Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Handguns 38.40

I finally got an order off to starline for some brass. I have kind of attachment to 38.40, as it was the first handgun i ever fired at about age six, a colt bisley saa, belonging to my father which i still have. It has inscribed inside the grip it killed a grizz in mexico, and it did work in killing a guy on whiskey row in the 30's.
I think the last time it was fired was circa 1955 or so. My father did carry it as a cop in prescott.
I finally bought a ruger convertible to shoot 38.40. I was cleaning up some 50's vintage ammo, that had some green on the casings, and white on the lead jacketed softpoints, and thinking it's fully the equivilent of the .40s&w.
The .45colt has stayed with us, you would think the 38.40 would be more popular than it is.
I haven't wanted to shoot this ammo, as it was with the gun just short of two boxes from my dad's time, but am gonna load up the new brass for the ruger.

I did have a colt collector guy tell me those colt bisley's in 38wcf were quite popular at the turn of the century. Over even the mighty .45colt.

.38-40 was the original 10mm. Shot flat; hit hard.

I was looking at a 38-40 in a pretty good Colt New Service this morning.
Got to shoot one a few years ago. The really cool thing about it was not only the low recoil, but the low muzzle blast as well. Factory ammo is apparently loaded to current 40 S&W levels, which isn't bad at all. Should take much to push it a bit.
Have fun. E

I've got several in SAA and Lightnings, Winchester 1873, Marlins, Winchester 1892. I like the 38-40 the best of all the old chamberings...

Was that before or after your conviction and restoration of firearms rights?

Hey Ron, glad you are able to get some brass.

Had to google a pic to see what that round looks like.

What bullet weights would you load for it?

Sure looks like a fun one....

i knew shrapnel would post some pictures to make me drool.
My bisley's are shorter barrel versions.

I probably am going to stick with a standard 180 grain bullet, as i cast that for .40s&w, easy one to use.
At about 900fps.

When i shot my dads at six, i thought the world was coming to an end. It was close to dark and a big ol fireball came out of it, scaring the dickens out of me. My brother in law told me one time they were driving up in the mountains in a model a truck, front window was cranked open, and my dad saw a deer in front of him. One round right through the open window, dead deer.
These 50's western bullets are interesting too. Big hunk of lead on the top, with a jacket.
I have the original western holster for that one, the leather has been cut out around the trigger guard area to get a hold of it a little easier.

a lot of people would be surprised how expensive those grips are to replace, being a hard rubber that over time kind of grows to the gun. Hard to find a set, harder even that fit.
Another bisley i bought did not have the original grips.
Took be about three years and a lot of searching plus 200bucks to get the right ones.
It's a blood gun too, used by an indian in oklahoma to shoot another indian. The son of the district attorney there at the time sold it to me.
needless to say, that lever and that lightening are pretty special. My dad had a winchester in 38wcf, but evidently it was stolen before i came around. I think he carried both of them when running cows.

Campground owner where I hunt out of is a retired Pa. state trooper and CAS. He has a Colt SAA and a 24 or 26" octagon Winchester 92 that he always used. I shot them once with his CowGirlAction loads and it was like shooting a cap gun...very accurate though...

Would like to have a Winchester 92 in .38-40 one day but it isn't high on my wish list...just something I hope to come across...

Bob

The last four digits of my father's phone number, for at least 60 years, were 3-8-4-0, so I guess it's been foregone that the cartridge is of great interest to me.

Of course, his brother's phone number is 3-8-4-4, so old Smiths interest me, too......

I have a couple of customs, one on a 4" M28
And the other on a 4 5/8" old Ruger Flattop. Both shoot great and I really enjoy the round. I also have one of the Ruger Buckeye Special convertible that I bought many years ago and still yet to shoot it.

Sell that one. They bring stupid money. They shoot well, but are an immortal bitch to feed and clean. Take the proceeds and get a GP100 bored appropriately.

now that is another good looking rifle, unfortunately i don't have.

As to the buckeye special, when i bought mine it had the 38.40cyclinder, the 10mm hadwent missing. Ruger was kind enough to make and serial number a 10mm to my revolver.
I haven't fired the 38.40 through it, but have the 10mm.
a 200grain slug with the old norma load is cooking right along with that long barrel.
I have the new 38.40 starline bench on the workbench. It's gonna get put together sometime this week.

What makes you say that? Could you be more specific what it is about them is difficult?

Is it the relative scarcity of brass / bullets or are you saying there is an issue with getting cartridges into the gun?

What makes the .38-40 buckeye special any harder to clean than any other blackhawk or any other .38-40?

I'm curious about this because I've verbally committed to buying a very slightly used Buckeye Special. Since I've owned easily 4 dozen Ruger single actions and my very first handgun was a Colt SAA in .38-40, I'm having trouble finding a factual basis for your statements unless there is something specific to that combination of .38-40 in a Ruger that is somehow ... different ... than .38-40 in general or Ruger in general. So, 'splain, please?

Tom

Whatever the combination is between the ways the cylinders are cut and the cartridges involved, the two that I've messed around with have been a ROYAL PITA. Cases sticking, heavy buildup that just didn't want to come off well, and just a pain.

Now, that could have been a fluke of two, but it was what it was. Oh, and both factor fodder and reloads (not mine, so I couldn't attest as to what the loads were).

Ok, thanks. I appreciate the info. I'll have to watch for that. Assuming the guy does sell me the gun.

I hope he does. They are a blast!