Where to find .377 cast for 38-55?

Rooster59

Rooster59

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GunNutz
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Southern Interior, BC
Need to find a source for .377 cast bullets for a 38-55. Bore is .376. The only ones I can find that are cast in Canada are .379. Lots of .377's south of the border but can't ship them up here.
Anyone know of an outfit that supplies them in Canada?
Or---is buying 379's and running them through a sizing die an option?
Thanks in advance for your help:)
 
Though .001" is often quoted as the recommended oversize dimension from many sources I actually use it as a minimum. I've run cast bullets .003" over groove diameter on a regular basis without issues. I use the same .311" sizer for bullets for several rifles that range from .308" to .311" so in the tighter bores they are .003" oversized. I've also run some .004" oversized (a .461" cast in a barrel that slugs .457") and didn't have any problems.

My bullets aren't extra hard or anything though. I'm using water quenched pure WW's so probably in the 12-15 bhn range. Many commercial cast bullets are 25+ bhn so they could respond differently.

The only time I've gotten the bullets so large they wont fit in the chamber anymore was when I tried some .314" in a .30-30. I didn't slug the bore but it was a brand new rifle so I would assume somewhere around .3075" to .3085". Assuming it was .308" they were around .006" oversized and too large for the chamber without thinning the neck on the brass. They were dummy rounds and I loaded them specifically to see if they would fit just to learn the limits.

I would buy some .379" for a .376" groove barrel, load a dummy round and see if it chambers. If it does I would try a few out at starting loads, ideally over a chrony to check velocity versus book velocity, and go from there. Check for leading, make sure velocities aren't abnormally high (a sigh of high pressure), and work up the load in the normal manner.
 
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Rooster. Please edit your avatar to show where you are. When you ask about something that is heavy to ship, we want to suggest a local supplier.

I suggest you ask Bullet Barn about a bullet (in the West) or R & R Bullets (Kingston, Ontario 613 320-0155) These makers will size a bullet whatever size you want.
 
You need .375 Winchester bullets. I sell .377 bullets here: http://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php/996374-Cast-Bullets

Is this for one of the winchester commemorative rifles? The original 38-55 rifles had a .379" barrel. Some (all?) of the 38-55 "commemorative" Winchester rifles were made with .375 winchester barrels, because the original 38-55 tooling was long gone by then.
 
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LUTNIT said:
Though .001" is often quoted as the recommended oversize dimension from many sources I actually use it as a minimum. I've run cast bullets .003" over groove diameter on a regular basis without issues. I use the same .311" sizer for bullets for several rifles that range from .308" to .311" so in the tighter bores they are .003" oversized. I've also run some .004" oversized (a .461" cast in a barrel that slugs .457") and didn't have any problems.

My bullets aren't extra hard or anything though. I'm using water quenched pure WW's so probably in the 12-15 bhn range. Many commercial cast bullets are 25+ bhn so they could respond differently.

The only time I've gotten the bullets so large they wont fit in the chamber anymore was when I tried some .314" in a .30-30. I didn't slug the bore but it was a brand new rifle so I would assume somewhere around .3075" to .3085". Assuming it was .308" they were around .006" oversized and too large for the chamber without thinning the neck on the brass. They were dummy rounds and I loaded them specifically to see if they would fit just to learn the limits.

I would buy some .379" for a .376" groove barrel, load a dummy round and see if it chambers. If it does I would try a few out at starting loads, ideally over a chrony to check velocity versus book velocity, and go from there. Check for leading, make sure velocities aren't abnormally high (a sigh of high pressure), and work up the load in the normal manner.
Click to expand...

That's right. The trick to making cast bullets shoot well is to get the bullets to fit the chamber area as well as possible. The less room a cast bullet has to wobble around in the chamber and leade, the greater the chances it will enter the rifling/bore straight and true.
 
jethunter said:
You need .375 Winchester bullets. I sell .377 bullets here: http://www.canadiangunnutz.com/forum/showthread.php/996374-Cast-Bullets

Is this for one of the winchester commemorative rifles? The original 38-55 rifles had a .379" barrel. Some (all?) of the 38-55 "commemorative" Winchester rifles were made with .375 winchester barrels, because the original 38-55 tooling was long gone by then.
Click to expand...
Thanks. That might be just what we need. The gun is a new Winchester (Miroku) 1885. My wife has it on hold so I'm trying to get ready to load for it. She'll use it for long range side matches at cowboy shoots but she likes to shoot so I imagine it will get a pretty good workout around home too.
I know there will be lots of folks recommending we slug the bore but for now, all info I can find online says these guns are pretty consistant at .376.
 
LUTNIT said:
Though .001" is often quoted as the recommended oversize dimension from many sources I actually use it as a minimum. I've run cast bullets .003" over groove diameter on a regular basis without issues. I use the same .311" sizer for bullets for several rifles that range from .308" to .311" so in the tighter bores they are .003" oversized. I've also run some .004" oversized (a .461" cast in a barrel that slugs .457") and didn't have any problems.

My bullets aren't extra hard or anything though. I'm using water quenched pure WW's so probably in the 12-15 bhn range. Many commercial cast bullets are 25+ bhn so they could respond differently.

The only time I've gotten the bullets so large they wont fit in the chamber anymore was when I tried some .314" in a .30-30. I didn't slug the bore but it was a brand new rifle so I would assume somewhere around .3075" to .3085". Assuming it was .308" they were around .006" oversized and too large for the chamber without thinning the neck on the brass. They were dummy rounds and I loaded them specifically to see if they would fit just to learn the limits.

I would buy some .379" for a .376" groove barrel, load a dummy round and see if it chambers. If it does I would try a few out at starting loads, ideally over a chrony to check velocity versus book velocity, and go from there. Check for leading, make sure velocities aren't abnormally high (a sigh of high pressure), and work up the load in the normal manner.
Click to expand...
The bullets that are most readily available are Bullet Barn and their BHN is 25 on everything. That's hard enough that I'd be a bit nervous about going 3 thou over bore diameter? Thanks for your informative reply.
 
Ganderite said:
Rooster. Please edit your avatar to show where you are. When you ask about something that is heavy to ship, we want to suggest a local supplier.

I suggest you ask Bullet Barn about a bullet (in the West) or R & R Bullets (Kingston, Ontario 613 320-0155) These makers will size a bullet whatever size you want.
Click to expand...


Hi Ganderite. Edited my info as requested. I use several different bullets from Bullet Barn. Wasn't aware that they would size them to something other than what they list. Worth looking into though.
There is another outfit aroung 100Mile House, BC called OMA bullets that makes a good cast bullet. I plan to get on the phone with them too.
 
Rooster59 said:
The bullets that are most readily available are Bullet Barn and their BHN is 25 on everything. That's hard enough that I'd be a bit nervous about going 3 thou over bore diameter? Thanks for your informative reply.
Click to expand...

.003" over groove diameter with a cast bullet, even a bit harder one, will be no problem whatsoever.

As long as the case will enter the chamber with the larger bullet seated, it is unlikely any pressure issues will occur.

Unlike a jacketed bullet, in which a larger bullet will raise pressures noticeably, the cast will swage to groove diameter without danger.

I have a 38-55 which slugs just over .376" groove diameter, and I regularly shoot .380" cast bullets in it. [Including Lazer-Cast, which are not soft]

In fact. these larger bullets shoot more accurately than do some smaller diameter cast bullets I have.

Regards, Dave.
 
Interesting problem, with my 38-55 the issue was finding a bullet big enough. My Saskatchewan Commemorative didn't have a 375 barrel. My problem was that most of the molds I bought would cast 377, not 379. I bought 4 different Lyman molds, all small. My Lee was 379. I also purchased commercial cast. A slightly small gas checked bullet works a bit better than the same sized plain bullet.

I suppose what I'm trying to say is that you may want to get into casting your own, with a 377 groove, you should be in the zone fairly quickly.

My loads chrono'd around 1500 depending on the load, and in my notes an undersized bullet cast of pure lino worked better than a soft one. My softest, BHN app 8), gas checked and sized @ 378 > 379 were good, and my hardest @ app BHN 17 were good as well.

Jacketed 375 bullets were garbage, and the previous owner tells me that the Barnes at 377 weren't any good either. IMO a 285 gr bullet @ 1500 fps will kill pretty much any paper target I was shooting. The original hunting loads for the 38-55 were around there as well.

I thought my Sask was one heck of a gun, loved it. I wasn't shooting it much, so another CGN'r is enjoying it now.

Nitro
 
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