Win '94 in .375

[Jim]

My wife, God bless 'er, went to an estate auction Saturday while I was away working. She bid on a Winchester model 94 in .375 and got it!:bigsmyl2:[smilie=w:

The auctioneer, who is a personal friend, coincidentally, told Janet the story he got from the heirs is that the old gentleman bought the rifle new in '85, brought it home and stuck it in the vault. It's been there all this time UNFIRED!

Janet said the bidding started a small skirmish and it got down to her and an elderly lady. When the price hit $400, the other lady backed out. Janet got it and it's in my gun cabinet waiting for me to come home.

Now, I gotta get brass, dies, molds, checks, etc... This is the first brand new, unfired lever rifle I have ever owned. As long as it's in my possesion, it will never see anything but cast boolits.

[zac0419]

Nice grab, the rifle and the wife. Cant wait to see pics of your new Big Bore.

[mainiac]

I just went down this road a few weeks back.....
Never owned nothing .375,so had to buy the whole package,dies,mold,sizer...
Thats gonna set ya back 200 smackers,just to fire the thing.

Aint this hobby fun?????????????

[TXGunNut]

Good buy! I have a very nice .375 Big Bore and $400 won't touch it. Agreed about the start-up costs, I think about it every time I buy a rifle in a new cartridge.

[HighHook]

I remember the 80s when that rifle was popular. We bought new ones. It was amazing because all of our Steel plates had holes through them where the other handguns and small rifles wouldn't even dent.
Great find and buy.... I literally knocked a deer off his feet DEAD before hitting the ground in Louden Co. Va.
Love that Rifle...:-D

[runfiverun]

375449 water dropped ww's and some soft.
size to 379, start at 1600 fps and work up, crimp in the groove and enjoy.

[Jim]

375449 water dropped ww's and some soft.
size to 379, start at 1600 fps and work up, crimp in the groove and enjoy.

Thanks, Run. I'm gonna slug it before I order a custom made sizer die, though.

[RACWIN375]

if you take a 30-30 case prim it and add about 5gr of a fast powder like red dot fill case with cream of wheat top off with candle wax to keep in the cream of wheat
put case into your Marlin 375WIN
point rifle in a safe direction (straight up is best) pull trigger and you now have a new 375WIN case

30-30 can be picked up for free at most shooting ranges or new brass is about 1/3 the price on 375WIN brass
I have over 400 30-30/375 cases and about 100 to fire form

I hope this helps save you $$$

37gr of RL7 and a 250gr LFN gas check Beartooth bullet is the ticket in my Marlin 375WIN I don't know if this is to hot for other 375Win rifles BUT the Marlin is rated for 52K pressure

Rick

[excess650]

here is a link to Ranchdog's data for the 235gr. http://www.ranchdogoutdoors.com/bin/TLC379235RF/data/loadnotes01.pdf

NOTICE that he only goes to 33.2gr Reloader 7 at 42K pressure!

I bought a box of .375 Win cases and sectioned one and compared to Win 38-55s and 30-30s. The .375 Win case was noticeably thicker at the mouth and in the web near the head. That was about 15 years ago...

I shoot the 280gr 375449 in a .376" groove 1-12" twist barrel marked 38-55. Cases used are 38-55 and the boolit is loaded to function through the rotary magazine so limited to 2.55" or less. 26gr Hercules Reloader 7 is where I stopped. It seemed less linear pressure wise than some other powders and more than 26gr expanded cases more than I was comfortable with. It IS a very accurate load in my rifle. Other powders and charges in the same rifle with similar pressure (or less) and excellent accuracy include 28-30gr AA2015 and 30-32gr AA2200.

[Hubertus]

Nice and congratulations!

Please post pictures when you are home.
I bought a used one past February.
Fortunately it came with about 80 rounds for starters.
Next thing I knew I had ordered two molds and dies .... :veryconfu

Ranchdog's molds are very good and he is a nice guy, too.


Hubertus

[Charlie Sometimes]

That, sir, is a great deal! Your wife got it for a steal, WOW! I am envious. She knows a bargain when she sees it.

Is it top eject or angle eject? I had a top eject once and like a big dummy traded it off. I would love to have another someday. I sized mine to 376, as it has a modern dimensioned bore verus the old 38-55 dimensions.

I currently have a Ruger #3 I converted from 45-70 to 375 Win, and shoot only cast in it, for the most part. I put a Douglas XX sporter profile barrel on it, and it does pretty good with just about anything I have tried, so far. It is 376, as well.

375 brass is hard to come by most times and expensive, but the 30-30 blow out is a good, cheap alternative. They say 375 brass is slightly heavier, but I don't believe it is. I don't think Winchester would waste the time for the difference, when either round is so closely dimensioned (for the most part). I have both and see no difference, myself.

I use the Lee dies, and have the 375449, and a 37583 (for plinking, LOL). I had the 375449 HP'd and can cast 3 different noses/weights of HP, plus FN, too - very flexible now. I tried the RCBS-37-250 and didn't like it, even though it is very similar to the 375449. I haven't tried any of the 37583's yet.

Enjoy that gun! Both it, and the wife are keepers! :D

[onceabull]

Excess650: Your mention of functioning through a rotary magazine seems to indicate that your rifle is a rebarreled Savage md.99... If that's correct ,do you know who did the work ?/ I have one ,too,but it's an OEM rifle, and I have deemed it too valuable for scabbard carry in the Selway-Bitteroots,so am thinking abut alternatives ???? Onceabull

[excess650]

Excess650: Your mention of functioning through a rotary magazine seems to indicate that your rifle is a rebarreled Savage md.99... If that's correct ,do you know who did the work ?/ I have one ,too,but it's an OEM rifle, and I have deemed it too valuable for scabbard carry in the Selway-Bitteroots,so am thinking abut alternatives ???? Onceabull

Mine is a 1919 vintage 1899A Short Rifle aka Saddle Gun. It was rebored and rechambered, so not a rebarrel. I made the magazine modifications myself.

I won't mention wo did the rebore as it was a "send it to me right away, I'm gonna do those at the end of the month" . He didn't say what month:groner: so about 16 months later, after multiples of calls, it came back with a 1-12" twist vs the 1-16" I asked for.[smilie=b:

I've since realized that the 1-12" is a better twist for a hunting rifle as it keeps the boolits drilling a straight hole, but less plainbase friendly. 1-14" works great. I know a guy with a Rem 700 converted to 38-55 with a 1-14" Douglas and its a tackdriver.

[RACWIN375]

375 brass is hard to come by most times and expensive, but the 30-30 blow out is a good, cheap alternative. They say 375 brass is slightly heavier, but I don't believe it is. I don't think Winchester would waste the time for the difference, when either round is so closely dimensioned (for the most part). I have both and see no difference, myself.
Enjoy that gun! Both it, and the wife are keepers! :D

the 375 cases maybe thicker or heaver BUT it is an over kill the 30-30 case hold up to my MAX loads of 39.7 gr RL7

:cbpour:

Rick

[missionary5155]

Howdy Jim
Good deal on the good deal.
Got mine about 6 years ago and they are super to haul about all day like any 94. Get one of those stock cartrige carriers to carry a couple different loads along. A RB load for bunnies and a light loaded 37583 for small critters and you are set for anything you come across. The 375449 pushed to 1850 will flatten any well hit critter out there. That is about 50% over the old BP loading in 38-55 with the 375248 boolit which hunted evrything out there.
Mike in Peru

[northmn]

I am lucky my wife don't take what I have to an auction while I am at work. Nice rifle to have. I sometimes wonder if the caliber is not more popular now than when new. I know Black bear hunters liked them.

DP

[Four Fingers of Death]

I had a top eject one as well, but like a fool sold it off. I think when they came out, the 38/55 and 375 Win cases would have been different, but I reckon they would just default to the toughest case nowadays. The length would be the only difference I think. The 38/55 is a poofteenth of an inch longer from memory.

My current 375 is a 700 in 375H&H, I don't know if it will feed the boolit moulds I have, currently running the barrel in on factory jacketed loads. When I have done that I will have freed up enough cases to experiment.

[sharpshooter3040]

My wife, God bless 'er, went to an estate auction Saturday while I was away working. She bid on a Winchester model 94 in .375 and got it!:bigsmyl2:[smilie=w:

The auctioneer, who is a personal friend, coincidentally, told Janet the story he got from the heirs is that the old gentleman bought the rifle new in '85, brought it home and stuck it in the vault. It's been there all this time UNFIRED!

Janet said the bidding started a small skirmish and it got down to her and an elderly lady. When the price hit $400, the other lady backed out. Janet got it and it's in my gun cabinet waiting for me to come home.

Now, I gotta get brass, dies, molds, checks, etc... This is the first brand new, unfired lever rifle I have ever owned. As long as it's in my possesion, it will never see anything but cast boolits.

Nice find. I have a big bore in a 94 and a Marlin 375 I built on a 336 action with a green mountain octagon barrel. The Lyman 375449 sized to 379 over 32 grains of 4895 will shoot 1 1/2 inch groups at 100 yards in both rifles all day long. Fire formed 30/30 brass is safe to use with this loading as well with no noticable difference in accuracy.

[runfiverun]

jim i think i have a 377 lyman [or sumthin] sizer and top punch for the 375449 it was in the mold box.
i dunno why i have them,i use stars.
send me a p.m. and i'll re-look if'n you need them.

[Jim]

Thanks for the offer, Run, but I don't have a lubrisizer. I use Lee push-thru sizers.