Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Express Rifles and Big Bores Only 375 Winchester ?

Anyone have any thoughts about he 375 Winchester ? I am
thinking about one for White Tails and Hogs. And just for
reloading fun. I like single shots,not so much lever guns.
Your opinions welcome.

Rabbitdog

they are close to a 38-55 and use the same loading dies. I have had both and only loaded the 38-55 a little lighter.the few deer I killed with them died the same.

I've got one in a bolt action, and love it. I've dropped a few whitetails with it over the years. I've only used the factory rounds for hunting so far. But I have a stash of new brass and the 200 grain Sierras and plan on working up a handload for it this winter.

I have two; a Winchester Big Bore, and a Marlin 375. I like the round. I got it for black bear, boar, and deer. So far I've only killed a couple deer. If you shoot it in a single shot you'll obviously have more bullet choices. Not sure about the dies being the same as 38-55 but I guess it's possible. I know the case dimensions are slightly different. I've only shot the Hornady 220 gr bullet at game. It acts almost like a solid even at max velocities. But I've read where others have had similar experiences and some have said the bullets blew large exit holes. I've heard the Sierras are excellent bullets and look forward to using them on game.

As for the dies, you can use 375 dies for 38-55 brass, but have to be carefeul to check that when you full length resize the longer 38-55 brass, that the 375 dies doesn't turn the case mouth ends inward at full stroke. My dies do this (can't remember the brand off-hand), so I just back the die off one turn when full length resizing.

I use the 200-grain Sierra for deer and small pigs from the Winchester. The 200-grain Sierra will surprise you with its toughness and its ability to penetrate while retaining weight.
The Sierra bullet will some times end up in a wad after deep penetration from frontal shots but it retains its jacket and holds its weight well. I have shot a number of deer - more than eight - with the 200-grain Sierra and the bullets which exited left large, free bleeding holes.

Our deer and pigs are rather light with a mature buck generally weighing less than 140 pounds on the hoof - and most 10 pounds lighter. The big Hornady bullet did not give an indication of much expansion on exit from deer this size.

I have one in a Sav. 99 and love it for whitetails. My favorite load is the 250gr factory load, wish they still made it. I shoot 220's in it and am going to try some Barnes Originals sometime.

erich

Like to have one in a 94 Big Bore for whitetail, but everybody seems to be pretty proud of them now. Should have got one when they first came out for a little bit of nothing.

Thanks for the info william iorg. I've got a few boxes of the 200 grain bullets waiting to be loaded. I've actually loaded a few way back a few years and shot in my Marlin but they never would group well. I loaded the 220's and they really didn't group all that well either. (may try the Barnes .377 someday)

Then I got the Winchester and it seemed to like the 220's and so left it there. I've heard similar experiences with that bullet as you wrote. And I have a lot of confidence in the Sierra's due to my experience with their bullets in the 30-30.

I have .375 Win in a 14 inch TC contender,killed numerous deer,even with not so good placement--they never got up.have not shot any past 100 yards. I am starting to working with a Winchester "Big Bore" lever rifle in .375

I don't think you would be sorry with choosing the .375 Win. for deer or hogs, wild or feral!
Short to modest range, it will do well with jacketed or cast. Personally I prefer a heavier weight for hogs. And beings most of those heavy .375's are designed around mag velocities, I cast 265 gr. in that bore size. But the lighter jacketed will do fine.

A few years ago I had a Marlin cowboy 336 in .38-55. I killed a deer with it with the 220 grain Hornady flat point. Sold the gun 'cause it wouldn't feed with cast bullets.

Step forward a couple years: I was in the market for a Win 94 in .30-30 right after they were discontinued and the prices jumped. I stumbled across a 94 "big bore" .375 in an estate. Considering how well the .38-55 had worked, I went ahead and bought that .375 instead of continuing to look for a .30-30. Truth is, with iron sights, any difference in trajectory happens beyond my personal max range anyway and the bigger bullet hits harder.

Brass was a little hard to get, I had to wait a few months for Winchester's seasonal run, but I managed to get a couple bags eventually. I really like the 220 grain Hornady flat point. My rifle shoots them into groups around an inch at 50 yards with the iron sights. The load is WW brass (of course), Fed 210 primers, 36 grains of RL7, and the 220 grain bullet. I may back down to 35 grains, it shoots as well, and even with a drop tube, I'm having some issues getting 36 grains in the case and a bullet seated. I can't seat and crimp in separate operations, the powder pushes the bullet back up above the crimp groove.

Anyway, I'm really quite fond of the .375 winchester.

I prefer the Win 94 over the Marlin 336, however, the Marlin has one advantage: the Wild West lever guns aftermarket trigger will give a Marlin a trigger pull competitive with a good bolt action. The Winchester is stuck with a fairly mushy trigger. Or at least mushy by my standards.

Sierra makes a 250gr .375 SPBT bullet that is the most accurate I have shot through my Savage 99. I'm going to try it on whitetails this season.

Dan

Had one for awhile in a Ruger #3 single shot. It liked the 220 gr. Hornadys over a max load of a powder I can't remember. I do recall that the powder charge was 38 grains. The load shot into 1" groups.

I also made up some cast bullets (still have a few hundred laying around) which were good for practice shooting.

Never took any game with it. Eventually it went down the road as a trade on something else that seemed needed at the time.

Jim