35 Sambar aka 350 wsm
- Thread starter wannabe
- Start date
I had a Sambar, but sold it to a buddy who admired it, when I did a .358-375 Ruger, then ended up building a .375 WSM. I also have a nice .350 Rem Mag, but if I were to choose, I would definitely go with the .375 over the .358... the .375 is a corker with the 235 bullets @ 2900 fps. It can also push the 270/300 grain bullets at Cape Buffalo speed. I tested it on moose and bears with fantastic results and will have it on PG shortly.
Bottom rifle...
Bottom rifle...
Last edited:
It’s what the 325wsm should have been. As far as ballistics go it’s a good one. The 375wsm is very interesting as well and really starts to take some of my hate away from the wsm line.
If your a WSM fan already you will probably love it and it’s more of a good thing over a 300-325wsm.
If your throwing a dart at the wall wanting to try something new it might not be where I would start.
WSM series of cases IMO are to big for a short action and to small for a long….. you loose 1 round of mag capacity in most cases and every one I have ever handled fed and operated as smooth as a 3 point turn……. The .35 or .375 may be the cure to that problem though.
If your a WSM fan already you will probably love it and it’s more of a good thing over a 300-325wsm.
If your throwing a dart at the wall wanting to try something new it might not be where I would start.
WSM series of cases IMO are to big for a short action and to small for a long….. you loose 1 round of mag capacity in most cases and every one I have ever handled fed and operated as smooth as a 3 point turn……. The .35 or .375 may be the cure to that problem though.
I don't feel the call to the Whelen is relevant anymore. Don't get me wrong, I am a Whelen fan, and have owned and hunted with several over the years, including a beautiful Ruger No.1... i like pretty much all .358 catridges... but these days, there is no issue with finding .300 WSM brass, many have it already on their bench, as I did, several hundred in fact... so as far as "easy" goes, it is just as easy to build and Feed a Sambar as it is a Whelen, and let's be honest, a Sambar is much cooler! The question of action length can be easily answered... go long. I built my .375 WSM on a Ruger Mark II Stainless action that started life as a 7 Rm Mag, twirled on a 24" Bob Jury #3 barrel and added an Alskan Arms Coffin mag plate to bring the mag capacity back to four rounds. As I said earlier, it is a corker cartridge and the case is ideal for the lighter .375 bullets, up to 300 grain. I liked my Sambar alot, and shot many bears with it and a couple moose, but I LOVE this .375 WSM it is hyper accurate and pleasant to shoot... to be honest the .358-375 Ruger was a smidge too much of a good thing for where and how I hunt... If I were left of center it would have stayed right here... but the .375 WSM isn't going anywhere for the foreseeable future... I took a medium bear and moose with it, and will test it out on PG in a couple months. I also put together a new .458 WM Stainless Carbine, to complement my RSM in .458 Lott, and shot a doe with it this fall, just for S&G... the .458 WM will mostly be carried while guiding and hunting bears in the Boreal... I prefer big chunks of lead at slower speeds to the light and zippy group at least for bears, less messy and just as effective.
Basically, if you reload, I say go ahead and do the Sambar... or the .375, you won't regret either.
See above... the WSM case does beat both the .308 and /06 cases. Is it necessary? Only the shooter can answer that... but it is more "funner." Some like to express their individuality in their gear... I like different stuff, all while conceding that it does little different than other available options, still... "fun."
Nosler load data suggests 2500-2600fps with a 250gr in the Whelen, how does that compare to the Sambar?
Does Sambar suffer from bullets being too long like a 338WSM would with heavy bullets? Or does the fact its 35cal make the 250+ bullets short enough to still fit in a magazine without taking up too much powder?
Does Sambar suffer from bullets being too long like a 338WSM would with heavy bullets? Or does the fact its 35cal make the 250+ bullets short enough to still fit in a magazine without taking up too much powder?
And this is part of why I am asking. Do I *need* a long action to make good use of the heavy bullets? Or can I fit it in a short action and still get magnum performance out of it with 250s?
Buying a 300WSM and reboring or rebarreling seems like the easy way to go, but I don't want a 35cal that is handicapped on the heavy side of things, kinda defeats the whole purpose of building one IMO.
Hoyt with your 375 and the 35 where abouts is your OAL coming in at roughly?
If your barrel has the the throat for it can you load the heavy’s out to 3.2ish OAL to take advantage of a long action? I know the wsm dosent suffer the short neck syndrome of a 300wm but iirc it’s not an overly long neck like the 30-06.
A small .375 might be a real good use for the several hundred 7wsm cases I’ve had sitting in the corner for years.
There is no reason that you "have" to go with a long action, as you can see here in the .375 WSM, the 300 grain Sierra #3000 is in the neck @ 3.050" and the 235 TSX flat base also @ 2.980".
Here is the TSX load in a .350 Rem Mag short action (I sold the Sambar to a friend), same action length and Mag box as the WSM chambered rifles...
The bullet nose just barely catches the front of the mag box, so, shorten a few thou and you are still in the neck but functioning in a short action just fine. However, I was not willing to accept any of those possible limitations, and so built on a long action. The TSX likes a longer jump than the Sierra, but I have used the #3000 many, many times on lots of game with excellent,.might aswell say perfect results. The #3000 was of sturdier than normal construction, designed specifically for the .375 H&H.
If all you had available for a donor rifle was a short action magnum (WSM), I would have zero qualms about using it for a Sambar or .375... if you have the option available, I would choose a long action for the build.
Any good reasons to use the Sambar over a 358Norma on the long action?
When I ladder tested, I had the #3000 out to 3.150" and fed with no problem, but had increased accuracy and consistency with the shorter OAL of 3.050"... maybe I will go into the shop and mock-up one to see exactly how long I can go and still feed, without jamming into the lands.
There is no reason to use it over a dozen or more other cartridges...
I will say however, it has just about the perfect case capacity for 225-260 grain bullets in .358 and .375, plenty without being unnecessarily too much. They are both very pleasant to shoot, easy to find brass for, one step sizing, and the cartridge is a pretty little fat-azz beeatch.
(Insert grinning emoji...)
