Henry Rifle Forums

Still at the infancy of reloading here, and want to know if any of you pros would have any reservations about sending jacketed bullets with a diameter of .377 down the bore of your .376 diameter rifle? I have shot bullets a couple thousandths larger in diameter than the bore before with my 357 maximums rifles using 35 cal bullets, but wanted to at least solicit some input before I start spending money and shooting my proposed bullets down the bore of a brand new rifle. I want to develop a hunting load for my new side gate and I’m looking at using Barnes Original bullets. I see they offer the same bullet in .375 also. It Seems like the tighter fit would be better to my inexperienced understanding.

looking forward to following your progress in coming up with a hunting load .... my suggestion would be to call Barnes .... nobody knows their bullets better than they do .... I'd place a great deal of confidence in what they recommend

The practice of loading and shooting "larger than bore" bullets is usually done with cast bullets. The cast bullet is soft enough to swag itself to the bore while maintaining low pressures. That is not the case with jacketed bullets thought some will swag easier than others due to jacket thickness, partitions and core.

http://henryrifleforums.com/viewtopic.p ... er#p124578
Heres a thread where this member is using Vollmer bullets. If you do a search using that bullet name there is more here. I pesonally use a 377 gas check in mine from Montana Bullets with RL7 powder.

BigAI52 I checked out both of those bullet manufacturer’s websites and that looks like the right way to go. Cheaper than Barnes too by good bit. Thanks for pointing me in the right direction.

But just so I can learn something here......why do you personally prefer to use the .377 vs .376?

38-55 is all over the place in bore size. I started with some 375 then tried 376 and 377. With the lead you can go to the 377. Mine slugged 376.
http://henryrifleforums.com/viewtopic.p ... rt#p107102 Here is mine shot at 50 yards iron sights off the bench. I use the Lyman bullet from Montana Bullets sized at 377. Those people are good people to do business with.

https://www.montanabulletworks.com/prod ... 4gr-fn-gc/



Here is the one Im using. Works great for me.

Before you go with Barnes, look at vollmer precision. He is retired military making hard to find caliber projectiles. I'm working on hunting loads as well. Right now I'm using 24 gr imr4198 Vollmer 255 gr jsp, starline cases and CCI lrp primers. This is the data in Lyman 50th manual. There is a good article on starline's website about loading 38-55. I slugged my 38-55 at 379. I also asked Henry for barrel measurements according to manufacture specs - the reply said bore was according to SAAMI at 379. I'd be interested in what you find. Would also be interested in sharing range data.

DrK thanks for sharing. I messaged Henry directly last fall and they told me their bores are .376. Obviously slugging your bore is a better bet But I’ll go with what they sent. I don’t have the tools or know how to slug my bore. After looking at the Vollmer I don’t think I’ll look any farther before I try them out. Unfortunately It might be May or June before I get loading and shooting for my 38-55. But when I do, I’ll post back up and share my data with you. Besides turkey season coming up, I’ve got a few other cartridges I need to finish sticking up on before I venture into a new caliber/cartridge. Thanks again for pointing me towards the Vollmers.

Rust belt your post prompted me to email Henry again about bore and groove, the tech replied the 38-55 is bored to SAAMI specs.

There not going to respond in anyway that gets them into any kind of legal action.

I have had poor results using Barnes originals. I loaded their 250 grain bullets in my 348 Winchester and had core separation on the first two deer I shot with them. Well I wasn't going elk hunting with that bullet and decided to try Hawk bullets and could not be more pleased. Hawk bullets in that rifle have given great performance in some large elk for me. Hawk uses pure, soft lead and they anneal their copper jackets to give a bullet that is easy on bores and holds together even when hitting large bones. They have an amazing selection of bullets. Anybody who shoots these old calibers[or any other caliber] and wants to shoot jacketed bullets would be wise to take a look.

Welcome to the forum Kyle and thanks for the information about those bullets.

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Thanks for sharing. Welcome from the TV, Oregon!

Kyle wrote: ↑

Thu Mar 12, 2020 9:12 am

...

Welcome to the forum and thanks for introducing us to Hawk Bullets.

https://hawkbullets.com/index.html

Kyle wrote: ↑

Thu Mar 12, 2020 9:12 am

Hawk bullets in that rifle have given great performance in some large elk for me. Hawk uses pure, soft lead and they anneal their copper jackets to give a bullet that is easy on bores and holds together even when hitting large bones. They have an amazing selection of bullets. Anybody who shoots these old calibers[or any other caliber] and wants to shoot jacketed bullets would be wise to take a look.

Here is the reply I got from Henry’s Tech:

“I’m sorry, we can’t advise and handloads and recommend shooting factory loads only in our rifles.

We use a .366 bore diameter with a .376 groove diameter on our .38-55 bbls.”