375Winchester bliss

[bigbear]

I have a Model 94 Win 375 Win that is beginning to amaze me. I made up load for the Hornady jacketed projectile, shoots great 2" groups at 100yds, didn't bother trying any other loads, that's about as good as I can do with a lever and iron sights. A buddy gave me 20 260gr cast, gas check 260gr boolits,. I loaded a middlin load out of my Lyman book and it shot a ragged hole at 25yards. I didn't have enough to fool around at longer ranges but so far this rifle is the most accurate lever rifle I have ever owned. It pains me to shoot my Model 64 in 30-30 after shooting this rifle. Is this an inherently accurate round or was I just lucky with this rifle?

[cabezaverde]

They can be made to shoot. If you did it that easily, you got a good one.

[longranger]

Just got my mold from Accurate Arms 250gr. G/C and 310 gr. P/B mine shoots very well with j-boolits. I see no reason these rifles will not shoot cast lead extremely well.

[bigbear]

boolit weighs 265gr, mold I beleive is #375449, load Reloader 7, 25gr,CCI LR primers.Don't plan to cast this calibre myself if I an get my bud to load up 2,000 for me. That should be enough fun for awhile.Sized .377, Shoots ragged hole at 50yds receiver sight, 1.5" at 100yds.

[Harry O]

I wondered the same thing when I got my Winchester .375 BB. Its an early one with top eject. My guess is that Winchester took extra care in assembling their new "heavy-duty" model when it first came out. It is a lot more accurate than any Winchester 30-30 I have shot and tighter than most of them.

[M-Tecs]

In 1978 or 1979 I purchased one. It shot 1 ½” moa but in the middle of deer season something broke in the lifter. The store exchanged it. The second one shot terrible. It would shoot 5” to 6” moa. If the first one had not broken I will still have it today. The second was traded in a year or two.

[jjohn143]

bigbear, i would say you have a good shootin' rifle, but i think that bullet is a really good choice too. i basically did the same as you this weekend but the 375449 was the first rifle bullet i ever cast. i loaded the minimum IMR 4198 load in the lyman book (375H&H) and went out back to try them and was shocked, stunned and was praising the lord it shot so good. this was the 1st load ~1325 FPS (slower than my 44 Mag) but it grouped. the groups opened up at 25.5 gr. but it is well below the 35 gr. max load so i will try to get some velocity out of it. i think this bullet is a keeper. i can't wait to cast some more of them lead boolits.80393

[bigbear]

I have a source for boolits for my 375Win, don't plan to cast for it ever. I'm thinking of getting 2000 cast for me, is that too many? I'm subject to over enthusiasm about such things. But the load I came up with doesn't kick much at all and is accurate as all get out, seems like one could go through boxes of 50 loads easily? Don't plan to load for anything but 348Win , so I need to lay back a supply when the getting is good.

[helice]

I suggest caution there Bigbear. The more cases you get the more boolits you'll need the more shots you'll take and the more fun you'll have. :bigsmyl2:
I picked up one of the BigBore Winchesters near 20 years back but in 444 Marlin. It can shoot a lot better than I can. Congratulations on finding a great rifle. I sincerely hope you buy 2000 boolits and shoot them all this month. Think of how much better you'll shoot.:p

[jjohn143]

I dont see a downside to getting a couple of thousand boolits. like i said i'm new to rifle casting but do cast for pistols and there is nothing worse than the withdrawal pains of running out!

[jjohn143]

Concerning the 444 marlin, a friend of mine has one that is a great shooter, the only problem he had was after a long shooting session he would have to tighten all the screws up again. he harvested a phenomenal amount of michigan white tail deer with it. in fact there is probably not a better rifle/caliber for the northern michigan woods than a 444, talk about bang, flop. he has never taken a second shot since he owned it.

[bigbear]

I suggest caution there Bigbear. The more cases you get the more boolits you'll need the more shots you'll take and the more fun you'll have. :bigsmyl2:
I picked up one of the BigBore Winchesters near 20 years back but in 444 Marlin. It can shoot a lot better than I can. Congratulations on finding a great rifle. I sincerely hope you buy 2000 boolits and shoot them all this month. Think of how much better you'll shoot.:p

That's the beauty/problem with certain folks. You guys always vote for more fun. 2,000 it is. I like theway with this load the lever doesn't whack my big hand the way my full power j thingies do. Order will be placed.:Fire:

[helice]

Music to my ears.:grin::lovebooli

[Steelbanger]

I have the ancestor of the 375 Win, a 38-55 Marlin bought new around 2002. To date I have almost 5700 bullets through it of which all but 16 were cast. So your 2000 bullet stockpile is a good start for sure and should last quite some time if you don't take the 375 on every trip to the range.

There are times when I think I should find myself a Big Bore 94 as I do have 50 once fired 375 cases on hand. What more incentive do I need?

[TXGunNut]

You pushed me over the edge, bigbear. :wink: Have mould, checks, sizer & a Marble sight coming for my Big Bore. Rifle hasn't been fired in over 20 years.

[mainiac]

i picked up a marlin 375 a few years back.It is the most accurate levergun i ever owned,or fired! Scary accurate.the 375449 will cut the same hole@50 yards,,with peep rear.

[runfiverun]

the 375449 sized to 379 is a happy camper in both my Winchester and marlin 375's.
I have been using aa-1680 but have it smoking out the barrel at a max jaxketed load.
I need to finish shooting the rest of this batch and try slowing things down a tick and possibly slowing down the powders burn rate too.
but the marlin is shooting this load right to the sights, so I may just slow it down a bit to match the Winchesters sights better and split my brass up between the 2 guns.