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Luke Schmidt

I have a 375 Ruger Alaskan I want to restock as sort of a "mountain bear rifle" i.e. light and easy to carry.

At this point the rifle has a short 18inch barrel and a factory Ruger plastic stock meant for a regular Ruger Hawkeye (not the big magnums). I've free floated the barrel and installed a pillar for the front action screw. Accuracy appears good but the forend needs to be stiffened. Weight is 8.4 lbs scoped. Yes it kicks but I feel good about it. I can shoot it as we as I did when it was longer and heavier.

My question is this, will the recoil of the 375 Ruger either break the stock or cause wear and tear over time that is a problem? So far I've run 10 full power shots through it with no problem.

My second question is about handloads if full bore 375 Ruger is too much for this stock. I could load 235 grain bullets at slightly below full power, maybe 2750 fps from the short barrel. This brings recoil down a bit to more like 338 WM levels. What are thoughts about a Woodleigh or Barnes TSX for brown bear i.e. the big ones. The Woodleigh seems tough and impact velocities would be in the right range for quick kills out to 150 yards at least. My only worry is whether I would give up much penetration if I had a charge. On the other hand there is the 235 grain TSX. Impact velocity at 150 yards would be a bit low for a copper bullet. But since bears offer more resistance then a deer I wonder if it would work.