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April 25, 2008
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This came from the Nov-Dec 1983 issue of The Silhouette:
"EXCLUSIVE FOR IHMSA MEMBERS THE DAN WESSON .375 SUPER MAG
If you like double action revolvers, especially Dan Wessons,we've got more good news. Dan Wesson is building a special run of .375 Super Mags exclusively for us.This gun will be identical to the current .357 Super Mag which, as everybody knows, is built on the rugged heavy duty .44 Mag frame. And before you finish with the Internationals results you will know that the .357 Dan Wesson Super Mag took first, second and third places in Revolver International with an 80x80 and two 79s. In short, this brand new .375 Super Mag is going to be a potent piece on the silhouette ranges of America, and in short order, too.
Delivery is to start in December just as soon as they can get cranked up. It will be an interesting race between DW and Sig to get .375 Super Mags to us, one a single action, the other a double action.
Special members price will be $299.50 for the blue steel DW – we're not sure if we can get some of them in stainless steel yet – and this will include your IHMSA number as the serial number. This time your member number will be preceded by SM (for Super Mag) instead of IHMSA.
As with the Seville .375 Super Mag, for each Dan Wesson sold, THE SILHOUETTE will donate $10 to the permanent range fund.
Send your order today with a $50 deposit to THE SILHOUETTE, Box 1509, Idaho Falls, Idaho 83401, or call your order in. Visa and MC cards accepted. 208-524-0880.
Couple more points for your interest. My original 1.600" .375 Super Mag case retained the original taper of the .375 Winchester rifle case. Right now I'm leaning toward changing the print to make it a straight wall case so carbide dies can be used. If you have any comments pro or con on this, get them to me fast as the final decisions have to be made shortly.
Also I'm working with Federal for a batch of .375 Super Mag brass made to order although .375 Winchester cases and even .30-30 cases can easily be trimmed to make .375 Super Mag cases.
I'm also having Redding make the dies. Barring any unforeseen difficulties, we will be shipping and shooting .375 Super Mags right after the first of the year.
Let's shoot silhouettes with a .375 Super Mag."
Some notes of mine:
United Sporting Arms also announced in the same issue, their single-action Seville in .375 Super Mag. Sig refers to Sig Himmelman of United Sporting Arms.
Interesting that Federal was not the one to come up with the .375 SuperMag brass, but Winchester did. Maybe Federal was not even making the .375 Winchester brass at the time and chose not to, or perhaps was too busy to produce this in a timely manner for IHMSA.
As we know, they were not made in stainless steel, but the thing I didn't know, was that these were made exclusively for the silhouette shooters. Did they show up in later catalogs after the IHMSA run?
The Savantist
April 25, 2008
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From the Jan-Feb 1984 issue of The Silhouette:
"UPDATE ON THE .375 DAN WESSON SUPER MAG
Our sincere thanks to the IHMSA members who have entered their order for the Dan Wesson .375 Super Mag.
As you know from our previous announcement, this revolver is being built by Dan Wesson for THE SILHOUETTE on a special contract. Basically it will be an exact duplicate of the highly successful DW 40V8S .357 Super Mag that took FIRST, SECOND AND THIRD in the 1983 Internationals revolver competition.
The only difference is that the cylinder will be chambered for Elgin's .375 Super Mag cartridge, and the barrel will be in .375 caliber.
The entire project is GO across the board and is in high gear. We expect the first shipment of guns with regular factory serial numbers about the first week in February.
Here are the updated details:
IHMSA MEMBER SPECIAL SERIAL NUMBER GUNS: We can still supply the DW .375 Super Mag with your IHMSA member number as the official serial number if we have your order on file at Headquarters by February 6-10 at the very latest, with delivery in late February or early March. Otherwise, after that date the continuing shipments we receive of the DW .375 Super Mag will come with regular factory serial numbers.
BLUE STEEL: While we had hoped to offer this model in stainless steel as well as blue steel, the entire contract run will be built only in blue steel.
AVAILABILITY: We have an option to have additional runs of this contract model built as demand requires with the intent on having an adequate supply throughout 1984 and beyond.
SIGHTS: The DW .375 Super Mag will come from the factory with the PS-2 front patridge blade and a RSB-D .080 narrow notch rear blade as standard equipment.
CASE DESIGN: Having a straight-wall case made to specs would have delayed the entire project from fourteen to eighteen months. Therefore, the decision was made to go with Elgin's original tapered case based on the .375 Winchester case. This is an excellent heavy duty case, and all preliminary testing gives it good performance marks.
BULLETS: On contract with Hornady. We are having a special run of 100,000 220 grain custom bullets made with the cannelure moved up another .050 to allow a firm crimp with the 1.600 .375 Super Mag case. and thus give proper seating depth plus proper clearance in the 2.075 cylinder. In producing this special bullet, Hornady also is using their technique of reversing the jacket to completely cover the base of the bullet as they did in producing their highly successful 180 gr JTC .38 caliber silhouette bullet.
REMINDER: The Dan Wesson /375 Super Mag is being manufactured on a special contract basis and will be available only through THE SILHOUETTE. The special introductory member price of $299.50 will be honored through March 1, 1984. After March 1, the price will be raised to $329.50 due to additional costs."
This was a full-page ad with info on the guns, brass, test barrels, dies, bullets, etc. I pulled the pertinent parts out of it.
The Savantist
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Dans Club
February 22, 2009
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Neat stuff, Dean. So now I wonder if my SN was someone's IHMSA number (0053)…hmm.
Technically, the glass is always full; half liquid, half air....
Range Officer
Range Officers
Dans Club
March 27, 2009
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I am sending the money today!!! Dang this almost caught me! Those were the days! Thanks for a great read!
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January 24, 2009
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I paid a little more than $329.50 for mine, and I'm juuust fine with that!
It's amazing how much cheaper DW's were back then. Or...I guess it's more of the point of how much inflation has increased since then. Value does have something to do with it, but inflation is still the main driver.
January 22, 2008
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I didn't realize that the 375 was produced only for IHMSA which is pretty cool!
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