ruger 38-55

[bigted]

well just stepped in it. made an offer on a 26 inch barreled ruger #1 in 38-55. it is used but in around 98 percent shape.

i have toyed with the idea of re-barreling my 45-70 ruger to this but am surprised to find a factory made rifle so chambered...didn't know they even made this chambering in the number one.

anybody have any experience with this ruger so chambered?

[August]

I know they made the No. 3 in 375 Winchester (same round dimensionally), but I've never heard of a 38-55 in either No. 3 or No. 1 rifle.

38-55 was/is my waterloo in reloading and shooting antique cartridges. Mastered all the others I tried. But the 38-55 has so many variations, and is so limited in case volume that I found it very frustrating to work with.

I'll take a 45-70 every time over the 38-55. I'll using handloading, clothing, and firearm modification to deal with the recoil. But, the 45-70 can do serious work at black powder velocities.

[Artful]

375 BigBore is close but not the same as 38-55 - You will find either in the strong Ruger #3 action able to do serious work.

[justingrosche]

I know they made the No. 3 in 375 Winchester (same round dimensionally), but I've never heard of a 38-55 in either No. 3 or No. 1 rifle.

38-55 was/is my waterloo in reloading and shooting antique cartridges. Mastered all the others I tried. But the 38-55 has so many variations, and is so limited in case volume that I found it very frustrating to work with.

I'll take a 45-70 every time over the 38-55. I'll using handloading, clothing, and firearm modification to deal with the recoil. But, the 45-70 can do serious work at black powder velocities.

That's rather disappointing to hear. I just bought a winchester 94 frontiersman in 38-55. Hope its a shooter.

[NickSS]

I own four 38-55 rifles and they all shoot very well. I mostly shoot black powder or smokeless at black powder ballistics as I believe in not burning more powder than necessary to get good accuracy. The 38-55 was a noted target rifle cartridge right from the start and also was used in Marlin and Winchester lever actions for hunting deer and bear. I personally have found it to be one of the easiest rounds to develop accurate loads for. The only thing you need to make sure of is to get a bullet fat enough to fill your bore. The nominal bore diameter for the cartridge is .377" but many rifles are larger. I personally size all my bullets to .379" and it works in all my rifles which include a C sharps high wall, H&R Classic target rifle, a Marlin Cowboy and a Winchester 94 dating from 1913.

[6.5 mike]

A big +1 on what Nick said. I just started shooting 38-55 in a new 1875 C Sharps with the lee 250 rnfp as cast (0.379). It shows real promise with just a load picked out of the lyman cast book. Once I get the brass all fireformed I'll try pp'ing.

[katch1]

yep nicks right, the bullet sizing is key, i have an h&r target also and shooting cast bullets@1050fps, the thing is crazy accurate.
the other thing i have heard is that some guns prefer longer brass, and i do see that starline sells 2 different lengths, but is this due to chamber lengths of newer/older rifles?? that one was never explained to me.

[gewehrfreund]

well just stepped in it. made an offer on a 26 inch barreled ruger #1 in 38-55. it is used but in around 98 percent shape.

i have toyed with the idea of re-barreling my 45-70 ruger to this but am surprised to find a factory made rifle so chambered...didn't know they even made this chambering in the number one.

anybody have any experience with this ruger so chambered?

Yes Ruger did make around 275 of these back in the late 1980's for one of their big distributors; it was never a catalog item. As such, it is really something of a Ruger #1 collector's piece.
There is one for sale on Gunbroker right now for $1750 (an optimistic price, especially in this economy), still they are worth quite a bit more than your average #1.
I've had one for 20+ years and used to shoot it a fair bit, but with so many other rifles needing to be shot, I haven't dirtied it's barrel in a long time.
Consider yourself lucky to have stumbled on this one.

[DHB]

With a scope from a rest it is not uncommon for me to get a 3 round clover leaf at 100 yards. Everybody else is right, be sure to fill the bore with boolit. I use either 3031 or 4198. Mid speed load. A #1 in 38-55 is a rare find, I have looked for one reasonable for years and not found it yet.
DHB

[gandydancer]

yep nicks right, the bullet sizing is key, i have an h&r target also and shooting cast bullets@1050fps, the thing is crazy accurate.
the other thing i have heard is that some guns prefer longer brass, and i do see that starline sells 2 different lengths, but is this due to chamber lengths of newer/older rifles?? that one was never explained to me.

the original 38/55 brass was longer then it is today. 38/55 and 30/30 use the same size brass except for length.when the mfg made a run of brass for said two calibers if at start it was 38/55 they would keep the run going for 30/30 and then trim to size for 30/30. if the start was for 30/30 when run was done and they needed a run of 38/55 they would have to do a reset. so they came up with the idea to just run for 30/30 trim all 30/30 length its a little shorter for 38/55 but will work fine and who will know,and some of the older and newer 38/55 would not hold a group worth a damn. check your chamber and brass length if you have a bad shooter. GD

[Old Goat Keeper]

I won't tell you guys to go over to Marlin Owners where they have made a science of getting 38-55s to shoot and shoot well out to 1,000 yards! Fit the boolit to the throat AND the bore. Then try about 10 grains of unique behind a circa 250 grain boolit. Shoots well and will kill anything in N.A. cept the great bears. And it will kill them IF you have a back-up just in case.

T-o-m

[excess650]

I don't have the Ruger but did and do shoot some others. Check the groove diameter and rifling twist.

Good powders for more than BP velocities are Reloader 7, AA2015, and AA2200. With a singleshot you aren't limited to the same OAL as are leveractions.

[bigted]

had to pass on it...got to spendy for what it is. ill prolly regret it later but what the heck...it can enjoy the company of all my other regrets i recon...lol

[excess650]

You can always buy another #1 and have it rebarreled if you want a 38-55.

[wgr]

my h& r takes a bullet sized to 380/381. shoots great

[32/20Colt]

Interesting that no one mentioned that some of the older guns like the heavier bullet due to the rate of twist. This is a great round and fun to shoot.