Sabot,

Your question was "What's wrong with simply necking up the 9.3X62 to .375? This would be similar to the 375 Hawk".

The answer is "nothing!" I'm sure you've read the article on the Z-Hat.com site and see several things. The first cartridge started out as a 375 Whelen, but then was rechambered to the 375 Whelen Improved. Not happy with the results, the gun was then rechambered to the 9.3x62, which is larger at the base as well as the shoulder being .451 not .441 and a shorter neck. This was the 375 Hawk.

When Dave Scovill received the gun for testing, he had his own made and changed the reamer spec for the brass base back to .470 so he could use common '06 brass. Many have said whelen brass could be used in a 9.3 but the base swells. Clymer sent the reamer to Dave and called it the 375 Scovill. Thus the name change.

Brass is easy to make with 35 Whelen brass. One pass with a .400 expander ball, one pass through RCBS 375 Scovill dies, trim and load. Try working up to the max load shown with a 250 grain bullet @ 2700fps. Wow!

I sold my 338 Win Mag to build this gun and don't regret it a bit. Same bullet weight and speed with a lot less powder with a larger diameter hole in a lighter gun. The 375 Scovill seems to combine the best of the 9.3 and 375 H&H.

I agree with Ray about the 9.3 and 375 being a great guns, but that wasn't your question as I read it. This is a great wildcat to build that is easy to load and shoot.

Snapper