Home Forums Lever Action Central Marlin 336 Lever Actions 375 Marlin for elk

Planning an Elk hunt next Oct. Will be hunting timber so shots will be close..Anyone use the 375 Win.for Elk ? My go-to for Black bear and Whitetails has been 35 gr of RL7 and a Hornaday 220gr bullet.

I used the 375win on a couple moose and a brown bear worked fine. I used 250gr bullets, Winchester power points. The 220gr Hornady's should work fine, but I would prefer the heavier bullets.

Everyone I have heard brag on their 375 W's accuracy used the RL7 at 37 and that no longer available Hornady bullet.

Occasionally the 220 Hornady bullets show up here for sale but not often.

Nothing at all wrong with a 375 Winchester for close elk.

I sure wish they’d run another batch of those bullets. My stash is dwindling
I’ve only shot deer with my 375 with 250PP and the hornady. I’d use either on elk.

Thanks all. I had picked up a bunch of the 220's a couple years ago so I'm set for a while.

Not but I shot three whitetail with it one season. All three bang,flop. I was pleased.

-Jake

I love that Caliber in the 200 pp, and shot a lot of deer in the woods of PA, at close range mostly!

I would use the 250 pp on Elk at close range, or the 220, like your suggesting. It's all about shot placement, as you know!

Everytime I see one of these threads i start kicking my ass for ever selling my 375 Winchester

Well we never seem to have that Crystal Ball when we need it!

Fury Custom Bullets makes a 220gr bullet very similar to the Hornady.

Went to 444 and never looked back. The 375 did fetch some good money though.

I almost took my 375 this morning. Kind of wished I had now...


I probably would have used the 250's.

I would hunt with that in a heart beat!

BSA, I'll give you 18.99 for that box of 250 grainers!

Ha ha.. A lgs, 40 miles from my house, has some for $84.95!!! I told him he can keep them at that price..

Heck yea! Bonus points for the loony cartridge!

With the growing popularity of new rifles chambered in 38-55 there are quite few good bullets on the market that will fit the .375 as all the new rifles have an identical bore whereas older ones need the .379-.381 bullet.

The only factory ammo I have seen recently was 200 grain winchesters. The gun shop had them priced at $100, and said they were selling well.

I have a box of Winchester 375's 250 grain factory. I'd sell for $100 plus $9 shipping.

According to Today's prices, I think your in line, with what I've seen!
I tend to watch these, frequently, an I have noticed, that, Wards,
Auction in Dallas Oregon, has a few boxes of 200 grain for sale now in their Current Auction,
But no 250, grain! Look under Rifle and Pistol boxes.
If you've never viewed this Auction site, you'll be amazed, and even surprised at what some,
of the Collectable Boxes sell for, even empty, Shell boxes!

Like bsa, I stocked up, yrs. ago, and still have a lot left!
At least enough to last my Lifetime!

I cringe when I think of that ammo costing so much now. It would be very hard for me to pay even half that price. I think the most I paid for it was $25.00/box.. Good thing I load for it too.

I do agree with you, as far as these prices go, but what can you do, except exactly what your doing!
Enjoy what you bought at reasonable prices way back when, and load your own!
Many are not as fortunate as you and I !

HS58

I have a 375 Win in a Winchester 94. I took that box in as a partial trade. I probably allowed to much for the ammo, but it is the only box I've seen with the 250 grain bullets.

I shoot mostly cast bullets in mine but have some 220 grain Hornady and 200 grain Sierra. I have wondered about using Speer 235 grain round nose bullets and Barnes 210 grain XFB bullets - but probably will never be desperate enough to try.

FYI,
There's 3 boxes, 200 grain .375 Winchester ammo for sale@ $75.00 a box!
On the WACA forum! You can go on as a guest!
Reliable seller!

IMO! It's a fair price!

Reminds me of how I felt when I passed up muscle cars in the 60's (I did have a 65 Impala SS with a high output 396, but I was very very hard on it.) Then the 70's came along and all the car companies were putting out gas guzzling low HP POS's.

I suppose the 235 grain rn semi-spitzer bullets are too hard for the 375 Win???. I have a couple boxes of them that I was saving for a bigger 375.

In your opinion are they safe to use in a tubular magazine?

There's a reason, that the manufacturer's suggest the semi flat point for the tubular magazine, and I wouldn't,
take a chance on having one slam against another, in the tube, possibly causing an accident.
It's just not worth it to me!
I have fired several hundred rounds over the yrs. with the .375, 200 gr. and 250 gr. Ammo,
and never a problem.
So, NO for Me!

I haven't looked at ammo prices in a long time! $86 to $87 a box and no stock on the shelves ,,,, Man! No wonder the guys are asking for $100 bucks.

I think $100 is too much also.

I would agree with you. But it is what it is, prices are what they are.

Wards Auction just had 4 boxes go for $85.00-$90.00 each, plus the juice, Plus S+H
All 200 grain ammo! FYI

I have over 400 Hornaday 220gr heads and some Sierra 200 and about 160 loaded rounds so I'm set for hunting loads for quite a while. Thanks anyway. Tried to buy another Marlin from a guy who can't find any ammo and that may happen .

I did see a box of 250 grn. 375 Win on Joe Salters site yesterday, for $85.00 Bucks!

It seems like the 250 gr. are harder to come by!

I'm glad that your stocked up, as I am.

My Father in Law taught me years ago,
darn near every time you go to a store, grab some ammo! Lol!

We Did!!!

I bought some barnes 250 off here, hollow points but my rifles a #3 ruger 375jdj I missed some 220 hornady s that sold on here a week or two ago.

I buy up 220’s when I see them. I have some sierras but they are easier to find. I also have a box of Barnes, 250 grain I think. The Barnes cost about twice the sierras.

Good thread,
Bugger

You .375 owners need to check out Hawk or Vollmer custom bullets. They are both very good. I alway have a box or two of them for my .375 and Vollmer also makes great .38-55 bullets in different diameters.
Have a great day.
Jim

+1 on the Hawk bullets.
The 375 Win is a reloading cartridge. Straight walls are easy. When I had mine Re7 was the best powder.
Brass can still be had and even 50 will last a long time.
Like so many here, I lean towards oddball stuff and just figure on reloading. Currently bullets seem to be the hardest to acquire.
I am down to my last box of Hornady for my 348 Win so Hawk will be my next choice.

I have one box of 250 grain Winchester factory ammo. Hate to shoot it though. I figure about $3.50 per pull of the trigger. By the time the rifle is sighted in...

Hammer makes a 200 Shock Hammer for the 375, as well. I got some a while back but haven't loaded any yet. Those test loads will end up being one of my winter day projects.

They're not cheap, though, about $90 per 50.

I still have the ammo I showed a pic of last year. My question is, has anyone shot an elk with their 375 yet? This thread was started a while ago, but I didn't see if anyone had actually shot an elk with their 375 rifles. I really do wish I would have packed my 375 on the last day of elk season last year. I would have popped one at 65 yards. The lowly Tikka 7mm08 filled the duty though. My grandpa bought this rifle specifically for elk hunting:


It was one of his favorites, even though he had a nice collection of pre 64 model 94's.

I can’t see how it couldn’t work. The 38/55 killed and was touted as big medicine for stuff back in the day. The 375 is the same thing. I’d bet with some of those Beartooth cast bullets they’d put an elk on the turf.

Many elk have been slain with 30-30 carbines. Your 375 will deliver the goods when shooting into the chest organs. But elk do not typically react much to the first shot. Remember to lever a fresh round and keep shooting until the animal is downed. - Sherwood

Well I carried it first season, saw a spike, some cows, and unidentified, but no legal bull. It was in the 60's every day, so nothing was moving . Saw some nice bulls on private lands. Don't know when I can get back.

I killed two elk with a .375Winchester Big Bore, l killed maybe two with a Winchester 94 in 44 mag, one with Winchester 94 in 30-30 ,and two with a 45-70 1886 using Remington's 405 gr bullet. The all died about the same.

No, but I plan to. I plan on low fps, cast bullets and close up hunting for black bear.

Just asking but wouldn't cast 375 cal bullets be the best option since this is an load your own proposition?

I've never felt comfortable to be able to get close enough with the 375 Win for elk. In my opinion, if you're certain about that maximum range then the 375 will do it very well. I think the closest elk I shot with my rifle was less than but close to 100 yards - 338 250 grain partitions. A buddy grabbed my old 280 Remington and shot a cow at maybe 50 yards with my 280 hand-load -160 mag-tip SPEER & H4831. The furthest was 350 yards - 270 partition - I could not get closer - a valley was between us and it was dusk.

If i was certain on the 100-yard limit, I'd be happy with the 375 Win. If 350 yards was possible then nope!

If i took out my 375 for elk, I'd load it with Barnes 255 Gr - Here's a load my 375 liked:

375 Win, Winchester 94 XTR, 255 grain Barnes, 34 grains RE 7, 1.250" group at 50 meters - iron -sights.

No experience first hand with the 375, but do have a friend who's taken a few mule deer and 2 elk with his 375.

.375 is a nice caliper so is 444

Love the caliber. Don’t own one, but bucket list includes building a double rifle in 375 Win….

Now I’m thinking taking for white tail. With my luck and lottery draws I’m thinking white tail might be all I’ll get tags for. But my brother thinks we have a good chance in WY.

The 400 Legend ( AR cartridge) reminds me of a 375 Win sorta

375 Win is a very capable big game cartridge, especially with the Barnes originals. A Yukoner on here, his son took a nice 50+ inch antlered bull moose with the 375 win.

The guy who bought my 375 Win, anchored a brown bear at less than 20 ft. He knocked the front end outta the bear.

My son lobbed a 255 grainer out to 170 yds or so, at a nice fat bull caribou. It was like a lightswitch went off. I honestly haven't seen much difference in field performance over my old marlin in 444 marlin.

The Valmet 412 U/O double rifle was available in 375 Win.

It’s a caliber that in its day was favoured by hound hunters locally. The target quarry are Sambar deer that are tough to put down and large stags can go to 300-350kg. In general shots on fleeing deer are often less than 100yards and iron sights are preferred by a number of hound hunters. I knew of one hunter that had 9 kills with his little 375. He used the now discontinued 220gr Hornady pills.

With the right bullets it’s a very capable cartridge. Years ago Woodleigh introduced a 235gr Hydrostatic bullet for the cartridge. It turned the small cartridge into a buffalo cartridge with incredible straight line penetration. When they trialled the bullet one bull was shot through the head. The bullet entered the boss, exited out of the back of its head, then re-entered the body via the backbone and the bullet was ultimately recovered from a rear hind leg.

I have a rebored JM Marlin 336 in 38-55. It has a .375 bore like the .375 Win., so I can crank them up a bit and have good bullet choices over the larger bore rifles. I'm glad to see all the responses to this thread because I always wondered about the capabilities of a .375 bore straight walled cartridge.

I got exactly ZERO draws from the good old South Dakota Game Fish & Parks! I'm not sure why I bother, Damn the SDGF&P!

I did draw an elk tag in Wyoming though.

South Dakota Game Fish & Parks have screwed up everything they touch! [bleep] them!