I have a 38/55 rebored by JES it has a groove of .376,I just found an old box of 50 Barnes original 255 grain bullets sized at .377 can I safely shoot them in this rifle.I also have some BTB 250gr LFNGC sized at .378 left over from a 38/55 Cowboy JES turned into a .444 for me,can I shoot the 2 thousand over in this barrel or is that to large.I have 300 of these and would like to shoot them up.Thanks for any help or opinions.
444CB,
I have shot jacketed bullets that are
more than 1 thou over groove before with no problems..
If you can hand seat the jacketed bullet in a unsized fired case you are good to go because there will be plenty of room for the case to expand and release the bullet..
Stop and think about it..
Your .377" Barnes is only 1/2 thou per side over size..
This doesn't mean you start out with max loads..
You start low and work up until you find the accuracy you want or pressure signs, what ever comes first..
Cast bullets..
Take a unsized fired case that was shot with a heavy load..
Make sure that there is no crimp from the previous load..
I use the Lee universal expander lightly to take the crimp out of the case mouth..
Take a .378" cast bullet and see if you can seat it by hand..
If you can then that means you have plenty of room in your chamber for the case to expand and release that size bullet..
You can then work up loads for that size bullet..
I generally size my lever action bullets to the largest size that will fit a fired case and that will chamber..
Why?
Because a tight fit will help keep the case and the bullet in better alignment with the bore which = better accuracy..
This is basic..
444CB,
I see in your last post #8 that you also have some cast bullets sized .379" and .380"..
Whether they will fit in your fired cases or not depends on the size of the chamber Jesse cut and the thickness of your brass..
If you have a lot of over sized bullets that don't fit your fired cases you can order a Custom LEE type push thru sizer from member Buckshot over at the castboolit forum..
I have often sized a
lubed and checked RCBS 250gr/.375" bullet down to .368" to shoot in my 9.3X62..
The best cast group I ever shot (5 shot @ 5/8" @100m) came from using those bullets..
The reason I bring this up because many say that sizing down over a few thou degrades accuracy..
That has not been my experience..
Good luck and if you choose to shoot these bullets you have and have more questions about what I said above feel free to ask..
Just as aside I am speaking to straight walled cased lever action rifles here as they have little or a very short throat..
Bottle necked bolt action rifles I generally size .0005 to .001 >under< throat size..