38-55 Winchester

[streak]

How many of you shoot the 38-55 Winchester for BPCR tournaments or hunting?
Would like to know type of rifle and loads if possible.
 
 

[Larry L]

I've got the 38-55 in both the full rifle and carbine Winchesters- all original. They both shoot the Beartooth 255gr lead bullet with gas check in .377 dia. pretty tight. I use a near max load of RE7.

[Nobade]

I have a Marlin 336 that JES rebored from 30-30 to 38-55, and have been playing with it some recently in the cowboy big bore silhouette matches. I haven't shot it too much yet but so far it really works well. When it's not too hot out I'll shoot it with black powder, KIK FFg 40.0gr. with a card wad on top and the Lee 250gr. bullet cast from air cooled wheelweights, sized .377, and lubed with Bullshop's NASA lube. But recently it's been too hot to shoot long strings of black powder ammo, so I made up a BP duplicate with 18gr. IMR 4198, a tuft of pillow stuffing, and the same Lee bullet sized to .372" and paper patched back up to .378".

Both these loads run right at 1250 fps, track to the sights I have on the rifle, and will shoot into coffee cup sized groups at 200M from the bench using the barrel sights. I really like the 38-55 for silhouette, very accurate, very little recoil, and not everybody has one. It's pretty entertaining shooting the rams with it, if I don't see dust fly I know it's a hit. But things don't happen very fast, you have to wait for it and eventually the ram falls over. The sound of the hit gets back to me before I see anything happen.  It's never rung one but they sure don't go flying like being hit by a 45-70.

I haven't shot it with full pressure smokeless loads (I have a 375 Taylor for that) but have no doubt that paper patched bullet, cast from straight lead, over a case full of RE7 would put the stomp on anything I wanted to kill. 

[streak]

Nobade,
 I see that you mentioned that you used KIK blackpowder for your 38-55 loads! Another member on this site speaks very highly of it.
What is your take on it`s performance?
 I would like to get a rolling block in the 38-55 configuration.

[Nobade]

I would say the new batch that came ashore last year is every bit as good as Swiss at less than half the price. I can shoot a whole 40 round match and never have to wipe, just blow down the bore before each string. I could previously only do the with Swiss, never with Goex or any other. Velocities are right on up there with Swiss as is accuracy. One thing is it is pretty dusty. If you sock it you can remove a lot of the dust, but I don't bother since it shoots so well as is.

The older stuff was OK but not up to the quality of the newer batch. About all I could say about it is it was cheap and pretty powerful, but fouled even worse than Goex. The new batch is in plastic bottles, the older in metal cans. Not sure when they made the switch or if that is any kind of reliable indicator or not.

A roller in 38-55 would be great! I have one in 35X30-30, similar but uses a bit lighter bullet. Building your own 38-55 lets you use a normally dimensioned barrel and makes it a whole lot easier to get it to shoot well. Trying to get a .382" or so barrel shoot when you can't chamber ammo with bullets bigger than .378" or so can sometimes be tough.

If you haven't heard about JES rebores, check him out.
www.35caliber.com
I have been really pleased with his work and $225 complete for a rebore and rechamber job is hard to beat. He cuts them to .376" and the chamber easily accepts a .378" bullet so it's easy.  Even doing my own work a barrel blank costs more than that and I'd still have to do everything so I was very glad to pick up this new rifle that he had already worked over.

[streak]

I would say the new batch that came ashore last year is every bit as good as Swiss at less than half the price. I can shoot a whole 40 round match and never have to wipe, just blow down the bore before each string. I could previously only do the with Swiss, never with Goex or any other. Velocities are right on up there with Swiss as is accuracy. One thing is it is pretty dusty. If you sock it you can remove a lot of the dust, but I don't bother since it shoots so well as is.

The older stuff was OK but not up to the quality of the newer batch. About all I could say about it is it was cheap and pretty powerful, but fouled even worse than Goex. The new batch is in plastic bottles, the older in metal cans. Not sure when they made the switch or if that is any kind of reliable indicator or not.

A roller in 38-55 would be great! I have one in 35X30-30, similar but uses a bit lighter bullet. Building your own 38-55 lets you use a normally dimensioned barrel and makes it a whole lot easier to get it to shoot well. Trying to get a .382" or so barrel shoot when you can't chamber ammo with bullets bigger than .378" or so can sometimes be tough.

If you haven't heard about JES rebores, check him out.
www.35caliber.com
I have been really pleased with his work and $225 complete for a rebore and rechamber job is hard to beat. He cuts them to .376" and the chamber easily accepts a .378" bullet so it's easy.  Even doing my own work a barrel blank costs more than that and I'd still have to do everything so I was very glad to pick up this new rifle that he had already worked over.

Thanks for the info!
Sounds like the way to go!!

[John Boy]

Would like to know type of rifle and loads if possible.

Streak:  38-55 in a Uberti HiWall and H&R Target Model.  Loading data:
* Starline 2.125" brass
* CCI BR2 Primer
* 42gr KIK FFg
* 1/8" Dry Felt Wad
* Ideal 375166, 320gr, 1:20 alloy bullet
* Lube - Homemade
* Seated out - just touching the leading bore cut

 

[streak]

Would like to know type of rifle and loads if possible.

Streak:  38-55 in a Uberti HiWall and H&R Target Model.  Loading data:
* Starline 2.125" brass
* CCI BR2 Primer
* 42gr KIK FFg
* 1/8" Dry Felt Wad
* Ideal 375166, 320gr, 1:20 alloy bullet
* Lube - Homemade
* Seated out - just touching the leading bore cut

Thanks for the info John Boy!
I see we have another user of KIK blackpowder. How is your accuracy at 100 yds with this load in your Uberti? The Uberti is originally made by Pedersoli and then reworked by Uberti, correct?

[longcaribiner]

I have a really nice Hi wall in 38-55, except the bore, which was very sadly neglected beyond hope.  I am faced with either a liner or rebore to something larger, or rebarrel., which I am loath to do with the nice exterior.

[John Boy]

Streak - I did a range test last year: 50 rounds - chronograph - accuracy from 500 meters to 200 meters and fouling control.  Here's the write up ... http://www.schuetzenpowder.com/forum/index.php?topic=107.0

I believe Pedersoli makes the 38-55 barrels for Uberti

[hillbill]

I would say the new batch that came ashore last year is every bit as good as Swiss at less than half the price. I can shoot a whole 40 round match and never have to wipe, just blow down the bore before each string. I could previously only do the with Swiss, never with Goex or any other. Velocities are right on up there with Swiss as is accuracy. One thing is it is pretty dusty. If you sock it you can remove a lot of the dust, but I don't bother since it shoots so well as is.

The older stuff was OK but not up to the quality of the newer batch. About all I could say about it is it was cheap and pretty powerful, but fouled even worse than Goex. The new batch is in plastic bottles, the older in metal cans. Not sure when they made the switch or if that is any kind of reliable indicator or not.

A roller in 38-55 would be great! I have one in 35X30-30, similar but uses a bit lighter bullet. Building your own 38-55 lets you use a normally dimensioned barrel and makes it a whole lot easier to get it to shoot well. Trying to get a .382" or so barrel shoot when you can't chamber ammo with bullets bigger than .378" or so can sometimes be tough.

If you haven't heard about JES rebores, check him out.
www.35caliber.com
I have been really pleased with his work and $225 complete for a rebore and rechamber job is hard to beat. He cuts them to .376" and the chamber easily accepts a .378" bullet so it's easy.  Even doing my own work a barrel blank costs more than that and I'd still have to do everything so I was very glad to pick up this new rifle that he had already worked over.

glad to hear your results with kik powder. a friend of mine just picked me up 25lbs from powder inc in clarksville mo.i took 15 lbs and my dad took 10 lbs.it was 12$ a pound.that is unreal cheap to me.add the fact that you cant even buy bp anywhere near here that i know of right now.