375JDJ or 375 Winchester

[freddogs]

I was thinking of setting up a contender for larger game. A contender rifle is light weight and accurate and a joy to haul around. I set one up in 7X30 and it worked well. I was thinking of another barrel in 375JDJ or 375 Winchester. Can anyone tell me how these two compare? I have a 12" 375 Winchester barrel and dies and have been happy with it. I wonder if the 375JDJ would give me some extra oomph.

[Ladobe]

Depends on what you mean by larger game.   I doubt you have anything in WI a 375 Win couldn't take successfully.    The 375JDJ has probably taken every big game/dangerous game animal species on earth successfully, but I doubt the 375 Win has (or has even been tried on many of them).

I liked the 375 Win Contender barrel I owned years ago OK, but I liked the four 375JDJ barrels I've also owned since the early 80's a whole lot better.

[Slowpoke Slim]

I would also wonder what "larger game" you're planning on using it on. How big, and also how far away? I can assume you're thinking larger than deer sized, since you already have a 7-30 Waters bbl.

I have a 16" brake'd 375 JDJ barrel, and my buddy has a 12" brake'd 375 Win barrel. The difference in recoil between the 2 is significant, even with my barrel being 4" longer. You are right, the JDJ will definitely give you more "oomph". You are able to launch heavier bullets, and make them go faster than the Win. The trade off is the recoil. I went through a few grips on my JDJ handgun until I got the one with just the right fit for my hand. Now shooting it is easier, and I can let her rip at the range until I run out of ammo. I couldn't do that with the factory grips I've tried. Grip fit is more important when the recoil level goes up. Same thing will apply for a carbine butt stock.

I have several carbine barrels, but nothing in a larger bore. The nice thing about the carbine's is they are super light weight, and a joy to carry around. You will hardly know it's there, until you fire it. I'm not sure how recoil tolerant you are, but a 6 pound 375 JDJ carbine may be more "fun" than you're wanting on your shoulder. Maybe you're planning on a muzzle brake? It's going to whack you some. I've been tempted to try mine on my carbine frame, but I would want a better fitting butt stock first, and a rifle scope that sits plenty forward in the rings. All I have now is the factory wood butt stock, which is too short, and not near enough comb height for looking through a scope. Not a good combination for a kicking caliber. Also, I'd go with the Warne (I believe) picatinny rail base and rings, both for strength and to be able to set the scope farther forward. I'm using the Burris dual dovetail setup on my other carbine barrels, which put the scope a bit too far back. It's not really an issue with the small calibers, but would be, I'm sure with the JDJ. I would probably go with a 22-24" full bull carbine barrel, and start it off without a brake and see how she goes.

I would think a 220 gr bullet from a 375 Win barrel would be good on elk sized critters to maybe 200 yards if you picked your shot and stayed out of the shoulder joint. I would probably limit myself to 150 yards with that combo. I wouldn't hesitate to put a 270 gr Hornady spire point through an elks shoulder out to 300 yards from the JDJ. My barrel prefers the Hornady bullet to either the 300 Sierra, or the 270 Speer.

Here's my favorite load, 5 shots fired from a rest, at 100 yards:



I think that's pretty decent for a fixed 3x TC handgun scope, and my eyesight.

[Ladobe]

Lots of good information from Chris (just keep in mind that he is kind of a whimp though).    LOL

The 375JDJ is very manageable even with a 5-6 pound Contender pistol and unbraked barrel, so should be even easier with a carbine/rifle barrel and buttstock on your frame.   As with all the handcannons/riflecannons learn to go with them instead or trying to control them and the recoil is no big deal.

Limiting your range with the 375 Win on our largest big game is probably a good idea as Chris suggested even if you are proficient with a Contender and know its ballistics, but you don't have to with the 375JDJ for anything that walks on this continent (and most of the others).

[Slowpoke Slim]

Larry,

LOL

Good to see you posting around again.

You old Coot!

Have a Happy New Year

 

[freddogs]

Thanks for the help.
By larger game I mean elk, moose, maybe buffalo or stuff like that. I don't mind larger calibers. I have a 35 whelan and a 338 Win Mag in bolt actions. The 375 JDJ sounds like it might be better for what I want to use it for.
 I like using 250 gr bullets in the whelan. I think the large diameter and heavy weight works a bit better than lighter and faster.

[I make oil]

Have you considered the 45/70?  I bought one a few months ago in a 20" braked custom shop barrel and I think it would do whatever you are talking of.  However, I also intend to pick up a .375JDJ myself this year.  Can't have to many options.    The reason I got the 45/70 first is due to the ammo availability.  It is very common, and an easy to reload round.  I am shooting MOA at 100 yards with mine using Leverevolution rounds I have not shot anything else through it yet.  But 10 rounds is about all I want to shoot out of my gun with those rounds at a time.  The recoil and noise is pretty intense.  I joke with a friend of mine to be careful shooting it because it might detach a retna.    I have not killed anything with it yet but do intend to Hunt with it some this year before the season is over.

[Ladobe]

The 45-70 would be a sledgehammer too for buffalo with the heavier bullets it can throw at fairly long ranges if you are good at lobbing rainbow shots (growning up on a high mountain western ranch where the primary "do-all" rifles were Winchester lever carbines in 30, 32 & 38 calibers, I got plenty of practice at lobbing shots).   The only Buff I ever shot was with my Winchester 94 Thirty Gun (almost 70 years old now) at only maybe around 70-80 yards, so I'm certainly no expert on them.   But a 300 grain 375 bullet is no slouch either in the sledgehammer department, and will be a bunch flatter shooting if the range gets on the long side.   A 375JDJ is over-kill for elk and moose IMO, again unless the range is long.   All big enough animals that either cartridge will kill cleanly, but I'd rather have the flat shooting for better hits at the longer ranges normally shot in the west.

[Dezynco]

I really like my 24" Contender carbine in 375 Winchester, you couldn't pry it out of my hands!  I've had plenty of luck with it and it's very accurate, all the way out to 300 yards.  It's also easy to load being a straight walled case.  Shoots cast lead bullets really well.  Plenty of medicine for anything in North America.

The down side is that factory ammo is hard to come by, and the selection of reloading components is not very large.  The 375 JDJ can take advantage of some of the heavier 375 caliber bullets, where the 375 Winchester just doesn't have the speed.

The 375 JDJ definately has more oomph, but you probably don't need it.  Whether you WANT one or not is a different story!   

[Camp Cook]

I purchased a used s/s 21" tapered barreled rynite stocked Contender carbine in 375 Win (with a few changes its now the one in my avatar) after using it for a while I decided to send it to SSK Ind to be rechambered -> 375JDJ and am I ever glad I did.

Basically I turned a 150 -> max 200 yard deer/black bear hunting rifle into an extremely accurate 300 yard thumper, loaded with 260gr Accubonds @ 2280fps - 2300fps I am still doing over 1800fps @ 300 yards and I would not hesitate to shoot anything other than a grizzly at that distance with this combo.

So I definitely say go for the 375JDJ...