Winchester 1892 .38WCF (.38-40) hunting booliit

[Fisher]

Hallo Guys, I accuired a Winchester 1892 in .38-40 (made in 1893) octagonal barrel rifle earlier this year. I would like to take this old timer on a few hunts, out of pure respect for its history and age. I do have 100 winchester 180gr rounds, but it is the pistol loads and it lacks to much power for me to trust in on big game. I would like to get Starline brass and a decent heavy hunting boolit mold.

I recon a flat point 180gr - 200grain boolit propelled by smokeless powder traveling between 1500 and 1700fps would be sufficient ?

Do any of you that have experience with this rifle and hunting with cast boolits, want to recomend a mold that I should get?

I am in South Africa, possible game to hunt with this rifle will be warthog, Impala, Red Hartebeest, and Kudu.

[georgerkahn]

I so envy you/your '92 in .38WCF!!! Must be a gorgeous firearm! I have been a long-time fan of the .38-40, having owned two of these -- newbees, compared with yours. One was a 1914 manufacture .38 WCF Saddle (757,8xx s/n), and the second was (s/n 966,0xx) which was manufactured in 1926.
With as much respect as may be humanly conveyed :) :) :) to you, as an owner/hunter of three '92s in this caliber (I never hunted with one of them), in my most humble opinion they are NOT a good choice for most big game in my (North America) area. The cases have proved to be a real challenge for the reloading, with the necked down from .44 WCF case a challenge to size without crinkling, as the brass is quite thin. (I have only "old" brass; perhaps this phenomenon may not exist with new brass)
My mould of choice has been the Lyman 401-43 172 grain mould, using a#43 top punch in my Lyman sizer, with Orange Magic lub.
NOT any sort of ballistician, by any means, I kind of equate the .38WCF with a heavy pistol caliber rifle. You may note that one of the selling virtues of the .38WCF in its "day" was the availability of revolvers chambered in the calibre to complement the rifles/carbines. For loading data, Ruger came out with a "Buckeye Special" revolver with two chambers -- one each in 10mm Auto, and .38WCF. If you Google, and/or inquire Wolfe Publishing re the Handloader Magazine article -- a wealth of bullets and loads is provided therein. If you can access this URL, a good article is printed at http://docshare01.docshare.tips/files/24399/243991591.pdf. This is the August 2011 issue #273.
Again, my kudos to you on having this fine firearm; if it were mine, it surely would be cherished as a collector firearm. Doubtful if I'd be carrying a .38-40 in South Africa -- known for its elephants, buffalos, lions, and rhinos! Also -- what would perhaps (cross that and change "perhaps" to definitely!) demand more of my attention are the snakes -- notably your Puff adder and Black Mambas... But.. that's just wussy me.
BEST!!!
geo

[hockeynick39]

For my original Winchester 1892 Carbine (round barrel made in 1900) I use the following: .401 cal., 215 gr., Accurate 40-215B boolit on top of 13.1 gr. Blue Dot and a 1/4" x 1/4" fluffed tuft of dacron as a filler, with an OAL of 1.590". It is very accurate (MOA at 100 yds off a bench), mild shooting, and an approximate velocity of 1465 fps. I haven't chronographed it yet due to the ranges not allowing us to put anything other than targets down range. I generally have been within +/- 200 fps with any of the other loads that I was previously able to chronograph before I moved. Have not been able to go hunting with the load yet, but it should be plenty good for deer, hogs, and bear at close ranges (anything at or under 100 yds). Good luck and stay safe!

[Boz330]

Whitetail deer size game would be OK with the 38-40 but I would think Kudu would be a little large for a reliable kill. A big meplat on the bullet would be desirable. I have hunted deer with my 38-40 but never shot anything with it. Definitely keep shots under 100yd. I shoot the RCBS 180gr in mine. I would lean towards something heavier if available.

Bob

[rockrat]

I had Arsenal Molds make me one of their 40-205 RF molds. I specified it to cast at .402" with WW's knowing my alloy would cast a bit larger. Casts @.403" and I size to .402". My '92 will just chamber the rounds. A .403" boolit chambers very snuglike so I went with .402" so as to have some boolit release clearance on the neck. My groove dia. on the barrel is .4015 as near as I can measure (pristine bore) and it shoots well with the .402" boolits

[moosemike]

Nothing wrong with hunting with a 38-40. It's a nice round for sub 100 yard hunting. I use my 1892 38-40 for hunting. My Grandfather used to hunt deer and bear with his 38-40. It is a 40 caliber bullet traveling north of 1,000 fps. I have no idea why people think it would bounce off or whatever it is that they think. Now I won't load mine to 1,500+ fps. It's an old gun and never was intended for smokeless. I fill the case with blackpowder and cram a 180 down on top of it.

[Fisher]

I so envy you/your '92 in .38WCF!!! Must be a gorgeous firearm! I have been a long-time fan of the .38-40, having owned two of these -- newbees, compared with yours. One was a 1914 manufacture .38 WCF Saddle (757,8xx s/n), and the second was (s/n 966,0xx) which was manufactured in 1926.
With as much respect as may be humanly conveyed :) :) :) to you, as an owner/hunter of three '92s in this caliber (I never hunted with one of them), in my most humble opinion they are NOT a good choice for most big game in my (North America) area. The cases have proved to be a real challenge for the reloading, with the necked down from .44 WCF case a challenge to size without crinkling, as the brass is quite thin. (I have only "old" brass; perhaps this phenomenon may not exist with new brass)
My mould of choice has been the Lyman 401-43 172 grain mould, using a#43 top punch in my Lyman sizer, with Orange Magic lub.
NOT any sort of ballistician, by any means, I kind of equate the .38WCF with a heavy pistol caliber rifle. You may note that one of the selling virtues of the .38WCF in its "day" was the availability of revolvers chambered in the calibre to complement the rifles/carbines. For loading data, Ruger came out with a "Buckeye Special" revolver with two chambers -- one each in 10mm Auto, and .38WCF. If you Google, and/or inquire Wolfe Publishing re the Handloader Magazine article -- a wealth of bullets and loads is provided therein. If you can access this URL, a good article is printed at http://docshare01.docshare.tips/files/24399/243991591.pdf. This is the August 2011 issue #273.
Again, my kudos to you on having this fine firearm; if it were mine, it surely would be cherished as a collector firearm. Doubtful if I'd be carrying a .38-40 in South Africa -- known for its elephants, buffalos, lions, and rhinos! Also -- what would perhaps (cross that and change "perhaps" to definitely!) demand more of my attention are the snakes -- notably your Puff adder and Black Mambas... But.. that's just wussy me.
BEST!!!
geo

Thanks allot for the quite comprehensive reply, the article that you posted the link for, was also overvelming to say the least.

I definitely did not buy this rifle for hunting, I am just a sucker for interesting old guns... and the less common they ate the better! I just want to tick the box of having hunted with the rifle, if possible.

When I did some research on the caliber I considered the high velocity round and know it will be way more than capable to take down the large game I mentioned, comparing it to a .357 magum that is definitely not the best choice for hunting, but very capable under favorable circumstances.

To all the other guys that replied, thanks alot, O really appreciate it, maybe if we are lucky a post in the hunting section wil get to be a reality!

Shoot straight!
Ferdi

[Shawlerbrook]

Would love to see some pictures.

[FromTheWoods]

https://bullshop.weebly.com/bullets.html

Dan at the Bull Shop now has a .38-40 bullet...a Flat-nosed Gas-check with a crimp groove.

This bullet will help save you headaches and time in attempting to drive a cast bullet at the 1500-1700 fps velocities.

Dan worked with me to develop this bullet for my Great-grandfather's 1873 Winchester. It should shoot quite accurately for you from your '92. He will size and make the hardness meet your needs.

Email him. You will have bullets you can rely on to hit where you aim and down your critters.

Yes, do use Starline.

I load Hodgdon Titegroup. We shoot Black-tailed and Mule deer with it.
Trail Boss lacked power.
You can drive a bullet much faster in your '92 than we can in our '73. Yours is a much stronger action.

Good Luck to you. And do let us know the bullet, load, and success you find.

[Bad Ass Wallace]

Depends on your point of view but I use only factory equivilant loads that were available when my rifles were made. These matching pair with low consequetive serial numbers 4xxx made in 1892

https://i.imgur.com/5cXpWqf.jpg

[moosemike]

Depends on your point of view but I use only factory equivilant loads that were available when my rifles were made. These matching pair with low consequetive serial numbers 4xxx made in 1892

https://i.imgur.com/5cXpWqf.jpg


Awesome!

[toallmy]

I have a 38 WCF mold in pretty good shape but lacking the rifle to use it in . A friend brought it over a few years ago after hearing I liked to cast boolits , sadly he didn't know what happened to the rifle . I keep hoping one day the rifle will show up .

[bob208]

my second Winchester was a 92 rifle in .38-40. I use the lyman 401-43 173 mold mine drop at 180 gr. they dropped a nice buck at 60 yd. with one shot. about a year ago I picked up a uberti saa in .38-40 to match it.use the same bullet and load in rifle and pistol.