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Sean, Sounds like you have a specific plan in mind (or unused loading dies on the shelf) but have you given any thought to getting the new 375 JDJ factory barrel? It ought to outrun both the Winchester or the Remington rounds. Otherwise, the T/C Custom Shop http://www.foxridgeoutfitters.com/ will sell you a 375 Win or 35 Rem barrel in any length between 16.25-24 inches for between $230-270. Good hunting! McB

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MCB, Greetings! I know what you mean: I have given it some thought and it makes sense for some. I just last week I ordered a factory 375jdj 23" barrel for a customer.



It is an interesting barrel: he is only going to use factory ammo for it, and when his lot of ammo arrives from T/C, I am sighting it in for him, so I will get to see how it does. For him it makes sense as he does not plan on owning an Encore, and since he does not reload, the factory 375win offering is not as good as the now available 375jdj offering.



I'll chrono it as well if whether permits. I do not have dies for the 375jdj, and have no plans to own one myself, though I may change that opinion in the future.



As for me, I do have a specific plan in mind for the 35rem and 375win, but it is NOT rechambering. You did guess correctly about dies sitting on the shelf [in this case the shelf of a friend]. I am sticking with the factory chambering & cases, and loading for them to their fullest flexibility in our single shot actions with the best available bullets for caliber. I really like the 35rem as loaded right I see it as a 200 yard deer cartridge in a short Contender Carbine [good treestand gun] and if I were to bump up in performance in 35cal, I'd likely go with a 35 Whelen in an Encore.



I also like the 375win as it is, loaded for single shots with better bullets than the factory offering, for a mild recoiling 150yard sledgehammer on any eastern game. If I were go go up in performance and range in 375, I'd get a 375H&H in an Encore.



I my view, the 444 Marlin is probably the best commonly available big bore offering in the Contender for eastern game [not to step on the toes of those 45-70 fans out there!].



There was a time when custom wildcats were the only way to get big performance in a handgun, but that time is pretty much in the past. To my thinking and personal approach to shooting, the Encore really eliminates the need for the super wildcats in the Contender, unless a specific purpose is achieved i.e. a suitable case for certain states legal definitions such as the 30 Bellm is in Illinois, or in the rare situation of my local customer, a guy that wants big performance out of his Contender, does not reload or plan on buying an Encore and who is not a rabid infected Barrel-itis person like me, and sees a handy solution in the factory 375jdj now being offered.



I guess it boils down to my own peculiar approach to loads and guns and shooting: I like to do uncommon things with common calibers & offerings, preferably in custom barrels but in this case I am looking for a few interesting "brush" carbine Contender barrels & do not desire to wait the MINIMUM 6 months to a year for a custom order to show upand MAYBE be done as ordered....



As for the super wildcats in the Contender, well, why in this day and age go with a 309jdj Contender when I can have a 308 win in my Pachmayr Dominator or in a 15" Encore, or with a 358JDJ Contender when I can have a 35Whelen or 350Rem Mag Encore? I have no great affection for playing around with resizing brass cases and spending $$$ on custom dies, so now that the Encore and other guns exist and can handle the higher pressure stuff, I can go with the factory versions of the higher performance cases in appropriate guns and load with commonly available dies, and if I want a lighter handier weapon, I use the Contender with it's commonly available factory cartridges in custom chambered barrels [when I can get them] or the Bellm wildcats which do not require the big expense in dies and are not a great chore to resize



Ah well, just a few thoughts and observations as to how I personally see these things. Others will have widely differing opinions and reasons and desires behind why they do what they do the way they do it