38 XL for 200 yards?

[Mac118]

I'm eyeballing a Ballard for sale locally chambered in 38 XL. I've read numerous threads on what to use for brass, bullets and some load info (most of it on this site), but yet I still have one question.

Is the 38 XL suitable for 200 yard use?

Most of my shooting is at 200 yards and I'd like to add this rifle/caliber to my harem. Does anyone have experience with this caliber at that range? Thanks for any info you can provide.

[eric123]

No personal experience, but isn't the case size roughly the same as the 357 Maximum, but at much lower pressure? I would think it would be a nice mild round, that should do well at 200 yards...

[marlinman93]

Yes, the case is very close to the .357 Max. and .32 XL is very close to .327 Federal. Nobody rally comes up with new designs these days...they just rename old stuff. The big difference is the .38XL uses a heeled bullet, and since the twist is pretty darn slow you can't maximize the weight to work as well as many other cartridges for 200 yd. shooting. And since the Ballard is likely a cast action in that caliber, it's tough to push it very hard and not risk cracking or damaging the action. I keep my loads at around 1250fps or less.
The .38 Extra Long will indeed shoot good groups, and make it to 200 yds., but it will have a distinct disadvantage over numerous other calibers at that distance. I own a couple and any of my Ballard rifles in.32-40 or .38-55 will easily outshoot them at 200 yds. But if I was starting out in the game and the .38XL was what I had, I'd shoot it and learn to try and make it work as best I could. Then maybe later get another in a better 200 yd. schuetzen caliber.

[koger]

Can someone post s few links on this caliber, never heard of 38x

[Mac118]

I can't seem to find the posts in Castboolits forums I read before. When I find them I'll post a link.

[Bigslug]

I guess the question is what you consider "suitable"

My Dad's cast receiver Ballard #2 had its damaged .38 Ballard Long barrel sleeved and "modernized" in .38 Long Colt - basically the same thing with the bore decreased to .358" and using straight-sided bullets. As I recall, he settled on a @155 grainer propelled to 900-ish FPS using Triple 7 powder. It's an honest 2"-3" rifle at 100 yards. It would probably be a perfectly acceptable thwacker of milk jugs at 200 yards for those who like a test of wind-reading.

It looks like you get about another 200 fps from the same bullet weight with the XL, which gives you a really mild .357 mag equivalent. Yes, you can shoot that at 200 yards, but if you're shooting seriously for fortune and glory in matches, the .32-40's and .38-55's with longer, heavier, and faster slugs will be routinely beating it up and stealing its lunch money.

All that said, if you have a line on a clean, tight Ballard at a good price and are willing to dive into the loading pool for it, you WILL have fun with it!

[marlinman93]

The difference in your dad's #2 is the reline with likely a faster twist barrel, which is apples and oranges compared to the original twist rate and heeled bullets. Unless the gun is cheap enough and in poor condition, it's either too expensive or a travesty to modify if it's a nice original.

[MT Chambers]

I believe that it fired a short bullet that may not be optimal for long range, and bl. twist indicates 36" on factory rifles back in the day, ammo used was 140 grain bullets or so. The cartridge might work good at most target ranges with a 15" twist and 300 grain bullets.

[marlinman93]

I believe that it fired a short bullet that may not be optimal for long range, and bl. twist indicates 36" on factory rifles back in the day, ammo used was 140 grain bullets or so. The cartridge might work good at most target ranges with a 15" twist and 300 grain bullets.

Marlin's twist for the .38 Long is not 1:36". The Ballard was a faster 1:22" and the .38-40 and .44-40 Ballards were 1:36" twist.