Great gun show finds today!

[tim338]

I went to a gunshow today looking for something " interesting". I ran into a nice older fellow with a Winchester 1894 chambered in 25-35. It has a 26" octagon barrel and was made in 1911. I looked it over and it has a pretty good bore, nice wood, smooth even patina, not beat up or messed with ar all. He also stated he had another 1894 just like it chambered 38-55 in his car made in 1897 and asked if I wanted to see it. I said YES! The bore on the 38-55 looked a little on the rough side, dark but I could see rifling. To make a long story short we struck up a deal and I bought both of them!
After spending some time with the 38-55 after I got home the bore isn't quite as bad as I had thought. It's still dark with scattered pitting but the rifling is strong. Hopefully I can get it to shoot. After doing a little reading it seems the 38-55 Winchesters the bores are a bit over sized. What diameter bullets should I order to get me started? I'll load some photos of the rifles later as I know we all like photos.

[obssd1958]

Tim,
Especially with 38-55, I would suggest that you slug the bore. I had a Winchester, of newer manufacture (1971) that had been rebored from 30-30 to 38-55, and the groove diameter was .381. I've heard of everything from .379 to .384, so you can save yourself a lot of frustration by slugging the barrel, and having the right info right from the start.
I hope this helps!

...and congratulations on your new acquisitions!!

[Reverend Al]

Yes, definitely slug the bore ... I had a '94 round barrel rifle mfg in 1899 that had a .384" barrel!

[missionary5155]

Greetings
We have a 38-55 made in 1897 also. No blue but good wood. It measures at the groove .383. I sometimes think these older ones were grooved deep so the tenth round fired would still have a good degree of accuracy using the BP loads. A rifle that will still chamber and shoot 20 rounds of BP loads is a good rifle to have on hand when things start "getting real western".
Mike in ILLinois

[bob208]

I have never slugged the bore in my 94 rifle. but I fallowed the book and sized to .379. it did not shoot real good. then I tried some unsized .381. that tightened up the groups. I have a 94 carbine with button mag also.

[richhodg66]

MY .38-55 likes fat bullets. Been using the Lee 250 grain one unsized and lubed with LLA, they come out to a hair over .380.

One thing that made a huge difference was me buying a set of the RCBS Cowboy dies. I was using my Dad's old RCBS ones which apparently had an expander stem designed around .375 diameter jacketed bullets. Group size shrank dramatically using the Cowboy dies. I wasn't real scientific about it and still haven't slugged it, but I suspect those old dies were squeezing the bullets down to undersize when I seated them.

If you're just getting into the .38-55 and don't have dies yet, I strongly suggest you get a set of those Cowboy dies from the get-go.