Has anybody made one?
I am keen to read about your experiences.
I am in the throes of getting one made.
Thanks in advance.

Bob

I built a 375 Whelen some where around 1990, still have it.
I didn't see the need for the Ackley imp and when with the standard would do. I had this rifle built as a cast bullet only firearm. I've used 225 to 300 grain cast bullets with good results.
The was very reloading info for the 375, still not much, so I used 35 Whelen data for jacketed bullets.
I have no idea as to the velocity I was getting, but a 250 grain RCBS bullet made from babbit metal will punch thru a 1/4 inch cold rolled steel plate at 100 yards. And a 300 grain NEI bullet would punch thru a rail road tie at the same distance.
The the 225, forgot who made the mold, made from air cooled wheel weights is like Thor's hammer on a white tail deer at 50 60 yards.
I bought 500 blemished jacketed slugs and threw them under the bench just in case there's resurgence of moose, grizzlies here in Virginia.
Have fun and keep us informed with your 375 adventures.

Jim

I built a 375X280 IMP years ago and really liked it. Was able to get 2300 fps out of 300 grain bullet with no issues. Easy build on a standard action. I used a model 70 30-06 for the action. I did not have to work feed rails or do anything special to make it work. The old Hornady 300 sp bullets expanded well on deer and bear. This is a great mild recoiling thumper.

Sam

I am shooting a 375x62 (9.3x62 necked up to .375) Happened by accident when I had a shot out 9x57 barrel rebored..the barrel was so oversize that High Plains said it would be risky to bore to 9.3x62 so I had him rebore it to .375x62...Glad I did that, its the best wildcat that I have ever played with..I am very nearly duplicating the .375 H&H with 300 gr. bullets, in fact I load my .375 H&H at the same velocity as my 375x62, that is a 300 gr. bullet at 2512 FPS..Of course you can load a .375 H&H somewhat faster than that, but no need to IMO..

My rifle is a old small ring German gild gun I believe, has a full rib, extended trigger guard into the grip, claw bases with custom rings, and I had to restock it as the old wood was thin, weak and somewhat dryrotted out..

My starting loads were loads from the 375 Scoville, but I have 6 to 8 grs. more powder capacity and get considerable more velocity with max loads it appears. I am still testing and working up loads for it and it just gets better all the time..

For additional information on this wildcat give me a call or an email, be glad to furnish all my data to interested parties.

Why not a 404 straight?

A 404 straight is probably pretty close to the 460 Guns & Ammo, I would think.

Great gun. Lots of load data on z-hat.com.

The 375 Scovill uses 30-06 brass and pushes a 250 grain bullet to 2,7000 fps.

In the article, Bob found that the 9.3x62 case necked up to .375 performed better than the 375 Whelen in his gun. Good article.

Good choice! You will like it.

The .375 Whelen Imp. is mentioned in PO Ackleys book...He shows it got 2300 FPS with a 350 gr. bullet, thats pretty good and Ackley says he thinks the right loads would make it even better..It should be close to my 375x62 at any rate and I can get 2500 plus a little with a 300 gr. bullet..It would also be easy to get brass..It is an interesting caliber for sure.

He shows another simular caliber, a stright 375 whelan, that got much higher velocity by some guy in Utah, but the velocities were estimated and seems like to me somewhat inflated..

Ray I too have a skinny little 9X57 Mauser, mine weighs about the same as my Kimber Montana in 308. We swaged 358 down to 356 and use it as a family and guest plinker,reason are not because of power but it's a fun little rifle to shoot balloons on the water in front of the house. And it's too nice of rifle to bang around here in boats and on machines.

quote:

Originally posted by Biebs:
A 404 straight is probably pretty close to the 460 Guns & Ammo, I would think.

Biebs, Tom Siatos developed the 460 G&A with a 404 Jeffery case necked to 45 cal and Jack Lott called it the best 450 for DG. I have the G&A article from Feb 1971 if you would like a read. This is one page showing the 460 G&A

Bob,

Sorry I can't help you that much with the 375-06 AI. I happened to build a shoot my own designed 380PDK. It is the little brother to my 400PDK. I figured if I was building a wildcat I might as well get the most of it. So I did the AI, Brown Whelen, Hawk etc one better. Or at least to me.

I start with 2.65+" cylinder brass, leave it at 2.65" .46" 40 degree shoulder. Gross capacity of 83.5 grs of water.

IMR 4895 and RL 15 are my most used powders. 260gr Accubonds are moved over 2700fps with at least 5+ relaods per case. 300gr Part are 2500+ again with no stress on the brass. The 300CTs in the picture take up more capacity and are closer to 2475fps.

Snapper,
I get about 100 to 150 FPS beyond what a 375-06 IMP gets so far with my 375x62..I use the Scovill max loads for starting loads for the most pare or so it has worked out so far, so I agree with Bob..

I only went with the 375x62 because the old bore on my rifle was so bad a 9.3 wouldn't clean it up or was too close, so opted for the next caliber up the .375..and I am very pleased, other than the rifle is too light weight, but I would add a heavier barrel because I love that full rib barrel, so I'll bite the bullet and take the hit.

The reason I got a 375 Whelen AI is my friend built it and I can use dirt common 06 brass.
And it meets my other criteria of velocity, bullet weight and diameter and rifle length and weight. Mine has a nice little 19" McGowan cromo barrel on a 98 Mauser action with the original safety and trigger . the trigger is Perfect !! Very easy rifle to hit well with off hand.
I've taken 250 gr bullets up to 2600 fps with it. But backed them down to 2550 fps with H4895.
Just a nice little rambling around rifle.

My 375 "wildcat" iteration AKA 375 JDJ MAX uses a necked up slightly RWS 9.3 x 62 case...CC 68.5 gr H2O at 2.245"...26" bbl...a 250 gr Sierra. 3.00 COAL, slightly compressed 100+ % load of 748 for ~2650 fs at ~58 KPSI...THE 235 SPEER does ~2750 with a similar load of 748 and 264 gr Cast Lead shoots nicely with 748 and CFE223 from 2200 to 2400 fs. Nosler Parts work just as well at ~100 fs slower.

I run into burn rate and case volume problems with the shorter case but I had a set of fancy hi-dollar JDJ dies I had to use and a Savage Axis receiver going to waste.

Good Hunting

A 40 Caliber bullet in the 30-06 case standard or Improved isn't much of a caliber IMO..The big 400 gr. bullets need 2400 FPS at safe pressures..I would prefer a Chatfield Tayor for instance, but in reality I will and did fine with just a 404..If one is going to shoot a DG rifle then use a DG rifle..more is better if one can handle the recoil..

Remember 375 Hawk/Sco data is based on the same max pressures as 30-06, 48,500 cup.
Up the pressure, up goes vel.

the back 40 is spot on, but one gets trashed on the internet by the boys that only load by the book, which due to frivolous lawsuits underload all calibers at least for the most part..

My suggestion to those ignorant souls is USE MORE H414 TO GET, FOR INSTANCE, 2700 FPS with a 200 gr. bullet in a 30-06..thats only 20 grs of lead more than 200....its easy, its safe in a proper rifle.

A whole lot of reloaders don't seem to understand that you load to the pressure limits of the RECEIVER THAT YOU ARE USING and NOT the "book" pressures. Screwing up on EITHER option can get you in a lot of hot water. All the hoo-haw with the 45-70's 3 levels of reloading and the variations in the various bolt guns pressure limits should give very large clues.

Knowing what you can and can't do when it comes to case volumes and lengths and wildcatting helps big time also.

Good Hunting

Correct...

Actually if you used a 270/280, 2.54" case and shoved the neck forward and blew out the walls to the max you can only get ~82 gr total H2O volume...LOTSA work and extra cost for maybe 5-7 gr more volume over the Whelen/Whelen Imp and 1/4 % that amount of increased velo...maybe 50-75 fs more velo over the "standard" 375 Whelen Imp...That extra volume ALSO depends greatly on the wall and base thickness of the case you use for wildcatting.

It's ALWAYS cool when you have a one off with a cool sounding name and the only one in existence...but in this day and age with all the brass availability, using a standard already-been-done or using one of the short, fatties might be a better solution for an everyday only one rifle user.

If I hadn't of had those high dollar RCBS 375 JDJ dies I might have gone with a 375 Jamison/375 WSM and Redding bushing dies or used the 284 case and modified my 284 bushing dies to work...or just downloaded one of my other 375 cals and saved the work for some caliber/case I don't already have.

Lotsa choices in this do-it-yourself game.

Good Hunting

I always wondered why the .376 styer round didn't catch on better.
It fits a 98 action nicely, holds four down, comes close enough to a .375 H&H that it would make no difference in North American hunting.
I bought the reamer, and 300 new cases, have a couple 98's in the cartridge, no complaints.

Proprietary, sightly oddball case maybe????

I loved the 375/62 but I built it on an 8 lb. skinny stocked Mauser, recoil was awful but a friend of mine loaded with testosterone loved it and has no problem shooting it so he now owns it..If you build one it should weigh 8.5 lbs naked..and 9.5 lbs scoped and loaded.