38-55 Shorty Range Report!!

[quickdtoo]

Made it to the range today, took the 18" 38-55 Handi, 260 Rem and 6x45 Superlights, the range was too busy, so I didn't set the chrony up, but the good news is the 38-55 loves Boer 220gr JSP with 38.5gr RL7, I shot the first round at 25yds to make sure I was on paper, it was low but fairly good left and right so I raised POI 20 clicks and moved to 100yds and shot the remaining 2 loads into a nice little group. 39gr opened up a little, and 39.5gr opened up to 2½". The bad news is the .380" hard cast didn't shoot worth beans, I couldn't even hit the target until one keyholed!! I also loaded up 3 rounds of 235gr .375" Speers that I had left over from the .375H&H Encore, surprisingly they all hit the target in a 4" "group"...... all keyholed!! Needless to say,  I'll be using the 220gr JSP for deer this year.  Unfortunately Boer Bullets are no longer made, so I need to find another source for jacketed bullets, Custom Bullets lists .378" JSPs, but I haven't got a response from him in the emails I've sent.   NOTE: THIS LOAD IS NOT FOR TRADITIONAL 38-55 RIFLES, IT'S BASED ON 375 WINCHESTER DATA.

The start load of 25.5gr H4895 with 80gr Speers in the 6x45 provided a decent group, although they cratered the Rem 7½ primers, dunno what the velocity was, so I'll shoot that again some day to see what the velocity is.

Shot some more 129gr SSTs in the 260, only using A2520 this time, the 37gr start load was too hot and made for sticky extraction and a 3½" group, so that's still a work in progress also.

Tim

[Dinny]

Tim,
   It's just a matter of time before you find the perfect load for each of those rifles. Look out big game in Washington, Tim's gonna find you!  

Thanks, Dinny

[NFG]

Keyholing...that's not good.
 
Did you slug the barrel and what is the twist?
 
What is the length of the Boer bullet?
 
Is the rifling shallower in the 38-55 than in other calibers.

You might have to go to another brand of hard cast lead with a gas check or a different diameter. Or a different powder...depending on the COAL 3031, AA2230, WW748, 4895, Benchmark will all fit the bill and keep the velocity in the 2100-2300 fs range.

Wasn't there something about problems with the 38-55 and bullet diametes way back?  .378"/.379" sticks in my mind when I read about this particular NEF barrel.

Something is definitely out of whack.

Luck...but hurry...the season is just around the corner.

[lonewolf5348]

tim: like to try a few of mine for the 38-55 sarco mould .380
BHN12 I think i may also have a few at 381.

[quickdtoo]

I ordered a couple hundred .379" 265gr bonded JSPs from Richard's bullet guy, those will work excellent, I think the hard cast just aren't quite big enough to fill the bore, and any thing bigger won't chamber without neck reaming the chamber or possibly neck turning the brass. Since Pete wants to shoot jacketed, we'll just go that way. Bore is .3795", I don't think the 1:18" twist is the problem since my other 38-55 which has a tighter bore shoots .380" 330gr Shey Cast just fine.

Thanks for the offer Rick, but I'd need gas checked bullets to shoot at 375Win velocities. I thought about ordering some Hunter's Supply 260gr .381" flat point bullets and putting gas checks on them, but the chamber neck would still be a problem I think.  http://www.hunters-supply.com/shop/index.php?cPath=24&osCsid=48da472c2b7d16ccdf6eda6ef4d597bc

Tim

[NFG]

Yeah, that twist will handle bullets up to around 1.3" long from about 1200fs on up.

Prime example of a barrel liking some but not all bullets.

I almost sent my BC receiver in for a 38-55 barrel but decided to wait and see when I read some of the posts...then I decided to just go with a .375" barrel and do a stub, but haven't gotten around to that one either.   Maybe some day when I run out of other projects.  Besides I wanted a little bit bigger case, like the 38-72 or even better, the 38-90...   Hahahahaha

Luck

[quickdtoo]

I thought about one of the 38-longersomethings, but the die costs and custom reamers put a halt to that real quick, so decided to just do the short barreled 38-55 so I'd actually use it for hunting!!    

Tim

[OR-E-Gun Bill]

Those key holes you shot yesterday look a lot like birthday candles Tim!

Hope it was a good day for ya. 


Bill

[AtlLaw]

I ordered a couple hundred .379" 265gr bonded JSPs from Richard's bullet guy,

Wow Tim!  You don't waste any time do you!      Me, I gotta think on stuff for a few months... 

The Cup & Core .379 in 265's I got from him were very accurate in my rifle, which as I remember slugged out at .380.  Deadly on that 8 pt. last year also!     The were a bit explosive but I see you opted for the bonded core rather then the thicker jacket.

[Blackhawker]

Tim, Richard.....
Who is Richard's bullet guy?
While I don't hunt deer with either of my 38-55's, I'm always tinkering around with different bullets and loads to try in them.  It's one of my favorite rounds to load and shoot.

[quickdtoo]

Those key holes you shot yesterday look a lot like birthday candles Tim!

Hope it was a good day for ya. 


Bill

Thanks Bill!! 

Tim

[quickdtoo]

I ordered a couple hundred .379" 265gr bonded JSPs from Richard's bullet guy,

Wow Tim!  You don't waste any time do you!      Me, I gotta think on stuff for a few months... 

The Cup & Core .379 in 265's I got from him were very accurate in my rifle, which as I remember slugged out at .380.  Deadly on that 8 pt. last year also!     The were a bit explosive but I see you opted for the bonded core rather then the thicker jacket.

Richard,

Yup, gotta get goin on this project, I only have 20 of the 220gr JSPs which are really too light for the velocity I'm running, and deer season opens in a month and Pete needs to get a load worked in his barrel and sighted in too! Paul found 200 .020" jackets to use so it truly is my lucky day and I really  have thank you for sharing your bullet source!!  The jacket is longer than the .016" you got and will cover the entire bullet up to a .020" meplat, he said he'd start on them today and ship Monday which is awesome!!  Looking at the Lyman 48th 375 Win data, they show H322 under a 255gr JFP at 1940fps from either a 20" or 24" barrel, they don't say which they used, but with the extra case capacity of the Starline long brass, 1800-1900fps should be doable in the 18" barrel which ought to put a hurt on a deer or bear, the 255gr Barnes bullet has a BC of .290, Paul's bullet should have a BC over .300 with the 3S ogive which is the same as your bullet, yours on the left in the pic.

Tim

Trajectory for Custom .379"  Custom 265gr JSP at 1800 Feet per Second
At an Elevation Angle of: 0 degrees
Ballistic Coefficients of: 0.3   0.3   0.3   0.3   0.3
Velocity Boundaries (Feet per Second) of: 1800   1800   1800   1800
Wind Direction is: 0.0 o'clock and a Wind Velocity of: 0.0 Miles per hour
Wind Components are (Miles per Hour): DownRange: 0.0   Cross Range: 0.0   Vertical: 0.0
Altitude: 0 Feet with a Standard Atmospheric Model.
Temperature: 59 F
Data Printed in English Units
Range   Velocity   Energy   Momentum   Drop   Bullet Path   Wind Drift   Time of Flight
(Yards)   (Ft/Sec)   (Ft/Lbs)   (Lb-Sec)   (inches)   (inches)   (inches)   (Seconds)
0   1800.0   1906.2   2.12   0.0   -1.7   0.0   0.000000000
25   1741.1   1783.4   2.05   -0.34   0.55   0.0   0.042366686
50   1683.7   1667.7   1.98   -1.4   2.08   0.0   0.086172986
75   1627.8   1558.9   1.92   -3.23   2.85   0.0   0.131478285
100   1573.6   1456.7   1.85   -5.87   2.8   0.0   0.178342063
125   1521.1   1361.2   1.79   -9.4   1.87   0.0   0.226822547
150   1470.4   1272.1   1.73   -13.86   0.0   0.0   0.276975047
175   1421.8   1189.2   1.67   -19.33   -2.87   0.0   0.328850431
200   1375.1   1112.5   1.62   -25.87   -6.82   0.0   0.382494454
225   1330.7   1041.8   1.57   -33.56   -11.92   0.0   0.437944807
250   1288.6   976.9   1.52   -42.48   -18.24   0.0   0.495228449