What are the potential pitfalls for this procedure? The barrel guy warning me about inadequacy of the shoulder, which surprised me. I've been shooting a 375 Whelen out of a Mark X for 25 - 30 years with no issues.

there are no real downside to that conversion and it has plenty of shoulder, but I personally would opt for the 9.3x62 or 64, and nix the wildcat round..Id recommend another gunsmith yours is outdated..

Thank you for the reply and your wisdom. I've already have the loading dies, bullet molds, loading data, boxes of jacketed bullets and hundreds of 30-06 brass from my bolt action 375 Whelen. I have a 95 in 405 Win. and another 30-06 model 95 and I thought it would make a nice set for my grandson in the future.

The 9.3 x 62 WOULD be an alternative, but you'd open a can of worms with the 64 version...including a larger case head to deal with.

You're on the right track in my opinion

I think you're on the right track. I'd much rather expand or fireform .30-06 to .375-06 than source 9.3x62 brass and bullets. Only downside is slightly more expensive reloading dies.

I have a .375 Hawk Scovill. It's based on the 9.3x62 case, except the Scovill version went back to .30-06 brass, but kept the front dimensions. I made a die for it by running a 10mm carbide die into a Hornady 9.3x62 sizing die, and polishing a bit with 400 grit silicon carbide paper. Die plus reamer ended up costing me about $35. Works perfectly.

Sounds like a great conversion. Lots of excellent mono bullets now in .375.

I think that headspace issue on the 375-06 is a myth that was supported by poor hand loaders.
I may have this wrong, but I think that someone has recently proven that the cartridge is held in the correct position in the chamber by just the extractor. Please correct me if I am wrong. (This test was done with a Winchester bolt action rifle.)

I have a 375 Whelen built on a Mauser action. I had it converted with shooting cast bullets exclusively. I got a lot of advice from the C.B.A. (Cast Bullet Association) for alloys, sizing, powder choices, etc. I bought molds made by NEI, Saeco, ECBS and Lyman. I found some 250 grain jacketed bullets on clearance. I think it was 500 or 1,000. I never opened the box, hard cast bullets up to 260 grains (Saeco) moving at 2,000 FPS, (this is a wild ass guess) would do anything I wanted. The 300 grain cast bullet from NEI with a full charge was eye opening. All the bullets, shooting off the bench, would put five bullets into 1.5 to 2 inches at a hundred yards. My log book for that rifle and cartridge in out in the loading shed. I need to find it find out what powders I used. I used beginning 35 Whelen data for a starting point.

sure, just do it .. shouldn't be an issue

Duane, in all respect what would the problem with the 9.3x64? on his Mauser action, can't see the problem as Ive seen up to 404 Jefferys on 98 actions as well as many belted calibers..The 9.3x62 case head is also slightly larger than the 30-06 even though Ive seen some 9.3x62s that fitted the standard 30-06 bolt face.

quote:

Originally posted by Atkinson:
Duane, in all respect what would the problem with the 9.3x64? on his Mauser action, can't see the problem as Ive seen up to 404 Jefferys on 98 actions as well as many belted calibers..The 9.3x62 case head is also slightly larger than the 30-06 even though Ive seen some 9.3x62s that fitted the standard 30-06 bolt face.

The OP was asking about converting a Browning 95 lever gun. He just said that he had a Mark X that he'd been using for years in the .375 caliber. While I'm sure a .375-06 will work with the tiny shoulder an AI version would give you more shoulder to work with, but then again there's the problem with the dies. Could you consider reboring to .35 Whelen?

Thanks for your reply. I have the dies, the bullet molds, etc. As the first gunsmith said my first rifle was a 375 06, Redding basically said the same thing, a 375 - 06. I'm hoping that the rebored Browning 95 works out as well as the Mauser which got a Douglas barrel fit to the action.
Thanks for every bodies input. I can't wait start working up loads.

Clowdis,
thanks I miss read that part, missed the mod.95 and resgistered on a mark X...I personally would go with a 9.3x62 or a 35 Whelen also, but a 375 would work, I built a 375x62 on a Mauser 98, and I pretty sure it would work as well in a Win 95 and had a bit more shoulder than the 375 whelen as I recall..It got me 2400 to 2500 fps with a 300 gr. bullet in a bolt action, so 2400 in the browning sounds feasible.and those are cape buffalo figures for sure...

When I bought my early Brn/Win M95 30-06 it was with the same intent.
But after looking at my stash of 30-06 ammo and cases of heavy Woodleigh, Nosler Partition and old 220 Hornady steel jacketed solid bullets I decided to shoot it as a 30-06 until I wear the bore out. Then I can rebore it !

After going thru the process and got my 375x62 done and shot some African game with it, and one buffalo and a few elk, I decided the 30-06 with a 220 gr. Nosler or 200 gr Accubond was as good, at least I couldn't see any difference in the reaction of game with like shot placement..I always seem to drift back to my worn out mod 70 fwt in 30-06 with a 4X Leupold, Ive made the full circle several times and once I sell my 8mm/06 Ackley I'll be back to the olld 06 again..

Measure the muzzle OD first - I think you need at least .125 - .150 wall thickness for a rebore.