Bought my myself an early birthday present today. 1894 Winchester made 1905-1906 in .38-55 I am going to be shooting it with black powder only and will get Starline brass next week. What type of non jacketed bullets should I be looking for. Externally the rifle is pretty crappy looking almost no blueing left and lots of pitting but the bore is almost mint no corrosion or pitting at all so it should be good shooter and thats why I chose it over the much prettier more expensive one with almost no rifling left that eas available at the time.
.38-55 correct lead bullet
- Thread starter Eric Manhattan
- Start date
EricManhatten: Most .38-55's of that era accepted bullets of about .379"-.380". Since varying bore diameters are fairly common with the old boomers, it's recommended to slug your rifle's bore, before purchasing bullets.
Original loadings for the .38-55 featured a 255-grain lead bullet. Though anywhere around that weight seems to work quite well. I have not tried any of the 245 grain slugs advertised on the Rusty Wood site. But, I have found that the 250-grain/.379" cast Lee bullet is a good fit in many of these rifles. Plus, delivers good accuracy(By average lever rifle standards) and performance. Depending on the alloy(Lyman #2, for example) the Lee mold will typically drop slightly larger diameter bullets...about .380".
Original loadings for the .38-55 featured a 255-grain lead bullet. Though anywhere around that weight seems to work quite well. I have not tried any of the 245 grain slugs advertised on the Rusty Wood site. But, I have found that the 250-grain/.379" cast Lee bullet is a good fit in many of these rifles. Plus, delivers good accuracy(By average lever rifle standards) and performance. Depending on the alloy(Lyman #2, for example) the Lee mold will typically drop slightly larger diameter bullets...about .380".
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250 grain is the ticket.
I use an oversize bullet; a .379, but it's got a sewer pipe bore.
It'll still shoot, probably got a half dozen deer with it. Fast powder and can't get too fast as far as FPS. Still grips the remaining rifling.
Loves 250's
I use an oversize bullet; a .379, but it's got a sewer pipe bore.
It'll still shoot, probably got a half dozen deer with it. Fast powder and can't get too fast as far as FPS. Still grips the remaining rifling.
Loves 250's
The problem with many of these rifles, was an oversize bore and thick Winchester brass. If you used a bullet with the correct diameter for the bore, the cartridge was too fat to enter the chamber. A soft bullet will bump up a bit to fill the grooves, but a hard cast bullet might not.
Last year, I bought a 1905 94 from a gent who had a custom mould from Accurate, made up to shoot .384 bullets.
I got a supply of bullets with the rifle, so I haven't cast any with the mould .
Your choice of Starline brass is good. They are thinner than the Winchester and can use correct bullets. I hope it was the long 2.125 inch cases.
For years, Winchester was making their 38/55 cases from the same blanks as their 30/30 brass, and the the cases came out short at 2.08 inches.
Ironically, I have a custom Ruger #1 that Ron Smith had made up in the eighties. Using the long Starline brass, it took a bit of extra effort the close the action. I then noticed that closing the action on a load with the long Starline brass was crimping the bullet into the case. Mr. Smith was chambering it for the non-standard 2.08 cases, because that was the only brass available at that time.
Last year, I bought a 1905 94 from a gent who had a custom mould from Accurate, made up to shoot .384 bullets.
I got a supply of bullets with the rifle, so I haven't cast any with the mould .
Your choice of Starline brass is good. They are thinner than the Winchester and can use correct bullets. I hope it was the long 2.125 inch cases.
For years, Winchester was making their 38/55 cases from the same blanks as their 30/30 brass, and the the cases came out short at 2.08 inches.
Ironically, I have a custom Ruger #1 that Ron Smith had made up in the eighties. Using the long Starline brass, it took a bit of extra effort the close the action. I then noticed that closing the action on a load with the long Starline brass was crimping the bullet into the case. Mr. Smith was chambering it for the non-standard 2.08 cases, because that was the only brass available at that time.
I have an old marlin 38/55 with a black powder barrel, havent shot ut but i have 100 brass cases I bought a few years ago. I knew there were two sizes and with your info now I can measure the brass and figure out what I have. I would imagine the BP rifle takes the shorter cartridge. Is there a safe modern powder for these or stick to BP? Thanks again for info i will follow this thread for more.
Cheers Bob
Cheers Bob
The longer case is what I was getting. Thank you.
OLD guns take old style longer brass. Newer made rifles sometimes need the Winchester 2.08 length brass. Like H and R New Englander want the 2.08 brass. Pedersolie rolling blocks do not. FUN hu?
Your mileage with everthing will be a seach into frustation.
Your mileage with everthing will be a seach into frustation.
Bob, your rifle would be chambered for the longer 2.125 inch case, which was the standard back then.
My short chambered rifle is the anomaly.
Thankyou, I will mic the brass and hopefully have the right ones. I got them on a clearance table at a great price.
possibly a re-barrel at some time , sounds like you won the lottery
short brass does work in the longer chamber but may result in some build up at the leade area, or not
just be aware and clean if required. Short is almost 1/2 price of long, and can carry over to newer chambers without trimming
good idea to check the head space also on the old girls, they can be sloppy
easy to do your self without special tools, using just some tape
