1885 High Wall 38-55

[barnabus]

what cast bullet and powder seems to be the best for this round in a high wall.Gonna purchase a Pedersoli in a few months.Also Pedersoli offers a sporting model with a fancy trigger/cocking lever with some finger thingys and a classic model with just the cocking level. nothing other than that is different.Im assuming they feel the sporting model is considered better for target shooting and trigger control but i wonder if it makes that much difference? what yall think?

[country gent]

I have seen several of them at our local matches twist rate is going to determine bullet weight length you need to use. I have seen them perform very well with bullets from the rcbs 312 mould and also a couple liked the 335 lyman. One gentleman swears by a 300 grn saeco ( I beleive that's what he told me the mould was). My C Sharps has a 1-12 Mc gowen barrel on it and performs best with the 360 nasa from old wet moulds and very good with the 335 lyman. The 360 grn is almost 1.5" long.

Depending on what your wanting to do with the rifle set triggers can be a plus. Mine has a single set trigger on it. also barrel length with iron sights is a plus. Do you want a barrel sight or tang sight. front globe or blade? For shilouettes and some other matches the soule type vernier tang and spirit level globe can be a big plus. This set up gives the longest sight radius with a given barrel length. If possible I would buy the rifle with out the tang sight and purchase a mva or lee shaver soule tang sight. A 30-322 inch barrel gives a good sight radius and gets the most out of the cartridge.

My load is 48 grns 2f olde ensforde a .060 rubber fiber wad 2 tracing paper wads compressed to jut allow the 360 grn bullet to be hand seated to depth. Bullets are cast from 20-1. Primer is a Remington lr std. This load in my rifle produces 1220 fps from the 30" barrel. Does well on the 500 yd rams and 400yd turkeys. Very consistand with a es of around 12 fps and sd of around 3.

If possible do 2 things handle both versions some and see what feels right to you. Look the rifle over carefully don't be afraid to ask to see another in the same version if something isn't to your liking. ( Ive been known to take my bore scope along to check chambers throats and leades). Also one may have wood more to your liking than others. Second post a wanted in swapping and selling here for some test bullets to try. 25-50 of a known mould tells a lot and gives a good idea of what mould you want first time.

[barnabus]

both pedersolis are 1:12 twist and 30 inch barrels with the only difference being cocking lever.unfortunatly this would have tom be ordered so no handling prior.I would put MVA sights on it like i have on my sharps

[country gent]

okay I believe the ones older models were 1-14 twists. The 1-12 will do very well look for bullets 300-365 grns in the longer versions. Mine is wearing a MVA Malcomp scope currently.

[barnabus]

How u like the scope? I was kinda thinking about that for something different . Do they hold zero

[country gent]

I have 3 of them now. they are very good. like the old international and palma sights play may need to be taken into account. the vernieers are crisp and easy to read. Another plus is the front has windage adjustments also. Mine are all 17" block spacing also. The big thing is with out the unertal style recoil spring set up is remembering to "reset" the scope to the stop every shot.

[Gunlaker]

There was an article in the black powder cartridge news a couple of years ago regarding the fast twist Pedersoli .38-55's and loading for them. The main thing to remember is that they utilize a larger bore/groove than what is used in most modern .38-55's so you'll need a larger diameter bullet. I'm pretty confident that Buffalo Arms has a mold to suit those rifles.

Chris.

[oldred]

The main thing to remember is that they utilize a larger bore/groove than what is used in most modern .38-55's Chris.

Yes they have a REAL 38-55 bore and not a hashed over .375 like the "modern 38-55's" ! I suppose most of the barrel makers are set up for .375 and figured it to be "close enough", most folks seem happy enough with the .375 bore but in reality it's really just a loaded down .375 Winchester rather than a true 38-55.

[Kraschenbirn]

My Uberti .38-55 Highwall (Pedersoli barrel?) slugs at just a hair over .378 and I load an RNFP from an old NEI mould "as cast" (.381 +/-) from 20-1. Will easily hold 2 MOA (or better) out to 300M so long as I do my part.

Bill