DarylS
(.700 member)
30/01/10 03:10 PM
Re: 375 WIN Lever Action

Mine hasn't been to Africa- never will. The .375 Winchester is a slightly overpowered .38/55. In fact, I use .38/55 dies with both .375 and blown out .30/30 brass. I prefer .32 SPL brass as it's a tich longer than .30/30 once blown out.

I've shot 2 moose with mine, when it was my wife's rifle, but haven't used it since I received it 'back' as a birthday present.
I've loaded mostly 220gr. Hornady's up to 2,200fps, but shot the moose with a load of 42.0gr. H335 with the 220gr. The muzzle velocity was low, at 1,940fps.

The first moose, a big dry cow, was 95 yards away, standing with a tree covering her lung cavity, so I shot her through the onside shoulder. She tried to take off running and dropped dead in 1 1/2 steps. The bullet holed blades and both lungs, to stop beautifully mushroomed against the hide on the off side. Perfect performance - weighed 210gr. recorved. I still have it, somewhere.

My binocs were in truck - too bad. The second moose was about 110yards and a 3 year old bull on which the second shot, at about 75 yards, 220gr. Hornady, angled into the lungs from rear quarter at the last rib. The bullet went through the liver clipped the onside lung and holed the offside lung, centred a rib and stopped against the hide on the offside. He dropped dead after 4 slow steps. I also have that bullet, somewhere. Seems to me it lost more weight - down to something like 190gr. or maybe my mind has the two bullets mixed up.

The first shot on that moose was a 270gr. Hornady RN, with the nose filed off at the jacket. It was a rear shot, unfortunately. It merely smashed his left hip. He went down at the shot like he was polaxed and just as I was about to congratulate myself on a perfect chest shot, he jumped back up and took off with the cow. Later, when butchering him, we could not find any hole in the paunch, but sometimes with fat, a small hole is hard to find, nor was it in the leg. If the rifle had been scoped, or I had my binocs, I'd have seen the moose was standing with it's butt to me, and looking back over top of it's left shoulder, not facing me as it appeared. Oh well, the moose was not lost, but I had to track it for about 1/2 mile. He lay down within 50 yards of where he was first shot, but the cow kept getting him up & moving him off. Otherwise, he'd never have gotten back up. Moose are babies. We had waited about 1 hour before taking up their tracks & finding his first bed. About 5 or 6 beds later, we found him, separated from the cow and limping away on 3 legs.

Like many rounds, this one is not for shooting at the south end of a north bound moose.

I am impressed with this ctg.'s ability to drp moose with good hits and it's accuracy helps. It runs that H335 load into 1 1/2", 5 shot groups at 100 meters off the bags. Not bad for a 1978 M94. I filed the rear sight to a wide shallow "V" and installed an ivory bead for the front sight - wonderful change for the bush and very accurate on target as well. It is the XTR, top eject and has a lovely stock with a very bright finish, and is checkered.

I've experimented with 270gr. Hornady RN's, the nose cut off at the jacket running 1,750fps, as well as 300gr. Hornady RN's at 1,560fps. Both were accurate, but too tough for moose, I think, although the only 270 I shot into moose, stopped after smashing a 5" diameter bone - guess that's to be expected for such a low velocity round.

It's not for sale, sorry. A handy, powerful gun and a favourite to just grab for protection for a walk in the bush close to home. At 6 pounds loaded with 6, it's a peach.



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