RepackboxInline FabricationMidSouth Shooters SupplyWideners
RotoMetals2Lee PrecisionReloading EverythingLoad Data
Titan Reloading
Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast
Results 1 to 20 of 23

Thread: 38-40 ammo

  1. #1
    Boolit Master
    triggerhappy243's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2014
    Location
    Albuquerque N.M.
    Posts
    2,145

    38-40 ammo

    i came across this box of factory 38-40 ammo. it came in a big buyout i did 3 years ago, and now just got to the bottom of the box and to my surprise.................. no use for it.
    Attached Thumbnails Attached Thumbnails 323770059_879124610207235_9219940533315162028_n.jpg  

  2. #2
    Boolit Master

    Eddie Southgate's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2016
    Location
    Southern Middle Tennessee/ Hillsboro Alabama
    Posts
    1,177
    I Killed a deer with one of those in my Winchester '92 early in the season. Not a lot of 38-40 around here but I found one box of the Western and a bag of some modern stuff. Good find.
    Grumpy Old Man With A Gun....... Do Not Touch !!

  3. #3
    Boolit Master

    pworley1's Avatar
    Join Date
    Dec 2013
    Location
    Mississippi
    Posts
    3,253
    Somebody will be wanting those, or they could be a good excuse to get a 92 to shoot them.
    NRA Benefactor Member NRA Golden Eagle

  4. #4
    If the box has a K code, then typically 1940's and loaded with about 16gr of Sharpshooter powder. If it's a 3840 code, then typically 1950's and loaded with about 15gr of ball powder.

  5. #5
    Boolit Master
    Join Date
    Mar 2013
    Location
    Northeast
    Posts
    2,893
    A friend of mine inherited an original Winchester in 38-40. She doesn't shoot but I've been collecting components - brass, bullets - in case she wants to shoot the rifle. It's as nice an antique rifle as I've ever seen. I managed to get her to will it to me.
    The rifle is marked 38WCF, but it's actually a 40 caliber round. For some reason, Winchester switched the numbers (should be 40-38).

  6. #6
    Quote Originally Posted by Battis View Post
    A friend of mine inherited an original Winchester in 38-40. She doesn't shoot but I've been collecting components - brass, bullets - in case she wants to shoot the rifle. It's as nice an antique rifle as I've ever seen. I managed to get her to will it to me.
    The rifle is marked 38WCF, but it's actually a 40 caliber round. For some reason, Winchester switched the numbers (should be 40-38).
    Nope, was originally a 40 cal bullet with 40gr of back powder...should have been a 40-40

  7. #7
    Boolit Master
    Join Date
    Mar 2013
    Location
    Northeast
    Posts
    2,893
    How was I wrong? I mentioned that it was marked 38WCF, but was actually a 40 caliber bullet. To be consistent with other caliber markings (45-70, 30-40, 50-70, etc) it should have been marked 40-38.

  8. #8
    Quote Originally Posted by Battis View Post
    How was I wrong? I mentioned that it was marked 38WCF, but was actually a 40 caliber bullet. To be consistent with other caliber markings (45-70, 30-40, 50-70, etc) it should have been marked 40-38.
    Because, for this explanation, the number after the dash was introduced by Union Metallic Cartridge Company, by 1894 for Marlin, for the amount of black powder used. Thus Marlin started using the 38-40/44-40 rather than using the "WCF" designation. Not necessarily the case for other dash cartridges.

    38 WCF = Winchester Repeating Arms Company (Winchester Ammunition)
    38-40 = Union Metallic Cartridge Company, for Marlin

    45-70 = 70gr black powder
    30-30 = 30gr smokeless powder
    30-40 Krag= 40gr smokeless powder
    50-70 = 70gr black powder

    32-20 = 20gr black powder
    32-40 = 40gr black powder
    38-40 = 40gr black powder
    44-40 = 40gr black powder
    Last edited by Savvy Jack; 01-04-2023 at 01:38 PM.

  9. #9
    Boolit Master
    Join Date
    Mar 2013
    Location
    Northeast
    Posts
    2,893
    I was mainly referring to the caliber of the bullet, as pictured in the original post.
    The rifle is marked 38WCF, so someone might assume that it's a 38 caliber bullet. It's not.
    I posted,
    The rifle is marked 38WCF, but it's actually a 40 caliber round.

    Deep stuff...

  10. #10
    Quote Originally Posted by Battis View Post
    I was mainly referring to the caliber of the bullet, as pictured in the original post.
    The rifle is marked 38WCF, so someone might assume that it's a 38 caliber bullet. It's not.
    I posted,
    The rifle is marked 38WCF, but it's actually a 40 caliber round.

    Deep stuff...
    Ah, I think I understand now, "40-38" meaning a "40 cal but not 38 cal" rather than "40 cal" and "38gr" of black powder.

  11. #11
    Boolit Master
    Join Date
    Mar 2013
    Location
    Northeast
    Posts
    2,893
    Something like that. The question is, why did they mark the rifle "38WCF"? Musta had a good reason...

  12. #12
    Boolit Master
    triggerhappy243's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2014
    Location
    Albuquerque N.M.
    Posts
    2,145
    firearms and ammo industry does weird things that make little to no sense. Like the 44 mag............... not 44 cal, but .429 cal. why was it not named the 42 or 43 mag?

  13. #13
    Boolit Buddy Chili's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2009
    Location
    Low Country of South Carolina
    Posts
    126
    Quote Originally Posted by triggerhappy243 View Post
    firearms and ammo industry does weird things that make little to no sense. Like the 44 mag............... not 44 cal, but .429 cal. why was it not named the 42 or 43 mag?
    That is because at the beginning of the cartridge era, they used heel type bullet (think of a 22LR round) that was actually 38 or 44 or 45 caliber. When they went to seating the bullet inside the case, the bullet diameter had to be reduced. The original cartridge name stayed the same.

    Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk

  14. #14
    Boolit Master Bad Ass Wallace's Avatar
    Join Date
    May 2005
    Location
    Australia
    Posts
    1,957
    One of my favourite rounds, even just for plinkin. This pair of rifles carry consecutive serial no's and were made in the first year of production 1892!

    Hold Still Varmint; while I plugs Yer!

  15. #15
    Boolit Master
    Join Date
    Jan 2008
    Location
    North South Dakota
    Posts
    618
    WOW that IS bad-ass
    Nice to see pic, thanks

  16. #16
    Boolit Buddy
    Join Date
    Dec 2013
    Posts
    181
    I started with a Ruger convertible in 10mm/38-40. I didn't like chasing brass in the Colt Delta. Then came a pair of Uberti Cattelman then a Marlin or 3. The Remington 14 1/2 pump was next also hardest to find and the last another Uberti 1885 low wall. I'm not sure but I think that's all of them. I still have all of them, someday I should look for a Winchester.

    Bill

  17. #17
    Boolit Bub Jungle Dave's Avatar
    Join Date
    Mar 2023
    Posts
    74
    Dad had a Colt SAA in .38-40 when I was very young. Sold it or gave it away, can't remember, but back then everyone just thought of them as past their prime. Anyway, that box looks similar to the one I remember having the shells in it. The blue, red, and yellow.

  18. #18
    Boolit Buddy Chili's Avatar
    Join Date
    Nov 2009
    Location
    Low Country of South Carolina
    Posts
    126
    Quote Originally Posted by Chili View Post
    That is because at the beginning of the cartridge era, they used heel type bullet (think of a 22LR round) that was actually 38 or 44 or 45 caliber. When they went to seating the bullet inside the case, the bullet diameter had to be reduced. The original cartridge name stayed the same.

    Sent from my SM-G955U using Tapatalk
    This right here folks!

    Sent from my SM-S918U using Tapatalk

  19. #19
    Boolit Buddy eastbank's Avatar
    Join Date
    Oct 2019
    Posts
    303
    Click image for larger version. 

Name:	DSCN9496 (2).jpg 
Views:	3 
Size:	144.8 KB 
ID:	315027Click image for larger version. 

Name:	DSCN8322.jpg 
Views:	3 
Size:	102.8 KB 
ID:	315028my three 38-40,s, a model 73, a model 92 and a colt bisley./ i shoot all three./

  20. #20
    Boolit Buddy

    Join Date
    Aug 2019
    Location
    Tavernier, FL Fredericktown, PA
    Posts
    455
    I load for a couple of 38-40wcf guns. I plink my iron targets with a cast boolit but 40 S&W Jacketed Hollow points work good! You can really steam em up with 27grs of 4227. Shooting them in a Marlin 94

Page 1 of 2 12 LastLast

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •  
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