Questions about remington rolling block 38-55

[nlpro]

I hope this is the correct forum section for this if it is not sorry .I just bought a Remington rolling block that has had a barrel liner installed to make it 38-55 while it sits out the waiting period in the gunshop ( gun shop owner does not care that it is an antique its getting the same waiting period and everything else lol ) .I starting looking at reloading for 38-55 and with the different brass lengths and bullet diameters i have no idea what i should be ordering to get up and running with it .

So i am looking for advise on brass and what bullet sizer die and molds i should be looking at or if i need to wait on the sizer and mold until i can slug the barrel ?
I was planning on using 5744 powder sense i have a lot of that around for my 30-06 loading is that a good choice for starter powder?

sorry for the noob questions and thanks i cant wait to shoot it

[Marvin S]

I would wait till you can get dimentions from the rifle. The 5744 would be a good powder. I would get the starline brass.

[bbqncigars]

I would get the long Starline brass. Chances are that your liner is .375 groove diameter, but .380 is the other option available. Definitely slug it to see which one you've got.


Wayne

[NickSS]

As you know 38-55 brass comes in two lengths. You should buy the brass that fits your chamber as newer guns may be chambered for the shorter brass. Also before you buy molds and sizers you need to know the groove diameter so slug the barrel before deciding. I have used both lengths of brass in my rifles that will take the longer brass and notice little difference in accuracy. I generally load a .379 sized bullet in all my rifles as they shoot accurately in all. Most of my rounds are loaded with either black powder or AA 5744. One of the most accurate loads I have tried and it works about the same in all 4 of my 38-55 rifles is 18 gr of 5744 and a 250 gr pb bullet. this load consistently will shoot 3 inch 10 shot groups at 200 yards.