Prairie Whitetail with 38-55

tokguy

tokguy

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Got a 3 X 3 whitetail with newly aquired 38-55 ( 1908 manufactored ; from grampa ). Ran out of time ( that's my excuse anyhow) and had to go to work again so the time for picking and choosing was over. He's a Boone and Crockpot deer for sure
Deerpic4.jpg

All the hunters in the creek bottom had chased the Whitetails out of the coulees into the draws up top. Crawled around til I got a shot @ 150 paces.
Gun's have come a long ways since the 38-55. Shot him with Winchester 255 gr factory s--t. If you don't hit a main organ( I'm talking heart, brain here) or possibly a large joint( front shoulder perhaps ) that load doesn't have much shock value.
1st shot was behind front quarter 4-5 inches. Low report... then whack as the slug hits home. Wait an 1/2 hour; funny he doesn't seem to be weakening yet( sneaky bugger that I am; he or the doe never clued to my existance). Carefully set up again and bang...whack There thats gotta do it; it's about 2:30 now. Phone for a ride and wait for him to bleed out. Right...
3 shots left in the tube now. Carefully placed 2 more at 1/2 hour intervals( he just wouldn't weaken, can't approach til he does or he'll run to god knows where...) then walked up and delivered the "coupe de grace" at 20 paces; neck shot aboutr 6 inches behind his head.
Back the truck up pull out the knife and he gets up fast and trots away. WTF!
Outa shells now; wait a bit, he's nodding but start the truck roll ahead slow and his head swings around right now
Drive home get a .308 and head shot, shows over.
Dressed him out and 3 hits behind the front quarter; in and out , exit wounds you couldn't put your finger in. Neck shot looked like someone ran a knitting needle through him; below the spine and above the jugular.
Needless to say I'm looking to reload hotter than factory loads....
 
Rackmastr said:
Good stuff man!!! Looks like some of the same country I hunt in....
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Thanks, I musta walked 5 miles getting him; I'm a-bit old school; no quads or trucks and fairly plain guns. I figure the deer deserves a sporting chance. Maybe when I'm older I'll get a quad and a long range tack-driver, but while I still can I'm " kicking it Old School"
Although that 38-55 is definitely getting some hotter handloads. S--t the front bead covers the whole front quarter @ 150 yards; kinda hard to do exact shot placement that way. But you can eat everything but the bullethole with that load. I'm used to high powered rifles that deliver a massive hydrostatic shockwave. Any one of those hits with a .243 or 270 would have killed him from the shock alone. But a .243 or .270 would have ruined a lot more meat.
I'm trying to find that happy medium... I know 30-30...
 
A-zone said:
Well done!

If you can find some 220 gr, Hornady flat points, give them a try.

That's some classic country you're hunting in.:)
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Most 38-55's will not shoot this bullet well, since they have larger groove diameters than the 375 Winchester they were designed for. Even my newer manufactured 38-55 [groove diameter is .377"] keyholes that 220 Hornady FP. Load up some Barnes originals for the 38-55 [255 grain FP and .377" diameter] with either IMR3031, H322 or Benchmark. You should be able to get 1650 or better, even in that vintage rifle. You will notice a distinct difference from those anemic factory loads at around 1200. My Legendary Frontiersman shoots that Barnes bullet using H322 into around 1" at 100 using aperture sights. Well done on the deer, BTW. Regards, Eagleye.
 
Eagleye said:
Most 38-55's will not shoot this bullet well, since they have larger groove diameters than the 375 Winchester they were designed for. Even my newer manufactured 38-55 [groove diameter is .377"] keyholes that 220 Hornady FP. Load up some Barnes originals for the 38-55 [255 grain FP and .377" diameter] with either IMR3031, H322 or Benchmark. You should be able to get 1650 or better, even in that vintage rifle. You will notice a distinct difference from those anemic factory loads at around 1200. My Legendary Frontiersman shoots that Barnes bullet using H322 into around 1" at 100 using aperture sights. Well done on the deer, BTW. Regards, Eagleye.
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I slugged the bore and it Mic's at .377. But thats at about 2/3's of the way from the chamber. The majority of the bore is larger than that. I was thinking of buying Lee's mold for 38-55. It's .379 and 250 grains. Sound feasable?
 
Cast bullets are the way to go either Lee 250gr .379 or the extinct 265gr Gas Check Lyman[I have one] never need buy bullets again..............Forster's makes a hollow pointer for cast looks like a case trimmer...................Harold
 
tokguy said:
Well maybe you can't...
I managed to get one on the ground; although I'm still not impressed with Winchesters load. Must be made for Cowboy Action Shooter's , LOL
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From Winchester's site:

"Super-X® Soft Point: Soft point bullets are designed for rapid, controlled expansion and maximum impact."

Maybe at 15 yards or something. It sounds like they were not expanding at all at 150. Did you recover any? If so I would be interested to see pics.
 
Pudelpointer said:
From Winchester's site:

"Super-X® Soft Point: Soft point bullets are designed for rapid, controlled expansion and maximum impact."

Maybe at 15 yards or something. It sounds like they were not expanding at all at 150. Did you recover any? If so I would be interested to see pics.
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Might be one left on the barn floor after the cats get down cleaning up the offal 'n such.
Other 4 right through. One actually nicked the front of the tenderloin; looked like I did it dressing, clean cut.
Although it shed's a little reality on Oldtimer stories of only taking one bullet when they went hunting...
Do you know the difference between a fairy tale and an Oldtimer story? A fairy tale begins with "once upon a time in a land far, far away..." & an Oldtimer story begins with " Now this ain't no s--t..."
 
Well done! I love hunting with old guns too..... Filled a doe tag last year with my 45/70 Sharps (replica tho) and home cast bullets. Hunt small game with old single shot Stevens rifles and birds with a couple turn of the century doubles I have.

Keep up the good work and congrats again!
 
Eagleye said:
Most 38-55's will not shoot this bullet well, since they have larger groove diameters than the 375 Winchester they were designed for. Even my newer manufactured 38-55 [groove diameter is .377"] keyholes that 220 Hornady FP. Load up some Barnes originals for the 38-55 [255 grain FP and .377" diameter] with either IMR3031, H322 or Benchmark. You should be able to get 1650 or better, even in that vintage rifle. You will notice a distinct difference from those anemic factory loads at around 1200. My Legendary Frontiersman shoots that Barnes bullet using H322 into around 1" at 100 using aperture sights. Well done on the deer, BTW. Regards, Eagleye.
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Good point! It completely slipped my mind. The 220 grain Hornady JFP's worked very well for me in my .375 Win as well as in a Legendary Frontiersman that I used to have but, you're absolutely right about the larger bores in the earlier 38-55's. Best to confirm the bore diameter. (Mea Culpa! :redface: )
 
Current Winchester factory loads run a very mild 1000 to 1100 fps (as chronoed by various sources).

Handloads are the way to go for the 38-55. One could try to duplicate original factory velocities @ 1330 fps along with the Hi-Vel loads running @ 1600 fps.

One other thing: brass length in the old lever guns was longer at about 2.125 inches, current offerings (starting in the 1980s) are 2.085 inches. Starline has them in both lengths.
 
Barnes makes a 255FN in the correct dia .377 for jacketed.Lee has a 250 FN .379 mold and I have a 265gr GC mold long extict from Lyman.Either can be loaded to 1600-1750 fps giving more smack for deer.Forster makes a hollow pointer [looks like a case trimmer] for drilling holes in cast bullets to aid expansion if needed..........I have a long barrel 1894 of my Grandpa's in 38-55................Harold......the only deer I shot with it was a big WT does at 30ft and she never twitched.Grandpa shot some out to 175 yards on the full run seemed to relax them so the story went .The 44-40 is no screaming hell on deer either past 100 yards?
 
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Grouse Man said:
That's absolutely incredible - 5 good shots that each should have dropped it within minutes, not HOURS. Wow.
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Kind of perfect storm of bad luck. No meat ruined, no gut shot animal; but absolutely no bruising. I've got a pic of the neck shot but it's a barn pic, kinda bloody. No hydrostatic shock wave to speak of, more like a bow I suppose. If I'd of hit a main organ or big bone, it might (should ) have crumpled it up. I paced it to 150ish paces, some folks say that's close to max range.
When you drop the hammer on one of those winchester rds it sounds like a screen door with a big spring slamming shut, LOL. Should have know, no bark probably means no bite
 
Might be best to try flat nose cast bullets in about 20:1 or softer. You should be able to get better performance than jacketed with the softer alloy. I had a highwall in 38-55 and as mentioned, you need to check your groove diameter. Mine was .379" and with plain base cast bullets of .380" it shot under 2" @100. (Wish I didn't trade that one off:-(
 
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