Winchester 38/55

[Hickok]

I have a Winchester/USRA Model 94 in 38/55. My barrel mikes at .379" groove diameter. Just wondering if anyone else has one of these rifles and what the groove diameter is?

Also, I have Lyman dies for this rifle, and the expander mikes at .374", which is a little tight for .379/.380" cast bullets that I use in this gun. I would rather have an expander button of about .376", but don't know where to find one. Could Lyman furnish and expander button of this size?

[Graybeard]

I doubt you'll get anything but a hard time from Lyman but I'm sure RCBS would do it and so likely would Hornady.

[Sixgun]

I bought a set of regular RCBS dies (green box) with my Win 94 in 38-55.  The first thing I noticed is that I had a big bulge on one side of the loaded round using the .380 laser cast bullets, that also came with the gun.  It still shot 1 inch groups at 100 yards but was a pain in the rear to get a bullet into the case without shaving one side of it.

I slugged it and it slugged out at .380 and the sized case neck was .374.  I fixed it and it still shoots as good as it did or better but I may have taken the long way around.  I won't go through all the steps that I went through to arrive here but this is the final solution that I came up with:

I use a Lee universal depriming die to knock out the primer. 
I do not size the case at all.
I clean and trim
I bell the case mouth with a RCBS Cowboy Bell die
I seat the .380 Laser Cast bullet with a RCBS Cowboy die.  I make sure that the crimp ring does not touch the case mouth when I seat the bullet.  This takes some adjustment but if you get close to the crimper in the seating die, you shave the bullet.
I crimp with the seating die that I bought with the gun (from the green box).  I adjusted the seater on this die so it will not touch the bullet, thus seating it farther.

This seams to work just fine for me and some of the other guys that shoot 38-55s for Cowboy Rifle Silhouette with me.  They all shoot Winchesters, not Marlins.  I don’t know if the not sizing will work in all cases but if you are having trouble getting everything to work right, you can use my solution. 

You may think that the bullets would be loose when you seat them without sizing the cases but they are not.  This may not be the case with your gun so all you can do is experiment with it.  I doubt that it will work in all situations. 

Sixgun

[Hickok]

I contacted Lyman about get a larger expander button for my dies. They said, "sorry, we can't help you."

Sixgun, you are correct in stating that I can seat .380" cast bullets without sizing the case. I tryed this and the slugs fit nice and tight. with this set-up, I guess we pretty well have a minimum demension "match-type" chamber used by benchrest shooters!

I presently shoot a .379" Leadhead 260 gascheck bullet with 32 gr. of H322 for 1600fps. on my chrongraph. It groups 2inch at 100 yards.

I am going to try some more .380" bullets and do as you say, no case sizing.

Have any of you tried Starline brass in 38-55? I read that it is thinner than Winchester and allows for larger bullets without the tight chambering of the Winchester brass.

[Hickok]

Spent some time working with the 38-55 brass and bullets after Sixguns good advice. I found that by not sizing the case, with a little pressure, I could push the .380" bullet down slighty. So I kept adjusting the sizing die until I got a proper sizing that would not allow the slug to move with finger pressure. I am in effect only partially neck sizing the case. I adjusted the seating-crimp die to put only a slight roll crimp on the bullet, and enough to remove the "flare" needed to seat the bullet.

The loaded round has good bullet tension, not allowing any bullet set back, and chambers well in my 94 Winchester. Thanks Sixgun for the advice.

The dies made for the 38-55, in my opinion, have demensions for .377" bullets and cases more inline with the .375 Winchester cartridge. The chambers, barrel demensions, and cases for the 38-55 are slightly larger than the .375 Winchester. I wish the die makers would wake up and realize this, as well as bullet mould makers!

When I full-lengthed sized my cases with both .379" and .380" cast bullets, I could actually see the grease grooves in the bullets indented in brass case of the loaded round after seating the bullets. The dies are just several thousanths of an inch too tight for the 38-55 with proper bullet diameters for this cartridge.

[Sixgun]

Hickok,

I'm glad that I could help out. 

I am of the same opinion that the die makers just modify a 375 win die for the 38-55s.  At least the moulds and the commercial bullet casting companies have got it right and you can find, or make, .380 bullets.

Sixgun

[AtlLaw]

Hickok, my situation was exactly like yours with the same fix.  Fortunately Steelbanger, who I bought my TC from, prepared me for it with a writeup on how to reload for this circumstance.  The only thing different I have done is to order a 38-55 Factory Crimp Die!     Started loading this way for my 45-120 also.   

[Hickok]

  The only thing different I have done is to order a 38-55 Factory Crimp Die! 

I believe I will also order the factory crimp die. I have used Lee factory crimp dies on my various revolver reloads and it seems to work better when you seat the bullet in one step and then crimp in a separate step.

Thank all of you for the assistance and information!

[Hickok]

I ordered some Starline brass and RCBS Cowboy dies and my problems are solved. Loaded rounds with .380" cast bullets feed smooth and easily. The Cowboy dies come with two expanders, .376" and .379". I used the .379" in my reloading and it sure worked out nice! I would heartily recommend both products to anyone with a 38-55.