Star lube Sizer vs. Magma Lube sizer

[JakeOz]

Below is a message I sent to the company mentioned above about a concern I have with 38-55 Winchesters. This problem may become even more personal as I am about to purchase (possibly an original)38-55 to use here in Australia.

As I sent this over a week ago and have not had a reply, I thought I would repeat it here for your thoughts.

"I have a problem here in Australia where a number of 38-55 Winchesters are not chambering reloads correctly.

The projectiles that are being cast are being sized to .378 as per Cartridges of the World specs for this calibre and the dies supplied are only neck expanding to .375 (it would seem that they are fitting 375 Winchester barrels and reaming out the chamber to suit the 38-55 case). This may be for economics, I don't rightly know, but it is causing some concern. We had a shoot just recently and one gent spoke to a dozen people and they ALL complained about trying to chamber a round that last 1/8 th to 1/4 inch being hard.

I have thought about the problem and discussed it with my business partner and have come to the conclusion that there are 2 possible remedies.

1. Have a new neck expander made to go out to .377 or .378 which will allow projectiles to seat a little better as there is less chance it will seat offset and cause bulges. This would be expensive as there are numerous brands of dies around and to make one for each brand would be a pain.

2. Have a sizing die made that would size these cast projectiles down to .375 or .376. The mold is a Magma mold and throws at approx .380, so bringing it down may not be that much of an issue.

This now brings me to my questions.

Discounting option 1 as being expensive and time consuming and seeing as factory 38-55 ammo is using a .375 diameter projectile, how much would it cost to have a .375 sizing die suitable for the Magma Lube/sizer (Star die) made and shipped to us here in Australia, what would be the lead time and what method of payment would be required ?.

Eagerly awaiting your reply.

Kindest regards "

I would be most interested in your experiences in the case.

Thanks
Jake

[dmftoy1]

I don't see why it would be any more than a $35 die from magma with whatever shipping is to Austrialia . . am I missing something?

I've got dies from Magma from .309 - .501 so I don't know why they couldn't make up the .375 you want. FWIW.

Have a good one,
Dave

[Jon K]

JakeOz,

Magma makes a .375 sizing die - check this out:
http://cgi.ebay.com/BRAND-NEW-STAR-s...QQcmdZViewItem

Although is this what you really want to do? Have you slugged the barrel? what size is the grove diameter?
I assume you areusing a Winchester 1894 38-55. If so the barrel should be .378-.379 on the chamber end. Where you are having trouble chambering, may be due to the brass, not the boolit diameter. What is the length of your brass 2.130 or 2.080? 2.130 is the original length, and 2.080 is current production Winchester. I have a Winchester 38-55 made in 1980 which has the chamber cut for the current production 2.080, like yours does not want to chamber the long brass. I also have the magma mould you mention, and I size it to .379 for the Lever, size to .380 for H&R and Uberti High Wall. The High Wall uses 2.130 brass.

Check your gun and make sure you size the boolit to the barrel size, and use the right length brass. Making the boolit .375 for a .379 barrel would be a mistake.

Jon

[omgb]

Jon is 100% correct. Factory jacket bullets are .375 but jacketed bullets are not all that particular about bore to bullet fit. Cast is a whole 'nuther ball game as we say in the states. If your barrel slugs at .377 or .378 then you have to go .001-.002 over bore for accurate rounds.

The larger lead bullets will fit in the tighter neck but for all to work out you must do the following:

1. anneal the case necks. Hold the case in the middle and rotate the neck in the flame of an ordinary house candle until the case is too hot to touch. Quench quickly in cold water. This will soften the necks and make bullet seating easier. Trust me, the candle will do the job.

2. Chamfer all of the case mouths.

3. Get a Lee universal neck expander die and set it to just slightly open the case mouth so that bullets can be started by finger presure.

4. For best finishing, I use a Lee factory crimp die. It really irons out any slight bulges and helps set the neck tension perfectly.

As mentioned before, be sure you have the modern length cases and not the older longer one.

I know they have loads of 30-30s in OZ, suitable 38-55 cases can be made by loading a small 10 grain charge of a unique and some tissue wadding into a 30-30 case. fire this and you get a pretty good 38-55 case.

[JakeOz]

I have just picked up a 38-55 1894 Win today that exhibits the same problem ie the last bit is awkward, but I only found out about 15 minutes ago that there are 2 lengths of cases.

The one I got is about 1916 vintage and the others mentioned are Oliver F's I believe.

The gent I spoke to originally slugged his barrel and it comes out at approx .373", but may very well be using the long brass. It is also a concern about the crimp.
I chambered a round today (I don't have any brass or dies yet, so had to borrow a round) and noticed that there was a bulge at the crimp point. There was also a nice shiny ring on the round when it was ejected to indicate a slightly larger than should be case mouth at the crimp.

I am unable to verify any of his rounds as I was not taking notice of what was happening at this particular shoot and only discussed it over the 'phone a couple of days later. My biggest problem is one of distance. He is approx 4-5 hrs away, so I may have to get him to see if he can check his chamber length and maybe adjust case lengths accordingly.

I knew I came to the right place to get info.

I will investigate a little further.

Thanks thus far.

Regards