I’ve been wanting an original Winchester Model 1895 38-72 with tapered octagon barrel ever since I saw one about six years ago. Model ‘95’s with octagon barrels and in either 38-72 or 40-72 are dadgummed hard to find in original, unmessed-with condition. This particular rifle dates 1904 according to the Cody records. Here’s a photo of this new cherished addition to my small collection of just seven old Winchesters .....
LOAD DEVELOPMENT:
The 38-72 cartridge was one of the first three cartridges chambered in the Model 1895. The other two were the 40-72 and the 30 U.S. Army. Although the 38-72 was designed as a black powder cartridge, it seems to have been almost immediately available with smokeless powder as well, according to a copy of an 1896 Winchester Catalogue that I have. The catalogue also indicates that it was available with a jacketed or plain lead bullet. The 275 grain bullet left the barrel at 1,435 fps. A later chart dating from the early 1900’s upped the speed a bit to 1,475 fps for the same weight bullet.
I used re-formed 444 brass, which gives the proper dimensions once it has been sized, except that the neck walls are a few thou too thick to chamber .379 cast bullets. I solved this problem with some 400 grit sandpaper, turning each cartridge in my hand with the sandpaper around the neck. I also have some properly headstamped 38-72 brass on its way from Jamison. The only cast bullet I had on hand was a 255 grain, cylindrical bullet that I use in my 38-55. The 38-72 velocity is a bit faster than the 38-55 so I was a bit concerned about leading with this soft-cast, cylindrical bullet. I tried two loads with this bullet, 21.5 grains of 5744 for 1,367 fps and 23 grains of 5744 for 1,470 fps. With both loads, the soft cast bullet leaded badly, with a huge deterioration between the slower load and the faster one. ‘Twas just as I had expected.
A fellow has graciously lent me his original 38-72 bullet mould, that casts a 275 grain, bore riding bullet, which I think will do much better at the original black powder velocity of 1,435 fps. It might take a few more weeks before I have that mould in my hands so I settled down to wait ........ then I remembered a stash of custom made 247 grain JSP bullets made by a fellow whose handle is ‘Stone Fence’. I had acquired these for my 38-55 but it shot just fine with my cast bullets, so I had never used them. I measured their diameter at .3765”. I then slugged my bore. It has a groove diameter of .3775” and a land diameter of .373”. Excited to try these out, I started working on some loads. This was a lighter bullet, so I wanted a higher velocity, one that would give me the same muzzle energy as the original ballistics with the 275 grain bullet. 26 grains of 5744 gave me 1,435 fps, a little too slow and I didn’t want to go higher than that with 5744. Next, I tried IMR 4198. 28 grains gave me 1,485 fps and 29 grains gave me 1,610 fps. I’m a conservative fellow and decided that 28.5 grains might be right, but I wanted a little lower peak pressure. Then I read an old article by Ken Waters where he recommended a few loads, including 30 grains of Reloader 7 as a safe starter load. It gave me 1,614 fps, which was still a little high to keep the muzzle energy the same as black powder, so I dropped it to 29 grains. A 9-shot average gave me 1,589 fps with an extreme spread of 48 fps and a standard deviation of just 14 fps. As far as I was concerned, this would be my load. I prepared some cartridges for the range. Here is a shot of the Stone Fence bullet, as well as a finished 38-72 Cartridge ....
SIGHTS: The sights on this old rifle are the standard open semi-buckhorn rear sight and the usual blade front sight. The problem with this is that the notch in the rear sight is so tiny that the front sight fills it up to my old eyes and I can’t tell where I’m shooting. I’m going to have to file the rear notch just a tad larger so I can see a bit of daylight on each side of the front sight. Then I should be able to shoot a bit better. Here is a photo of the rear sight with its tiny little notch .....
RESULTS:
I headed off to the range down the road from my place with 10 rounds. By the time I had the sights adjusted to put the holes in the general area of the middle of the target, I only had 5 rounds left. I decided to leave the fine tuning of the sights for another day and use the remaining cartridges to shoot a 5-shot group at 100 yards. That tiny little notch made it tough to aim, but the results were satisfying anyway. I am sure that once I widen that rear notch so I can see where I’m shooting, the group should tighten up significantly. I think this will be my Whitetail Deer rifle when hunting season rolls around in November. Here’s a shot of the target ....
LOAD DEVELOPMENT:
The 38-72 cartridge was one of the first three cartridges chambered in the Model 1895. The other two were the 40-72 and the 30 U.S. Army. Although the 38-72 was designed as a black powder cartridge, it seems to have been almost immediately available with smokeless powder as well, according to a copy of an 1896 Winchester Catalogue that I have. The catalogue also indicates that it was available with a jacketed or plain lead bullet. The 275 grain bullet left the barrel at 1,435 fps. A later chart dating from the early 1900’s upped the speed a bit to 1,475 fps for the same weight bullet.
I used re-formed 444 brass, which gives the proper dimensions once it has been sized, except that the neck walls are a few thou too thick to chamber .379 cast bullets. I solved this problem with some 400 grit sandpaper, turning each cartridge in my hand with the sandpaper around the neck. I also have some properly headstamped 38-72 brass on its way from Jamison. The only cast bullet I had on hand was a 255 grain, cylindrical bullet that I use in my 38-55. The 38-72 velocity is a bit faster than the 38-55 so I was a bit concerned about leading with this soft-cast, cylindrical bullet. I tried two loads with this bullet, 21.5 grains of 5744 for 1,367 fps and 23 grains of 5744 for 1,470 fps. With both loads, the soft cast bullet leaded badly, with a huge deterioration between the slower load and the faster one. ‘Twas just as I had expected.
A fellow has graciously lent me his original 38-72 bullet mould, that casts a 275 grain, bore riding bullet, which I think will do much better at the original black powder velocity of 1,435 fps. It might take a few more weeks before I have that mould in my hands so I settled down to wait ........ then I remembered a stash of custom made 247 grain JSP bullets made by a fellow whose handle is ‘Stone Fence’. I had acquired these for my 38-55 but it shot just fine with my cast bullets, so I had never used them. I measured their diameter at .3765”. I then slugged my bore. It has a groove diameter of .3775” and a land diameter of .373”. Excited to try these out, I started working on some loads. This was a lighter bullet, so I wanted a higher velocity, one that would give me the same muzzle energy as the original ballistics with the 275 grain bullet. 26 grains of 5744 gave me 1,435 fps, a little too slow and I didn’t want to go higher than that with 5744. Next, I tried IMR 4198. 28 grains gave me 1,485 fps and 29 grains gave me 1,610 fps. I’m a conservative fellow and decided that 28.5 grains might be right, but I wanted a little lower peak pressure. Then I read an old article by Ken Waters where he recommended a few loads, including 30 grains of Reloader 7 as a safe starter load. It gave me 1,614 fps, which was still a little high to keep the muzzle energy the same as black powder, so I dropped it to 29 grains. A 9-shot average gave me 1,589 fps with an extreme spread of 48 fps and a standard deviation of just 14 fps. As far as I was concerned, this would be my load. I prepared some cartridges for the range. Here is a shot of the Stone Fence bullet, as well as a finished 38-72 Cartridge ....
SIGHTS: The sights on this old rifle are the standard open semi-buckhorn rear sight and the usual blade front sight. The problem with this is that the notch in the rear sight is so tiny that the front sight fills it up to my old eyes and I can’t tell where I’m shooting. I’m going to have to file the rear notch just a tad larger so I can see a bit of daylight on each side of the front sight. Then I should be able to shoot a bit better. Here is a photo of the rear sight with its tiny little notch .....
RESULTS:
I headed off to the range down the road from my place with 10 rounds. By the time I had the sights adjusted to put the holes in the general area of the middle of the target, I only had 5 rounds left. I decided to leave the fine tuning of the sights for another day and use the remaining cartridges to shoot a 5-shot group at 100 yards. That tiny little notch made it tough to aim, but the results were satisfying anyway. I am sure that once I widen that rear notch so I can see where I’m shooting, the group should tighten up significantly. I think this will be my Whitetail Deer rifle when hunting season rolls around in November. Here’s a shot of the target ....
