New to me 1885 Miroku 38-55 mold advice needed

[sd5782]

Yes, both cavities are in a single mold on this order. Hope it works out for $185.

I also participated in a long range silhouette shoot near me last Sunday . Perhaps a dozen shooters, all with custom stuff and me with a new to me stock gun that I’ve only fired less than 40 times, and shooting a bullet a tad undersized with little load development. I had a very pleasant experience. Those were some experienced shooters and nice equipment too. Gotta love the set triggers. I did hit 18 out of 40 at 200-400 yards after missing all 10 offhand shots at chickens at 100. I’ve never really shot offhand.

I didn’t have competition shoots in mind when buying this gun, just shooting at my gun club out to 200 yards. That 300 and 400 stuff was serious fun. I almost started laughing when my spotter said “hit” and then a split second later I heard the ring. Load was Lyman 379248 that cast .377-.378, tumble lubed with 9.8 of unique that cronos at 1238 FPS. 75-80 shots total and almost no leading on cleanup. I had fun and also got to shoot someone’s 45-90 Shiloh with black powder and 535 grain bullets and set trigger a couple shots.

[bigted]

I have 2 38's.

A custom hiwall ( Miroku) and my relined old '93'. The custom has a .375 inch barrel with a 14 inch twist and a heavy #4 winchester contour octagon green mountain.

The 93 was relined back to the 18 twist with the longer chamber for the 2.30 inch long brass.

I do not like the round bottom grooves. Dont hold enough lube. And I have a horrible time for some reason getting the boolit to fill out with any success. Then there is the fact that I hate the looks of them ( hows that for scientific).

I like the large square bottom grooves with a fairly small meplate. My accurate mold 380275 is just such a mold. It shoots Old E 2F black powder very well. The single shot likes both the old Hornaday 220 flat point and the RCBS 37-250 boolit.

I like shooting 3031 in both rifles but my fav is the black powder loads. If memories serve , the load that does best is 42 grain of the 2F. Sparked with a CCI 200 large rifle primer. No over powder card and compressed around .200 inch. Compression done with the boolit.

Lube is the excellent SPG lube. I crimp in a last step separate from seating. And I crimp in two different styles. First and for the Marlin is the LEE factory crimp. For the single shot I settled on the RCBS taper crimp in the seating and crimp die. This last is also done in a separate step.

Good luck on loading and shooting your JapChester hiwall. They are great fun. Just about as much fun as ya can have with yer cloths on.

[sd5782]

Funny scientific comment on the lube grooves. I don’t have a great supply of tin and have had a hard time getting square edges to fill out. That is my scientific reason to try the round ones. I guess we put down our money and takes our chances. I guess it’s all a gamble to see what works anyhow. On the match I shot, I fired 75-80 rounds of the Lyman 379248 that were only tumble lubed and had almost NO lead. No used or other molds out there to try for me either. Now comes the waiting.

[sd5782]

So, getting interested in another long range shoot with no new mold. As mentioned before, I shot perhaps 75 of the Lyman 379248 that were a bit undersized for what I would consider good. Very little lead with that shooting with “as cast” tumble lubed with white label 45-45-10. I used a Lewis brass screen handgun patch pull through to get the little bit of lead streaks out.

Remember, new gun and new shooter, and first attempt. No new mold yet for a couple or 3 months. Another guy wants to observe at the next match as he thought it very interesting. So, I may invite him to shoot my gun too. Looks like 125-150 shots total for both of us with probably the cleaning half way through.

I’m thinking perhaps my .378 sizer die with lube and then tumble lube too maybe keep the little bit of leading out. Actually I was surprised that this only bullet I had that was a bit out of round and a bit undersized actually did well enough to put a smile on my face.

I went to the new guys range, and he put 3 shots in under 2 inches at 100 yards, so I have to let him try at 300-400 yards too. Too much fun to just observe.

[bpcrshooter]

Ok this is going to sound weird but, my box and rifle say 00033. It too is a traditional hunter in 38-55.

[GregLaROCHE]

I was hoping to see a picture of this great gun. Do you have any you can post?

[bpcrshooter]

[sd5782]

Ok this is going to sound weird but, my box and rifle say 00033. It too is a traditional hunter in 38-55.

Hey, mine is 00033. Yours looks to have nicer wood and case hardened receiver. Mine is plain blue, and fairly plain wood. That brings up the dating question which I never saw good answers for. I think I saw that one batch was from perhaps 2006 or so, and perhaps a more recent batch was from maybe 10 years ago. I never really saw anything definitive. I believe I read that on one run just 50 of the 38-55s were produced, but I sure can’t verify that either.

[bpcrshooter]

Hey, mine is 00033. Yours looks to have nicer wood and case hardened receiver. Mine is plain blue, and fairly plain wood. That brings up the dating question which I never saw good answers for. I think I saw that one batch was from perhaps 2006 or so, and perhaps a more recent batch was from maybe 10 years ago. I never really saw anything definitive. I believe I read that on one run just 50 of the 38-55s were produced, but I sure can’t verify that either.

I talked with Winchester and their reply was....(for my model) 86 were made. Mine is very new, as in last fall. I was told they were made for the 2016 Shot Show. I believe there is a 32-40 (ser 00033) on Gunbroker now, built like yours with the blued receiver.


matt

[Rapier]

I have read accounts of shooting single shots by Harry Pope, he carried his ammo in wax paper, in his jacket pocket, bullets hand seated, long, in the case. He used the lands to seat the bullets for firing even when hunting with his crafted single shots. If you can find a copy of his book, it is well worth the read especially if you are interested in single shot BP style rifles.

[oldred]

Does anyone make a mold good for a 38-55 in a mid-weight round nose bullet design?

[Jim22]

New molds of course are hard to come by at this time and cost a fortune. I would probably be happy with the Lee 250gr but don't want to pay $100 for a Lee. Looking around and seeing advice with a lot of people from here took me to the Accurate Mold site. I am posting here rather than the mold sub forum as I saw more discussions of this gun here and not the more common lever guns. I have read that this is an accurate gun but I may not know for a time as I try to get it up and running.


Steve

I have a two cavity Lee .379" 250 grain GC mould that is surplus to me. New in the box. PM me if interested.

[bpcrshooter]

Lyman makes the mini postell, it comes in at 330gr range depending on alloy. You can always have one made to your specs at one of the many mold makers. maybe take that design and have them shorten it and add a round nose to it.


matt

[sd5782]

New mold from Accurate Molds arrived yesterday. About 8 weeks which is a full month sooner than expected. Nothing cast yet, but it is a beautiful looking mold. 2 different cavities as mentioned. 250 and 285 grains. It will be awhile to get some casting and testing in.
I participated in another shoot, so I have been learning some technique and preferences as far as shooting sticks, hold, sites, etc. so it hasn’t been all wasted energy. Top shooter hit 43 of 50, and the 100 yard chickens are shot offhand. I will never be competitive, but will never fun. I improved from an 18 on my first try to a 19.

[sd5782]

Back again. I took some time away from this gun in frustration as I had poor luck with accuracy in the fall and at shoots with my newly purchased mold. I didn’t really have proper powders and the time to develop loads. 2-3” at 100 yards and 4-6 at 200 isn’t quite good enough accuracy for the 3-400 yards I was trying for with the club I went to.
I have lots of Herco, and with a Lyman 250 gr mold 10.3 gr got 1270 FPS. I didn’t get a chance to crono on my new mold with 250/285 bullets. The accuracy wasn’t great. That Lyman mold shot better with unique than my first attempts at my new mold. I am retired now, so going at it again if the weather ever warms up.
I have a lead thermometer and also the Lee 379250 mold coming. Going to work on my casting technique as the bullets I cast earlier we’re are bit undersized in the center from too hot of a mold I think. A couple powders are now showing up and I may try some RL7 and aim for about 1300fps. The Lee of course is not supposed to be a long range bullet with the bevel base, but a year ago no molds were out there. Can’t have too many molds. My apologies for not updating sooner.

[Eddie Southgate]

Mine likes the 375248 with 19.6 gr of H4198 in Winchester brass trimmed to 2.075 and CCI 200 primer with a COL of 2.545 and a very light crimp. Velocity is right at 1408 . It shoots a couple of others rather well but this is what it really shines with .

[Jeff Michel]

I'm betting your moving to RL7 will make a big difference. If you want to use a pistol powder, 2400 or Unique works pretty good in most straight wall applications.
Good luck and keep us posted.

[Randy Bohannon]

The dual cavity mould with two different weights will give you problems when casting. I have nearly the same mould in brass for .375 Winchester. I have to do about ten bullets in the small cavity as it takes longer to heat up than the bigger cavity. It will take practice to get good bullets from each cavity. I have gone to just casting from one or the other and not both. To many rejects trying to do both at the same time,to do it again I would do two single cavity moulds or both the same is better.

[sd5782]

The dual cavity mould with two different weights will give you problems when casting. I have nearly the same mould in brass for .375 Winchester. I have to do about ten bullets in the small cavity as it takes longer to heat up than the bigger cavity. It will take practice to get good bullets from each cavity. I have gone to just casting from one or the other and not both. To many rejects trying to do both at the same time,to do it again I would do two single cavity moulds or both the same is better.

I think you are quite correct. My first attempts got bullets that were .375 in the center portion and .379 at base and front. Reading on this forum pointed to a too hot mold expanding slightly in the middle. After that I slowed down and alternated casts between front and back. It was a bit better, but not great. I will need to slow down more and touch the mold to a damp towel every few casts I think and as suggested, treat it as 2 single cavity molds.

I’m learning more about casting with this gun. Most of my molds have been Lee, although perhaps 7 or 8 are various steel ones. There is also the accuracy factor when trying to shoot 400 yards. 30-30 and 7x57 with gaschecks at 100 yards is pretty forgiving. I do have a lead thermometer coming soon.

When I bought this gun, powders were practically unavailable. I have on hand several suitable powders, but only in 1 lb cans and partially used. The shoots require 75-80 shots, so I didn’t work up loads for a powder that I wasn’t going to be able to buy anyhow. That left me with my inappropriate bulk jug of Herco. I’m still not done trying it yet, as I have a bunch. Obviously one wouldn’t try it with a classic 100 year old gun, but the miroku is noted as a strong action. Still, no attempt will be made at 1600-1800 FPS, but as in unique loads maybe something accurate can be found in a safe 1300fps range so I can use this powder. Now if spring would arrive so I can get to the range.

[mdatlanta]

I just finished reading through this whole thread and really enjoyed it. I hope you’ll keep us posted on your progress.
Good luck on your journey!