Browning 1885 Traditional Hunter 38/55 loads - tight fit!

[Marty]

Howdy,
Picked up a Traditional Hunter in 38/55 recently after a long search.  :grin: Picked up some brass and a few spare loads from a friend of mine. (I trust his loading) He was loading for a Marlin 336CB. When I tried to load them, they wouldn't chamber fully! :? So I tried a factory cartridge, and it dropped right in. The reloads were lead FN 250gr bullets. I pulled one, resized the casing, re-assembled and tried it; still a no go. I miked the bullet and several others. They sized out to .379-.380 . I am thinking that .376-.378 would be better. I noticed that the bullets make a very slight bulge on part of the case after seating. Hence, the thinking they are a bit large. Any comments? Thanks

Marty

[smk]

Your thinking is right. My Marlin 38-55 CB and everyone other one I have seen or heard about has a large bore diameter .379-.380 or so. Someone who casts for these rifles usually slugs their barrel and finds they need to go with .379-.380 bullets and that's what they use. I had a hard time getting .379's to fit in my Marlin's chamber even though the bore is .380, but anything .378 and under fit. You might want to slug your barrel to find what diameter you want to use or just use some smaller ones that chamber and see if you get accuracy you are happy with without getting any leading which can happen if you go too small.

[Marty]

Thanks smk, for your comments. I think I will get a smaller sizer, and a RCBS mould as well w. the smaller dia. bullet. May try slugging first.


Marty

[Old No7]

Hi guys:

My Dad and I bought consecutive serial-numbered .38-55's Model 1885's (made in Japan  :?  ) rollmarked "Winchester" from that special run done by Davidson's I believe.

Anyway, I had the same problem with my first loads not chambering all the way.  Bummer...     We are using Lee Pacesetter dies and .379" lead RNFP bullets from a maker here in Maine.

My Dad told me his trick on how to solve the problem, as he does this on his Ballard's and original High Wall's too, but it requires an extra step in the loading process.  After seating the bullet, I removed the decapping stem from the full-length sizing die and I resized only 1/8" to 3/16" of the case again.  You can see a faint "smudge" (for lack of a better term) or brightening on parts of the "case neck" (yea, I know, there's really no neck) where the sizing occurred.  Once that is done, they chamber easy.

After doing that for awhile, I called Lee and ordered an extra .38-55 sizing die body only (sold as a "spare part") so now I don't need to strip down the full-length die to size the loaded rounds.  It just takes a little push on the press handle and voila, I'm ready to shoot 'em.  I use the Lee factory crimp dies on my .222 Rem and 6.5x55mm Swede loads, so this extra step is kinda like that finishing step, in my opinion.

FYI, I have also tested IMR-SR4759 versus AA-xmp5744 and the former burns MUCH cleaner.  The 5744 leaves kernels of powder in the bore and a few drop into the hammer causing a "potentially dangerous condition" (meaning you may need to change your shorts!   :shock:  )  My best load to date is 18.5 gr SR4759 -- which has only been proven safe *in my rifle*.  Check the loading manuals before you take my word on it.

Anyway, the High Wall is a very nice rifle, fun to shoot at the steel silhouette targets at the local club, easy to load for, and it's great when Dad and I get them side-by-side on the firing line together.  Heck, he's almost as old as my Swede Mauser Carbine (1913) -- but he loves to shoot his single shots!  Hope we can do this for a few more years!   :wink:

Tight groups all!

Old No7

[Old No7]

Hi all.

If you will indulge me a little more about my Dad who loves SINGLE SHOTS --which then puts this back "on topic"...............

My avatar is the nose art of "Ridge Runner II".  A red-nosed P51-D Mustang flown by Maj. Pierce McKennon of the 335th Fighter Squadron, from the 4th Fighter Group (the "Eagle Squadrons"), of the mighty 8th Air Force.  The "Debden Eagles" were based in Debden, England back in WWII and started as an RAF base.  In fact my Dad worked for the Brits on Spitfires when he first arrived there.

Dad was a "ground pounder" and served as Crew Chief for all of "A" Flight, which included WD-A thru I.  After the Spits, they got the massive P47's Thunderbolts and then the P51-B's, followed by the much-improved D models.  In fact, the first Mustangs to escort bombers over Berlin -- when Goering said he knew "the jig was up" -- were the Debden Eagles.  There's some great history about the 4th in the books "1000 Destroyed" or "Escort to Berlin".  My Dad's photo is in both, but as a ground guy, you gotta know where to look for him.  Pilots get captions, as they rightly should.  Many...  didn't even get decent graves...

Sigh...  Anyway, thanks for letting me hijack this thread...  But Dad says he'll fight tyranny with his SINGLE SHOTS if/when it hits close to home again.  So there, we're back on topic.

"Bless 'Em All" and Support Our Troops ! ! !

Old No7

[Marty]

Hi No.7
That's interesting.    I'll have to try that. Just ordered the dies/mould for the 38/55, so will try after all arrives. I see you're just 'down the coast' from me. Do  you shoot w. a club that organizes silhouette shoots? One of our club members goes to CB silhouette in your state ea year.

A few years ago my dad and I did a similar thing; we both bought 1885 Low Wall Winchesters in .22LR. My Dad is in his 80's but still shoots.

Talk with you later.  :-)

Marty

[Old No7]

Hi Marty:

That's cool about the matching Low Wall's for your Dad and you.  Sounds great!

Yes, the Club here on the Midcoast of Maine is the last IHMSA Silhouette (handguns at steel critters) club operating in Maine.  We used to have 35+ shooters at every match, nowadays we're lucky to have 12+.  I used to be the secretary and I knew we had a guy from your area come down to the States every summer to shoot the steel animals.  I'll bet we're the club he visited.  His best friend at the Club passed away a year or so ago, so maybe he no longer visits?

Anyway, I loaded up 40 rounds of 38-55 tonight, using a 245 grain RNFP lead bullet from NorthEast Bullets of Maine.  They're great bullets, maybe you can find them up in "the County" or "Down East".  I used my best load of 18.5 grains of SR4759 and will shoot with my Dad this Saturday -- can't wait!  He'll bring his High Wall and maybe a Ballard too.

I test-chambered 5 loads from each lot of 20, and they fully chamber by gravity only (lower barrel), and then when I raise the barrel, they slowly slide out on their own.  So that trick I told you about sizing the "neck" (actually, I think it's the crimp area that caused them to hang up before the extra sizing step) works like a charm.  I used to check 100% of the loaded rounds, but after doing this for awhile, I only check 25%, just a random sample.

Good luck with your 38-55 -- let us know how it shoots!

Old No7