casting for 38-55
- Thread starter joebanana
- Start date
This seems to be the most common calibre that doesn't have a semi-standard diameter for boolits.
A .357 mag for example might not slug at .357" exactly but it would likely be close, and .358"ish boolits seem to shoot well for a lot of people. But .38-55 seems to be all over depending on the maker of the gun, with some liking boolits from .375-.382"
I just have the Lee mold so far and it's working good for me dropping .380-381" if I recall.
A .357 mag for example might not slug at .357" exactly but it would likely be close, and .358"ish boolits seem to shoot well for a lot of people. But .38-55 seems to be all over depending on the maker of the gun, with some liking boolits from .375-.382"
I just have the Lee mold so far and it's working good for me dropping .380-381" if I recall.
I have a M94 "Legendary Frontiersman" built around 1980.
I have slugged it and the groove diameter is .3775"
Cast bullets of .379" - .380" shoot the best in it
The .375" diameter 220 grain Hornady keyholes from my rifle.
My first step would be to slug your friend's rifle bore to find out what groove diameter it is. Then you can determine what bullet to cast for it, keeping in mind .002" over groove diameter is usually about right.
Regards, Eagleye.
I have slugged it and the groove diameter is .3775"
Cast bullets of .379" - .380" shoot the best in it
The .375" diameter 220 grain Hornady keyholes from my rifle.
My first step would be to slug your friend's rifle bore to find out what groove diameter it is. Then you can determine what bullet to cast for it, keeping in mind .002" over groove diameter is usually about right.
Regards, Eagleye.
Ben-
Do you think plain WW would be too hard or should I go with softer lead? What do you like for powder in this round? I shoot a lot of 45-70 and figure this should work well with less of the same powders.
Sorry for all the questions but have any of you tried making brass from 30-30's or should I just buy 38-55 brass?
The 38-55 can be a headache to reload for in some instances. Some times the bore is bigger than the brass will allow to be chambered and you have to really make the bullet soft and shoot at slower speeds.
What I mean by that statement is lets say the bore slugs out to .381, usually with WW's or Lyman #2 hardness of lead you should size the bullet to .382. Well the problem with this is two fold, one you can't find a common sizing die to perform this and two, the round will not chamber.
You can get a machinist to make you the sizing die, problem one solved. Jump over to Castboolits website and get a hold of Buckshot, he can make you a Lyman/RCBS sizing die or a Lee Push Thru style of any size you want.
Problem two. Brass throat wall is to thick. Starline brass is much thinner than regular Winchester or other brands wall thickness. I got some at a gun show in the spring and I am not sure who stocks it in Canada but if you can get some it is a life saver if you have an original winchester 94.
These two cases are the extreme and are by no means common unless you have a 100 year old Winchester 94 but since you say you have a commemorative version 94 then the common Lee bullet will probably do just fine.
I would slug the bore first to see what you need as far a size goes and let us know what you have.
Fireforming brass is easy. If I have a bunch to fire form I usually show up at the range first thing in the morning and get to it. If anyone is there I show them the brass and tell them what I am doing and no questions are asked. If you start shooting your rifle in the air without anyone knowing what you are doing you will get some backlash and right quick like. lol
Sometimes it is not needed as I just anneal the brass first and run it in a .357 mag die and then in the 38-55 die. Both are about the same, sometimes they split but 30-30 brass is cheap and easy to find.
As a side note the starline brass are the correct original size for the 38-55 2.125" all others have been standardized to 2.080 sometime back. Your rifle will be the small length chamber as it is produced since Winchester quite making the 94 in 38-55 in the 40's.
For me the best results I have in the 38-55 for powder is IMR3031, there are lots of different powders and some will work better than others.
Slug the barrel and let us know what you have and we can work from there.
What I mean by that statement is lets say the bore slugs out to .381, usually with WW's or Lyman #2 hardness of lead you should size the bullet to .382. Well the problem with this is two fold, one you can't find a common sizing die to perform this and two, the round will not chamber.
You can get a machinist to make you the sizing die, problem one solved. Jump over to Castboolits website and get a hold of Buckshot, he can make you a Lyman/RCBS sizing die or a Lee Push Thru style of any size you want.
Problem two. Brass throat wall is to thick. Starline brass is much thinner than regular Winchester or other brands wall thickness. I got some at a gun show in the spring and I am not sure who stocks it in Canada but if you can get some it is a life saver if you have an original winchester 94.
These two cases are the extreme and are by no means common unless you have a 100 year old Winchester 94 but since you say you have a commemorative version 94 then the common Lee bullet will probably do just fine.
I would slug the bore first to see what you need as far a size goes and let us know what you have.
Fireforming brass is easy. If I have a bunch to fire form I usually show up at the range first thing in the morning and get to it. If anyone is there I show them the brass and tell them what I am doing and no questions are asked. If you start shooting your rifle in the air without anyone knowing what you are doing you will get some backlash and right quick like. lol
Sometimes it is not needed as I just anneal the brass first and run it in a .357 mag die and then in the 38-55 die. Both are about the same, sometimes they split but 30-30 brass is cheap and easy to find.
As a side note the starline brass are the correct original size for the 38-55 2.125" all others have been standardized to 2.080 sometime back. Your rifle will be the small length chamber as it is produced since Winchester quite making the 94 in 38-55 in the 40's.
For me the best results I have in the 38-55 for powder is IMR3031, there are lots of different powders and some will work better than others.
Slug the barrel and let us know what you have and we can work from there.
For this work I'd mix the wheelweights 50/50 with pure lead or even more pure lead, scrap dealer should have pure lead, I had good luck with RL-7 or Black powder, some like 4227. You have some experimenting to do with bore size and case neck tension.
