35 Whelen Imp or 375 Ruger your thoughts?

[JesterGrin_1]

I thought I would bring up the 375 Ruger Cartridge again since I have not seen much discussion on this round. As I am sure some here know I am thinking for next years hunting to change my Marlin XL-7 30-06 to the 35 Whelen or Imp as Blammer here on the forum has had good results with his barrel change but if I am going to change the barrel on the Marlin I am open to many different chamberings. And thus the 35 Whelen as many have used and like that caliber but also the 375 Ruger will also function through the same action.

So I am looking for other views on this for Cast BOOLITS.

[MT Gianni]

Look into mold variations and check availability.

[yondering]

Doesn't the 375 Ruger have a larger case diameter? You'd have to change the bolt face on your 30-06 to accomodate that.
You could also go with a 375 Whelen. It's been done before, mostly in the Improved chambering I think.

[Bret4207]

The Ruger uses an odd case. The Whelen uses standard '06 brass. I think we'll have '06 brass till the last gun is yanked from our cold, dead fingers, but the Ruger brass.....think 22 Jet, 5mmRF, 6mm Lee Navy, the 8x56R (till a couple years ago), or that Remington electronically fired cartridge. No brass, no shoot, useless gun.

[softpoint]

A maximum capacity .375 based on the '06 case,in my opinion would be as good as you could get, especially for cast, and great for jacketed ,too. The .375 Gibbs comes to mind, nearly a straight sided body, sharp shoulder, but the neck is shortened a little over the standard '06, if that matters. The .375/06 Improved would also be good. If you wanted the .375 Ruger, you would either have to have the bolt face opened up ,or , if the Marlin is like the Savage, simply replace the bolt head. I am not familiar with the Marlin.

[Ben]

Another consideration.........take a .375 Ruger and place a round in the mag. box, see if it will feed. Most likely it won't.....more problems to get it to feed reliabily.

My vote...35 Ack Improved, 40 degree.

[20nickels]

I vote keep it simple, 35 Whelen. As a side note It would be interesting if somebody reamed out a 30-06 subcaliber insert to 357 mag.

[Potsy]

I really like the .375 Ruger. Looking to own one in a few years.
To buy new, the Ruger seems the way to go, but to customize a new gun, you can get into boltface and magazine issues.
I'd think hard about a 9.3x62 were it mine.

[Bullshop]

How bout a 375 Whelen? Either it or the 35 will never have problems finding brass for.
The Ruger, maybe so.
Personaly I would stay away from the ackley version. I have experiance with both versions and the standard feeds far more reliably than the Ackley. The Ackley tends to hang up when using flat nose or spitzer bullets. That sharp sholder catches the nose just as the head is popping up from the magazine. This is the case at least in the controlled round feed actions I have used. Perhaps in a push feed where the head of the cartridge will pop up from the mag sooner the Imp's may feed well.
BIC/BS

[yondering]

That sharp sholder catches the nose just as the head is popping up from the magazine. This is the case at least in the controlled round feed actions I have used. Perhaps in a push feed where the head of the cartridge will pop up from the mag sooner the Imp's may feed well.
BIC/BS

My Rem 700 35 Whelen AI feeds like oiled pig snot with pretty much every bullet/boolit I've tried. It's a push feed like you said though, maybe that's the difference.

I like the Ackley version, but mainly for the more positive headspace and improved brass life. Can't remember the last time I had to trim my brass, my current batch got trimmed after the first firing and that's it. Less brass stretch = less thinning at the case head-body junction.

[JesterGrin_1]

Thank You for all of the good info. And I think you are right that going with the 375 Ruger could be a bit of a pain to have Brass where as the 35 Whelen would be easy to find Brass.

[Ed K]

Thank You for all of the good info. And I think you are right that going with the 375 Ruger could be a bit of a pain to have Brass where as the 35 Whelen would be easy to find Brass.

Think 480 Ruger. Discontinued in just a few short years. Even the new model #1 is in 475 Linebaugh - not 480 Ruger. Ruger is not the same company it was when the old man ran it. If a product does not please the shareholders that's it and your potential brass problem is not their concern.

[JesterGrin_1]

Thank you Ed. At first I did not even think that Brass would be a problem. I just found that the 375 Ruger would cycle through a long action that would also take the 30-06 which was a plus. But it sure does look like things keep going back to the 35 Whelen or Imp.

[Bullshop]

375 Hawk Schoville!!!! I hope to very very soon have some first hand experiance with this one.
Ma!! is the mail here yet?
BIC/BS

[softpoint]

Were it mine, .35 caliber wouldn't matter too much whether it was standard or improved, unless there were feeding issues like Bullshop said, But if going to .375 caliber I'd go with the improved version, just to gain a little shoulder. You are really running out of shoulder then. And the little extra case capacity wouldn't hurt either. There is a .400 Whelen too, but headspace problems have been an issue for that one for many years. From what I've read, the situation wasn't dangerous, but caused an annoying number of misfires.....

[Lloyd Smale]

i too think the 375 ruger could be a winner. I would like one of the little 20 inch hawkeyes myself.

[softpoint]

I like those Hawkeye Alaskans myself,.Lloyd I have really been thinkin' again, and of course,I probably have too many guns already

[Ltdshooter]

I have the 375 Ruger in one of the blue Alaskan models. Love it! I plan on working up a cast load or two after I get done shooting up a bunch of the jacketed stuff. Brass while not cheap is available.

[saz]

+1 for the 35 whelen. I have one in a Ruger #1- it is my go to rifle. And as everyone has already said the brass is easy. If you are up for another suggestion, you may consider the 338-06. It does better with 250's (j-word type) than the 35 whelen. Both of them are wonderful calibers IMHO, and the recoil isnt anything objectionable in the least.

Dan, you have to keep us posted on the 375 Scovill! That is another one that has peaked my interest!