38-55 Info

[black1970]

I have a Winchester Legendary Frontiersman in 38-55 and I am wanting to shoot a box of factory ammo then reload it. I have a box of .375 220 grain bullets. Can I use them to reload 38-55?

[725]

Yes, if the length is correct to function through the action. Adjust & test with a dummy round.

[richhodg66]

Are these jacketed bullets? If cast, they'll need to be bigger.

I load and shoot a lot of .38-55, if you plan to shoot cast (which you should) and haven't already bought dies, I highly suggest you spend the extra money on a set of teh RCBS Cowboy dies.

[Hickok]

Rich is right about the RCBS cowboy dies.

Having some experience with a Winchester 94 AE in 38/55, you are probably going to need at the minimum a .379"-.380" diameter cast boolit to get good accuracy and avoid leading.

Also, get some good Starline brass in 38/55. It is thinner than Winchester brass, and allows the .379-.380" loaded round to chamber easier.

Slug your barrel to check groove diameter.

[Bad Ass Wallace]

I have the same rifle and shoot it to 300yds with a 220gn cast bullet of 0.379". Interesting that my rifle slugs 0.378" and the chamber is cut to take the long Starline brass (2.125") which holds approx 4 gns of powder over the standard length shell (2.085").

[John Boy]

Wallace, in your post, change 2.185 t 2.085. My fingers have hit the wrong key too

[1Papalote]

The 375 Winchester operates at a much higher pressure than 38-55. IIRC the Winchester 375 big bore has beefed up receivers to allow the higher pressure. I don't think I'd shoot 375 factory fodder in a gun designed around 38-55. Google it

[725]

1Papalote ~ good catch! Reading the OP I just assumed a 220 grain bullet to be loaded in .38-55 brass. It could certainly be read to mean loading .375 Win into a .38-55 chamber, I guess. If your interpretation is right, I do strongly agree with you.

[missionary5155]

An interesting story about the "stronger" 1894 receivers....
When the receivers are forged they look right near what we buy as Big Bore receivers. The standard receivers of course get milled to the normal shape of a standard 94.
It is "rumored" Winchester did the original testing of the 375 on standard 1894 receivers and 38-55 barrels. Pressures at the chamber were close to failure levels for the standard barrel. So the simple solution was to tap a None Milled receiver thus gaining the extra diameter for the larger diameter barrel threads needed for the BB barrels.

[1006]

If you are just asking about reloading some factory once fired brass with .375 diameter projectiles, then yes you can. The accuracy may not be as good as you would like, and if they are lead boolits of .375 diameter, they may lead your barrel.

This is a what I have read, and do not know if it is true or can be relied on as “a safety net”: If you want to shoot 375 Winchester ammo in a 38-55 caliber gun, it is not considered a safe practice. However, the larger chamber and bore of the 38-55 should bleed off the enough pressure of a 375 Winchester factory cartridge to prevent damage to the 38-55. And, that is why the 375 Winchester was designed shorter and with a .375 bore.

[richhodg66]

If you are just asking about reloading some factory once fired brass with .375 diameter projectiles, then yes you can. The accuracy may not be as good as you would like, and if they are lead boolits of .375 diameter, they may lead your barrel.

This is a what I have read, and do not know if it is true or can be relied on as “a safety net”: If you want to shoot 375 Winchester ammo in a 38-55 caliber gun, it is not considered a safe practice. However, the larger chamber and bore of the 38-55 should bleed off the enough pressure of a 375 Winchester factory cartridge to prevent damage to the 38-55. And, that is why the 375 Winchester was designed shorter and with a .375 bore.

Interesting, I didn't know that, but it makes sense. Usually when they "magnumize" a cartridge (.44 Magnum, .357 Magnum, etc.) they lengthen the case to prevent chambering. I guess they had another method with the .375.

Back to .38-55, the Lee mold is a good design and drops from my mold a hair over .380 and I shoot in unsized and lubed with LLA, shoots well with fairly light charges of Unique or 700X. The .38-55 has to be one of the easiest and funnest cartridges to load and shoot if you cast.

[Randy Bohannon]

Winchester 38-55 and the B.B. .375 Winchester share the same barrel dimensions same as .44 Rem Mag. and 44-40 WCF share the same dimensions in modern rifles. .379- .380 “ for 38-55 and .375 Winchester .429-431” for 44-40 WCF and .44 Mag.

[9.3X62AL]

The 38/55 can be a poetically-dimensioned cartridge and rifle. Mine is a Jesse Ocumpah rebore Win 94, and has .376" throat and grooves. Size bullets to fit (mine get .377" sizing). A caution here--A LOT of 38/55 data got assembled using undersized bullets in larger bores. Make haste s-l-o-w-l-y when working up loads. Well-fit bullets can cause rude surprises--I lost 5 new Starline cases to loosened primer pockets.

[onceabull]

I had for some time a Jesse O.rebore marked 38/55 in a 336 Marlin...It had been a working rifle in Alaska for a former member here,and came to me in a sort of swap meet deal. Bore spec's were identical to those shown in 9.3x xxx's post here.. chamber cut old (Original) Length, and would handle the 255 gr j-words at same C.O.Ls as the Canadian Imperial stuff I had on hand at the time.. For grins I often used a load in blown out 30/30 brass,245gr boolit seated way out. powder to produce old Hi-Speed factory velocity.. Good enough to feed moose meat to a passel of canucks in times past,and cheap enough for those on fixed incomes.

[John Boy]

My first 38-55 was the H&R Target rifle. I had to run a reamer in the chamber in order to shoot the 2.125 brass because H&R used 375 Win brass for proof testing. I have pushed a BP reload out to 1000yds on target after many sighters. The caliber will knock down Rams at 500m with consistency
The most accurate bullet is the Ideal 375166, 320gr .... Accurate Molds cloned this original Ideal mold bullet ... if you have an interest

[Larry7293]

I have not seen any load data for the win38-55 using 700X. What charge do you use? I recently purchased the same Lee mold. thanks

[John Boy]

Don’t believe you will find any ... 700x is a shotgun and several handgun powder

[richhodg66]

Don’t believe you will find any ... 700x is a shotgun and several handgun powder

Read any of the older Lyman cast bullet manuals and you will find rifle data (and pistol data for that matter) for 700X in almost everything. Also Red Dot, Green Dot and several other "shotgun" powders. There's 700X data for just about everything here; http://marvinstuart.com/firearm/Manu...-%20Reduce.pdf

In answer to the question, the Lyman manual from 1973 I have in front of me gives 700X data for Lyman #375248 (nominally a 249 grain, plain based design very similar to the Lee bullet) starting data of six grains of 700X for 950 FPS, max data is 8.5 grains of 700X for 1150 FPS. Also gives data for Unique, Red Dot and Green Dot along with PB and 230 which I'm pretty sure are discontinued.

I shoot nine grains behind a 225 grain bullet all the time in mine, Mine is a Marlin, and they chambered the .375 Winchjester in that same action with no modifications to strengthen it the way Winchester had to do with the 94. That nine grains, even with that 250 grain Lee, has proven safe n my rifle, no extraction problems, primers look great, etc., over the course of hundreds of rounds.

700X is an awesome powder for reduced cast rifle loads. It's almost as versatile as Unique and it some things, it works a little better, though usually Unique wins. I use 700X with light bullets in .45-70 as well, though you won't find that data in those old manuals, I interpolated it based on a couple of other powders and it works fine in my rifle with my loads.