Regards, Peter

 

[greenhornet-1]

Hi Andrew,

Greetings from Australia!! Can you please advise me of who the manufacturer is of the stock on your 338/375 Ruger Striker? It looks great!

Are you happy with the 338/375 Ruger? Any more updated comments or feedback? I have heard a lot of good reports about it, hope Ruger releases this round commercially.
Regards, Peter

I'm not Andrew, But thats a factory striker stock.

 

[yorke-1]

Greenhornet-1 is correct. That's a factory Savage Striker stock that I painted.

Now that I've had this gun up and running for better than a year, I've absolutely fallen in love with it. The load I've settled on is a 250gr Sierra MK over 76.5gr of H4350. Recoil isn't bad, somewhere around a stout 44mag load I'd say. I'm getting 2650 fps from the 18" barrel with no pressure signs, and 3 shot 100yard groups in the .3-.4" range. I don't see any reason to mess with this load. I am still considering extending the throat to gain a little powder room, but I'm afraid to mess up what I have going. I don't know that an extra 75-100fps is worth the effort.

I'm still debating on whether to put a higher magnification scope on here, but the VX3L 3.5-10x50 is working so well that I just don't see any reason to change the setup. The gun weighs 7# 8oz as it sits, making it a very portable long range pistol.

Over all I'm very happy with the gun and the caliber. The brass has been holding up very well. I'm getting about 5 full power loads per case before the primer pockets start to feel sloppy. Since the 375 Ruger brass is readily available and reasonably priced around here, this caliber seems like a pretty good alternative to some of the larger 338s.

I ended up chambering a 19" rifle barrel for the 338/375 Ruger and it has made an amazing elk carbine. In fact my Father-in-Law has taken that rifle hostage and won't give it back!! I would almost say that the 338/375 is a better option than the straight 375 Ruger as a hunting carbine. I still love my Ruger Alaskan though.

Andrew

 

[mg151]

Thanks for your reply Andrew, this looks like a really good round with a very efficient case design. I also like that there is no belt nor is the rim rebated like the WSM series of loadings.

The 338 Rem UM looks to be too over-bore and the case length is too long for using with a standard length action. Thanks for your development work; I will be building one very shortly.