Old thread - I have Savage 99 in 375 Win, Marlin's in 35 Rem, 444, 45-70. Starline or Hornady, others, make brass for all. 35 Rem is current in Marlin production. Most are leverguns - if you need 'straight' case, then 375 Win, 444 or 45-70. If you just want a good deer/black beer rifle, not much difference between 35 Rem or 375 Win, but take a look at the 300 Savage in used rifles, might be better than either in almost all cases with jacketed bullets, though if you MUST kill with cast boolits, the 444 or 45-70 are better than either.
I`d keep an eye out for a used .356 Winchester, a better cal. than those other two esp. with a 250 grain flat point cast boolit.
For those states that require a straight case Starline is currently making .375 cases and it is in stock
I know this is an old thread but something I have not seen anyone mention concerning the .375 winchester, 1 winchester put it on a 20 inch barrel which limits it ablities, 2 put a 26 inch barrel on it and it becomes a totally different rifle, 3 winchester should have put a 24 inch barrel on it and also retailed its ammo for less cost and it would have faired much better. For that matter if I could find any of the bb winchesters it would be fun to see what they could do with a 24/26 inch barrel instead of the 20 inch they came with. YMMV
Beware of a government that fears its citizens having the means to protect themselves.
NRA Patron member
Veteran
If you only want to shoot what is on the gun store shelves then 2024 should be an interesting year for you. Maybe we should only talk about what is currently available and all the old stuff, 44-40, 32-20,25-20, 256 win mag,225 winchester,375 winchester, 356 winchester, 307 winchester to name a few should never be mentioned because it takes effort to still shoot these fine calibers. For me if I could would love to be able to find one of these fine firearms and find a way to still shoot them. Sadly they are out of my price range and many I haven't seen for sale for a very long time. So have folks just put them in the back of gun safe and forgotten them? Or are they still being used and just not talked about much anymore. You know at one point in time they said the 220 swift was heading into the dead pile. Just saying because it is a little harder to find brass for a firearm doesn't make it dead. YMMV
Beware of a government that fears its citizens having the means to protect themselves.
NRA Patron member
Veteran
If you can only use factory ammo, then there is no reason to consider anything other than the standard bolt action cartridges ('06, .308, .270, 6.5 Creedmoor, etc.) or .30-30. Maybe .45-70, if you don't mind paying $2.50 a shot.
Currently casting and loading: .32 Auto, .380 Auto, .38 Special, 9X19, .357 Magnum, .257 Roberts, 6.5 Creedmoor, .30 WCF, .308 WCF, .45-70.
Starline has 375 Win. on back order which means they will be making some in the not to distant future. https://www.starlinebrass.com/375-win.
I have about 400 pieces of Win. 375 Win.brass, just ordered 250 pieces of 38-55 Win. to try in my Win. BB 375 Win. It will have to be trimmed, I wanted to try B/P so a thinner case and annealing should give good results.
I started reading this thread not realizing it was old at first. I was blown away at how many people posted about the availability of loaded ammo. I thought, what website am I on? Weirdos
NRA Life Member
Amvets life member
Very old thread, now the 360 Buck Hammer has been created to solve the PROBLEM?
just winchester playing to their market I think ...american shooters on the average want short barrels
supposedly to improve handling in the bush/brush
When I go bush it is imperative I can hear whats going on around me - with a light 24 or 26 inch barrel in these calibres I can do that - fire a few shots and still hear the twigs break under my feet when i get clumsy. Fire one shot from a 16 or 20 inch even in 44/40 and the bells are ringin - if you gonna wear ear protection out there and put it on for a shot - ................................................he s long gone and laughin before you get organised
The brass for both is available on order, if necessary. For most folks in the lower 48, the 35s will do nicely. However, If reloading, I personally can always load down. So would, on equal basis choose the 375, say, with an old Marlin 336 in 375 VS a 35 Rem. But for cast, there is not much difference at all if you are hunting hogs or deer. I have a Win 94 XTR 375 and several various power levels of 358 rifles so am very framiliar with the comparisons. The cast bullets make the higher power levels, a moot point, but more power is always an option, with a bullet change, plus with a stronger rifle action and more case capacity.
“There is a remedy for all things, save death.“
Cervantes
“Never give up, never quit.”
Robert Rogers
Roger’s Rangers
There are three kinds of men. The one that learns by reading. The few who learn by observation. The rest of them have to pee on the electric fence for themselves.
Will Rogers
If the OP can reload (almost a given on this forum), I say .375. .38-55 brass can be used as per Buffalo Bore and is usually much easier to find that either .375 or .35.
Currently casting and loading: .32 Auto, .380 Auto, .38 Special, 9X19, .357 Magnum, .257 Roberts, 6.5 Creedmoor, .30 WCF, .308 WCF, .45-70.
Nothing at all against a .375 but I'll take a .35 Remington all day long.
Grumpy Old Man With A Gun....... Do Not Touch !!
that would mean a marlin in my safe ? ...........................not happening
FWIW the 375 is long gone too - sad story there - sold it to a little islander guy in our club -- him and his mates had a messed up weekend on the kava and other craziness - neighbors objected - the boys acted up some more - cops came - guns confiscated - that Big Bore Winchester went in the crusher (maybe?) I prefer to think one of the cops with good taste "saved" it .
I upgraded to a 38/55 (fell onto a bunch of once fired winchester brass on a trade blanket first) then found a 94 with 24" octagonal barrel
I have 375BB in the Model 94 carbine. It's a beauty from the 90's. I am the only owner. I reload for it and have found great accuracy from it. It's light weight and can bring down practically any NA animal with exceptions of course. It does kick smartly. I'll never let it go. It's totally reliable and capable. It won't die here. I have a lot of brass and never had a failure after reloading quite a lot. My next mold will be for that rifle.
I use the .375, but only because that's what I have. Either one will certainly get the job done.
Just a quick note on using .38-55 brass in the .375 Win. Check chamber depth in your rifle.
I have switched over to using Starline .38-55 2.08" cases for full throttle loads. They chamber freely and most rifles I examined have chambers cut longer than necessary for the 2.02" .375 Win. case length specified. I never had any 2.125" .38-55 cases also produced by Starline, so I can't say whether they are usable as-is, but trimming is always an option. I hear comments that .38-55 brass is weaker, but they are all solid head cases and have noticed no reduction in case life or other irregularities. They do tend to be a touch thinner at the case mouth, which allows me to load a fatter boolit for better centering/sealing/accuracy.
My general practice is to paper patch boolits in both the .35's and the .375, which reduces metal fouling to zero and makes any cast boolit of near diameter a candidate for use. I don't have a .35 Rem, but I always wondered how improved the terminal effect of a 180gr RNFP boolit I have a mold for would be coming out of one.
BP | Bronze Point | IMR | Improved Military Rifle | PTD | Pointed |
BR | Bench Rest | M | Magnum | RN | Round Nose |
BT | Boat Tail | PL | Power-Lokt | SP | Soft Point |
C | Compressed Charge | PR | Primer | SPCL | Soft Point "Core-Lokt" |
HP | Hollow Point | PSPCL | Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" | C.O.L. | Cartridge Overall Length |
PSP | Pointed Soft Point | Spz | Spitzer Point | SBT | Spitzer Boat Tail |
LRN | Lead Round Nose | LWC | Lead Wad Cutter | LSWC | Lead Semi Wad Cutter |
GC | Gas Check |