Paco Kelly's Leverguns.com

JFE

Mostly I use a 375H&H. I have a few levers, but the ones I'd like to use on Sambar are Browning 71's in 348 or 45/90. I'm a little old school and don't like using scopes on levers and as you know, in dim light a scope works best.

JFE

I do try to get out after Sambar and occasionally get lucky. Sadly though, I haven't nailed one with levergun yet and is something I need to work on.

JFE

Sambar, in their native country (India), were the preferred prey species of Tigers and have well developed skills to avoid being taken by Tigers, let alone humans. This is what makes them such a great game species to hunt. Here they are even hunted by hound crews (legally) and deer still manage to a...

JFE

Well done on the Sambar. For those not aware, a Sambar of any size don't come easy. They are very elusive, difficult to hunt and even when hit hard have a tendency to travel quite a distance.

Those big calibers just do it so much easier too.

JFE

You might want to take a look at these slugs available in Europe:

http://www.europeancartridgeunlimited.c ... sslug.html

JFE

I like your thinking but you'd have work to do getting the parts that attach to the barrel to fit again.
Plus you still have the oversize, shallow groove barrel.

JFE

That's one way to sort out the accuracy problems ! Given that so many complain about the accuracy I've often wondered how much interest there might be in a group buy for properly spec-ed up pre-fit replacement barrels. Even though I seem to have cracked the code, I'd still put my hand up for one in ...

JFE

Most of my 44 moulds are not that large in diameter, so not surprisingly accuracy was not real good. I have a 245 gr RCBS SWC 44 mould that casts around 0.431 and as an experiment I loaded up some that would cycle through the action and some that were touching the rifling (and had to be single loade...

JFE

I have one of these and it has been a source of frustration for many years. I too had been considering rebarreling but instead persisted to work out how to make it work. The accuracy problem stems from a very large bore, very shallow rifling (not unlike microgroove) and a long throat. The twist is s...

JFE

If it were me, I think I'd stick with the current caliber. All of the big bores which used the 356/444 case diameters had the thicker barrel. I assume the engineers did this for a reason. The 375 Win. had the thinner, more standard profile. All use excellent steel, but it would make me more happy i...

JFE

It's pretty hard to only have one. For fun it's hard to beat a Win 62A - the kids reckon its theirs. I also have CZ 452 - mine was a bit rough internally and needed some polishing but it is very accurate. 1/2" groups at 50 yards with any decent ammo is normal. One on my wish list is a Marlin 39...

JFE

If the barrel is in good condition a very easy wildcat on this rifle is the 375/356 Win. I read Paco's article but I thought that it was a little too complicated for me. I looked at a lot of options but in the end I really wanted something simple and straight forward. The problem with wildcats is co...

JFE

How would a bullet cast out of a bismuth & tin mix work with your laws ?

JFE

But I guess the first step is finding some .381 bullets with the crimp groove in the right place to keep the OAL right. Any suggestions? Try Bullshop - he has a good reputation: http://www.castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=100396 If you have trouble chambering really large bullets, then do ...

JFE

You might want to try placing the bullet in a casting ladle and heating it on the surface of your casting pot, obviously taking care not to contaminate the pot with lead. Take a look at the swaging forum on the castbooilts site. There they use 9mm and 223 brass for forming 375 cal jackets and pretty...

JFE

If you are going to spec up your own mould you need to make a chamber cast. See the throat impression of my Browning 71 below. If you look closely you can see that what appears to be a throat is actually the chamber neck. These rifles have no throat at all. As mentioned earlier by another poster, so...

JFE

I have two made by Aussie mould maker, CBE. His moulds are first class and he will ship to the US. Both are GC designs -one is 220gr and the other 262gr. The 220gr is designed so that the GC is flush with the bottom of the neck when the bullet is seated to the crimp groove. Despite theories to the c...

JFE

I didnt know what to think when the presenter started to sniff his underwear and went on to promote a wonder clothes washing detergent. That was bizarre.

He was very close when he took the shot but it probably says more about the guide and his skills at getting real close.

JFE

If the brass has been used before I'd suggest annealing first (you tend to split necks otherwise). Factory 375 brass is a little heavier in the web area but 30/30 brass is still quite strong and holds a little more powder. Once formed the cases will be about 1mm shorter than 375 brass but still quit...

JFE

The trouble with a lot of the cases of Marlin 1895's blowing-up is that the details and circumstances generally tend to be sketchy. Are they the result of overloads, a barrel obstruction, double charging reduced loads or perhaps some other reason. In any event they do seem to come apart in spectacul...

JFE

You should try to get hold of an article published in Handloader magazine by Brian Pearce (issue 248; sep 2007). In that article he discusses various design aspects of the Marlin 1895 and, more importantly, supplied pressure tested data for loading the 45/70 loaded to various pressure levels. He pro...

JFE

IIRC CIP 9.3x62 chambers have a long throat, around 10mm in length. As your rifle is a custom you might want check whether it has a CIP spec chamber and throat. A short throat would cause problems as you're experiencing.

JFE

Try "Buckshot" on the cast boolit forum. He made a couple of sizers up for me recently and I'm very happy with the quality and turnaround time.

www.castboolits.gunloads.com

JFE

Someday, I'll load some light loads for the 336 I have that was reamed for .358. What weight do you suppose that barrel would like? I should not have bought this rifle. I didn't need it, and I'm leary about selling it and have someone try to put a real heavy .358 load thru it :roll: If it shoots go...

JFE

I cant comment about the original 1895's but the modern repro's in 405 have a fairly sensible stock design. Subjectively I'd rate the recoil of the 405 in a modern rifle as fairly similar to a full house load in a 375BB. The 1895 weighs quite a bit more than a 375BB and has a 24" barrel, both o...

JFE

Thanks for the replies. Mike D. - thanks for posting those photos. I'm a little too far down the track at this stage with the conversion and would much prefer to have the rifle operational as a 45-90. Mike D. or any smiths on the forum - do you know whether a 45-70 carrier from a Miroku 1886 would f...

JFE

Thanks for the replies. I think the 45/90 rim diameter is near identical to the 348 (& 50/110), but the head diameter is different. Nominal rim diameter for both is approx 0.60". MGW list the Browning 1886 45/70 carrier as a different part to the 71 348 carrier and other associated parts ar...

JFE

I recently had a Browning 71 converted to 45/90 but I am having trouble cycling 45/90 ammo from the magazine into the chamber. The ammo slides into the magazine tube OK but the 45/90 shells kind of flick up and arent as securely retained by the shell carrier anywhere near as well as the 348 shell ar...

JFE

There was a guy on here that used to regularly take large game (I think it was moose) with 45LC levergun. IIRC he had no problem putting the animals down, but did have problems keeping the magazine tube from parting company from the rest of the rifle. Cant remember what name he posted under though I...

JFE

I saw a guy at the range using a Contender in 22 Hornet that he was pushing fairly hard. Hornet brass is weak and only lasted around 6 reloads before separating. What he had as a removal tool was an EZ-out brazed on to a T bar and removed the stuck cases that way. Obviously in a levergun you need to...

JFE

:?: What .375's came with (or without) the "rebounding hammer" that everyone dislikes so...? None of the top ejects had one. Net info suggests they were introduced in 84/85. If you dont plan to use a scope, the top eject 94BB's are one of the better made 94 Winchesters. The ones I have ar...

JFE

From what I gather, based on info gleaned off the net, Winchester only offered the high comb stock in 1983, the year the AE was introduced and, strangely enough, the same year Marlin dropped the 375 chambering. I'm sure the MC stock works well with a scope but, functionality aside, I guess a lot of ...

JFE

[/quote] JFE, let us hear how you like it. I shoot both 375 (jacketed) and 38-55 (lead) through mine.[/quote] I already have 2 top ejects. One is a stockie and the other was in poor condition and is currently being re-chambered to 375/356. I do like the 375 Win and its a very under-rated cartridge I...

JFE

Thanks for the feedback. A google search suggested not many were made either, but apparently exact records are no longer available. Anyhow over the last weekend I managed to buy one with one of those hideous monte carlo stocks. I cant show pics as I'm waiting for my permit to acquire to come through...

JFE

I think at one stage someone in the UK was making high capacity BLR mags for the local market. Don't know if they are still made.

JFE

Anyone know how many AE's were made in 375 ?

Most Win 375's were top ejects and I've only ever seen a few AE's in 375. Most of the AE's I've seen were in 307 or 356 calibres.

JFE

For the likely cost of the conversion plus extra for dies etc, you could probably pick up a BLR in 325 WSM that will have a bit more performance. That way you don't alter a collectable rifle either.

JFE

FWIW Woodleigh are looking at modifying their 'Hydrostatic' bullets by making the forward portion out of steel to reduce the possibility of deformation.

JFE

Forget about the crimp groove location on the bullet - simply seat the bullet into the case until the front driving band (on your 311041) clears the end of the chamber and functions in the rifle, then crimp into place using a Lee FCD. I usually seat just a little deeper to ensure trouble free use of...

JFE

What if, as my chamber cast shows, there is no throat? How then does one proceed? Exactly as I suggested earlier. The chambers of my Browning M71, 1886 and Marlin 35 Rem have exactly the same problem, ie slightly longer neck but no throat at all. Ignoring the crimp location on the bullet, you simpl...

JFE

In my levers with short throats I managed to get around the loading flexibility and seating problems by using Lee FCD dies - I seat the pills where they chambered and functioned properly and then crimped them in place. Functioning was fine and accuracy unchanged.

JFE

I have a number of brass moulds and they work better than ones out of Aluminium IMO. For longevity you cant beat a good cast iron mould though.

JFE

Canuck Bob,

you might want to check these tang sights out as the seller says he does ship to Canada:

http://cgi.ebay.com/RIFLE-TANG-SIGHT-WI ... 415b4f7eca

JFE

One version called the 375 Alaskan had some loads featured in Rifle mag's Legacy of Leverguns. Some of the top loads quoted in the article were: 250 gr 2672 fps 270 gr 2559 fps Its a pity Winchester didnt come out with something like this (or a 40 cal) when they brought out the model 71. To my mind ...

JFE

Most rifles in those calibres have short throats or no throat at all, so you will need to select a bullet design that will fit. Bullshop knows what he's doing and can help select the right design, tailor hardness and size for your application. If your rifles are fitted with microgroove barrels I'd o...

JFE

I recall reading one guy who managed to extract more versatility out of the same mould and been meaning to try it myself. He used it as its intended, however when he wanted to increase the velocity he would put the cast pills through a 0.451 sizer and then paper patch them to 0.460 - the hollow base...

JFE

Congrats on the purchase as they are a well made rifle. Accuracy has been so so with cast in mine. Its starts to behave when you feed it large diameter cast bullets (0.434"). The rifling is very similar to microgroove in that it has multiple shallow grooves. Plus the throating is very generous ...

JFE

NFG - you might want to investigate what gunsmiths do regarding barrel threads for converting Marlins to 50Ak. As you are probably aware most 336 barrels use square threads and the high pressure versions (450 Marlin, 338 Marlin etc) use V-threads (the receivers are obviously threaded differently too...

JFE

You might also want to try using slightly shorter brass to get around your chambering issue. You can open up 30/30 brass and it will be quite thin at the neck and somewhat shorter too. When you load it you will need to seat the bullet out longer and crimp into a lube groove or use a Lee factory crim...

JFE

Woodleigh make a 235gr Hydrostatic (mono) for the 375BB if that helps.

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