Bullet Recommendations for the .375 SuperMag?

[Quick Draw McGraw]

I am considering trying to pick one up, but I'm having a heck of a time locating bullets that are 220 grains or less.

Any ideas? Or is it time for me to learn how to cast my own bullets?

[Lee Martin]

I recommend ordering a mold. I used to shoot a lot of Hornady's 220 gr in my SuperMags. Once they stopped production, I switched to Sierra's 200 gr Pro Hunter. But those are hard to find (or maybe they're also out of production). Eventually I had Mountain Molds make me a 228 gr FN which I powder coat. I set it up as a gas check because way back when I wasn't PC'ing bullets. If I were to do it over, I'd go plain base. This mold from Accurate is very close to the one I designed:

www.accuratemolds.com/bullet_detail.php?bullet=38-224R

-Lee
www.singleactions.com
"Chasing perfection five shots at a time"

[bradshaw]

Sept 12, 2022 12:52:24 GMT -5 Quick Draw McGraw said:

I am considering trying to pick one up, but I'm having a heck of a time locating bullets that are 220 grains or less.

Any ideas? Or is it time for me to learn how to cast my own bullets?

*****

Lee has you covered. The .375 Super Mag is a sawed-off .375 Winchester fashioned by Elgin Gates to overpower the .357 Maximum, increasing by .005-inch case length of the Maximum. The cases bear no resemblance: the .357 Maximum lengthens the parallel walls (“straight wall”) of the .357 Magnum. The .375 Super Mag case tapers. The Hornady .375 220 Flat Point was designed for medium game hunted with higher velocity from the Winchester case in lever action carbine. Dan Wesson Arms chambered its stretch frame M-40 for the .375 Super Mag, By some twist of fate the DWA barrel suffered from .377-inch groove diameter. This doomed accuracy with jacketed .375’s. Don’t recall the DWA twist, but it’s too slow for my liking. A slow twist in an otherwise perfect barrel, mated to an oversize groove, kills accuracy. Important to slug bore of a DWA .375 SM, as there may have been barrels with correct .375 groove.

Unaware of any jacketed .375 bullets configured for sixgun. A couple of IHMSA silhouetters squeezed amazing accuracy from the .375 SM----with cast bullets, The .375 Super Mag was not really competitive against the .357 Maximum in silhouette. The .357 Maximum:
* variety of very accurate jacketed & cast .357 & .358 bullets.
* lower recoil over long strings of fire.
* wider distribution of brass.
* fast, carbide sizing of straightwall case.
* is easily loaded with .38/.357 dies.

IHMSA All-American Eric King built a Sig Himmelmann Seville in .375 SM for rams @ 500 meters (547 yards). Eric King settled on the .375 Super Mag for better ram-toppling energy at 500 meters. It required the ballistic coefficient of a pointed rifle bullet. Eric nipped 7 grains of nose off the Nosler 260-grain Partition to fit his load in the Seville cylinder, then applied his high class marksmanship to toppling rams. Eric told me the .357 Maximum lacked the push to topple rams the distance of 5-1/2 football fields. For those who think this shooting easy, considering back-to-belly measurement on the ram----12 inches.

The .375 SM has always been a revolver round in search of a bullet. Cast is the way to go.
David Bradshaw

[Quick Draw McGraw]

Thanks, Lee. Thanks Mr. Bradshaw. I got outbid on GunBroker... for now. But this is some REALLY good information. Interestingly, Hawk Bullets has some 0.377" jacketed bullets that start at 180 grains, so there might be some options there. At least I have some more time to research and learn about casting my own bullets.

[lar4570]

Here's my DW


Winchester brass works well, but Starline 375 brass has thicker walls. I tried the Starline 38-55 cases and they have slightly thinner walls and worked great. I've also cut down some 30-30 brass and it has worked well also.
For loading dies, I'm using modified Lee 375 Win dies.
I've shot some of the 260s from Hunter's Supply,


I really like the profile of the Accurate bullet that Lee posted.

[taffin]

Sept 12, 2022 12:52:24 GMT -5 Quick Draw McGraw said:

I am considering trying to pick one up, but I'm having a heck of a time locating bullets that are 220 grains or less.

Any ideas? Or is it time for me to learn how to cast my own bullets?

I HAVE USED THE HORNADY 220 FOR MOST OF MY JKTD BULLET LOADS.WORKS FINE.

[tonyrumore]

Les Vollmer makes jacketed bullets for the 375 SuperMag. However, he rarely has any in stock.

Tony

vollmerbullets.com/collections/375-caliber-bullets

[matt56]

Here’s mine, I’ve had it about 4 years but I never got to really testing with it. Like David mentioned I was unimpressed with jacketed bullet loads. I have 220gr Hornady and 200gr Sierra. I also have a 235gr NOE mold that remains unused. Right as I was in peak interest with silhouette shooting they closed the range at my club, almost 2 years it was closed. Now it’s open again and I have no time to shoot.

Did I mention the dies were 1/3 the cost of the gun?

[nhithaca]

Over 25 years ago I bought one of these at a local gun show on a whim, since I already had a Marlin in 375 Winchester. Included a new 50 round box of factory Winchester brass marked SM375. Still have 49 of the 50 original cases and I can't tell you how many times they have been reloaded (mostly with full charges of AA1680 or Win296). Until I found a set of Redding dies, I used Winchester 375 dies with a spacer for the seating and crimp die. Have mostly shot Hornady 220 grain jacketed bullets with great success but did fall into a lot of 220 grain gas checked cast lead SWCs that did have fairly short noses and a diameter of about 0.377". These shot very well and did not lead the barrel or throats at all. Even took the gun moose hunting but my brother ended up shooting the bull with his bow, so never even upholstered it.
Really nice action and in great condition (looks just like matt56's gun) and it is now worth 4 times what I paid for it. I don't think I will never sell it. Then again, I almost never sell any of my guns.

I have thought of having a mold cut by Accurate to specifically fit this gun. Using the nose length of the 220 grain jacketed bullet (about 0.50" crimp to nose) with a gas checked base, a nose diameter of 0.30" and shooting for a weight of about 220 to 230 grains I think it would be a killer bullet.