Loading cast bullets for .38-55

[marvelshooter]

People,
New member here with first post. Nice site you have here. Lots of good deals in the swappin and sellin section. I am primarily a Bullseye shooter and I do cast my own .45 bullets. I have an old Winchester .38-55 that I inherited from my Dad. I finally got around to loading up a cast bullet for it to shoot it for the first time in at least 50 years. I bought some 250gr flat nosed bullets that were sized .378 and loaded them over 10gr of Unique. Now I am not expecting a lot from a 110 plus year old gun but half of my shots key holed at 25 yards. So I thought I'd ask the forum what I might try. I have not scoped the bore but it does not look too bad with bright light. Thanks for any help.
Dan

[Nobade]

First thing I would do is slug the bore and figure out what the groove diameter is. It's not uncommon for 38-55s to be up to .382" Loaded with putty soft bullets and black powder it works fine, but hard bullets and smokeless demand you have bullets big enough to fill the grooves. Unfortunately sometimes a cartridge loaded with a bullet big enough won't chamber. But measure things and see, it'll steer you in the right direction.

[garandsrus]

Marvel shooter,

A couple .001's will make a big difference in getting rid of the keyholes.

John

[Old Goat Keeper]

Get you over to Marlin Owners Forum. They have it down to a science getting them 38-55s shooting well (up to 1,000 yards now). Oh and that includes new rifles and ones over 100 years old with original barrels.

T-o-m

[NickSS]

Your bullet is too small in diameter. I had the same problem with an almost 100 year old Winchester 1894 I own. It shoots bullets of .379 pretty good but when I got some that went .381 it really started shooting well.

[marvelshooter]

Your bullet is too small in diameter. I had the same problem with an almost 100 year old Winchester 1894 I own. It shoots bullets of .379 pretty good but when I got some that went .381 it really started shooting well.

It seems to be the consensus that I need a larger bullet. I am waiting on a reply from a very generous member who offered me a few that measure .380 to try. Assuming they work how do I go about getting (casting) my own? The only mold I see for .38-55 is a Lee that advertises .379 diameter.
Thanks again to everyone who responded.
Dan

[Jon K]

Get you over to Marlin Owners Forum. They have it down to a science getting them 38-55s shooting well (up to 1,000 yards now). Oh and that includes new rifles and ones over 100 years old with original barrels.

T-o-m

You're in the right place.....There's more practical knowledge here, and sometimes lots of hear-say at Marlin Owners, along with a lot of "shoot J-bullets" over there.

Ditto slug the bore, and fit the boolit to the gun.

Jon

[45-70 Chevroner]

I have the lee 250 gr. mold and it throughs a .381 bullet with wheel weights and a little tin. The lee molds are not always what is advertised when it comes to measured size. That also depends on you alloy. I shoot a marlin cowboy rifle and the bore is .380 so my mold works just fine for my rifle.

[cwskirmisher]

I have the lee 250 gr. mold and it throughs a .381 bullet with wheel weights and a little tin. The lee molds are not always what is advertised when it comes to measured size. That also depends on you alloy. I shoot a marlin cowboy rifle and the bore is .380 so my mold works just fine for my rifle.

I have tried the Lee boolit, and in long Starline brass, crimped at the crimp groove, the OAL was too long to function thru the action of an original Win94. It would chamber fine if single loaded, but would jam in the action if tried from the mag tube. Standard (short) brass worked. So, it's not the chamber that's the problem in my gun, it's the OAL -the nose ogive would contact the top of the chamber before the rim was ready to align and slide up causing it to lock up. Now if I loaded it with the crimp higher on the ogive I could get it to work, but with smokeless loads I was not confident that the recoil would not set back bullets in the tube.

[largom]

I have tried the Lee boolit, and in long Starline brass, crimped at the crimp groove, the OAL was too long to function thru the action of an original Win94. It would chamber fine if single loaded, but would jam in the action if tried from the mag tube. Standard (short) brass worked. So, it's not the chamber that's the problem in my gun, it's the OAL -the nose ogive would contact the top of the chamber before the rim was ready to align and slide up causing it to lock up. Now if I loaded it with the crimp higher on the ogive I could get it to work, but with smokeless loads I was not confident that the recoil would not set back bullets in the tube.

Just trim your brass to so that the crimp and OAL function in your gun.

Larry

[cwskirmisher]

Just trim your brass to so that the crimp and OAL function in your gun.

Larry

The chamber is long enough to fit the long brass - and the gun functions fine with it when coupled with the Lyman 375248. Just the Lee doesn't work with the long brass. It works with the standard (short) brass.

[Old Goat Keeper]

You're in the right place.....There's more practical knowledge here, and sometimes lots of hear-say at Marlin Owners, along with a lot of "shoot J-bullets" over there.

Ditto slug the bore, and fit the boolit to the gun.

Jon

I have to respectfully disagree Jon! BOTH places have their merits. Hear-say??? Well I have heard some here, there and on other forums. BUT there is a group of guys over there who specialize in shooting 38-55s and at ranges up to 1,000 yards! Oh and they use both new and old original rifles to do it.

Just trying to give the OP more options!

T-o-m

[Carolina Cast Bullets]

If you want to get a great Lee Aluminum mold, 6 cavity, simply go to the top of the page and click on

Ranch Dog Outdoors

He stocks a great bullet for 38-55 that goes about 235 grains, gaschecked. Usually
it is sized to.379" for most rifles of that caliber. This avoids somewhat the problem
of using bullets too large to chamber.

If you want to try some before buying the mold, contact me at my website

www.carolinacastbullets.com

I have that bullet in my inventory and can supply you with a quantity for trial.


Jerry
Carolina Cast Bullets

[marvelshooter]

I just received a package from a member who offered to send me a few .380 diameter boolits to try and I have to say I am very surprised at what I got. 50 .380 boolits with gas checks, 30 .379 boolits also with gas checks and 20 .378 pure lead, 5 with gas checks. All neatly lined up in trays and vacuum sealed. The member made this offer privately so I won't identify him here but I gotta say you guys are the best. All he asked was that I do a pay it forward. Dan

[Buckshot]

................About the only readily available moulds for the 38-55 (the real 38-55's are NOT 375's ) are the 3 moulds available from Saeco as #638, #738, and #571. In that order they're 225gr, 255gr and 300gr. All three are FNPB and tapered designs. All three measure .382" on the wide base band using a 2 lead/1ww alloy. I have all three moulds and my favorite plinker load in my 1893 Marlin is the 225gr Saeco over 16.0grs of 2400.

I also have the Lee 250gr design, and it too is a fine slug so long as you don't need something a bit fatter. My copy drops a slug just over .380" but doesn't quite make .381" I really need in my Marlin. The Saeco's fit the bill for it.



This is a photo of the Lee at the OAL I use when loading for my Hi-Wall. The slug on the right has been chambered and removed to show the engraving. Have fun with your 38-55. I think it is a very appealing and well porportioned cartridge. Looks like a baby 45-90

................Buckshot

[Chill Wills]

Old West Bullet Moulds has the correct bullet for the old 38-55 winchesters 1894'S
Bernie runs a one man mould shop and is a big time cast bullet shooter and runs the Lever silhouette matches in western Colorado. His moulds are both very good and priced right.
I don't have his contact info just now but look him up on google and give him a call.
Chill

[coyotebait]

Marvelshooter, some rifles chambered for 38-55 have a tight chamber neck in relation to the barrel groove dia. In other words a boolit fat enough for the groove dia. maynot be able to chamber. I have two Winchesters so chambered.
coyotebait

[9.3X62AL]

Marvelshooter, some rifles chambered for 38-55 have a tight chamber neck in relation to the barrel groove dia. In other words a boolit fat enough for the groove dia. maynot be able to chamber. I have two Winchesters so chambered.
coyotebait

I have ZERO time-in-grade with the 38-55, but have read in several threads about this tendency that Coyotebait speaks of. To resolve that issue, would neck turning or neck reaming be an option? I had to resort to that option with my ChiCom Tokarev pistol (7.62 x 25) and one make of brass I reformed for it. All good after that.

[marvelshooter]

I have ZERO time-in-grade with the 38-55, but have read in several threads about this tendency that Coyotebait speaks of. To resolve that issue, would neck turning or neck reaming be an option? I had to resort to that option with my ChiCom Tokarev pistol (7.62 x 25) and one make of brass I reformed for it. All good after that.

Now we are talking about brass and that I something I have been thinking about since I received my sample boolits. My meager supply of .38-55 brass consists of a large hand full of REM-UMC and Peters that somebody picked up off the ground and I traded some .45 brass for. It doesn't even all have the same primer size. It is all 2.125 long. I mention the length because Starline shows two sizes. 2.080 and 2.125 long and claims it has a thinner neck than Winchester to help in just the situation you are describing. Guess I have some more homework to do. Comments?
Dan

[garandsrus]

Dan,

If the brass loaded with a sample boolet will chamber, then you are all set to try again. Since you shot some other boolets, the longer brass length should be fine. You may need to adjust the OAL so that the larger slugs wil chamber.

The H&R Target rifle had this problem with quite a few rifles.

John