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Years ago, I'd think about the mid 1980's, I became bored with my .375/06IMP on a VZ98 action and Reinhart Fagen Claro stock. The stock, although beautifully marked in curl and flame, was very open grained and soft.

I had glass bedded it originally, when it was a .458 American back in the early 70's. The ".458 American" is the .458 Win. Mag. case shortened to 2". After 2 or more more 'fixes', splitting back through the bedding and wood which happened about every 1,000 rounds, I ground out the bedding(acraglass), yet once again, rebed it and put in 2 cross bolts, one behind the tang, one through the oft repaired recoil lug. This stopped the splitting for once and for all.

After shooting it for a few more years, around 1982 to 83?, I pulled the barrel, which had upwards of 12,000 rounds through it at that time, and replaced it with a McGowen 26" .375 tube that was chambered for the generic .375/06IMP.

After just a few years of shooting that one, a few thousand rounds, I had the bug for something 'better' in that bore size - a beltless magnun .375. I'd already had a .375H&H magnum BRNO and didn't want to go that way, so I borrowed my friend's 6.5x68S (Shuler) reamer. With a brass bushing on the neck of the 6.5 reamer, I ran the reamer in (by hand) a bit more deeply than normal to headspace on an 8x68RWS case cut off at the .375" datum line. I then used a Clymer Neck/Throat reamer to 'freshen' the neck and throat in my 'new' chamber. This completed my 9.5x68 chamber, a simple re-chamber on the original .375/06IMP chamber, by a round-a-bout method.

A friend gave me 20 or 30 RWS 8x68S cases, which I quickly necked up to .375 and fireformed them for my 'new' rifle. Loading in earnest started. This rifle was my test bed for the .223 brass, annealed and shortened to various lengths, cleaned then filled with lead for making bullets from 200gr. to 330gr. As well I shot cast bullets and also tested store bought 235's through to the 300 Barnes Spitzers and 350gr. Barnes round nosed thumpers with .049" jackets. I was a crazed experimenter - every day off (working 4on 4off and then 4on -6off shifts gave me what seemed unlimited time for experimentation, making bullets, casting, loading and shooting. I'm afraid I might have neglected my family while this experimentation was going on - not the first time, nor was it the last, I guess. This bothers me today. I seemed driven - perhaps something to do to relieve the stress of the work place,perhaps.

I found I was able to use .375H&H data, and indeed, ended up using .375H&H brass, shortened, then belts turned to .522" and fireformed for my 9.5x68. The cases would expand ahead of the belt to fit the new chamber and of course, they were trimmed to length - a bit shorter than the parent .375mag. case. Capacity of the altered and fire formed .375 mag. brass was a mere 3-4 grains over the .375H&H cases, thus some minor improvement in velocity was possible, perhaps 100fps.

After becoming bored with this rifle, I bent to pressure from a hunting buddy and sold it to him. He immediately had Huntington's make him a set of dies, called the 9.5x68 - so - they are on file, probably under "Keith 9.5x68" or perhaps, by calibre only. I had been using dies I'd cobbled up - even made my own "Hornady-like" straight-line seating die (before they came out with one). I still have it in the bin, and use it now and again with my current .375/06IMP (78gr.Cap. case)- or the 9.3x62 - works for both. Keith didn't want to use my junky dies, rather wanted 'real dies' - so - it should be a wildcat die # with RCBS.

His loads surpassed mine, with him achieving 2,900+fps with 270's and driving 235's well over 3 grande. After shooting a few moose with this beltless .375 Magnum, Keith sold it to his brother, who immediately started using 250gr. Barnes "X" bullets at something around 2,900+fps. They were marvels indeed, handily killing more moose, but no 'pocket' bullets to show for the kills - all exited, of course, no matter than angle, but kill well, the ctg. & bullet did. The brother had the barrel shortened and magnaported, but by then, it was showing signs of no wear as in no rifling left for about 4" or so, ahead of the chamber.

The new barrel was re-barreled and chambered using Keith's original 6.5x68 reamer along with my neck-throat reamer. At that time, about 1992, I guess it was, now that I think about it, I was doing the basket weaving course (tongue in cheek) due to burnout at the prison where I worked. I didn't get my reamer back from the gun smith who borrowed it and I did not trust myself to go after him for it, so I let it slide. I think even then, he might have been suffering from the onset of Alzheimer's which eventually took him. Oh well, Clymer, Manson and Pacific have more, if I ever need one again.

I was given the old barrel back, which I cut back to a 2" chamber length for the .350 Rem mag necked up, belt turned off, a .375 2" rimmed, I guess it is, put the barrel on a Styer straight pull action, made up the brass using .350 mag. & .45/70 cases (rims turned to .532") and had some fun with the totally worn out barrel. It would still put both 270's and 300's at around 2,200fps into a 1 1/2-2" group at 100 meters. Amazing what you can do, if you think about it, a bit. I broke the extractor on that Styer action, so with no parts available, I junked the whole process. That barrel probably had close to 16,000 rounds through it, in total- maybe more. It still resides in the 'old barrel' rack - just in case I need it again. I still have a whack of altered .350's and .45/70 cases for it.

So - the 9.5x68 - might have been the first, or one of the first beltless .375 Magnums. It's a great round and does fit in a normal M98 action.

When Ruger first came out with the .375 Ruger, some gun scribes initially said the head diameter was .522" - THAT my friends is the head size of the 8x68S. I thought - they've factoryized my wildcat - turns out they didn't go that way, but they could have, theirs was quite close, but a bit larger again, in diameter and 6gr. over H&H capacity, 2 to 3 more than mine - it's a small world, afterall, Cptn. Jack! LOL.

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Daryl

"a gun without hammers is like a Spaniel without ears" King George V