38-55 in a 375 winchester

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mike Crawford

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I was looking into getting a 375 Winchester but was also looking into how hard it is too get the brass and bullets ,, I was reading on a different site where they are shooting 38-55 out of a 375 Winchester.. If in fact this is possible what is the need for a 375 Winchester.. Not sure if they are using 38-55 too fire form 375 or not but people are saying they are using 38-55 too hunt with and shooting the ammo out of the 375 .. because 375 brass is scarce ..
 
The lever action rifle that is chambered in .375 uses a much stronger action and will handle higher pressures than a lever action rifle made is 38-55. 38-55 ammo is not loaded as hot as the .375 Winchester either.
 
X2 to everything what guntech pointed out. Plus 375 win brass isn't that hard to find. No you can't buy it at Walmart, but if you check a few decent reloading supply places you will find it.
 
BUT can you shot 38-55 out of a 375 Winchester,, If you can why is there a 38-55 and a 375 or is it like the 6.55x55 Mauser's and then the 6.5x55 new guns that are built too higher pressures , so you can shoot 38-55 in a 375 but not 375 in a 38-55 :::????... I am missing something here for sure
 
heronfish said:
Question for the experts:

Do you run into OAL issues with the longer 38-55 in a 375 win?
Click to expand...

I imagine they are cutting the case down for use in a 375. But even at that I wonder if the 38-55 brass is as strong as the 375 brass or if you need to use 38-55 load data even in a 375 rifle.


At the end of the day, why not just order the proper 375 brass?
 
I'm with Double Gun in that I wouldn't be trying to eke 375 numbers out of a 38-55 case. 38-55 should easily run upwards of 1600-1700 fps;if that is stout enough, run the cases through a trimmer or have at it with the 38-55 Big load if you desire.
Waters throws out some 1900 FPS loads with common powders 3031, 4895 & RL-7. But that is out of rifles; not carbines, trying to get your short Winnie to throw those numbers on the Chrono probably isn't a good plan
 
From page 50 of Rifle Magazine's "Special Edition" on Winchester Leverguns, as per Dave Scovill (who certainly appears to an expert in the matter of these rifles)...

Quote: "The .375 WCF, introduced in 1978 and discontinued in 1983, remains something of a mystery. The case was/is about .10 inch shorter than the .38-55 and could, in spite of warnings in the outdoor press and company literature to not shoot .375s in 38-55 chambers, fit neatly in older black-powder-era 38-55s, a potentially hazardous situation."

Notably, the 38-55 case is .10 inches longer than the .375. So, if I take the opening question literally, NO!!! Don't shoot 38-55 out of your .375 Winchester!

As far as using 38-55 brass for starters in reloading for the .375, I defer to those here who are into that stuff. But it seems to me that, with a little effort, the proper brass should be attainable; it's not like the .375 dates from a hundred years ago.
 
Winchester still lists .375 Win. ammo on their website - product number "X375W" in 200 gr.

http://www.winchester.com/Products/rifle-ammunition/Performance/Super-X-rifle/Pages/default.aspx?c=375+Winchester

Finding it may still be a challenge, but a dealer may be able to order for you. That said, manufacturers often only do limited runs every several years of ammo that's low in demand, so might not be currently available.

Winchester also lists brass for the .375, product number "WSC375WU"...

http://www.winchester.com/products/components/cases/rifle-shellcases/Pages/rifle-shellcases.aspx
 
https://www.buffalobore.com/index.php?l=product_detail&p=159

OUR 38-55 WORKS IN ALL WINCHESTER 375 RIFLES

Our 38-55 ammo is also designed to work in ALL 375 Winchester chambered rifles. ALL means ALL. Winchester, Savage, and Marlin all chambered rifles in 375 Winchester. All 375 Winchester rifles utilize chambers long enough to accept the 2.085 inch 38-55 brass, even though 375 Winchester brass is only 2.020 inches long. By using the longer 38-55 brass, we accomplish two things:

1) We get the bullet closer to the rifling’s and this creates a generally more accurate load.

2) The longer 38-55 brass, with thinner case walls than 375 Winchester brass, gives much more case capacity and this allows chamber pressures to drop immensely. i.e. our 38-55 loads give the same performance (a 250gr. bullet @ 2000 fps) as the original 375 Winchester loading, but at only 38,000 CUP instead of the industry max. pressure of 52,000 CUP that the original 375 Winchester was rated at.
 
ceb said:
https://www.buffalobore.com/index.php?l=product_detail&p=159

OUR 38-55 WORKS IN ALL WINCHESTER 375 RIFLES

Our 38-55 ammo is also designed to work in ALL 375 Winchester chambered rifles. ALL means ALL. Winchester, Savage, and Marlin all chambered rifles in 375 Winchester. All 375 Winchester rifles utilize chambers long enough to accept the 2.085 inch 38-55 brass, even though 375 Winchester brass is only 2.020 inches long. By using the longer 38-55 brass, we accomplish two things:

1) We get the bullet closer to the rifling’s and this creates a generally more accurate load.

2) The longer 38-55 brass, with thinner case walls than 375 Winchester brass, gives much more case capacity and this allows chamber pressures to drop immensely. i.e. our 38-55 loads give the same performance (a 250gr. bullet @ 2000 fps) as the original 375 Winchester loading, but at only 38,000 CUP instead of the industry max. pressure of 52,000 CUP that the original 375 Winchester was rated at.
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I checked out Buffalo Bore, but I didn't look far enough! My understanding is that chambers are cut for a certain length of casing specific to caliber...but apparently not always! Good find!!!

:)

I did find that Starline makes two different lengths of 38-55 brass, the other called "Long Brass", which is 2.125" in length, for chambers that will accommodate such.
 
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Have not got a 375 Winchester yet ... was looking into brass and bullets first and came across this shooting 38-55 in one stuff .. was a bit confused ,,, Still not sure about it .. but will buy the right cases when the time comes anyway
 
The 375 headspaces on the rim, not the case mouth so I would not be surprised if the chamber is cut long enough for "short" 38-55 brass, 2.08".

It would not surprise me at all if Winchester 38-55 ammo is made with a 375" bullet.

What needs to be done is a chamber cast of the rifle and a dimension check on the ammo.

I would make a small wager that it is ok, that the chamber is long enough and the bullet the proper dimension.
 
MiG25 said:
The 375 headspaces on the rim, not the case mouth so I would not be surprised if the chamber is cut long enough for "short" 38-55 brass, 2.08".

It would not surprise me at all if Winchester 38-55 ammo is made with a 375" bullet.

What needs to be done is a chamber cast of the rifle and a dimension check on the ammo.

I would make a small wager that it is ok, that the chamber is long enough and the bullet the proper dimension.
Click to expand...

Actually, Winchester 38-55 ammo is loaded with a slightly oversized bullet. [.3765"] I have a M94 - 38-55 made in 1979.
Barnes makes 2 entirely different bullets in 255 grain weight. One is for the 375 Winchester, and mikes .375" The other is
for the 38-55 and mikes .377" The one 375 M94that I owned had a chamber long enough to accomodate the 2.08" 38-55 brass.
Regards, Dave.
 
Eagleye said:
Actually, Winchester 38-55 ammo is loaded with a slightly oversized bullet. [.3765"] I have a M94 - 38-55 made in 1979.
Barnes makes 2 entirely different bullets in 255 grain weight. One is for the 375 Winchester, and mikes .375" The other is
for the 38-55 and mikes .377" The one 375 M94that I owned had a chamber long enough to accomodate the 2.08" 38-55 brass.
Regards, Dave.
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I was always under the belief that winchester didn't make a different bullet for the 375 and used the same jacketed bullet they used in 38-55 super x ammunition. It would surprise me if they had a different bullet, but I could be wrong.

Would be nice if they would sell these as bulk bullets, finding jacketed components isn't easy or cost effective.
 
sir_springer said:
From page 50 of Rifle Magazine's "Special Edition" on Winchester Leverguns, as per Dave Scovill (who certainly appears to an expert in the matter of these rifles)...

Quote: "The .375 WCF, introduced in 1978 and discontinued in 1983, remains something of a mystery. The case was/is about .10 inch shorter than the .38-55 and could, in spite of warnings in the outdoor press and company literature to not shoot .375s in 38-55 chambers, fit neatly in older black-powder-era 38-55s, a potentially hazardous situation."

Notably, the 38-55 case is .10 inches longer than the .375. So, if I take the opening question literally, NO!!! Don't shoot 38-55 out of your .375 Winchester!

As far as using 38-55 brass for starters in reloading for the .375, I defer to those here who are into that stuff. But it seems to me that, with a little effort, the proper brass should be attainable; it's not like the .375 dates from a hundred years ago.
Click to expand...

Not being argumentative; but you are worried about shooting lower powered, lower pressured round in a carbine designed for much more powerful rounds. That's like taking an SRT Hemi charger in a parade...it far exceeds what you are asking of it. The warning had to concern putting a 375 in a 38-55 I think.
 
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