I haven't read all of the threads, but here's my take on it....

The "average rifle hunter" is a whitetail deer hunter, so he needs something along the lines of a 100-200grn bullet cruising anywhere from 1800-3500fps. Henceforth, there are hundreds of mainstream cartridges that deliver that level of performance. Every one of these "average hunters" has an idea of what the ideal cartridge is for his use, but ultimately, the significance in the gap between these hundreds of cartridges is imaginary when it comes to actual on-game performance.

The 'average rifle hunter' doesn't spend much time shooting rimfire for anything more than casual plinking, so his standards are low. Henceforth, we had only 2 common rimfire cartridges for years, and now only have 5. We made no illusion that there was a gap to be filled, so there weren't 'filler cartridges' produced, as there just wasn't demand for them. Is there room? Sure. Are they needed? Eh, not really, but neither are HUNDREDS of those deer cartridges mentioned above.

At the other end of the spectrum, there are a scarce few hunters that spend much time in need of a big bore rifle, therefore the demand is low. Again, there have been a dozen or so what I'd call "mainstream" heavy cartridges for the last 100yrs or so. Again, these powerful few have met the needs of all of their hunters, so there hasn't been a huge demand for new alternatives. Is there room for others? Sure.

So to say that buying a 375R or 416Ruger is a waste of time because it's not any 'better' than a .375 H&H or .416 Rigby or Remington, I'd ask the question: "then why in the sam he11 do we have a .30-06, .308, .300WM, .300WSM, .300 Savage, .30......?" None are significantly better than the other, but we have them.

The mentality that a .338wm, .375H&H, and .416Rem are the ONLY heavy cartridges anyone would ever need, and therefore should be able to buy is the same logic that all pick-ups should be white Ford F-150's.

The only legitimate reason, in my opinion, to not buy a Ruger cartridge chambered rifle is that too many people will stand up and say "the only pick-ups should be white Ford F-150's", and eventually that mentality will kill a great cartridge. In all fairness, most guys that buy these rifles end up selling them after a once in a lifetime hunt with no more than few boxes fired through them AND the overall rifle/ammo cost of such a hunt is minute compared to the hunt costs, so considering 'longevity' of these cartridge against resale value of the rifles is essentially moot.

I still have a .416Rig and a .375 H&H, even a .338WM in the safe. Almost never shoot them, don't even have dies for the .375 or the .338wm. If I get a chance at another bear hunt in a couple years, then I'm pretty interested in taking a .375 Ruger, just for something different (will probably take my Marlin 1895 Guide Gun though ).

But everybody else can go ahead and keep driving their White Ford F-150's and wearing the same pair of shoes...