38-55 Winchester

[Ojaileveraction]

I'm fixated on the 38-55 Winchester cartridge right now.
Heavy, slow and accurate sounds like my kind of cartridge.
I think I'd even learn to cast my own lead for it.
I could have my 23 inch octagon barrel 30-30 rebored.
Less expensive than finding a buying one.
I'd appreciate any comments on the cartridge or reboring.
I've a friend that has shot it in BP. I don't want to go there.

[Mistered]

I have said for many years simply 'verbalizing' the caliber sounds cool - thirty eight fifty five - it's got a great 'ring' to it.
I was actually looking for a single shot in it a few years ago - and hopefully a Sharps or a High Wall - but lost interest when a couple Winchesters came my way - but I still like the sound of it!

[Ojaileveraction]

It's one of the few that made the cross over from Black Powder to Smokeless.
The mother case for the 32 Special and 30 WCF , 30-30.

[Shawlerbrook]

Yes, the way to go is send it off to JES. 35caliber.com. He is a nice guy that does great work fast and reasonable.

[BigAl52]

I have 3 of them. I love the cartridge. Its one of the lowest recoiling rounds out there. I have a Marlin 336 cowboy my wife bought me for my Birthday right after they came out. I see them online now for outrageous prices but they seem to sell for 1200 plus dollars. I also have 2 model 94 winchesters commemorative guns. I bought an Oliver Winchester new in the box off GB for like 730.00 about 2 months ago. Dont over look those if you come across one they are great shooters and very accurate. The bore size for 38-55 very's quite a bit. So its always important to slug the bore. Im familiar with JES and I have heard nothing but good about them. Im not sure what size he bores his to when he does the 30-30 rebore but I think its in the .377 range. All of mine are in the .380 range. Ive had good luck with RL-7 and Cast Performance bullets for hunting loads and 5744 for plinking loads. Its a great round to reload for and just plain fun to shoot. Another thing I might add is the Starline brass is a little thinner if you have s tight chamber you are working with. In my winchesters I use it because the winchester brass is thicker and with the 380 bullet its tight. When using the Starline it works great.

[North Country Gal]

Couple of things, here, since I've been tempted myself by this cartridge, myself. As BigAl suggests, this is a reloader's cartridge for the sake of optimizing performance, not to mention that factory ammo is very hard to find and expensive when you do find it. Finally, I do NOT recommend reboring an existing gun to 38-55. That throws the resale value of your gun right out the window, since seller's always regards rebore job as a huge red flag, and rightfully, so, since rebore jobs have a spotty track record of success. My advice would be to keep your 30-30 and go hunting for a gun originally chambered for the 38-55.

[Ojaileveraction]

Thanks all that is great advice.
The bore and bullet size is a concern.
I checked Gunbroker and there are some that are more reasonably priced.
Oh well another one to be on the lookout for.
Tim

[BigAl52]

If you keep an eye out on GB the Crazy Horse, Legendary Frontiersman, and the Oliver F Winchester all come in 38-55 as Im sure you have seen. The Frontiersman is by far the most popular of those 3 and usually brings more money. At first I had a hard time getting by the gold on the Oliver but a friend of mine bought one so I had a chance to look at one first hand. I like the octagon barrel on it and in person that rifle looks pretty good. I stayed after it for quite a while and was able to find one new in the box at a really good price so I bought it. Like NCG says reloading is a must for this cartridge but I had already been doing so. Factory ammo is expensive and its not the right bore size for some of the guns. All the Winchesters are .380 generally. You might find one at .379. I asked Anthony a while back if Henry was coming out with one and he told me that its been considered. I was hoping maybe a CCH would suddenly appear in that caliber as I would be all over one. At any rate I bet if you stay after it you will find one.

[Ojaileveraction]

Well I'm pretty excited about this catridge.
Several people shoot it at the club. In BPC rifles and Shutzen rifles were they put the bullet in and a carded case behind it.
A Winchester commemorative would be great. They are very popular in Lever Action Silhouette.

[Blackdog]

I share your excitement about the 38-55. The one negative I have is casting bullet- I had awful results casting .45 colt bullets that really turned me off any to future casting projects.
If I reload the big bore it will be with jacketed bullets. I know it is only a personal thing, but I'm not going back to store-bought or self-cast lead bullets...I do not like scrubbing the bore to get the lead out.
I'll be following your project with great interest.

Michael