looking to buy 38-55 blackpowder ammo
- Thread starter irish mic
- Start date
- Location
- Golden Lake
You might have to advertise for someone to custom load some black powder rounds for you. Or load them yourself.
Ellwood Epps sells factory loaded .38-55 smokeless rounds.
Ellwood Epps sells factory loaded .38-55 smokeless rounds.
- Location
- Alberta, let freedom reign!
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Bullet barn 38-55 bullets are not molded with BP grooves...For BP you want 4 lube grooves or more.. BB bullets only have two lube grooves and are lubed with smokeless lube. You want to use a BP lube like Emmerts. Commercially cast bullets from BB have a BH of 20-25. You want something softer around BH 15 for BP. Also look for bullets that are 1-2 thou over bore size. Maybe some one in your area can cast up some for you to try.
You don't need to use BP. Your rifle has been used with smokeless powder cartridges for over a 100 years. You can still buy 38-55 ammo. WSS had some a couple months ago. Epps will order it for you. You will NOT be able to find commercially loaded BP cartridges in Canada.
The number of lube grooves in a cast bullet is immaterial with regards to using BP or smokeless lube.
The number of lube grooves in a cast bullet is immaterial with regards to using BP or smokeless lube.
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jethunter is 100% correct. Even the old 1893 Marlins marked "BLACK POWDER ONLY" are perfectly safe with the mild factory loads made in smokeless. The old high velocity .38/55 smokeless loads haven't been loaded for 60 or 70 years, they were not meant for the older black powder era rifles. Buffalo Arms in the US does load a bunch of rounds in black powder but I don't know if they are sold in Canada. If I owned an 1881 Marlin in .38/55 I would look for them if I didn't handload. Any 1894 in good working order is safe with the smokeless factory loads made in the last several decades.
This is great to know as I have a Marlin in 38-55 and it says Black powder only on the barrel! Where can I pick up a couple boxes of these??
fingers284
CGN Ultra frequent flyer
- Location
- Alberta Cowboy Ranges
I agree with Jet on this one, I have used SLG and multiple LG bullets in both B/P and smokeless with good results.
As well I have used B B and Cactus Plains hard cast with so called smokeless hard wax lube in BP loads with some success HOWEVER you need to change from contemporary BP load thinking.
Bullet lube in a smokeless load only has to help prevent leading while the ultimate lube in a BP round is wanted to prevent leading as well as softening the BP residue.
The thing is, when using a hard wax lubed bullet in a BP round, it still helps prevent leading but allows a hard, dry fowling to form after very few rounds, deteriorating accuracy very quickly...they can still be used quit effectively but bore cleaning after every 3 or 4 rounds is mandatory. A 10 round sting with any accuracy is impossible.
Another "fix" for hard lubed bullets in BP rounds is to use a BP lube "grease cookie" such as SPG (or any other home mix formula) between bullet and powder when building the rounds. A simple way to use common commercial cast bullets in BP rounds and have both soft fowling and controlling leading.
I doubt there is anywhere in the USA that can/would export loaded ammo to you LEGALLY. It is USA export restrictions and not Canadian import restrictions. If you have a buddy who reloads rifle shells, buy your dies, brass and cast bullets and make a deal with him to load them for you - either low pressure smokeless or BP. If you load BP, there are bullet lubes like SPG that are specifically intended for lubing cast bullets being shot with BP. SPG is softer than lubes used with smokeless loads.
