.38-40 Low Wall for a beginner

[David LaPell]

Our local gun shop has a really nice Uberti Low Wall on the rack, in .38-40. I was thinking with my son getting into deer hunting only a couple of years from now, and most areas here being a lot of brush and not much more than 50 yards or so, I was wondering about it as an entry deer rifle for my son.
He's used to the action as his first rifle in .22 was a Savage 30G, the last version of the old Stevens Favorite, falling block action, pretty much the same as the Low Wall and High Wall. I had a couple of Winchesters, an 1892 and a 1873 in .38-40, it's a nice round, haven't played with it for about 20 years. My local shop also has lots of ammo, and it's an easy round to handload, but I never killed a whitetail with it and was wondering if anyone else had ever had any luck with it.

[3leggedturtle]

Get it! 38WCF is one cartridge I've always wanted. Passed up a real nice Model 92 almost 10 years ago, still regret not buying it. BTW what they asking for it? Todd/3leg

[Boz330]

It would be a light recoiling rifle but shot placement would be very important. Bullet selection for that caliber is on the light side, around a 180gr. For a single shot you might be able to seat longer bullets though.

Bob

[Old School Big Bore]

Buy it! The Lee .40 140 gr SWC or 175 gr TC should be great in .38-40. They also have the TL 40-175 SWC if you like their tumble-lube designs. My shooting buddy's wife has an ancient '92 in .38-40 with a horribly pitted bore - I've been nagging her to get it rebarreled but she's leery of that.
Ed <><

[smithnframe]

I shot my first whitetail buck back in Pennsylvania with a 38 wcf back in 1976. I wouldn't hesitate to use it on the tiny bodied deer in Texas. Elmer Keith killed a few elk with the cartridge too.

[ericp]

I'd buy it in a heartbeat. Only shot 3 deer with my 38WCF 92 so far. Spined one and double lunged the other two. They didn't go far. I like the RCBS cowboy bullet as it has a decent size meplat and a crimp groove in the right spot.

Eric

[Jedman]

If you think the price is fair, Buy It ! A original low wall will be better than money in the bank as far as a investment and it will do fine for deer also. If your son can grasp the coolness factor of hunting with a gun like that he’s on his way to making good choices in the type of guns he will buy as a adult.
Edit, I read you said Uberti but was thinking just the caliber and thought a old Winchester but it is still a great choice !

Jedman

[Jeff Michel]

I use the Lyman 40143 in my AWA Lightning, never used past seventy five yards and it worked just fine. Planning to use it in West Virginia next month.

[Kosh75287]

I don't know what length barrel your low-wall rifle has, but if it's more than about 16", you could likely get a serious velocity boost by using Reloader 7 in it, rather than the usual 2400-type magnum pistol propellants. The round is considered marginal by some, for whitetail (size depending, of course). The slower-burning Rl7 would likely yield the best velocities for it, and render its performance "better than marginal", I suppose?

The old rule(s) of thumb for hunting deer-sized game with pistol cartridges consisted of:
1.) No smaller than .40 caliber.
2.) No LIGHTER than 200 grains (with a wide meplat, where possible).
3.) No SLOWER than 1000 f/s.

The .38 WCF was traditionally loaded with 180 gr. projectiles, if memory serves, giving ~900 f/s ftom a 4 3/4" barrel and 1160 f/s from a somewhat longer rifle barrel. Certainly proper medicine for toppling 2-legged aggressors, but not quite what we'd like, if we're to stick by the above rules. I'm INCLINED to believe, however, that a judiciously loaded 200 gr. flat-point, pushed by a safe-but-large charge of RL7 would likely leave a rifle barrel at 1250-1400 f/s, without straining anything. I don't think you'll get the same performance as the now-discontinued "High Velocity" .38-40 loading (180 gr. @ 1775 f/s), but you probably don't need to. If you do no more than "split the difference" between the two loadings, you'll have done enough. It STILL won't be an "Elk Cartridge", despite the Honorable Mr. Keith's feats, but for southern U.S. whitetail, it should be a joy.

Certainly, since it's a single-shot, the concern for proper overall length is lessened, which helps moderate pressures. Additionally, you may find that loading the projectiles to a shorter distance from the lands of the barrel may do nice things for accuracy.

[50target]

I have 2 Uberti low walls and like'em a lot. Single trigger model can be tough to deal with and suggest in off season send the innards to Lee Shaver for his 2# trigger job. I think on whitetail deer you should be fine. Knew a surveyor who took more deer with a Ruger Blackhawk 357 than most people will ever see.I believe the Uberti LW has a 30" bbl so should get all the velocity it can give you.
Good luck
Bob