I recently acquired a Pedersoli High Wall in 38-55 (1-12 twist). I have shot 320 gr bullets with excellent results. I have heard some silhouette shooters use 360 - 370 gr bullets in this very fine rifle. I have a mold a .381" 370 gr mold on its way to me. Would anyone have some heavy bullet load data (BP and smokeless) that they would be willing to share. Thank you!
Pedersoli High Wall 38-55 Loads
- Thread starter ken1989
- Start date
I've got the Uberti version which apparently uses Pedersoli actions and barrels. From slugging my bore I got a groove diameter of .376. If yours is the same I'd suggest that .381 might be a bit large.
I don't know if you've been reading around about the .38-55 but if you do or have you'll learn about its sordid history. And if you have you learned that .38-55 comes in two sizes. The early single shot guns used a bore with a groove diameter of closer to .375 to 377. When it came out in the later lever rifles it somehow grew up to more like .379 to .381.
Bottom line is that I'd suggest you find a hunk of dead soft lead (muzzle loader round balls work superbly) and slug your bore and measure your groove diameter. It may well be that you need the smaller size mold.
If this is your first .38-55 I know you're going to love it. It's a round that kicks softly enough that you can shoot it all day and not get a shocky shoulder. Can't say the same thing about a .45-70 gun. And oddly enough pretty well all the .45-70 owners I know will quietly admit to that once lubed up with a couple of cold ones.
I recently found a 300gn mold that drops at .377. I've yet to do any casting with it but I'm looking forward to having a go at it pretty soon. So I'll be watching your thread for load information as well.
If you're looking at trying some accuracy BP shooting I can share a tip I got off a BP guy shooting .30-40 Krag from a falling block. He controlled his pressure consistency with small changes of 1 to 4 grains depending on the temperature of the day by using the change in powder compression. Also he was weighing the charges and not using a volume measure. If you're serious about accuracy you won't use a volume measure for black powder any more than you would for smokeless.
For the weight and volume of our .38-55 cases we're sort of on the cuff of using 3f or 2f. If you try some black powder loads you'll probably want to see which works best. Hopefully someone that has done some BP loading will be along to provide more than that.
By the way, the helpful and interesting guy that put me on to that trick of controlling the amount of charge compression was also shooting paper patched bullets. And from the groupings he was getting (DAMN SMALL!) it was working very well without the need for swabbing the bore. While I was there shooting my own rolling block he put probably 20 rounds downrange and never cleaned the bore as I recall. A method that would be unheard of for regular bullets with black powder friendly lube. As a result of seeing that I've been looking into paper patching and will likely try it a bit later this year.
For my own shooting so far I've been running with lighter bullets than what you're looking at. So far I've shot loads using IMR4227, AA5744 and H4198. Of the three my best results so far have been with the H4198. If that will transfer over to the heavier bullets I don't know yet. I've also not chronoed the loads but base on what I've read I try to pick loads that SHOULD be running at around 1300fps.
I don't know if you've been reading around about the .38-55 but if you do or have you'll learn about its sordid history. And if you have you learned that .38-55 comes in two sizes. The early single shot guns used a bore with a groove diameter of closer to .375 to 377. When it came out in the later lever rifles it somehow grew up to more like .379 to .381.
Bottom line is that I'd suggest you find a hunk of dead soft lead (muzzle loader round balls work superbly) and slug your bore and measure your groove diameter. It may well be that you need the smaller size mold.
If this is your first .38-55 I know you're going to love it. It's a round that kicks softly enough that you can shoot it all day and not get a shocky shoulder. Can't say the same thing about a .45-70 gun. And oddly enough pretty well all the .45-70 owners I know will quietly admit to that once lubed up with a couple of cold ones.
I recently found a 300gn mold that drops at .377. I've yet to do any casting with it but I'm looking forward to having a go at it pretty soon. So I'll be watching your thread for load information as well.
If you're looking at trying some accuracy BP shooting I can share a tip I got off a BP guy shooting .30-40 Krag from a falling block. He controlled his pressure consistency with small changes of 1 to 4 grains depending on the temperature of the day by using the change in powder compression. Also he was weighing the charges and not using a volume measure. If you're serious about accuracy you won't use a volume measure for black powder any more than you would for smokeless.
For the weight and volume of our .38-55 cases we're sort of on the cuff of using 3f or 2f. If you try some black powder loads you'll probably want to see which works best. Hopefully someone that has done some BP loading will be along to provide more than that.
By the way, the helpful and interesting guy that put me on to that trick of controlling the amount of charge compression was also shooting paper patched bullets. And from the groupings he was getting (DAMN SMALL!) it was working very well without the need for swabbing the bore. While I was there shooting my own rolling block he put probably 20 rounds downrange and never cleaned the bore as I recall. A method that would be unheard of for regular bullets with black powder friendly lube. As a result of seeing that I've been looking into paper patching and will likely try it a bit later this year.
For my own shooting so far I've been running with lighter bullets than what you're looking at. So far I've shot loads using IMR4227, AA5744 and H4198. Of the three my best results so far have been with the H4198. If that will transfer over to the heavier bullets I don't know yet. I've also not chronoed the loads but base on what I've read I try to pick loads that SHOULD be running at around 1300fps.
The Pedersoli High Wall in 38-55 uses 2.12" brass and slugs to .380"
My understanding is that Pedersoli uses Uberti actions but heat treats the actions differently.
Pedersoli uses their own barrels and from what I have read are of higher quality than Uberti barrels.
My understanding is that Pedersoli uses Uberti actions but heat treats the actions differently.
Pedersoli uses their own barrels and from what I have read are of higher quality than Uberti barrels.
Ken are you aware of the Black Powder Cartridge News magazine? It used to be published by Steve Garbe and has some nice rticles. One of them was by Kenny Durham regarding your new rifle and load development. I can dig up the issue number if you want. The back issue might still be available.
Chris.
Chris.
