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For starters what 38-55 are you wanting to load for? bullet diameter is all over the map.38-55 brass came in two lengths get the long one .Starline makes it and it is available at Rusty Wood in BC.If you are going to be using cast get the cowboy dies as that's what they were designed for.Jet bullets here in Alberta makes a lovely 270gr FNGC in several sizes.Looks like the Lyman 375296 mold.I am shooting these in a custom re-bored Marlin 336 formerly a 30-30 and getting 1-1.25" groups at 100 yards 1620fps.IMR 3031 or RE#7 is VG in this caliber in that order.What model of gun you are using will dictate how warm a load you can use safely.Tell us more.
Ron Smith is in Winbourn AB cut it with a 1-16 twist and .376 groove so .377 or .375 jacketed can be used.I'm shooting .379 cast nowadays he is only taking on work he is interested in or if he likes you.Bob Jury in Red Deer has also started to do some re-bores as well as make barrels.
Good questions
I shoot cowboy action so wanted a period correct long gun for long range shooting maybe out to 350 yds. I got a Chiappa mini sharps in 38-55. The only other shooter that I know who uses the 38-55 uses a 250 gr bullet and the shorter case. The bullets will have to be lead with round nose (not a problem for me - mine is a single shot). I get reloading stuff from Rusty and see that he can supply the Starline cases.
I use Trail Boss for my other guns and was hoping to use it for the Chiappa as well. I am starting to think I may have to go the more traditional way. I am familiar with 3031 and 4350 from my hunting rifles. What are your thoughts on the Trail Boss?
Gerry
I shoot cowboy action so wanted a period correct long gun for long range shooting maybe out to 350 yds. I got a Chiappa mini sharps in 38-55. The only other shooter that I know who uses the 38-55 uses a 250 gr bullet and the shorter case. The bullets will have to be lead with round nose (not a problem for me - mine is a single shot). I get reloading stuff from Rusty and see that he can supply the Starline cases.
I use Trail Boss for my other guns and was hoping to use it for the Chiappa as well. I am starting to think I may have to go the more traditional way. I am familiar with 3031 and 4350 from my hunting rifles. What are your thoughts on the Trail Boss?
Gerry
Howdy; Yes I have and use the RCBS cowboy dies. Yes they are good and work well with TWO seizes of flaring plug in the box. Have used lyman neck sizing die, works OK. Lee dies will do.
All that being said just get the RCBS cowboy dies , then you will not be buying other dies. The Winchester brass in the shorter length work in all the 38/55 rifles except a H and R single. The chamber on that is short. Had to trim 38/55 to 375 Winchester length as they ream the chamber with a 375 length at the factory. The bores on several current manufactured rifles varies some. I just size all to .379 and load a MAX load of UNIQUE, look in the lyman book.
PS. If you have a Marlin cowboy rifle in 38/55 do NOT let any one tell you to ream out the chamber it will kill any chance for accuracy.
NO I do not care what others think of the way I do things. Been there tried it all and this works for me.
All that being said just get the RCBS cowboy dies , then you will not be buying other dies. The Winchester brass in the shorter length work in all the 38/55 rifles except a H and R single. The chamber on that is short. Had to trim 38/55 to 375 Winchester length as they ream the chamber with a 375 length at the factory. The bores on several current manufactured rifles varies some. I just size all to .379 and load a MAX load of UNIQUE, look in the lyman book.
PS. If you have a Marlin cowboy rifle in 38/55 do NOT let any one tell you to ream out the chamber it will kill any chance for accuracy.
NO I do not care what others think of the way I do things. Been there tried it all and this works for me.
The re-bore was $350 for me your mileage may vary.There is nothing to change action wise just load and shoot.There are likely more shot out .32 Specials out there but it don't matter either way.I load 32gr of IMR 3031 and the 270grFNGC in the long Starline brass with standard Federal primers.I purposely found a pre-crossbolt safety 336 plain black walnut stocked already factory D+T'ed.I have a 4x Leupold up top and may go to a fixed 6X same brand.Have a cow moose tag this fall as well as mulie buck + doe.
I've got a couple of 38-55 single shots. A rolling block and a Uberti High Wall. What I found from the two rifles and from reading around is that there seems to be a lot of variation in bore and groove sizes on 38-55 barrels. Mostly the single shot guns are around .376 while the later lever rifles are up around .379 to .380. This seems to be due to the early Ballard cartridge size vs the later Winchester 38-55.
What it means is that you'll want to get a soft lead round ball and pound it down into the bore than carefully push it back out and measure the groove and bore from the impressions of the swaged plug. And obviously (I hope
), you realize that you want to use a plastic mallet to beat the lead ball into the muzzle.
What I found from my own testing is that my old rolling block with the Shiloh barrel refit needs a .377. Meanwhile my Uberti needs the more "lever gun" .380 size.
I started with the basic Lee dies. But due to the variation I found in all this I ended up making a couple or three different mouth sizing and flaring inserts to suit the diameters of the bullets needed for each rifle. Luckily I've got a machine shop so I can do this for myself.
If you don't have this option the nearest you can do is to not full length size the brass. Luckily the casings are slightly tapered so it's pretty easy to partially size down the brass then lightly flare the mouth to get a reasonable fit and neck tension on the reloads.
As for Trail Boss in rifle cartridges I tend to not like it. Look at the muzzle velocity and peak pressure. For handgun cartridges TB works like a charm and has low peak pressures. But when we start using it in big capacity rifle cartridges the pressure can jump up to values far higher than other powders produce for the same muzzle velocity. And that's simply extra abuse for the brass and the gun itself. So I tend to prefer powders that are lower in pressure for the velocity they produce. And after that I try to find one that provides a good fill for the brass so hopefully the pressures are more consistent.
My current best load for my High Wall, which I've been shooting the most for the past couple of years, is a Bullet Barn 255gn bullet bumped up to .382" (courtesy of that machine shop used to make my bumping die) pushed by 29gns of IMR4895. Muzzle velocity in my case is roughly 1380fps. And I need to get back to my testing as the rifle seems to want to make tighter groups with a slightly lower muzzle velocity.
Don't think that the .38-55 can't reach out either. After the match at Heffley this year was done for the day a bunch of us went out and plinked the long distance gongs for a while. For giggles I sighted in for and hit the furthest out gong up the hill. Now this is a roughly 6 ft saw blade. But it's out at 600'ish yards and looked pretty darn small in the peep sights. I hit it on my first try (very lucky guess on the elevation setting) and then missed due to wind. Then I "Kentucky'd" some hold to the side for the wind and got a second hit. I was feeling quite smug at that point and then someone laughed and said to do it again but free standing. I laughed. But figured "why not?"..... I sent off the shot and waited.... and waited.... I figured I missed and just then we all heard the distant "ting" com back at us. About a good 3 seconds all told from shot to "ting"..... I put the rifle away at that point. Nothing like a perfect sized single shot group....
What it means is that you'll want to get a soft lead round ball and pound it down into the bore than carefully push it back out and measure the groove and bore from the impressions of the swaged plug. And obviously (I hope
), you realize that you want to use a plastic mallet to beat the lead ball into the muzzle.What I found from my own testing is that my old rolling block with the Shiloh barrel refit needs a .377. Meanwhile my Uberti needs the more "lever gun" .380 size.
I started with the basic Lee dies. But due to the variation I found in all this I ended up making a couple or three different mouth sizing and flaring inserts to suit the diameters of the bullets needed for each rifle. Luckily I've got a machine shop so I can do this for myself.
If you don't have this option the nearest you can do is to not full length size the brass. Luckily the casings are slightly tapered so it's pretty easy to partially size down the brass then lightly flare the mouth to get a reasonable fit and neck tension on the reloads.
As for Trail Boss in rifle cartridges I tend to not like it. Look at the muzzle velocity and peak pressure. For handgun cartridges TB works like a charm and has low peak pressures. But when we start using it in big capacity rifle cartridges the pressure can jump up to values far higher than other powders produce for the same muzzle velocity. And that's simply extra abuse for the brass and the gun itself. So I tend to prefer powders that are lower in pressure for the velocity they produce. And after that I try to find one that provides a good fill for the brass so hopefully the pressures are more consistent.
My current best load for my High Wall, which I've been shooting the most for the past couple of years, is a Bullet Barn 255gn bullet bumped up to .382" (courtesy of that machine shop used to make my bumping die) pushed by 29gns of IMR4895. Muzzle velocity in my case is roughly 1380fps. And I need to get back to my testing as the rifle seems to want to make tighter groups with a slightly lower muzzle velocity.
Don't think that the .38-55 can't reach out either. After the match at Heffley this year was done for the day a bunch of us went out and plinked the long distance gongs for a while. For giggles I sighted in for and hit the furthest out gong up the hill. Now this is a roughly 6 ft saw blade. But it's out at 600'ish yards and looked pretty darn small in the peep sights. I hit it on my first try (very lucky guess on the elevation setting) and then missed due to wind. Then I "Kentucky'd" some hold to the side for the wind and got a second hit. I was feeling quite smug at that point and then someone laughed and said to do it again but free standing. I laughed. But figured "why not?"..... I sent off the shot and waited.... and waited.... I figured I missed and just then we all heard the distant "ting" com back at us. About a good 3 seconds all told from shot to "ting"..... I put the rifle away at that point. Nothing like a perfect sized single shot group....
