Any .38-55 shooters in here? Is it suitable for a beginner/novice reloader?
Any .38-55 shooters in here? Is it suitable for a beginner/novice reloader?
Nothing so needs reforming as other people's habits - Mark Twain
Tact is the knack of making a point without making an enemy / Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge?
.375 Winchester close enough?Originally Posted by awp_101
Yes it’s not difficult at all. Just make sure your load data is appropriate for your gun. New guns should be good to go, but there are old ones out there with crappy metallurgy by modern standards.
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The groove diameter of the barrels can be all over the place, its hard to say what any individual gun may end up, sometimes they can vary quite a bit even from the same manufacturer. Winchesters are supposedly .377, but are known to be as small as .375, and as large as .381, with most guns Ive heard of seeming to fall in around .379-.380. Depending on if you are shooting jacketed or harder cast bullets or soft lead bullets, it may take some tinkering to get the bullet diameter to match the gun. Soft bullets being more forgiving in some sense, though some undersized jacketed bullets shoot well in some guns.
On the other hand, you may get whats available, load up some rounds, and it shoot like crazy. Clyde Williamson wrote a book about loading hunting loads for many of the older Winchester rounds, he had extensive experience shooting deer that were depredating his crops. The heavier 38-55 loads generally shot through 2 deer at a time with both cast and Barnes originals jacketed bullets. One of the guns he used for tests, a Winchester 94 Crazy Horse commemorative was one of the best shooters he tested, very nice small groups. It had a .375 groove diameter I believe, FWIW.
Most guns shoot fairly well once the bullet size is figured out.
“Far better it is to dare mighty things, to win glorious triumphs, even though checkered by failure, than to take rank with those poor spirits who neither enjoy much nor suffer much, because they live in the gray twilight that knows neither victory nor defeat.”
― Theodore Roosevelt
Thanks, I'm looking at .38-55 and .45-70 offerings from Cimarron but haven't made up my mind on anything yet.
Nothing so needs reforming as other people's habits - Mark Twain
Tact is the knack of making a point without making an enemy / Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge?
I’ve wanted a Ruger No.3 since I was a young teenager, I always preferred the aesthetic compared to the No.1. Finding this doesn’t help.
One in .22 Hornet or even .223 with this gentleman’s treatment would be exquisite.
Ken
BBI: ...”you better not forget the safe word because shit's about to get weird”...
revchuck38: ...”mo' ammo is mo' betta' unless you're swimming or on fire.”
My grandpa had one in 22 Hornet that he had restocked to look more like a No. 1. He also either reshaped the lever or put a No. 1 lever on it. I hope to stumble across it in a used gun rack someday.I’ve wanted a Ruger No.3 since I was a young teenager, I always preferred the aesthetic compared to the No.1. Finding this doesn’t help.
One in .22 Hornet or even .223 with this gentleman’s treatment would be exquisite.
In the lever guns thread I mentioned wanting to replace the Pedersoli Quigley Sharps in .45-120 I had ~15 years ago but not at $2K (or as near as makes no difference). This morning I hit the BIN on this Uberti 1885 for a skosh over $1100 all in.
I've never spent time with an 1885 so I'm looking forward to this. I plan on picking up a .22 conversion and probably a set of target sights eventually™.
Nothing so needs reforming as other people's habits - Mark Twain
Tact is the knack of making a point without making an enemy / Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge?
I saw a No. 3 in 223 in a shop yesterday. It had a Tasco scope and they were asking $899 for it.
That's a pretty inexpensive knock off. I have a bunch of 45-70 brass I traded for, thinking I would buy one but never got around to it. Probably because I don't have any LR primers and I'm so cheap I don't want to buy any at the going price. People have been building those repro 85's for awhile now. Must be a they sell a few here and there. Even the Browning and Win repros aren't terribly expensive considering. The ammo is going to be the hang up. You'll have to load or be wishing you did.
I'll probably end up with a 223 model 85 or Ruger #1 because that's what I'm set up for.
Last edited by Borderland; 02-22-2023 at 11:20 PM.
In the P-F basket of deplorables.
The Curious Case of the Comblain
The Mle 1871/83 Comblain (bottom) and .50-70 Sharps carbine (top).
Nothing so needs reforming as other people's habits - Mark Twain
Tact is the knack of making a point without making an enemy / Where is the wisdom we have lost in knowledge?
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