.375 revolver

[4t5]

while looking in the safe at my win. big bore, I got to wondering why there is no .375 handguns, revolver especially ?
Has it ever been tried?

[AJMD429]

.
I would wonder if there is enough difference to justify having something in between '38' caliber and '40' caliber... But that sort of thing has never stopped wildcatters from developing cartridges that sometimes become commercial successes.

If you just wanted to cover the bases with lever guns I've always thought you could really do it with a 22 long rifle, a 500 Smith & Wesson, and either a modern manufactured 32-20/327 Fed, or a 357 Magnum. That's of course assuming you are willing to hand load and use light loads when appropriate.

You could also make a case for just three or maybe four diameters for handguns, but that would take all the fun out of it, and wouldn't give us an excuse to buy more guns...

[castcat]

BFR made a30-30 and 45-70 so would be doable

[Rockrat]

At one time , you could order a 375 win revolver from Magnum Research (BFR). Thought about sending in my 30-30 to have it converted. Also, Dan Wesson made their 375 Super mag, using a cut down 375 win case, to fit the cylinder.

[KeithNyst]

Thomson Center made a .375 Win barrel for the contender single shot pistol.
Here is mine:

[4t5]

Thanks for the replies, if I ever locate a beater model 27, I might just try getting it opened up,
and cut the brass to 357 mag length.

[Ray]

Gentlemen, this was done by the inimitable mister gates on the .375 win, 38-55 and 30-30 shortened to 1.6" for single shots and the then new ruger long frame. Then various individuals shortened the case further for use in standard revolvers. Starting loads for the .41 magnum were quite hot with the 200 gr. sierra and 220 gr. hornady in the shorter case.

I personally dabbled with this theme in the 1990s. My neighbor fancied himself a hobbyist machinist and we flattered him with all kinds of work. A 10" length of 1.4" diameter .375" remnant stub was donated (unknown rate of twist) with the hopes of being turned down to .800" or thereabouts and fashioned into a contender barrel. This proved too great a task so it became a 16 gauge shotgun barrel insert.

The chamber was somewhat crudely cut with a homemade reamer that looked much like a spade type woodboring bit. The cartridge case was nothing more than a 7.62x39 case cut down to 1.2". The loads were worked-up from .38 special data. The case capacity was far too little for the 38-55 lead bullets and the .375 " sierras and hornadys worked but were just too expensive to waste at 800 fps. .380 acp cases both spent and new were filled with molten lead for an expedient wadcutter.

Before we decided on the sks/ak case we made dummies from .shortened 225 win., .220 swift and the .41 magnum with a taper by running up into a 10mm auto sizer. I think we borrowed that die as the 10mm was quite novel in our neck of the woods at that time.

If I had to do it over again, I would start with either the 10mm case or the .41 long colt. A .375" rifle bullet slips easily but almost snuggly into a new star line .41 colt case. The 10mm would need a tad of sqozing inwards to grip the bullet but a 10mm chamber reamer would not be difficult to borrow and the .375" bullet would be fattened slightly with paper (masking tape).

Interestingly, the .38 long colt cartridge conversion cylinders for .36 caliber percussion revolvers use a .36 heel to a .38 bearing surface or a .36 hollow base bullet in hopes of it obutrating out to the .38 bore.

[RIDERED350r]

S&W recently introduced a new X-Frame chambered in 350L. Seems to me an X-Frame would be one of very few options to chamber a true 375 Win for.. and I'm not even sure the big X-frame cylinder is long enough without taking some measurements. It's definitely up to the task of handling the pressure though.

Just refreshed my memory on max COL for 460S&W and it's shorter than 375 Win by appx .300".

[Ray]

The long-framed bfr appears to be available in no less than 4 different .375 cartridges.....

https://www.magnumresearchcustoms.com/c ... er-landing

After about five attempts, I got a tentative quote of $1,800 for a five shot .38-55 without any extras and a 7.5" barrel.

[RIDERED350r]

Yep, seems the BFR is really the only viable option

[Bill in Oregon]

A BFR in .375 JDJ ... oh my!
Owned this chambering in a Contender barrel, but traded after firing a few dozen rounds.
Like the tomcat mating with the skunk under the front porch said, "I believe I have enjoyed enough of this."*
(* I am quoting the late, and very funny Pat Buttram -- Mr. Haney on "Green Acres" -- who cracked this one on the Tonight Show years ago.)

[bgmkithaca]

I did a .375 wildcat in a Ruger super Blackhawk several years ago. It was on the order of a ..357 Bain & Davis. The case was a shortened .445 supermag necked to .375. The finished case was 1.3 inches long and used 200 grain JFP bullets. It worked too well, when I hit 1500 FPS I still had room to go faster but stopped there and eventually gave up the idea- it was too abusive for my arthritic hands. I never had trouble with the cases backing out like with the Bain & Davis- the case was straight with a very sharp and short shoulder to prevent backing out when fired. I still have a Marlin 1894 that uses the same case and loads- it comes out between a .41 Mag and a .44 Mag in performance in the rifle and is not abusive in the recoil department- it is nice to carry for shorter range hunting. The idea was probably not worth the effort but did it because I could, besides- who else has one?

[AJMD429]

I did a .375 wildcat in a Ruger super Blackhawk several years ago. . . . . The idea was probably not worth the effort but did it because I could, besides- who else has one?

This.

[piller]

Coming up with new cartridges just for fun? Why not!

[AmBraCol]

Years ago I proposed the idea of a "380 Achilles". Not hard to do, just fit a heeled bullet to a 38 Spl case and shoot it through a 357 magnum cylinder reamed out straight in each chamber. Fit a .375" barrel to it and there you go. You could call it a 375 instead, if you wish, but my idea was to replicate the 480 Achilles in a more accessible (at the time) cartridge case/platform. At the time you could pick up 38 spl brass for a dime a dozen, it seems to have gotten scarcer in recent years. I still think it'd make a dandy small/medium game cartridge but haven't managed to come across enough participants in the scheme to pull it off.

[Twodot]

Wasn't there a Dan Wesson chambered in the .375 Supermag?
..

[Ray]

Years ago I proposed the idea of a "380 Achilles". Not hard to do, just fit a heeled bullet to a 38 Spl case and shoot it through a 357 magnum cylinder reamed out straight in each chamber. Fit a .375" barrel to it and there you go. You could call it a 375 instead, if you wish, but my idea was to replicate the 480 Achilles in a more accessible (at the time) cartridge case/platform. At the time you could pick up 38 spl brass for a dime a dozen, it seems to have gotten scarcer in recent years. I still think it'd make a dandy small/medium game cartridge but haven't managed to come across enough participants in the scheme to pull it off.

I believe bill mason and charlie richards beat you to it in 1866-67. This is commonly done today with conversion cylinders for 1851-1858-1861s etc. You're gonna need a shorter case than the special.....starline lists both the short and long colts but they are on backorder.....

Here are examples of the bullets. The top one is an excellent .36 percussion revolver conical......

https://oldwestbulletmoulds.com/shop/ol ... el-bullets

https://oldwestbulletmoulds.com/shop/ol ... el-bullets

https://oldwestbulletmoulds.com/shop/ol ... se-bullets

[Bill in Oregon]

Paul, I like your "scheme."

[arclight]

Wasn't there a Dan Wesson chambered in the .375 Supermag?
..

375a.jpg