Here! I have messed with a couple of them over the last few years, am hunting deer with mine in less than a week with cast. It's a great cartridge. It is a newer Winchester Short Rifle. Will be using the actual old Winchester 38-55 mold (no numbers on it, but a plain base) or the RCBS 264ish gas check mold. Trying like crazy to find a load with 4064 (too slow of a powder it appears).

 

No there a no other 38-55 shooters on this forum , your on your own looks like .

 

Maybe some that will not admit it.
Been posting pictures for some time now but jut got told this site ill not let me. I have a Marlin CB. Shot a couple of deer with it and use either the Barnes Original jacketed at 377 or cast. Do not load overly hot but at about 1650 fps. Most have a larger bore than 375.

DEP

 

I have two both 1893's rebored to 38-55, .375 bore. Cast my own plain base 255gr shoot over 1000 per year in silhouette, any that are hit fall,and not that many get missed. The most shooting fun I have had ever.

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I hope to get a deer this year with my 38-55 Winchester 94. I'm using the 379-250 Lee cast bullet. I wish that I had discovered this fun classic sooner.

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I have that same lee bullet mold and would like to hear what powders you have used or liked. I haven't yet used the mold but will get to it this year for my H&R "target model" single shot. I also really like the Lee Tumble Lube.

 

I have a Marlin 336XLR rebarrelled to 38-55, 1-12 twist, .375 bore. Are their any other 38-55 shooters out there??? Jerry

I just got back from the range shooting my rebarreled 38-55. Sorry I missed you.

 

yea,,,,,,,,,,,,,

 

One of them.

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The only cartridge I have in two rifles with the same chambering, lever and falling block.

If hunting a wide meplat is a good choice. Not a hot rod. Great shooting with cast bullets from 160 to 260 gr in a lever action. BTW, no need for hard cast. 25 parts lead to 1 part tin is all you with and a plain base bullet. However, if you want to bump the up to the 1,700 to 1,800 fps range, a gas check on the same alloy would be a good idea.

PS:
Oops, now I have more than one in two different cartridge, 32-20 and 38-55. A 92 Win I have had for some time and a just acquired antique 1885 LW. Love the hyphenated cartridges.

 

Are you shooting cast or jacketed?? You'll probably need .377's for cast. My standard load for cast is 10 grains of Unique with a 260 cast. Accurate and pleasant to shoot. Good load in all three of my .38-55's. The 1893 Marlin and 1899 Savage both shoot .379's quite well. The Marlin was relined to .377. My 1894 Winny needs a bigger boolit, 381's shoot great. All mine are older so I don't like to hot rod, but yours is newer and should be able to handle hotter loads with jacketed bullets.

 

Have a CB.. been my main caliber down here in the woods of Alabama for about 4 years now.
Boy do I get some looks with the gun... and the LOOKS when I tell them what caliber it is...

 

I hunt with 9gr Unique under a 240gr cast Ranchdog (Marlin 336CB)

 

I have a CB with bullets and dies, haven't shot it yet. Probably should sell it to someone that will use it.

 

The 38-55 would be an ideal cartridge in the "straight case" states. I live in an area where I can use any centerfire rifles so I do not use mine much. Another ideal use for the 38 is for those that like to use cast bullets, especially those that cast their own. I cast my own and find it a great cartridge. Originally the alloys were tin/lead like 1-20 to 1-40. Now I can use some antimony based alloys. I like to push my loads a little faster than the original ballistics as it permits a little extension on the ranges. 1500-1700 also permits better expansion without hollow pointing. Deer can take a fairly soft alloy and I ahve to be careful not to damage the bullets when loading the rifle. The Barnes jacketed original is a pure lead core with a copper jacket and is also best used at those speeds.

DEP

 

Don't miss Hawk and Vollmer custom bullets for hunting. For the .38 cal bullets they both have a nice selection.
Have a great day.
Jim

 

The one without the scope on the bottom is my Cowboy 38-55. The other one is a 30-30. The top rack was taken with the 38. I can post pictures again.

DEP

 

I have a .375 SC and a Winchester Hi-Wall in .38-55. Shoot the same brass in both of them with no issues.
I shot a lot of the Canadian CIL .38-55 before I was given a load that works beautifully in my 2 rifles.
I cannot vouch for it's ability as a hunting load as all I do is kill paper targets, but both of my rifles really like it. 29 gr. RL7 under just about anyone's 200gr. cast flat nose.
If I ever get the opportunity to hunt feral hogs, the .375 SC will be the rifle of choice for me.
Accurate, and hard hitting.

 

I had a 336W re-bored to 38-55 a while back. I haven't shot it as much as others so far, but I enjoyed the firm push over my 45-70s thump. I traded around and turned my 45-70 into this 38-55 since my neck problems. I get the same type thump, with less pain.

 

Picked up this one from a former member here back late Spring.
Got a couple good loads from the previous owner. That 10.0 load bigAl mentioned is pretty darn good in this one also.
Hopefully tag a nice buck with it this approaching season.

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I shoot a 38-55 but long range. 335gr Lyman .379 mould and 3f Swiss black powder most of the time. Blackhorn occasionally. It holds 3/4”@100yds easily and doing great all the way out to 800 yds. Velocity is at about 1270.

 

randy,

If you have not tried Fg, you are missing out. Just like smokeless, faster powders are for slower velocity in rifles or better performance in pistol length barrels. Fg has proven to be better in 28-30, 32-40, and 38-55 for me.

Here is my design that Accurate cut. A real tack driver with 40-1 alloy. It is a real joy to shoot smaller groups using BP in an obsolite cartridge that others at the range with modern high power weapons!

 

1:15 would be nice, on top of that it’s shallow rifling so if I hit 1300 it starts skipping the lands. Which is fine 1250 is the sweet spot anyway. Anyhow, I will give that a try. I do shoot silhouette also and am going to go with the 38-55 this year (usually 40-65). The Shiloh range is a really tough one. South facing and the air here is filled with smoke that time of year. Really tough range for iron sights. So I’ve also set it up for scope and will use it for those matches.

 

Hi Jerry

I built this several years ago from an 30-30 donor. Douglas barrel, color cased the lever as well as the action myself as well as machining the flats and cutting the dovetails for the sights etc.. Stock work is mine as well. "safety Delete of my own machining.... . I load 10Grains of Unique under a 245 HC with pretty good 100 yd results below. Starline "short" brass.

 

Hi Jerry View attachment 867651
I built this several years ago from an 30-30 donor. Douglas barrel, color cased the lever as well as the action myself as well as machining the flats and cutting the dovetails for the sights etc.. Stock work is mine as well. "safety Delete of my own machining.... . I load 10Grains of Unique under a 245 HC with pretty good 100 yd results below. Starline "short" brass. Correction 50 Yards with this... View attachment 867652

 

Hi, I am playing around with a H & R Target single shot and have loaded 265gr gas checks on top of 10 g. of Trailboss but feel guilty about pushing them so slow. The bullets wre given to me. Also have some 116 grn. pointed that I am looking for ideals on. Maybe Tight group Powder would be good.

 

I have two but they are both Winchester 1894's.

 

They are pretty anyway.

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I have one rebored by Jesse. I've killed whitetail with it the last two years. 265 grain cast and powder coated.

 

How fast do you run the cast for whitetails? The way the jacketed bullets are, I am considering using them more. It's had to find the weight I want in a jacketed bullet. Are yours gas checked?

 

Killed 30 silhouettes with mine yesterday, missed the other ten.

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