Winchester 38-55 High Wall

[boommer]

waltp I have one It is a troublesome child but It's not all It's fault !Alot of the problem
is with dies and new brass dosn't really matter who's dies you use they are 375 winchester in which they are designed for the most part .375 slugs so the sizer is purdy much useless for that then there expander die purdy much useless to it's .375
so what you are looking at just the belling on that die. see most 38-55 bores are .379 + my H@R - NEF bore is .379 I have a mint bore 94 winchester sporting rifle that
has a .381 bore and it's a 1901 vintage great condition but can walk around this problem I CAST .379 30/1 SLUGS then they will bump up to fill the bore . I dont size
keep cases seperate between rifles after firing at that point I dont need expand then but I LOAD BLACK so things change a little then compared to smokeless but not
alot also load smokeless just a few different tricks. as far as H@R TARGET IT has bastard chamber by saying that it case length of 38-55 but set up for .375 slug and the bore is .379 kind of strange but not to say it cant be made to shoot I got mine to shoot clover leafs at 100 YARDS BUT IT TOOK A LOT OF TWEAKING!! a real learning
experience their more to this but to tell you the truth it was worth the chase.
I WOULD SAY if you shoot factory loads from it 2-3 inch groups from what I been hearing for the most part and I cant really say about other current rife chambers
IF YOU LIKE A RELOADING CHALLANGE THEY WILL SHOOT!! DO IT!
Iam not good at putting it down in print so I hope this helps you not scare ya!

[cabezaverde]

I have the Target rifle in 38-55, and have to agree with boommer (I think).

The rifle presents a reloading challenge, as do the components available. The basic problem is that the chamber is cut small when compared to the bore of the rifle. Makes having to have your settings just right.

It seems most of the Target's I have seen discussed like a .379 - .381" boolit. My uses .379".

They are a fun rifle if you decide to get one. One option you have is to just work through the reloading challenges for your particular rifle. The other is to have the chambered opened up to standard dimensions. I am thinking about getting the reamer to do that.

[waltp]

boomer and cabezverde- Wow! Thanks for the input. I really don't need another challenge. I will just be patient and wait for the right priced modern Winchester 1985 or perhaps an Uberti.

[boommer]

waltp it not all rifles problem because the chamber the newer winnies might be screwed up too!! you still have reloading issues so you still that to look at.
The 38-55 is a great cartridge but winchester came out with the 375 round and are so close in dimensions and 38-55 was a really dieing round back then that they started tooling for the 375 and forgot about 38-55 I would bet if you find a set of pre-375 -38-55 dies they be correct I think ! the thing is 38-55 is coming back to life and the corporate JERKS!!! WILL NOT ACKNOWLEDGE THERE IS A PROBLEM !!
YOU TALK TO DIE COMPANYS THEY ARE IN SPEC BUT IF YOU WANT FOR A FEE WE WILL MAKE IT TO YOUR SPEC WHICH IS THE RIGHT SPEC FOR 38-55 AND H@R IS THE SAME THEY SAY THEY ARE RIGHT BUT SEND IT BACK WILL OPEN UP THE CHAMBER FOR $ 38-55 CASES ARE FORMED AT 375 SPECS SO IF YOU HAVE A TRUE 38-55 BORE .379 TO.383 OR ABOUTS YOU BULGE THE CASES WITH BULLET ON THE FIRST LOADINGS THEN YOU CAN ONLY PARTLY SIZE I COULD GO ON AND ON BUT THE BOTTOM LINE IS MONEY CAN FIX THESE PROBLEMS !!!!BUT THIS IS MY LITTLE PART OF THIS WORLD AND ITS NOT BAD BUT I HAVE NOT BEEN TO ANY OTHER WORLD SO I HAVE NOTHING TO COMPARE IT TO !!!!!!!

[uscra112]

If you have a gun with a chamber that is a bit small for the bore, then you have a gun for cast boolits with PAPER PATCHES.

This seemingly undersized chambering was standard practice in the paper-patch / blackpowder era, which was the 1870s to the beginning of the smokeless age in the '90s. My Mauser 71/84 was made just this way. German military issue ammo for the 71/84 (I have some) has paper patched boolits (11mm) that are butter-soft. The boolit and patch enter the rifling and "slug up" (obturate) to fill the grooves.

It works. You can get up to 2000fps with a dead-soft patched boolit, and never see a hint of leading. When that soft slug hits meat at that speed, it mushrooms beautifully, but doesn't break up. What more could a man want?

Paul Matthews excellent book "The Paper Jacket" will confirm all the details. Go buy a copy and get to work.

In the Schuetzen era, the 38-55 was one of the most favored rounds, and for most of that time the boolits were paper patched. Much if not most of the commercial 38-55 ammo used by hunters in that time was paper-patched, too. As was the ammo used by the buffalo hunters in those big old Sharps shoulder-cannons. The only reason the paper patch died away was that patching had to be done by hand - no machine could do it. Which made it more expensive than the J-word boolits that supplanted it.