.38-55 questions...

Swiend

Swiend

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Hi all, a few years back an uncle of a family friend passed away leaving a bunch of hunting gear. All of the firearms were distributed amongst the immediate family leaving quite a bit of odds and ends that no one wanted. I was asked if I'd be interested in a fishing tackle box with some old ammunition in it that no one claimed. Of course I said yes and opened it up to find a bunch of .38-55 Winchester ammo inside. 88 rounds to be exact. I searched online for what type of firearm these were intended for and found out that these were used primarily in Winchester, Marlin and Savage lever action guns.
Is this ammo hard to find? Too bad that it wasn't 44-40 rounds, I have an old Rossi lever chambered in that. Any info or advice on what to do with it would be appreciated!🙂👍
 

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From my limited experience, I think 38-55 used to be used as a target round by some. Apparently my GrandPa (near Big River Sask.) in 1930's had a lever action rifle of some sort, chambered to that cartridge - neighbours would borrow it to get their winter moose. If you are looking at various factory rounds - be cognizant that there was more than one bullet weight (usually) - you might want to sort it accordingly
 
Maybe a correction - as per Wikipedia, it looks like 255 grain was most common bullet weight - diameter of original 38-55 is a bit odd-sized - 0.3775".

No doubt someone will have used 0.375" bullets and will say they worked fine in their rifle. The "newer" 375 Winchester is more powerful and higher pressure cartridge than the older 38-55, although one might fit into the other.
 
Swiend said:
Hi all, a few years back an uncle of a family friend passed away leaving a bunch of hunting gear. All of the firearms were distributed amongst the immediate family leaving quite a bit of odds and ends that no one wanted. I was asked if I'd be interested in a fishing tackle box with some old ammunition in it that no one claimed. Of course I said yes and opened it up to find a bunch of .38-55 Winchester ammo inside. 88 rounds to be exact. I searched online for what type of firearm these were intended for and found out that these were used primarily in Winchester, Marlin and Savage lever action guns.
Is this ammo hard to find? Too bad that it wasn't 44-40 rounds, I have an old Rossi lever chambered in that. Any info or advice on what to do with it would be appreciated!🙂👍
Click to expand...
When I had my gun shop for close to four years, I had 38-55 ammo on order for the entire time, not one box showed up.....:(

I doubt things have changed much since I retired two years ago. That 38-55 ammunition is valuable these days.

I've seen 38-55 ammo at well over $100.00 per box......:(

https://www.midwayusa.com/product/2900113519?pid=278170

Someone on here will buy it from you. I bet they would gladly pay you $50.00 per box, or even more..........:unsure:

https://rustywood.ca/shop_home/p-c-i-ammo-38-55-wcf-245gr/

If all eight boxes are full, you are sitting on $400.00-$500.00 worth of ammunition there.....:)

I see now it's five boxes of ammo, it's still worth $350.00, or more to the right buyer. If I had a 38-55, I would buy it. It's about as difficult to find as 375 Winchester. 375 Winchester can bring well over a $100.00 per box at gun shows.
 
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Originally the 38-55 was a Ballard rifle target cartridge in the late 1800's. Like the 32-40 as well. They were basically "stolen" by Winchester who renamed them with their company name but didn't change the cartridge at all :). They were both used in falling block target rifles including the Winchester 1885 single shot rifle. In the end Winchester put them both into their 1894 lever action repeaters which became very popular and outsold the single shot rifles. This is why most people think of them as lever gun cartridges.

That ammo is very expensive to buy, although most who shoot the 38-55 load their own cartridges and use cast bullets instead.

Chris.
 
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