Winchester 94 XTR .375 Winchester

[Barr]

Has anyone here loaded or cast for the Winchester 94 XTR in .375 Winchester? I have an RCBS 37-250 mold on order. My reading suggests that popular loads to try include Unique, Reloader 7, IMR 4198, and IMR 3031. I am ultimately looking for a load in the .30-30 power realm or just a bit more and a good hunting load.

The factory bullet selection is incredibly limited to 200 or 235 grain projectiles primarily.

[indian joe]

Has anyone here loaded or cast for the Winchester 94 XTR in .375 Winchester? I have an RCBS 37-250 mold on order. My reading suggests that popular loads to try include Unique, Reloader 7, IMR 4198, and IMR 3031. I am ultimately looking for a load in the .30-30 power realm or just a bit more and a good hunting load.

The factory bullet selection is incredibly limited to 200 or 235 grain projectiles primarily.

used to have a 375 BB top eject model - Cast Bullet Engineering 378 -220 GasCheck mold - 38 grains reloader 7
your RCBS boolit should do ok - will have substantially more bite (both ends) than a 30/30

[Guesser]

I also found R7 to be a good powder for 375 Winchester with cast and jacketed.

[Barr]

I also found R7 to be a good powder for 375 Winchester with cast and jacketed.

I recall RL 7 to be the best powder I tested in the Marlin 1895 in.45-70.

[FergusonTO35]

I keep thinking that somebody publishes .38-55 data for modern rifles that should be just what the OP is looking for. No reason it wouldn't work in the .375, many report that .38-55 brass actually works better also.

[Barr]

I plan to load with .375 brass (on order) but realistically loading to .38-55 levels for general use. You can always turn up the power (within published limits) when needed. At max levels I plan to use Hornady gas checks.

Has anyone shot at .38-55 power levels without gas checks (WW water quenched bullets)?

[MOA]

I cast and load that mould. It will cast very close to 264 grains with gas check. I shoot IMR 3031. Most accurate for my rifle, ( Marlin, model 375 circa 1978 ) is 29 grains of powder. Book shows max at 32gr which is also a compressed load. Always had good results with 3031 powder.

[rking22]

I load and hunt with a BB94 from 78. The Lee 255 shoots well for me on 10gr of Aliant 20-28 (was out of Unique) at about 1250fps. RL 7 shoots well, can't remember the load at the moment. I use AA4064 in it to hunt, drives a NOE 377449 hp about 1700 and accuracy of 2 to 2 1/2 @ 100yards. Open sights, thats all my eyes allow anymore. I found that my chamber was 2.1 long and the 375 brass gave an overly tight fit for my 377dia bullets as well as being a bit short. Seeing as how I only want/need 3855 top level loads ,I found that I prefer the short 3855 starline brass. It's a better fit, and I dont have a 3855 vintage gun.
You will enjoy your rifle, spend 20$ on the Lee mold and load 10 ish gr of Unique for a big plinker! What vintage is your gun,, pic please.

[MOA]

Has anyone here loaded or cast for the Winchester 94 XTR in .375 Winchester? I have an RCBS 37-250 mold on order. My reading suggests that popular loads to try include Unique, Reloader 7, IMR 4198, and IMR 3031. I am ultimately looking for a load in the .30-30 power realm or just a bit more and a good hunting load.

The factory bullet selection is incredibly limited to 200 or 235 grain projectiles primarily.

Barr, in reality, the 235 is not really an option for you. It's construction is for the 375 H&H. The wall thickness is too thick for the velocity of the Win 375 to expand. I'm thinking the only factory fodder left in the j-word world is the 200 grain offered by Sierra in their game king line or what I like and have two or three boxes of are the Barnes Bullets in the original line which is a true 255 grain that is made for the 375 Winchester. Hornady use to make a 220 grain, and you can still see it in their reloading books that are a few years old, but I do not see it on their site anymore, guess its the Sierra or the Barnes if that's the way you need to go for jacketed bullets.

You do have other choices on j word bullets, I had Hawk Inc. make up a couple of boxes of custom jacketed bullets back in the 90's for the 375 and they shot very, very good.

[Barr]

I am still trying to source the rifle, just tooling up for it and researching at the moment. How do the Speer 235 gr Hot Cor bullets do? I would think they would be effective at 1800-2000 fps.

[Drm50]

I shot 38/55 level loads in 375w using 250gr Ideal cast FN. Rifle was Marlin 375w using blown out
30/30 brass. Loads did under 2" at 100yds. If I was going to shoot this level of loads I would just
blow out 30/30s instead of trimming 38/55 brass, which is expensive too. I traded off Marlin and got
a pair of Ruger #3s in 375W. Now shooting the 235gr Speer. I used this bullet at 2600fps in 375 H&H
for deer and it did expand, not completely. I haven't got shot with it yet on deer but am not worried
about expansion. The accuracy gained with this bullet puts the 200gr to shame the futher past 100yds you go. * This 235gr Speer is pointed bullet, not recomended for tube mags. It has no cannulure to crimp and OAL can be a issue too in levers.

[Barr]

I read that slightly shortened brass (.38-55) and a custom Lee FCD gives good success with shorter COL and the Speer 235 gr Hot Cor when crimping.

[Barr]

Supposedly the Hot Cor has a tapered jacket (thinner at the tip) for easier expansion and the quote below is from another forum thread talking about the 200 vs 235 gr jacketed bullet for .375 Winchester.:

“Speer didn't think so when I talked to them last week and suggested 1,000 ft-lbs (1,375fps) for deer and 1,500 ft-lbs (1,517fps) for elk.”

[JFE]

The 375 Winchester is a useful cartridge but there aren't many powders that allow it to achieve its full potential. R7 and H4198 are two good ones for full power loads.

The RCBS mould you have is a good one but it does have a relatively small meplat. 'Ranch dog' did a lot of work to understand the 375's throat and designed some useful moulds for this cartridge. His designs are now available through NOE. The designs take into account the large throat of the 375 and maximize case capacity by biasing weight forward and using a wide meplat.

[Barr]

'Ranch dog' did a lot of work to understand the 375's throat and designed some useful moulds for this cartridge. His designs are now available through NOE. The designs take into account the large throat of the 375 and maximize case capacity by biasing weight forward and using a wide meplat.

Is there a particular mould or moulds you recommend from NOE? The more I learn this cartridge is a caster and handloaders dream.

Factory fodder from a .35 Remington overlaps strongly in the 200-220 grain realm and the .444 and .450 Marlin outperform in the power realm.

Why go easy when you can be creative?

[Hickok]

You have what a good 38/55 should be. A .375" groove diameter barrel is perfect, and many good molds are available.

Some of the .38/55 rifles have groove diameters so large, that using a proper boolit will not allow chambering. (I know, the older black powder loads bumped up the soft lead boolits to fill the bore, but that does us no good with smokeless loads.)

Your new rifle is a modern, correctly rifled and chambered 38/55! (Just my way of looking at it, others may disagree.) Should be a great rifle for cast loads.

[alamogunr]

Paco Kelly wrote about the .375W and the Speer 235 gr bullet. He recommended a load and flattening the tip for the tubular magazine. I've got some of the Speer bullets but have never tried them in my M94BB. I've also got a box of 38-55 ammo that I picked up several years ago at a gun show. I'm somewhat reluctant to shoot it in the .375W since I understand the jacketed bullet is slightly larger than .375. Not sure what that would do to pressure.

[JFE]

I believe the NOE mould designated 379-235 is one of RD's design. If ordering one I'd ask NOE for one with a GC shank. NOE also have it available in a HP version.

There are many bullet designs that work though. You should look to buy a Lee FCD to enable you to load bullets to the correct OAL. A lot of 375 cast bullet designs have crimp grooves set up for the longer 38/55 case.

I have a CBE 376-300GC which works really well, though I'd be inclined to order the CBE 375-298GC as it has a wider meplat. A load I like a lot is a 300gr cast bullet at 1850fps. The Lyman moulds 375449(GC) and 375248(PB) work well too. A PB 250 gr bullet (375248) in front of 6.5 gr of Red Dot is subsonic and easily capable of head shooting rabbits out to 50mtrs. It's a great practice load.

There are lots of cast bullet options and if you cast there is no real need for jacketed bullets. Personally I think the 235gr Speer is probably a little too hard for use in a 375 Win, based on using it in a 375H&H. Barnes make a suitable FN bullet and there are other specialist bullet makers in the US that make FN bullets.

Cases are now made by Starline though they are easy to form from 30/30 brass. They come up a little short but a Lee FCD helps to sort that out.

[Barr]

That mold looks like a great mold for future work, a hollow point may be just the ticket with a gas check. 1600 plus fps will be devastating on milk jugs!

379 235Gr. RF RG2 cavity GC (RD)

[beltfed]

IN my 38-55 Marlin CB, my Ruger No 3-375Win, and in both of my 375W T/C Contender rifle barrels,
my load in WW 38-55 cases of 28 gr Reloader 7 under the Lyman 375449GC, the NOE 375-235RD GC, or the
Lyman 375448(with 0.060 LDPE wad at base of bullet) shoots very well to about 1750fps. The loads also shot
well from my Marlin 1893 38-55. Formerly used 3031, but that Re7 meters sooo welllll.!
beltfed/arnie

[dogmower]

lyman 375449GC over IMR 3031. shoots well in my winchester 94 xtr, marlin 336 and H&R buffalo single shot.

[244ack]

I run the Accurate mold 38-270 D in my Big bore 94. Imr 3031 and H322 are the only powders I have tried. Best accuracy is at 1750 fps with both

[Barr]

What would be the approximate year of manufacture for a BB043xxx serial number? My best guess is ‘78-‘82.

[rking22]

Barr , looking at some links from researching the same on mine, I found reference to BB445xx made in 1980. My BB122xx was 1979. Going to guess 1980 for yours. Not a lot of documentation on the top ejects and date of manufacture. Introduction was Sept of 78.

[Barr]

234411

Attached is first batch from RCBS casting session.

[MOA]

Good looking boolits there Barr. I see your top punch is doing what mine use to do....ring the top of the boolit. I went to a little larger top punch that still sat square on the boolit but was made for a larger diameter boolit to get away from the ring. Just cosmetics I know but I wanted a cleaner look. I may also try some powder coating on a batch next time I cast this caliber again.

[MOA]

duplicate post sorry.

[Barr]

Top punch issue is correct. I thought my flat nose punch I use for 10mm would work, but it is too big in dia (punch actual flat nose portion is under .400 of course). Its a future financial problem, 50 yard blasting ammo should not be impacted for now.

[Drm50]

I have a old Ideal mold and correct top punch ringed them too. I haven't loaded any cast for a couple years but
I used the top punch for a 44 or 45 to avoid ringing.

[saleen322]

We have a 375 Win and 375 SM revolver. The NOE 235 FPGC works great in both. This bullet has been the most accurate of all we tried.

[JFE]

If the ringing bothers you, you can open up the top punch by wrapping a bullet with some fine emery and slowly work on the inside of the top punch until there's no ringing. It shouldn't need much work to clean it up.

With that bullet you can crimp into one of the lube grooves. This will give you greater capacity and better accuracy. Check for throat fit and functioning to make sure.

[yeahbub]

An important thing to do with any .375 Win rifle is to measure the actual chamber length. Some have chambers a good bit longer than specified for the .375 Win. Knowing the actual length will give you a clear picture and let you know which .38-55 cases can be used. The chamber in mine is nearly 2.1", almost .080 longer than .375 brass, so I use the 2.085" .38-55 cases without trimming them back to 2.020" and they work fine. The longer 2.125" cases might chamber, but would present a pressure hazard due to the case mouth being pinched down on the bullet. Knowing chamber depth will also let you know which factory .38-55 ammo will interchange and which to stay away from.


I shoot the Marlin 375 using the Lyman 375248 cast of WW's, but it casts right at .378 which is the Marlin's grove diameter. I didn't get very far (still haven't got that microgroove/cast thing together yet) until I paper-patched, tumble lubed and sized to .379. They finish out at 255gr or so and will easily withstand full-throttle loads, my favorite being 28gr of AA1680. Seated to the crimp groove, this is nearly 100% load density and thumps stoutly. Accuracy is 2-2.5" at 100. For the more .30-30-ish loads you intend, the powders you mention will work well, Rel 7 being very similar. The .375 Win seems a bit much for whitetails in this area where 80 yards is a long shot, but the results are certain. If I had the mold, I could be satisfied with a 180-200gr RNFP at about 2000 fps and the reduction in recoil. There's not a whitetail in these parts that couldn't be anchored with that.