.375 bullet question

pdhunter

pdhunter

New member
I am going to take a stab at explaining what I want to know because I'm not sure just how to explain it so it makes sense.
OK - I have a couple hundred .375 win rds that were loaded by somebody else about 15 years ago so I am pulling them apart.
They were loaded with a 220 gr. bullet.
How ever I have 4 boxes that are the original Big Bore 94 boxes. 3 of them were reloaded.
1 box however appear to be factory marked 250 gr.
Rather then having 1 cunnlure like the other I pulled they have 2 cannlures.
I weighed both the loaded reloads and the what I think are factory rds.
The reloads weighed 405 grain and the factory weighed 382 grains.
Again the reloads are 220 (I weighed the bullet after I pulled it ) .
Questions :
Would the 250 gr have 2 cannlures ?
How can I tell if these are factory or not ?
If they are factory I don't want to pull them apart due to the collectors value.
Thanks for any help.
 
As a rule of thumb, factory rifle loads have yellow primers while reloads are silver. This may not be 100% correct but I have found it to be a good indicator. Also, reloaded brass most likely will have some sort of case marks from a loading die, even if it's small.
 
Originally Posted By: pdhunterI am going to take a stab at explaining what I want to know because I'm not sure just how to explain it so it makes sense.
OK - I have a couple hundred .375 win rds that were loaded by somebody else about 15 years ago so I am pulling them apart.
They were loaded with a 220 gr. bullet.
How ever I have 4 boxes that are the original Big Bore 94 boxes. 3 of them were reloaded.
1 box however appear to be factory marked 250 gr.
Rather then having 1 cunnlure like the other I pulled they have 2 cannlures.
I weighed both the loaded reloads and the what I think are factory rds.
The reloads weighed 405 grain and the factory weighed 382 grains.
Again the reloads are 220 (I weighed the bullet after I pulled it ) .
Questions :
Would the 250 gr have 2 cannlures ?
How can I tell if these are factory or not ?
If they are factory I don't want to pull them apart due to the collectors value.
Thanks for any help.

The .375 Win was originally loaded in 250gr(said to be the 'elk' version)and a 200gr for deer. Both were PSP. Both of these bullets had thinner walls to allow for proper expansion. I could not find anything on them having 2 cannelures. My guess is the two cannelure bullets are designed to be used in heavier cartridges such as .375 Ruger or .375 H&H, so are most likely reloads. To the best of my knowledge .375 factory loads available today are only offered with 200gr bullets. You could contact Winchester and check the lot# on the box. If they have record of this it would tell you what bullet(s) that particular lot was loaded with. You are right about the collectability of original ammo. New .375 brass(other than from factory ammo) is very difficult to find today. Many fire form .30-30 brass for reloading. Sorry to ramble on but the .375 Winchester has always held a special place in my heart. Hope this helps some.
 
Originally Posted By: 6mm06As a rule of thumb, factory rifle loads have yellow primers while reloads are silver. This may not be 100% correct but I have found it to be a good indicator. Also, reloaded brass most likely will have some sort of case marks from a loading die, even if it's small.

Both good points.
 
Well I got my answer .
After doing much research I found actual photos of .375 win factory ammo in the big bore 94 boxes..
They have the sliver primer and 2 cannlures.
I am 99.9 % sure these are factory.
Another point I failed to mention was that 3 of the big bore boxes had a tag on them with the load data hand written while the box in question does not have the tag.
So based on all that I'm sure it is a original box.
 
Don't take any chances, box all that 375 stuff up and send it to me for safe disposal. LOL, give me time to button up my shirt so my heart doesn't fall out.
 


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