375/06 improved

[dconrad]

Talking to my gunsmith today about converting my 660 remington into a 375/284. he showed me a 375 AI improved reamer and said thats the way I should go. What I want is a short carbin, for hunting elk in the thick stuff, anybody have any history with eather one of these rounds? I already have the 660. I would have to buy an 06 for the project.

 

[Uncle Mike]

No info here, but it sounds like it should be a real hammer!

 

[kaferhaus]

Why?

A 308 or a 338 Federal is plenty for what you need. And no forming brass, expensive dies etc.

AND a 375-06 is not going to fit in a short action anyway.

 

[NCsmitty]

Welcome to THR, dconrad.

What caliber is your 660 right now?

Here is a link to The Hunter's Life site, showing a lineup of .375 cartridges, mostly wildcats.

http://thehunterslife.com/forums/showthread.php?t=11739



NCsmitty

 

[Steve Marshall]

" I would have to buy an 06 for the project". The .375 Whelen will take anything on earth given the right loads and a cool enough hunter. The Improved version is even better.

 

[millertyme]

Uh, I thought the .375 Whelen was a .375-06...

 

[NCsmitty]

Uh, I thought the .375 Whelen was a .375-06...

It is.
It was developed in 1951 by L.R. "Bob" Wallack and named in honor of Colonel Townsend Whelen.

The original 600 Magnum and 660 Magnums used the 350 Remington magnum, a fairly potent little round on it's own.


NCsmitty

 

[Al Thompson]

Nah. The .30-06 is actually a .300 Whelen.

The 600 series were chambered for .350 Remington Magnum. That's a short action (ballistics) .35 Whelen. Is the .376 Steyr an option?

 

[dirtyjim]

sounds like a neat project. i think quality cartridge has properly headstamped brass & ch4d has the dies for around $130.
i also like the 9.5x57 mannlicher schoenauer & have been thinking of using it for a couple of projects

 

[ants]

Forgive my stupidity

Is your rifle currently .284 bore, and the plan is to ream the chamber for a great big 'ol overbore magnum? That doesn't sound like much of a brush gun, sounds more like a long-long-long-range flat trajectory gun.

Or am I just not understanding? Sorry if it's me...

 

[dconrad]

375/06

The 660 is currently a 308 cal. What I was thinking is to put a .375 barrel on it and chamber it for a .375/284. With a 20 inch barrel, for a (pole thicket/brush) elk gun. My smith is trying to talk me into a .375/06 improved, which I would have to buy an other rifle to get a donner action. just wanting some imput. Anybody done one of these?

 

[dconrad]

660 is a 308.

 

[quicherbichen]

I too am thinking of putting together a 375-284. Did your smith offer any reason for you to go with the 06 beside the fact that he has the reamer? I would rather have the short action, especially since you already own it.

 

[ants]

beside the fact that he has the reamer?

Bingo. That was the first thing that popped into my mind when dconrad asked the original question.

I hate owning the rifle (or caliber) I don't want. Get the one you want.

On the other hand, have you price a new barrel for that 660? My local smith wants $100 for installation and reaming (plus $30 if he doesn't have the reamer), and $100 to blue barrel and receiver. If barrel is another $100, that's $300 to $330 for the whole thing, plus tax and shipping on the barrel.

 

[Robert]

I love my 1895G in 45-70 for a brush gun. That being said I'd love to have a 35 Whelen. Is there a major difference between the 375/ 284 and the 375- 06? I'd go for which ever has the better ballistics and go with that.

 

[S. Hill]

It seems that you have already done a fair amount of thinking on this project. You wouldn't have to change the bolt face to go to the .284 case, and you would have pretty close to a .375 WSM cartridge. I think it is a sweet deal if you are looking for a <200 yd. thumper.

I have had some experience with the .350 Rem. Mag. It is no long range shooter, and particularly when shooting out of a carbine length barrel. I would guess that the .375/284 will have the same shortcomings.

 

[BigDog2]

Though I've not heard of doing it, if you currently have a 308, I suspect your gunsmith recommended a 375/08 which could be built on most rifles in 308. The '06 case is longer and probably won't function through the shorter actions used for most 308s.
True Whelen's are usually found in 35 cal, and rarely a 40 cal. The problem that occurs with the larger calibers in the narrower cases like the '06 and '08, is that larger diameter bullet leaves very little shoulder on the case in which to head space the cartridge to in the chamber. You end up with almost a straight walled case that can't build up enough case pressure to keep the velocity up. A sharper shoulder like an Ackley Improvement, would help with the cartridge sealing at the shoulder.

The 35 Whelen is a great Elk gun.

 

[kaferhaus]

The 308 he already has will do anything he needs to do.... seems to me re-barreling is either a waste of money or just a vanity deal (nothing wrong with that either)

 

[dirtyjim]

dconrad, i would go with the 375/284 since that is what you wanted in the first place.
since the smith doesn't have the reamer & its not a caliber that he'll be cutting a lot of chambers with you'll probably have to eat the cost of the reamer. if thats the case i would suggest purchasing the reamer yourself from either on of the daves, kiff will be a little cheaper on wildcats than manson but they are both top notch.

if you end up buying the reamer yourself after the job is done i would suggest donating it to the reamer co-op at sporterizing.com & you will have access to 30+ reamers.

 

[Coal Dragger]

None of the above.

I would pick up another rifle with a standard length action and re-barrel to 9.3X62mm Mauser.

This cartridge uses a .470 bolt face (.473 is .30-06) so it will work with just about any .30-06 bolt face, plus overall length of loaded rounds is within the operating limits of standard length ejection ports and magazines. Plus factory ammo and brass are available so there is no need to make your own brass.

According to my new Nosler manual this case can push a 250gr Accubond to a bit over 2560fps, and a 286gr Partition to 2414fps out of a 26" bbl.

That is very respectable performance, and will thump just about any animal I can think of in North America.

 

[kaferhaus]

if you end up buying the reamer yourself

Reamers can be rented.... no need to buy one for one chamber

 

[millertyme]

How about a .416/06? THat seems like it would be a great brush gun.

 

[dirtyjim]

Reamers can be rented.... no need to buy one for one chamber

yep, they can be rented & its a lot cheaper.elk ridge carries both the 375-06 imp. & the 375/284.
i still prefer to buy the reamer & gauges since $200 isn't much more money when building a custom & if you end up liking the caliber you can build a few more or donate the reamer to the co-op.

How about a .416/06? THat seems like it would be a great brush gun

it could be done but it would need to have all the taper blown out of the case so it would headspace. it would be best to use -06 basic brass on something like that. you can also do the .444 rimless, it headspaces on the case mouth so cartridge lenth is critical on it.

 

[S. Hill]

Hey, I have a project for you. I have a wildcat reamer for .44 WJS. It uses a shortened .458 Win. Mag. case, necked down to .429. LOA is designed to fit into .308 length mag boxes.

Made a couple of them into hand cannons, never a carbine. (they do jump around, a bit!)

 

[redmule]

Something to consider is what changes will be needed to modify the action to feed the fatter 284 case. Another neat idea might be the old wildcat .458 x 2". Of course that would take quite a bit of work.