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--Finally decided to take the 38-55 leap for a new hunting rifle. Just bought a Win. 94AE That I want to have JES convert but I am not sure how many grooves I should ask for. I've read a lot of posts, but they usually speak of smaller bores, especially 6mm. Any of you have a Like/Dislike for this round? Many posts say it does not matter only that fewer are easier to clean. So do any of you have any of you have any knowledge on this that you would like to share?
For strictly cast bullet use I would go with 6 or 6 grooves with the lands and grooves of equal width. I also would want the grooves to be .005 deep and certainly not less than .004 deep.
JES will give you options. I just told him to do what he thought best. If he can do what Larry suggests, I'd go for it. I got three grooves and it's been wonderful so far.
i have a win m94 in 35/30-30 that JES has 3 grooves. i shoot 200gr rcbs fn gc and 2400/tuft of dacron thru it. i believe it 3 or 4 deer to it (i can't how many deer i killed with the 30-30). it is an awesome rifle!!!
sighting it in at 100 yards
https://i.imgur.com/nBFtFB6.jpg
I had Jess do the Winchester traditional 5 groove, never mentioned how deep the grooves were and its a tact driver!
Just got back a Uberti 1885 that JES re-bored for me and he suggested 3 grove and it performs better that I do.
Most of the Winchester rifles I work on have 6 grooves. The first model 1873 has 5 and there are a few 30 cal. and 7X57 model 70s that have 4. I personally don't think it matters much, the old Springfield 03 had 2, 4 or 6 grooves and would shoot cast just fine if the rifling was still in good shape. I did have a liner made in 22LR with three groove and I was not too happy with it. May get it out and try it some more. I made a hex bore for muzzle loading but have not tried it yet, just having some fun with the rifling machine and some old smooth bore barrels I got from Dixie over 40 years back.
I had JES rebore a model 64 from 30/30 to 35-30/30 with 3 groove rifling and it shoots great.
Attachment 301902
stubshaft; What bullet mold are you using & @ what velocity?
This is a Lee 379250F pc'd, fired lengthwise through a half gallon milk jug full of ice into the dry clay backstop.
Jes 3 groove 38-55 Winchester 94
I'm pretty sure that I will have to lower the front sight dovetail on my 94 to make up for the trajectory difference from the 30-30 cartridge. I don't like the aperture "up in the air" for a 100yd zero.https://uploads.tapatalk-cdn.com/202...c00f403e80.jpg
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I paper patch for mine, so cleaning few or many grooves isn't a consideration. For shooting cast, though, and the possibility of using soft lead, the more "wrenching feature" you can impart to the boolit the less rotational load there is on each engraved groove, hence, the more grooves, the better. I'm with with Larry Gibson on depth .