Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunting Rifles .375 94 Big Bore

Can someone tell me at what point the quality of Winchester 94s got better after the 64 disaster? I'm looking at a nice .375 Big Bore XTR, not AE, that's priced fairly. I know the post-64 guns were pretty crappy, with stamped carriers and possibly cast receivers that didn't hold their finish well. Are all the Big Bores good quality or were some made before things started to get better?

Thanks.

I had one, bought new, for a couple of years in the early 1980s, shortly after they came out. It was a well-made rifle, nicely finished, but not much fun to shoot. I traded it off shortly after I changed jobs and started living in a city.

I found a used one at a gun store several years ago that looked almost new. I picked it up at a pretty reasonable price. I think it's very well made. Mine is also a pre-angle eject. It is a handy gun to carry, with more juice than a 30-30. I like shooting it a whole lot more after I had a recoil pad put on it...

I have a couple. They're pretty nice rifles. Fit, finish and wood is really nice.

This is just one guy's opinion, but I've owned a few rifles chambered in 375 Win and shot a couple of deer with the 200 grain Winchester/Olin factory load and 220 grain Hornady reloads. The very limited variety and availability of component bullets soured me on the 375 Win, particularly when you consider that there isn't much that the 375 Win can do for you that the cheaper and more common 35 Rem can't do equally well.

Barnes, 255 grain FP
Hornady, 220 grain FP (production suspended)
Sierra, 200 grain FL

The point being that with only three, maybe only two, component bullets on the market, the scope of what you can do with a 375 Win is pretty limited unless you're going to shoot cast bullets.

Of the three different makes of rifles in 375 Win that I've owned, the Marlin was the best shooting, the Savages were the best investments, and the Winchester 94BB was the best looking,

Nice rifle and I like the cartridge (I have a Marlin) but jacketed bullets are hard to come by for the last few years.

I've had better accuracy with the Hornady 220g FP than the Sierra 200g but neither are available right now.

Hard to trump 35 caliber in a lever for bullet availability. My 356 is my BIG bore lever and there are plenty of bullets for it.

Like the 338 they came out with a few years ago. Really? How many bullets are there for that and how long are they going to be around.

Agreed, can't think of much in the lower 48 that a person who could hunt and shoot couldn't take with his/her favorite .358" bore cartridge and the 180 grain Speer FP for ligher game and the 220 grain Speer FP for heavier/tougher game.

These kind of rifles make short hunting stories.
I shot the animal, it died.

Thanks for all the input. I decided to take the easy way out and picked up a nice Number 1 .45/70 on Gunbroker. Lots more choices available, pretty much across the board.

Sorry it took so long to get back to this, but the site has become pretty much unusable with my iPad, probably due to the way iOs handles stuff. No problems with the Mac, except I have to drag my old fat ass upstairs, leaving the family unit behind.

I'd take a '65 model 70 over a NIB CDL.

I picked up my new (now box) 375 big bore quite a while back, nice case and two boxes of shells for 200.00 bucks.

Always intended to take a bear with it one of these years

I used to have a model 94 Big Bore in 375. Great gun but I sold it for $600.

That was a steal!

I picked up my Marlin in November of 2001 for $350. It also came with a box or two of shells. The shells were claimed to be factory new but I suspect they were poor quality reloads - either that or Winchester put out some really crappy ammo. Always wondered if the reason the rifle was sold was because it shot so poorly with that ammo. With my handloads it shoots very well. If I ever sell it it will be for a lot more than $350.

Bought a BB 375 when they first came out, very well made. Shot deer, moose, black and brown bear with it, put them down very effectivly. With the 200gr power points not very accurate, the 250's were very accurate and performed perfectly, 220 hornadys accurate but shed jackets on larger game. When Winchester dropped the 250's and I couldn't find a good replacement, switched to the .356 win and still have 2 of them. Much better bullet selection with the .356, but the .375 big bore was such a classic mod 94, am looking at a new in the box one now, hoping can find a 250r bullet.

I bought a Marlin 375 saturday.

I have brass/bullets/dies on the way.....

This is what I bought instead. Like new .45/70 Number 1. I fitted a Burris FastFire with their Ruger adapter. May try something else later.

I think I finally have enough rifles.

Really.

I mean it.

Very nice rifle. But stop lying to us

I had enough rifles before I bought the 375 as well.

I saw a Ruger #3 in 375 Win. Man, whe was a purty one.......

Jacketed or hardcast?

Some Sierra 200s and a few Hornady 220s.

I have another 150 200 gr. JSPs on order. Due in March....