doublegunshop.com - home Forums General Discussion Classic & Custom Single Barreled Sporting Rifles @ doublegunshop.com Finally received my MS model 1892

Picked up the Model 1892 from customs. Caliber is .375 2 1/2" flanged. Bore is great but someone has mistreated it a bit. Put away wet or just not oiled enough. Very happy with it though. A surprise Holt's didn't mention is that it was retailed by Holland & Holland and is marked top of the barrel as "Shot and regulated by H&H with address". Have to load up some ammo in the next few days and take it to the range.

Built on the Romanian 1892,,nice early variation. Congrats!
Let us know how it shoots.

Love those Mannlicher enbloc feed British sporting rifles.
I've been looking for one as a project. Did come up w/a Geo Gibbs sporter on an '03 Greek M/S in 256 Gibbs Magnum. Have owned a nice European style sporter carbine built on a 93 Romanian bbld action for some time.,,DST and still in 6.5cal.
Still looking for a Brit style 93 or 95 bolt sporter to rehab.

What a beauty!

Am I correct in thinking that your .375 is based on the .303 British case?

I do not believe it was based on the .303 but I don't know for sure.

I do know that a friend of mine has a BSA-made sporter in that caliber that uses a Lee-Enfield action. A rather plain working rifle sold by the Army and Navy Stores.

In attempting to answer my own question, I found from two sources, "Cartridges of the World," and "Cartridge Conversions," that the .375-2 1/2" has to be made from .405 Win. brass. Not as easy to find as .303, but available (again).

I remember seeing a Remington-Lee sporter in .405 once also. Gotta be a rare bird.

Anxious to here how your pretty Mannlicher performs!

tried to reload and found out that my die set came with a .373 expander. Not large enough of course. So I now have to buy the correct expander for the dies. Stay tuned. I just bought 40 new cases off of gunbroker for $62 including shipping. Cheapest that I could find it elsewhere was $109 for 20.

For a .375" diameter bullet? Sounds like a good hunting load level of grip. If you need a tad more, maybe you can pick up a bit of flare using part of some other die that you already have on hand.

Sorry if I'm thinking about it wrong. I figure .001" under for cast bullets is a good possibility, chances are jacketed bullets could stand a bit more. Best of luck getting it up and running.

Poked around a little in regard to the .375-2 1/2" and found an article on a very similar wildcat described by Ken Waters as the ".375 Express." He explains its creation and feeding in a 1997 "Handloader" article. Case made from .444 Marlin and about .25" shorter than 2.5".

You might have a look at that article re handloads appropriate to your Mannlicher. It is reprinted on pp. 1026-28 of the collection "Pet Loads" by Wolfe Publications. If you can't find it easily and want the dope, PM me and I'll try to get good copies of the pages from "Pet Loads." Usually I lose part of the page when I try to copy that big, thick book, but suspect I can get you the gist. If I can't I'll look thru my pile of "Handloaders" and see if I have that issue.

Looks like a great "medium rifle."

The cartridge is not based on the 303, but they have the same or similar head diameter, as does the 30-40 Krag. The 405 case may work better, due to length, but the 303 and 30-40 will work fine(may have to adjust rim dia.), if necessary, you can load the bullets "out" to the correct oal. With regard to cast bullets, I prefer .002" over groove dia. With regard to using 444 cases, the head diameter is too large, .468" vs .454", plus, it is simi-rimmed, not rimmed, and the extractor may or may not hold it. BTW, a .373 expander seems about right for a .375" bullet, you may have to bell the case a little for cast bullets.
Mike

the case crushes when I use the .373 expander and try to put the jacketed .375 in it. No way it's going in the case. Most of my reloading dies are larger than the .375 so I'll have to get a new one.

Mike - I have been making these cases from Hornady .405 Win with no issues. They need trimming to length, and the rim diameter has to be reduced, as does the thickness (I make it suit my rifle). The Hornady brass is a little thicker than Bertram, and yields a minimal clearance in my rifle's chamber.

I'm not sure what is the cause of the case crushing, I use a .373 expander also, and the Hornady jacketed bullets seat with no trouble. I flare the case mouth to seat cast bullets.

My rifle looks like it was made in the same batch as the one you have, except it has the 320 grain proof. She is a shooter!

Is your barrel left hand twist?

PM me if you'd like to see my loads.

Mike Harrell,
I suggest you chamfer the inside of the case mouths and slightly bell them, your trouble with crushing the cases should go away, if you are careful in starting them.
Mike

Mike,

If you are having to reduce rim thickness for your rifle, you might want to look at the Jamison/CapTech 35 Winchester cases. The rim is thinner than the 405, but same basic case. Its a problem we run into when forming 35W cases from 405s for some guns.

Thaine

I think the 35 Winchester case is a little short for this job.

Mike, you are correct, my bad. It would be close after expanding the neck, but not perfect. I keyed off the rim thickness and forgot the overall length was .085 short before forming.
Thaine

Cases being .085 short shouldn't hurt much, if you have a neck left. Just seat bullets to same oal.
Mike

Since it was reblued poorly I'm going to have it redone correctly. Anyone know of an engraver that would be interested in redoing the "Shot and regulated by H&H with address" on the barrel? Want to have that redone first.

Mike Harrel,
More than the bluing, the polishing was poorly done. To straighten the polishing out will require hand polishing, including file work in certain places to correct rounded off edges and corners, etc. Turnbull specializes in this type work, but there are others that can do a nice polish and rust blue job.
Mike

Since it came up, I think Der Ami is right. To do things correctly, I think it'd be quite a job. I think that rifle would have stories to tell if it could. I'd think it could be up and shooting again with the same feel and handling like from some time long gone, just not likely look quite the same. From this point on, it could be cared for to preserve what's left of the original markings, and be a shooter. I think prioritizing the H&H markings would be incidental to all else that might be done in a quality rehab. Here's hoping you can figure out the right bit for you. I for one would love to shoot the rifle.