Win 1894 Oliver 38-55

[huntrick64]

Picked this up yesterday. Unfired, but no box or papers. The guy sold me this and his Ruger Standard (before they stamped Mark I on them) for a song and dance, but the dance was kind of long. I will probably shoot it since I don't have the box/papers. I've always wanted a 38-55! The wood is fancy walnut, but I didn't snap any photos of that, just the receiver. It still had the original shipping grease in the bore, I cleaned it up and am now looking for molds, brass, and dies.

[Ithaca Gunner]

Midway should have Starline brass, and I found the LEE dies and 250gr. fn mold works well enough, although I have other molds also. IMR 4198 seems to be the best powder I've tried so far.

[huntrick64]

Thanks Ithaca, that will give me a starting point. What boolit did you use and was it relatively fat? (Ha! I always laugh at that because all of my relatives are fat.) I might just use black, but it will sure change the look of that brass receiver. I also have some 3031 avail from my 32 special loads.

[northmn]

38-55 can be a bit tricky at first. You probably have a 379-380 barrel. Most tell you to slug the barrel. My Marlin has a 379 barrel. The Lee mold works as it is as cast at about 380. As to Lee dies, I don't know the expander diameter but I have one marked 377. Use of lubes like Lee's liquid alox that coats the bullet can also help. Reliable data for the 38-55 is scarce. JBledsoe on his the Marlin Forum has done extensive work with the 38-55 and likes 21 grains of 4198 with a 240 grain cast bullet. As yours is a modern made Winchester I mention that load. Re7 is supposed to be good also. Many like Unique at about 9-10 grains for plinking and shooting range loads. Some even hunt with that load. There are jacketed bullets available, like Vollmer. If you are the hot rod type they can be loaded up pretty hot. Most seem to prefer keeping the loads at 1500 fps or less. A good mold for heavier loads is the Lyman 265 grain gas check. That can bring the initial costs of shooting up as you then need a sizer to seat the gas checks. Lee molds work as cast.

DEP

[Ithaca Gunner]

Mine is an old 1894 SRC in .30WCF that had a sewer pipe bore. I sent it to JRS for a rebore to .38-55. It's a .378" 5 groove and so far have found the best shooting with .379" boolits from the LEE as well as a similar mold from Accurate. Northmn is right about the powder charge, I started with 20gr. of IMR 4198 and settled on 22gr. in mine. I got my load data from Ken Waters book, "Pet Loads". I never really considered a gas check boolit or jacketed bullet, I'm pretty happy with plain base cast and really the LEE mold does as well as the more expensive Accurate Mold in my experience.

[Randy Bohannon]

Go to Starline direct for a better price on brass and the Lyman Cast Bullet book has a good amount of loading data.

[huntrick64]

Thanks guys! I will order some stuff during Christmas holiday. I'm a little unsure about firing it since it is presently unfired, but with no box or paperwork, I doubt I change the value very much. Plus, once I shoot it, I will shoot it a lot and enjoy it.

[northmn]

Ain't worth anything setting in a gun cabinet.

DP

[tim338]

X2 on that.


Ain't worth anything setting in a gun cabinet.

DP

[Wind]

Hey there h64 -- You might consider slugging your bore. Easy enough to do, just run a soft lead ball from muzzle to breech. Picking up a set of RCBS Cowboy dies will facilitate loading cast bullets - as that is what they are designed for.

If you are a caster, then the Accurate 38-250B is a most excellent mold. If you are not, Laser-Cast makes a nifty 240 grain bullet sized .380". They may also still be able to provide the same bullet sized .377" depending on your bore needs. You'll prolly have to call them for availability on that one.

Starline makes two lengths of brass. I would recommend the longer 2.125" stuff. If your chamber will accept this, you are good to go. If not, it's easy to shorten. My (3) rifles like it trimmed to 2.10" with the Accurate bullet.

You will be way ahead of the curve by starting with 10 grains of Unique or 21 grains of IMR 4198. This will put a smile on your face and you can tweak this a little and maybe make that smile bigger - depending on what your rifle likes.

182386

Once you get the basics sorted out you'll find yourself shooting your rifle a lot!! Hope this helps. Best regards. Wind

[MarkP]

I have a Chief Crazy horse similar vintage (1983), the Lee 379-250 FN works well at 0.3805" lubed with BAC

[huntrick64]

Thanks again you all. I am a boolit caster and usually use cerr-a-safe to cast the chamber and muzzle. I have Unique so will probably just start with this.

[BigAl52]

I have a Marlin 336 Cowboy in this caliber that is great to shoot. I use reloader 7 for hunting loads and 5744 for plinking loads with a 245 gr cast boolit. I use cast performane 260 gr gas checks for the hunting loads. Reloader 7 has always been my favorite for 38-55 and 45-70.182413
I shot this group off the bags at 50 yards with the 45-70 and reloader 7. Iron sights in a Henry CCH 45-70. Al

[244ack]

Have the identical rifle, bore slugged .375" shoot .377 cast. Shot some .379" but the rifle preferred the smaller diameter. Great rifle , very well balanced. Don't leave it in the gun cabinet, take it hunting

[Texas by God]

Ain't worth anything setting in a gun cabinet.

DP
Amen.

[Buckshot]

...............Yup, you should slug it "Just so ya know".

http://www.fototime.com/47DD87E404FADAE/standard.jpg

The above is my original M93 Marlin, made in 1906 and chambered 38-55. I'd been feeding it slugs sized to .380" and it shot exceeding well. I have a couple favorite loads, and the easiest and cheapest is with the Lee 250gr FNPB over 10.0 grs of Unique. I eventually slugged it and you could have knocked me over with a feather as the groove was .376" :-)

http://www.fototime.com/2F947FA79B9FD46/standard.jpg

The above is a good hunting load running just short of 1600 fps. Another good load is the Saeco 225gr FNPB over 16.0 grs of 2400. Actually there are really a LOT of good loads for the 38-55. Gotta remember it actually started out as a 40 rod (220 yard match cartridge) :-)

.................Buckshot

[OlDeuce]

Picked this up yesterday. Unfired, but no box or papers. The guy sold me this and his Ruger Standard (before they stamped Mark I on them) for a song and dance, but the dance was kind of long. I will probably shoot it since I don't have the box/papers. I've always wanted a 38-55! The wood is fancy walnut, but I didn't snap any photos of that, just the receiver. It still had the original shipping grease in the bore, I cleaned it up and am now looking for molds, brass, and dies.


Mine is an old 1894 SRC in .30WCF that had a sewer pipe bore. I sent it to JRS for a rebore to .38-55. It's a .378" 5 groove and so far have found the best shooting with .379" boolits from the LEE as well as a similar mold from Accurate. Northmn is right about the powder charge, I started with 20gr. of IMR 4198 and settled on 22gr. in mine. I got my load data from Ken Waters book, "Pet Loads". I never really considered a gas check boolit or jacketed bullet, I'm pretty happy with plain base cast and really the LEE mold does as well as the more expensive Accurate Mold in my experience.

Huntrick64....You will really like shooting that 38-55......and the 4198 does the job with a 270 gr .

185208

OlDeuce

[dubber123]

Congrats on the new shooter(s). I wouldn't hesitate to shoot it. I had a NIB Winchester commemorative carbine that I traded for one without box or papers, as the new one had a longer barrel, and I am not a fan of safe queens anyways. I never see the commemoratives actually sell for much more than $600, so they are better off being used to me :)

I think you may find your receiver is brass plated, most of the commemoratives seem to be plated one way or the other. If it is, it won't likely "age" like a solid brass one, but will likely fleck and peel. I've seen some ugly ones that were neglected. You might want to keep it wiped down just like a blued gun.

Good luck, I hope you enjoy it :)

[R. Dupraz]

huntrick64

First, in order to find the optimum cast bullet diameter for you rifle you need to slug the throat, if there is one, and not the bore.

Nice rifle, you will like that 38-55 with cast. I have been shooting lever action silhouette with a Marlin CB 38-55 for about ten years with cast and it is a hoot. I have two loads. For short range, Lee 265 PB with IMR 4227 and a full throttle load for two hundred yards, RCBS 265 GC with IMR3031. Both are capable of making groups similar to what has already been posted above. I use Starline "short" brass in my Marlin.

[JSH]

I would also do a chamber cast. I had a crazy horse and swapped it to my buddy. It has .377 bore but the chamber was cut for the larger type .380. I think he is just sizing enough of the case to hold the bullet,maybe 3/8".
This is another chambering that was modernized, giving us what they thought we needed.
Jeff

[R. Dupraz]

Good post JSH

That cast bullet has to fit the throat one way or the other. I size to .380 for my Marlin.

[HPT]

I have the same gun as you. It's my favourite gun and I have excessively experimented with it

I started off with a Lyman 375248 and it keyholed at 50 yds, then tried the Lee 250 gr, then a gas check bullet but went back to the Lee.

Tried the following powders in various weights with & without fillers:

Goex 2FG
Swiss 1.5 FG
IMR 4227
Unique
2400
IMR 4759
IMR 4895
AA 5744
H335
IMR 4198

Fired over 80 10 shot groups of various combinations at 100 yds & my best results were:

Lee 20:1 42 gr Goex 2FG Blackpowder BR2 primer .060 poly wad

smallest 10 shot group 2.00"
average 10 shot group 2.96" (8 ten shot groups)
1200 FPS
Blow Tube


Lee 20:1 16.3 gr AA5744 BR2 primer

smallest 10 shot group 2.00"
average 10 shot group 2.92" (11 ten shot groups)
1197 FPS


Lee 20:1 21 gr IMR4198 BR2 primer


smallest 10 shot group 2.50"
average 10 shot group 2.83" (3 ten shot groups)
1283 FPS