how would YOU use a .375 BB ?

WhelanLad

WhelanLad

CGN Ultra frequent flyer
Rating - 0%
0   0   0
Location
Australia AU
hey fellas,
i took the sweet ol model 94 Big Bore out today for an afernoon stalk along a shady creek meandering through some small clearings... it was a perfect scenerio for such a nice lever gun, a typical lever gun hunt in my mind.
slow stalking or still hunting along..

i rushed way too often, an murpjhys law kicked my ass about 7 times again..... idk..? thats huntin, all i can say.

anyway, it got me thinkin of a thread for CGN, as i looked at my Model 94, an the sight picture the deer briefly gave me, i thought, "this lever aint for mid sized game an it might not be for stalkin em".....
n wondered what CGN might use the 375 Winchester BigBore for in regards to a hunting scenerio? paint the scene ? :) - scoped? irons? stand / hounds / blind /hike / truck ? what game?



for me its my 45-70 'big bore lever gun', we know it isnt, but it is enough for me.. its iron sighted with williams peep setup and ideally its a "stalking" gun for thicker than usual bush, an ok for sit an wait in tight quaters. for the bigger 'sambar deer'......


What would the 375 of been intially intended to of been used to hunt an how?


i understand its a bigger 30-30 , but wa this targetted specifically for Moose in Close? over Dogs? or what do you think?

scoped its proberly a bit more useful, 200 an 250m would be ok, but cast or jacketed isnt guna really expand out there. barely does at 50m..


im going to keep my love for it but just put it back in the safe for a while..
 
For me it would have to be a situation where I flat out knew that ranges would be short or nothing, brightly lit or nothing (for the irons), not involving vehicles and constant unloading, not involving cold weather that has the one hand carry balancing ion a frigid receiver, and no situations that require pin point precision.

After running it through a complex alga rhythm ( that is entirely made up) I could use one on every other sunny Tuesday in May for dispatching snared bears within walking distance of camp. In practice that is more likely to be not at all.
 
Deer or Bear from a blind. Still hunting dense woods, where shots will be quick and short.

Sights: Receiver sight with a light gathering front and a large aperture in the rear for
quick acquisition of the target.

I do not own a 375BB, but have a close second, a Reproduction M94 in 38-55. I shot my
biggest Whitetail to date with it. about 60M.....DRT. Quite effective [255 grain Barnes @ 1800]

I consider it a 150 Meter rifle, but can hit consistently at 200M, I'm quite certain a moose would
die pretty quick with one of those 255 Barnes originals through the ribs. :) Dave.
 
It was probably meant to sell more lever guns to yanks that were afraid of the recoil of lever guns over .40 cal and doubted the abilities of a .30-30 or .35 Remington for black bears and other critters larger than a whitetail at woods ranges 150 or so yards and less. I prefer Marlins to Winchester lever guns for the most part so if I were to own one that is what it would be chambered in. I'd probably stick with a .30-30 or .35 Remington, since most of my hunting is Whitetails and Black bears. Slipping along a hardwood ridge with a cedar thicket on one side and agricultural fields/ overgrown apple orchard, ideally with enough snow down for tracking and soft enough to quiet my footsteps is my dream whitetail scenario, regardless of firearm. I can't ignore the effectiveness of a well placed stand for deer and have sat one many times. It doesn't have to be fancy a stump or rock where you can watch known travel corridors maybe add a little rattling or calling combine it with my first scenario. Sit a likely route for the morning, then still hunt for a bit and do a little rattling or calling and sit again in the evening or as the fancy strikes.
Black bear locally its hard to beat the success of a well placed bait and a handy lever action carbine has some virtues there though I'd prefer an optic the keep me effective till the end of legal hunting hours.
To summarize it would be marlin, sporting a fixed 2.5(maybe 4x) or 2-7 (Leupold most likely) in low QD rings.
I'd say you may need to play with you hardness if your cast isn't expanding well at 50 meters, maybe annealing would help.

Still hunting is a dying art. The real challenge after learning to read habitat is moving slow enough, you can have everything in your favor regarding wind and thermals but if you are still spooking game before you see it odds are you are moving too fast.

If I had status or lived where moose or elk are huntable more often or at least with a season longer than 5 days I would be more inclined to use something similar to your .375 BB. As thing sit Moose in this province is a hard to draw tag and 5 day season or requires a fair bit of logistics and capital investment and elk requires more of the last two so I am not going to leave a few hundred yards on the table when I can simply pick any other more conventional rifle/ cartridge combo that makes me warm and fuzzy.
 
My old Savage 99 in 375 Win accounted for over 5 moose for the feller I sold 'er to in the early 80's. He used the factory 250 gr loads.
One shot per critter. Lots of heavy critters have been taken with the 375 Win over the years by folks that realize its' potential & limitations.
The only moose I took was with a Marlin in 45-70 using a 405 gr factory soft point in that time period as well.

My later Win 94 BB was a great deer bonker with 265 gr hardcast loads at 1500 fps. Accurate bugger inside 100 yds or so.
The 375 Win is one of those cartridges that just have to be used to be appreciated by folks, especially handloaders.

Me cast 375 Win load beside me 825 gr 12 bore boolit.
12 bore 835 gr (2).jpg
 

Attachments

  • 12 bore 835 gr (2).jpg
    12 bore 835 gr (2).jpg
    37.7 KB · Views: 197
I have had the Marlin 375S in 375 Win since 1996 and it has accounted for its fair share of big game, including black bears, moose and caribou at distances ranging from 5 to 226 yards. Most were inside 100 yards. The young bull moose taken at the longest distance, was harvested cleanly and did not travel more than 5 yards from where it was hit. All of those animals were harvested with Winchester's 200gr Power Point factory ammunition. A great bullet that has worked well in this cartridge. It has been a great rifle to shoot, carry and hunt with over the years! Back when I first got it while going to trade school, it was the only rifle I had to put meat on the table with, and I did not feel undergunned or handicapped in using it in anyway. I just knew its limitations and hunted accordingly with it. Not a rifle I would normally use at the longer distances of more than 150 yards, but when you need meat, and know how your rifle shoots at those distances, it does work.
It wore a Leupold fixed 2.5 power scope with heavy duplex reticle in Leupold QR rings for many years. (That scope is now on my Marlin 1894S in 41 Rem Mag). It will soon be getting either a Leupold VX-3 in 1.5-5 or 1.75-6 in those same rings.

I have had a few Winchester 94 Big Bores in 375 Win over the years and have just acquired another. They are a fun rifle to shoot too. As this is not AE model, it will be used with open sights, and may get a Williams peep sight installed yet.

I would not hesitate to use it on elk at 100 yards or less either, under the right conditions (unwary animal feeding peacefully or slowly moving through the dark timber). But it is more appropriate for moose, deer, caribou and black bear in the thick brush. (I would rather use my 356 Win in Marlin 335ER or 94 Big Bore for elk as it has more energy, now that I have these)
It would work very well on your red deer, fallow deer, sambar, rusa or sika deer while still hunting the thick bush you have. As mentioned above, slow down. Take just a few steps and stop and scan/glass for a few moments before moving a few steps again. You will see more and spook less game this way.You will find more opportunities to use your Big Bore this way and get to appreciate its effectiveness on game! And for wild pigs/boar, it would be very effective!
I have always wanted to use it on mountain lion!

May you have as many great adventures with your 375 Win as I have!
 
Id use it just like i use my double rifle 4570. Thick bush and close shots. Sneaking thru timber to small beaver ponds and sitting on trails leading to bait sites
 
Jim870 said:
It was probably meant to sell more lever guns to yanks that were afraid of the recoil of lever guns over .40 cal and doubted the abilities of a .30-30 or .35 Remington for black bears and other critters larger than a whitetail at woods ranges 150 or so yards and less. I prefer Marlins to Winchester lever guns for the most part so if I were to own one that is what it would be chambered in. I'd probably stick with a .30-30 or .35 Remington, since most of my hunting is Whitetails and Black bears. Slipping along a hardwood ridge with a cedar thicket on one side and agricultural fields/ overgrown apple orchard, ideally with enough snow down for tracking and soft enough to quiet my footsteps is my dream whitetail scenario, regardless of firearm. I can't ignore the effectiveness of a well placed stand for deer and have sat one many times. It doesn't have to be fancy a stump or rock where you can watch known travel corridors maybe add a little rattling or calling combine it with my first scenario. Sit a likely route for the morning, then still hunt for a bit and do a little rattling or calling and sit again in the evening or as the fancy strikes.
Black bear locally its hard to beat the success of a well placed bait and a handy lever action carbine has some virtues there though I'd prefer an optic the keep me effective till the end of legal hunting hours.
To summarize it would be marlin, sporting a fixed 2.5(maybe 4x) or 2-7 (Leupold most likely) in low QD rings.
I'd say you may need to play with you hardness if your cast isn't expanding well at 50 meters, maybe annealing would help.

Still hunting is a dying art. The real challenge after learning to read habitat is moving slow enough, you can have everything in your favor regarding wind and thermals but if you are still spooking game before you see it odds are you are moving too fast.

If I had status or lived where moose or elk are huntable more often or at least with a season longer than 5 days I would be more inclined to use something similar to your .375 BB. As thing sit Moose in this province is a hard to draw tag and 5 day season or requires a fair bit of logistics and capital investment and elk requires more of the last two so I am not going to leave a few hundred yards on the table when I can simply pick any other more conventional rifle/ cartridge combo that makes me warm and fuzzy.
Click to expand...

Gday, good post, thanks.

you may be onto it in regards to trying to sell somethin a bit more than a 3030 and a bit less recoil than the big boys lever guns......... makes sense , seeing it was rebirthed in 1980 from the 3855, which it was sold as a hot rodded version..........


Some others have noted where it would be ideal, and You touch on the fact that proberly cancels out 98% of people using the 375BB......... whyyyy leave so much on the table doing it traditionally with such limited oppertunities.

good thread, thanks for the replies everyone..it is what it is
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom