Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Custom Rifles & Wildcats 375-06

What do you think of the 375-06. What can you expect for performance. Thinking of building one. Would you go with a 24 inch barrel or a 26 inch barrel.

Can't think of any reason I'd get one over a 9.3.

yep....wouldn't it be a clone of the 9.3x62?? (great cartridge btw)

I had a .375-284 for awhile, it was fun, but as RyanScott said, I love my 9.3!

If you go through with it, 24".

I happen to have the P.O. Ackley books next to me, on temporary loan by a friend. Ackley was known for wildcat work, I guess.

Anyway, here's what he says about the 375-06:

.375 Whelen

The .375 Whelen is simply the standard '06 case necked up to .375 and could very well be called the .375/06. It can be made in both standard and improved versions. The following loads were worked out by Elwood Wimmer of Magna, Utah, who fells that this is a very fine cartridge...

Load data looks like about 2500 fps from a 235 grain bullet, and 2300 to 2500 fps from a 350 grain bullet. Doesn't mention barrel length.

Also the wiki: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.375_Whelen

I'd do the .375 Whelen if I wanted to throw that sized lead at something.

For myself, I answered that question by building a .376 Steyr... Not to mention that I have a couple of 9.3's as well... (Well... more than a couple...)

I'd just skip on up to the 375 H&H for the heavies!

9.3 for all bullets < 286gr

There's an article with loading data for the .375 Whelen Improved in HANDLOADER #119.

Like Ed said, if I were doing something like this and was determined to do 375 I'd do a Steyr... Or maybe a Taylor? Otherwise 9.3x62...

..........I agree!

35 cal is as much bullet diameter I would want using a 30-06 casing; aka the 35 Whelen. Not a 375 cal fan for a 30-06 casing.

Might as well go with a 375 H&H or the 375 Ruger along with having the added benefits of greater power.

Imo, with those two excellent 375 choices, and unless one simply enjoys wildcatting, I see no point to a 375/06.

While I cannot speak directly to the 375/06, 375 Whelen, 38 Whelen, all the same cartridge, I do have both the 35 Whelen and 400 Whelen. My gunsmith friend who made my 400 Whelen made a 375 Whelen for another friend of mine. He loves it and has had no trouble tipping moose over with it.

It certainly is not in the class of the 375 H&H or 375 Ruger but it is assuredly adequate for anything in North America, or elsewhere for that matter. One of my next builds will be the 38 Whelen, and it will be so marked as that was the original designation for the now 375 Whelen. I surely don't need a 38 Whelen with both the 35 and 400, but as a Whelen fan it seems appropriate to have all three standing next to one another in the safe. Mine will wear a 24 inch barrel like it's brothers.

PO Ackley lists loads with a 235 grain bullet to 2600 fps. Mike Thomas in "Wildcat Cartridges" list loads with a 270 grain bullet to 2410 fps and 300 grain bullets to 2185 fps. I expect Ackley's 2600 with a 235 grain bullet might be a bit optimistic but I could be wrong. At any rate those velocities make the 375/06 a formidable big game rifle.

I do have to agree that the 375 H&H and Ruger make more sense from a practical stand point but all the cool guys have at least one Whelen in the safe.

Shooting a wildcat with some history to it is fun, or at least it has been for me. When I go to the range with the 400, guys always ask me about it and and are amazed at the size of bullet seated in what used to be a 30-06 case. It makes for some great conversations and some times new friendships. If you are up for a fun trip down the wildcat lane, I don't think you could go wrong with the 375/06.

Mart

The 375 wildcats on the 06 case make great cast bullet guns. There are many off the shelf 375 bullet moulds.

I am making up a 375 Scovill/Hawk. It is the 06 case with the shoulder moved up to that of the 9.3x62. You use the 9.3x62 headspace gauges. There are not that many 9.3 bullet moulds.
There are also many 06 cases, and many 375 bullets. Brownells has 375 barrels on the shelf. Just remember that the thing to do is have fun. I hope to.

I don't think that anything hit with either round could tell the difference.

I had a 375-06 AI. It is the 375-06 with 40 degree shoulder and a larger diameter at the shoulder as well. I had the hots for it one so I built it. It is a chore to form cases. The odds of uneven neck expansion using a mandrel are high. So, you must expand them using the COW method. I eventually sold it. It did move the 250 BBC's at 2700 in a 21" bbl. It kicked just like my 375 H&H shooting the same bullet at the same velocity. I did this about 30 years ago before anyone in the US had heard much about the 9.3x62.

For big stuff I prefer the 416's so sold all the 375 bore rifles.

The 375/06, 38 Whelen, 375 Whelen and the 275 Hawk/Scovill all have merit.

I'd imagine the case forming for all would be much easier today with the commercialization/availability of the 9.3 and 35 Whelen cases.

John Barsness says ballistically the 9.3 can duplicate the speeds of the 338 Winchester. I'd believe a 375 on a similar case would do as well as a 9.3 with a lot more available and exotic bullets with more rounds in the belly than a HH or Ruger and in a gun of equal weight would recoil less; certainly with like weight bullets and faster powders for fuel, it won't jab as fast as a 338....RL-15 seems to adore the larger bores on the '06 case.

Here's a 375/06AI with a 375 H&H and Chatfield-Taylor

Someone referred to an article in WILDCAT CARTRIDGES that I wrote, around 1985. The piece dealt with load data for the .375 Whelen Improved, my rifle being built on a commercial Mauser action (Interarms). The various .375-06s appear to be quite similar, though some folks have been able to come up with higher muzzle velocities than I was able to with my rifle. That's merely a fact statement - I question no one's veracity in this regard.

I eventually wound up doing a lot of work with the .338-06, .35 Whelen, .35 Whelen Improved, .375 Whelen Improved, and the .411 Hawk. I suppose they all have real and/or imagined merits, but since this is a .375-06 thread, I'll limit my comments to that area.

My .375 Wh.Imp. was intended as an elk rifle, and I did carry it for that purpose several times, but never killed an elk with it. In retrospect, considering the attainable muzzle velocity (about 2,400 max.)with the 270 grain Hornady Spire Point (my favorite bullet for that cartridge), I wonder now if it had sufficient retained velocity for reliable expansion at 200 or 300 yards.I'm hoping it did, but I never knew for sure.

I find it interesting that (what little data exists), seems to be all over the place, so far as velocity goes.

The most recent data is the Barnes No 4 with the 375 Scovill, where it should do what a 9.3 x 62 does with more bullets.

I have a pile of Hornady 270 RN's, and would love to hunt with the one "Whelen" cartridge I haven't used yet, but the Barnes 235 is enticing, since I believe one of the merits of these rounds is two large holes and blood trails, without blast and excessive recoil, another being that the 35 and 400 seem to run cast bullets at high speed easily.

The thing that hurts it is the comparison to the HH hull. I can only speculate that it should compare favorably to the 9.3.

(Thanks for the fine article, BTW).