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Thread: Huntin with the 38-55

  1. #41
    Boolit Man HD.375's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Dom View Post
    I have a Marlin Cowboy 38-55. Never have hunted with it. Now have been casting a LBT 260gr GC bullet. BHN 15 & PC. My chrono says about 1485 fps. I'm figuring deer, but have a fair amount of elk in the area. Looking for info as to the capability of this round? Effective range , penetration ??Attachment 285232
    howdy-
    sooo, i use the 375 winnie, loaded to about your specs actually, 20gr of 4198, 245gr commercial hard cast,.... its tough.

    i down loaded for a pleasant plinker an capable deer round, open sights i can just hit a gong at 150m , an that is my absolute max, 100m is preferred and under... i find the front bead takes up too much animal or in thick bush limits placement an confidence, i filed this down thinner an helped alot... i also use williams peep sight an my 100m grouping inproved dramatically.

    I have shot larger deer similiar to Elk, called Sambar deer, lung an heart shots often resulted in pass through and running short distance - similiar to bow hunting.

    ive not shot them with the 'lower' load yet , maybe this month some time! but the smaller deer have DRT an also lunged an ran out an piled up.

    Your penetrtion im goin to say will be 100% in most instances within 100m or so, an Distance will be pending how far out you can consistantly hit a 10 inch round gong say, from different distance first time each time, after 150 my trajectory cancels me out for point and shoot.... (if loaded hot 375 would extend this but i dont need it)

    Last edited by HD.375; 10-24-2021 at 07:55 AM.

  2. #42
    Boolit Master
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    Resurrecting an old thread I know. Since this thread I have purchased a Henry & a Winchester 94ae rebored by JES both 38-55. A Win. 375 XTR & a Ruger #3 in 375 Win. I must say that I couldn't be happier with a caliber than I am with these. OK up close & personal the 44 carbines & rifle are great. But getting all the potential out of a modern rifle is the kicks. Not as much rainbow with these rifles & with realistic loads getting in the 1700-1800 fps range is not impossible, using a PC'd 250 grain PB, or bevel based bullet. I took a young spike with the Lee 379-250 bevel based bullet (kinda soft) PC'd at about 1650 fps. The deer was coming at a frontal shot & turned slightly at about 65 yds to a slightly quartering shot & I let one fly hitting right behind the right shoulder & exiting to the opposite side next to the processed chow exit. What I found inside blew me away. That low vel. bullet destroyed all intrails behind the heart, the liver was completely gone & the intestines found was about 20%. Never would I have expected that much damage. I think I need to use a little firmer bullet alloy but the penetration was tops.

  3. #43
    Boolit Master Cast10's Avatar
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    Good job! What BHN you use? Mine is 11.2ish and have only killed a hog.

  4. #44
    Boolit Master

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    Quote Originally Posted by versa-06 View Post
    Resurrecting an old thread I know. Since this thread I have purchased a Henry & a Winchester 94ae rebored by JES both 38-55. A Win. 375 XTR & a Ruger #3 in 375 Win. I must say that I couldn't be happier with a caliber than I am with these. OK up close & personal the 44 carbines & rifle are great. But getting all the potential out of a modern rifle is the kicks. Not as much rainbow with these rifles & with realistic loads getting in the 1700-1800 fps range is not impossible, using a PC'd 250 grain PB, or bevel based bullet. I took a young spike with the Lee 379-250 bevel based bullet (kinda soft) PC'd at about 1650 fps. The deer was coming at a frontal shot & turned slightly at about 65 yds to a slightly quartering shot & I let one fly hitting right behind the right shoulder & exiting to the opposite side next to the processed chow exit. What I found inside blew me away. That low vel. bullet destroyed all intrails behind the heart, the liver was completely gone & the intestines found was about 20%. Never would I have expected that much damage. I think I need to use a little firmer bullet alloy but the penetration was tops.
    LOL! Yeah, there's a lot to love with the 38-55, wish I still had one! I used to load the Lee bullet to around 1500 fps with much the same results, with an alloy of 94-3-3. Bang, flop. There's a reason the hunters of yesteryear thought so highly of the 38-55, I wish I'd never sold it............
    "We take a thousand moments for granted thinking there will be a thousand more to come. Each day, each breath, each beat of your heart is a gift. Live with love & joy, tomorrow is not promised to anyone......"

    unknown

  5. #45
    Boolit Master
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    Cast10; I don't know the BHN. It was some alloy I had that started as cww but was not fluxed properly. I figured it would be kinda soft but wow I mean gutted the animal.

  6. #46
    Boolit Master
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    Have not shot bear or bison but every thing else has dropped within 100 yards of where they were hit. It drops hogs as if they were poleaxed if I did my part. It seems to perform much better than the .45-70.

  7. #47
    Boolit Grand Master
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    just love the .38-55. so far, it has worked first time - every time. barnes seems to have dropped the fabulous 255 grain bullet from inventory ~ too bad. hawk makes a selection of fine soft jacketed bullets for the .38-55. I've tried a couple home cast and have settled on a 235 grain ranch dog as a top performer. have taken deer only, so far, with all the above and I don't have a complaint with any of them.

  8. #48
    Boolit Grand Master Tripplebeards's Avatar
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    That’s awesome!… thanks for sharing!!!

  9. #49
    Boolit Master MarkP's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Mk42gunner View Post
    versa-06, I don't know for sure, I've not had the chronograph setup when I was shooting my .38-55. I'm going to guess that you can push the PB Lee to somewhere around 15-1600 fps. How PC effects that, I have no clue.

    I've also not been deer hunting in the last ten years or so (hurt my back), but if I were to use my .38-55, I would go for an accurate load first then find out how fast it was going. After all the BP era loads with a 255gr FP were supposed to kill deer fine, and deer haven't gotten any tougher.

    Robert
    I am shooting the LEE 379 250 gr in my Chief Crazy Horse at 1,700 ish (RL-7) lubed with LAR's BAC with no issues. Still pretty low pressures to get to this velocity pressure and velocity matter not just velocity alone.

  10. #50
    Boolit Master Rapier's Avatar
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    Last year traded an AR for a 375 XTR. A very nice Win rifle, not crazy about the top eject, but it will do for our "big" game. Primarily intended to be used for wild hogs. The 375 loads correctly with the long 38-55s brass sold by Star-Line. Regular 38-55 brass is a bit short. I was able to find Star-Line 375 brass and a 270 grain flat point, plain base, mould for powder coating.
    Still considering the sight setup for current and future use, on that Winny.
    “There is a remedy for all things, save death.“
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  11. #51
    Boolit Master marshall623's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Rapier View Post
    Last year traded an AR for a 375 XTR. A very nice Win rifle, not crazy about the top eject, but it will do for our "big" game. Primarily intended to be used for wild hogs. The 375 loads correctly with the long 38-55s brass sold by Star-Line. Regular 38-55 brass is a bit short. I was able to find Star-Line 375 brass and a 270 grain flat point, plain base, mould for powder coating.
    Still considering the sight setup for current and future use, on that Winny.
    Rapier , I put a Williams 5D made for 94's on my 375 XTR . I had to file out the back of the sight on the side toward the hammer . The 375's are beefed up in the rear of the receiver. It turned out just fine , I went the route of the receiver sight because they work better for me . Williams used to make the sight to fit those but it's discontinued.

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    Jesus said ( Come unto me, all ye that labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest ) Matt. 11:28

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Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check