38-55 brass

[Mr Peabody]

Just a heads up, Starline brass is available at your favorite mail order vendor. Well Graf's and Midway.

[Litl Red 3991]

https://www.starlinebrass.com/order-online/long-range-black-powder.cfm

Also @ Starline........ Both sizes. The longer size is for shipment this Tuesday. The regular "now".

[kens]

why the difference in 2 lengths of .38-55?
whats up with that??

[BCRider]

why the difference in 2 lengths of .38-55?
whats up with that??

.38-55 is more than just one caliber. It's changed a few times over it's lifespan in two significant ways. And don't ask why. I doubt anyone has a good answer.

Originally it used a slightly longer 2.125 length casing with a .376 to .377 size bullet. You'll find this in some of the early antique single shot rifles.

At some point the brass was shortened to 2.08 for some reason. This isn't modern, it took place in the 1800's. But at the time the bullet was still sized to .376 to .378.

Then along came lever rifles and someone with their new shiny lever rifle that believed in truth in advertising. So the bullet was grown to .379 to .380 to fit a slightly bigger bore and groove diameter barrel.

Which is why .38-55 can be such a challenging cartridge to shoot and reload. With two different bore sizes and THREE different chamber sizes to select from for chamber reamers it's a wonder that fans of this caliber don't all end up wearing the nice jackets that tie together in the rear and drooling uncontrollably for no reason at all.

Did I mention that I like this cartridge? Have you seen my nice new jacket? :D

[Litl Red 3991]

Another fun feature about the cartridge is thanks to the industry that created the mess. Take a look at all the different reloading dies offered and try to find any mention of dimension for sizers or expanders. The industry doesn't share that info as they figure the first mfg that does kills what popularity the cartridge might still have, or probably won't sell another set unless they offer both sizes.

Starline found out pretty quickly how necessary it was to offer two sizes.

Got any idea how to pick dies to match whatever of those two sizes you might wind up with? Got your new gun yet? Think you might look for a different caliber?

[Litl Red 3991]

I know 2 guys with new 38-55s. They're both tickled with them. Neither was to begin with. Both have had get different molds and dies to get 'em to shoot good.

[BCRider]

And this same source of confusion is why I started my thread on neck tension for .38-55.

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?275254-What-size-difference-for-proper-neck-tension-for-38-55

Which has sashayed on to one side with a discussion about and my making some new neck expanders and how even the pundits that make barrels don't always realize that there are a few options and that's why I ended up with the larger chamber and smaller bore to the point where I found I'm getting my best results on the one rifle with .375Win brass to pack out the chamber and fit the smaller size bullets I need to use ...... *BREATH!*

Despite all this I really like the cartridge because it's a nice soft shooting round as old big bores go. And the virtually straight wall cases are going to survive for a good long time.

[wgr]

i have to size my boolits to .382

[John Boy]

why the difference in 2 lengths of .38-55?


[QUOTE]The .38-55 Winchester cartridge (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cartridge_%28firearms%29) (actually .3775 caliber (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Caliber)) was introduced in 1876 by Ballard (http://en.wikipedia.org/w/index.php?title=Ballard_Rifle_%26_Cartridge_Compan y&action=edit&redlink=1). It was used by Marlin Firearms (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marlin_Firearms) from 1875 on for various single-shot target rifles and their 1893 lever action (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lever_action) rifle...2.125" It was later offered by Winchester (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winchester_Repeating_Arms_Company) in its Model 1894 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Winchester_Model_1894)...2.085"
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.38-55_Winchester

[BCRider]

If one of us knew more about the actual dates and reasons for the variations in bullet sizes it would be worth expanding on that Wiki page. It hits on the reason for the change in brass length but not the origin of the switch to the larger bore size, and associated chamber "fattening up" in the later lever guns. I'm guessing that Winchester had a hand in that as well when they went with a shortened case.