My favorite single shot hunting rifle is a Reger #3 that was a .375 Winchester that has been re-chambered by J. D. Jones to his developement, the .375 JDJ. THis rifle also wears Ruger #1 butt stock and forend. It wears a Leupold 1.5 x 5 Vari X III scope in Warne rings.

The .375 JDJ is the .444 Marlin case necked down to .375. I use the Hornady 225 grain Spire point and 54 grains of H-4895 sparked by CCI-200 primers. Muzzle velocity is about 2425 ft/sec. This rifle is short, powerful and accurate.

Sort of right inbetween the .375 Winchester and the .375 H&H. I could push this bullet up to between 2500 and 2600 ft/sec but it does all I need it to do at 2425 ft/sec. White tail deer, mule deer, black bear, elk and big feral hogs just can't stand it. That's why I love it.

A Ruger #3 with Ruger #1 wood, what would that be? A Ruger #2?

Sincerely,
Dave (Bubba) Thornblom

I like it! I have a 375 JDJ pistol barrel on my Encore.

Don

Howdy Bigfoot,

What kind of loads are you shooting? Have you been able to find any of the factory loads that Hornady had out for awhile. If so, how did they shoot?

Sincerely,
Dave (Bubba) Thornblom

I bought 4 boxes of the 220 grain hornady. They were accurate, but I only shot a few, I reload everything I own.

Have been using a 275 gr cast lead from a mold I have. It is what is going to be used for deer season this year.

Found 500 Hornady 300 gr FMJ on clearance awhile ago for the 375 H&H. Been shooting them out of the Encore too. loads of fun and they can be brutal.

Plenty of load data available for this cartridge.

Don

Hey Bigfoot,

Sounds like you are having loads of fun with your .375 JDJ.

I bought dies from JD Jones for this cartridge. He usually sells the Hornady dies for this round but he sent me RCBS dies. No problem, they work great. Of all of JD's wildcats, he put the most thought into this one. Nothing was left to chance except for the weapon you fire it in. Event thought T/C chambers this round in the G2 contender, the G2 leaves a bunch to be desired if you want to shoot upgraded loads in the .375 JDJ. Your Encore and my Ruger are the way to go for up scale .375 JDJ loads. You can also down load.

Just to have a knocking around load, I loaded the 220 grain Hornady round nose with 36 grain of XMP-5744 to duplicate the .375 Winchester load with this bullet. From my rifle this load is only 2200 ft/sec. I think the factory .375 JDJ load with this bullet does about 2450 ft/sec in the 23" contender barrel. Along with all of its other attributes, the .375 is also flexible. Load it up or load it down, it is still accurat.

JD sent me a load that one of his clients uses in his Encore with either 24 or 26" barrel, he didn't remember which. The load is 55 grains of AA-2520 behind the 260 grain Nosler for 2400 ft/sec. I haven't tried this load as of yet because right now I just don't need that kind of power. But it is good to know it is there if you need it.

And, forming cases is a breeze. Just run Remington .444 Marlin cases through the full length .375 sizing die and bingo, perfect .375 JDJ brass. Doesn't even need to be trimmed.

Great cartridge. I can't believe it hasn't caught on. I guess not enough factory rifles are chambered for it.

Sincerely,
Dave (Bubba) Thornblom

Ditto on what you said about the round and JD Jones. He put a muzzle brake on my barrel, and I bought dies from him. They are a class act. Good service and pleasant to talk too.

Don

I think the 375 JDJ is neither fish nor fowl...and not even a "tweener". I have dies, brass, bullets and every time I'm "tween" projects I swear I will do a switch barrel for one of my receivers, but every time I start thinking I look at the other 375 offerings and say "fergitit".

Loaded length is too long for the short actions, at least for the bullets I would use(300 gr at least)...375'06 is better for the long actions...375 Win is great for the leverguns, 375 H&H or RUM is better for mag actions and big game...a 375 WSM wildcat is out there...I won't subject my T/C's to the strain of full house 375 JDJ loads, but maybe I will do a NEF stub barrel one of these days. I see nothing wrong with the potential of the cartridge, tho'...I just can't find that round toit to get started on.

Enjoy your toy...

Luck

You might be missing out on a lot of fun.

Bubba

Might be, but I have way to many other shootnarns to miss much fun...besides I can always down load my 375 H&H... hahahahahahah. I have the thought of doing a 375 JDJ barrel for my Marlin to go along with the 356, 444M and 458 A barrels...I've already worked out some nice 250 to 300 gr cast lead bullet loads at a COAL of 2.65" and checked the cycling when the 444 M barrel was on it. Worked OK.

Someday I will find a real cheap .375 barrel blank and take a day to chamber and thread it.

My problem is I get tired of of a cartridge/rifle after a while and need something else to keep me occupied...my latest is a 50-90 ArmiSports Sharps...that should be arriving by months end...and the wild hairs are starting to work overtime and I haven't even touched that shooter yet.

Think a 50-140 might be wild enough??...not quite as bad as my 50 cal Rigby but definitely enough to give you a bad hair day....Hahahahahahah...better not wear a rug or glue it down tight or the guy behind you will be wearing it.

I'm also on the lookout for a cheap R#1 or #3...I have a REALY big caliber/case in mind for that project.

Luck