I am considering buying the above mentioned Rifle. Will be for cast bullets only. Anybody care to comment, pros or cons, I would like to here what you have to say
I am considering buying the above mentioned Rifle. Will be for cast bullets only. Anybody care to comment, pros or cons, I would like to here what you have to say
Just got a recall notice from Lyman , about breech plugs ,but on thier muzzle loading rifles I dont have one so deleted to message . pretty sure it relates to thier muzzle loaders only between certain dates and serial numbers .
Pay to check just the same.
I have the little sharps in 30-30 and love it! I like a 170 gr cast boolit at around 1850 fps. Accurate fun rifle!
I think that Lyman Little Sharps in 38-55 would be a hoot with cast boolits. Been looking at those myself!
After talking with a friend who has one I was told that they have a true 38 bore like the original 38-55's rather than the common .375 bore. I know when they first hit the market they developed a reputation for poor accuracy, as his did, until folks started using the right diameter bullets. After getting the right mold for the bore his is now a tack driver.
Statistics show that criminals commit fewer crimes after they have been shot
What cast bullet is he using and what size is he sizing to. That Info would be great Thanks
.380 to .382
I use an old LBT mold
382-275-LFN
http://www.lbtmolds.com/
NRA Benefactor 2004 USAF RET 1971-95
It's good to hear about the groove and bullet diameter, thanks for posting that. I have walked away from a couple because of their reputation for inaccuracy....which didn't seem quite right given what I thought was a fairly decent looking rifle. Not knowing, it seemed discretion was the better part of valor. Might not be so hesitant next opportunity.
"In general, the art of government is to take as much money as possible from one class of citizens and give it to another class of citizens" Voltaire'
The common virtue of capitalism is the sharing of equal opportunity. The common vice of socialism is the equal sharing of misery
NRA Benefactor 2008
The thing is that's the CORRECT bore for that caliber, the 38-55, rather than being an oversized bore. Seems most of the modern barrel manufacturers want to use the incorrect .375 bore, I suppose because that's what they are already set up for but the 38-55 ain't no 375 Winchester folks no matter how close it looks like one! About two years ago I set out to build a 38-55 in a classic HighWall and found that the correct barrels are about as scarce as the proverbial hen's teeth, my favorite brand Green Mountain clearly lists a barrel as being a 38-55 but then shows it to be a .375 bore. When I sent them an Email inquiring about a true 38-55 I got the usual "it will work fine for that caliber with the proper size bullets" and I suppose that's correct and I suppose I'm also being too picky but if I wanted a .375 that's what I would do, just make it a 375 Winchester, call it that and load down to what I want but darn it I wanted a REAL 38-55 and a 38-55 is not a .375!
The odd thing is the correct bore barrel LINERS are easy to find but not the barrel itself???
Statistics show that criminals commit fewer crimes after they have been shot
I understand completely oldred. Ran into the same difficulty when I wanted to re-line and re-chamber my Jeffrey Rook rifle back to the original 255 Jeffrey. .251 liners aren't to be had and I would have had to have 255 Jeffrey reamer and gauges ground. So....the bank account determining the process, (and the amount of money to put into a rifle), it ended up a 25-20 WCF with a .257 liner and I load down to 255 Jeffrey levels. There was some conversation between my gunsmith and I about not running the 25-20 reamer in its full length, stopping at the Jeffrey cartridge length, but then the question became whether or not loading dies would work without grinding off some length. I woosed out and took the easy, most affordable path.
"In general, the art of government is to take as much money as possible from one class of citizens and give it to another class of citizens" Voltaire'
The common virtue of capitalism is the sharing of equal opportunity. The common vice of socialism is the equal sharing of misery
NRA Benefactor 2008
I owned two and my 38-55 was a decent shooter but the finish on both of my samples were quick to develop rust spots. I wiped them with a gun oil rag much more often than my other rifles. In the end looking after them was more trouble than they were worth to me so I traded them off. YMMV.
BP | Bronze Point | IMR | Improved Military Rifle | PTD | Pointed |
BR | Bench Rest | M | Magnum | RN | Round Nose |
BT | Boat Tail | PL | Power-Lokt | SP | Soft Point |
C | Compressed Charge | PR | Primer | SPCL | Soft Point "Core-Lokt" |
HP | Hollow Point | PSPCL | Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" | C.O.L. | Cartridge Overall Length |
PSP | Pointed Soft Point | Spz | Spitzer Point | SBT | Spitzer Boat Tail |
LRN | Lead Round Nose | LWC | Lead Wad Cutter | LSWC | Lead Semi Wad Cutter |
GC | Gas Check |