I am in the market for a lever rifle in the wonderful old cartridge of 38-55. I want to shoot cast mostly and what the group here thinks of an original production vs a modern production? Anyone have had or having any experience with either or both. Wanting some food for thought! Thank you in advance, Otis.

Otis , I shoot a model 94 Legendary Frontiersman in 38-55 with a Lyman peep, the 265 gr Cast Performance bullet over a stiff charge of RL-7 for a velocity of 1865 fps is a real plow on the game animale I've hit with it.

Very accurate and deer and pigs DON'T slow it down much, I wouldn't hesitate to use it on ANY game animal in the U.S. at woods ranges.

Gunner

Thank you Gunner, Semper Fi!

If you buy an older gun, check the bore diameter. Many older guns have .379 bores.

Yoe welcome Otis, and correct jimdgc, should have said my cast performance bullets are sized to .380"

Gunner

I have found a Legendary Frontiersman I am looking to buy, looks great!

Congrats Otis, I love mine and would never sell it, just to dang accurate and effective.

Gunner

Well bought my 38-55 today and I think I got a deal. $850 for a legendary frontiersman! NIB. Now just to buy some brass & bullets if I can find some.

Congratulations Otis, you can order some .380" sized 265 gr Cast Performance LFNGC's from Midway, and maybe some brass too, a lb of RL-7 and a set of dies and you're there.

If you do and want to try my 38-55 WCF load, PM me and I'll shoot it to ya.

Gunner

My Dad gave me a 375449 Lyman mold yesterday and 30 pieces of Western brass in the tumbler right now. Going to cast some boolits today, have to wait on the rifle to get here. Found some dies and brass to from an outfit I never from out of Los Angeles. We'll see. Thanks!

A good cartridge making a comeback. I also like the .33 Winchester.

i have an original (1926 mfg.) 1894dl that won't shoot .375's or .377's worth owl spit, .379's and .380's shoot much better. that said, i can't chamber anything over a .377 (jacketed) using winchester brass, so i'm limited to starline--when i can get it. i've been shooting this thing religiously fer several months and have yet to find a satisfactory load--which makes this my ideal rifle; once i've solved that kind of problems for a rifle it winds up in the safe. i'm having more fun with this'n than any i've had in years, but if i needed meat it wouldn't get a "howdy-doo!" i'd take one of the ones that bore me--probably a marlin; all three of mine shoot straighter than i can. good luck with yours! (and no, mine's not for sale!)
mind yer topknot!
windy

that legendary plainsman shoot shoot the lights out. I bought one a few years ago and loaded barnes 250grainers in it. Another guy and i were able to hit clay pigeons at about 100yards with it. I have a 1902 or 1903 winchester takedown in 38.55, but have not shot it, probably should. The bores on the older guns are all over the place as to diameter. oh yeah, i was using starline brass too.

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Hey Otis,

My 38-55's all have .379 to 380 bore diameter, that is the SAAMI spec. so yours should be that, too. I have both new and old guns and don't find much variation in bore. Many shooters don't know how to reload for the 38-55 so when they run into issues they start altering the chamber. Don't do that...getting the 38-55 to shoot well is a journey so be prepared.

Loading dies. 375 Win dies do not work, don't wast your time. Some 35-55 dies don't work with cast bullets, either, what they do is resize the cast bullet in the seating die. The best dies that I have found and the only one that works for all my guns is the RCBS Cowboy dies.

There are two different case lengths. The Starline (2.125) and the Western and Remington (2.082). Only trial and error will tell you which will work best in your gun. The 375 Win. is 2.020 and is a different cat, avoid confusing it with the 38-55. They are two different cartridges which are not interchangeable any more than a 270 Winchester can be interchanged with a 280 Remington.

Some shooters are having guns with bad bore sent to some gunsmiths to be bored to 38-55. The gun comes back with a .375 to .376 bore. Which is a hybrid and will never shoot the 38-55 to it's max potential. Too bad.

The 265 cast bullet suggested by others, does not need a lot of velocity, I run mine in the 1400 - 1500 fps range. Very pleasant to shoot and deadly. A friend shot a large black bear in which the bullet did a complete pass thru on the bear...end to end...in the throat and out the right ham. Bang flop.

The 38-55 is extremely accurate, enjoy the journey.

Well I slugged my bore and it is .3785 no matter what anyone else's is. I thank you for the words of wisdom, I have bought a set of Lee dies from a member here. I do know that the 38-55 & 375 win. are two different cartridges, I have been casting & reloading most of my life. Have some old, but good western brass 2.125 length, and some Imperial too. Cast 104 Lyman 375449 GC pills I think will work good. I just have to get a top punch & sizer die. I am in Ft. Drum NY getting some MATV MRAPs ready to go to Afghanistan for our boy until Aug should get home to the wife and 94 then and see what gives. Thanks for your observations, Otis.

Oh also have a "M" die from Lyman to ease them boolits into the cases without sizing them down more than they need,Otis.

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Hey Otis,

Looks like your bore is on the tight side of standard which is good. You will need cast bullets sized .380 for best accuracy. I have found that the Western cases at 2.082 work best in several of my guns so I use that length in all of my 38-55's.

A very light crimp in the crimp groove is best. Some shooters try to move the bullet out to just touch the rifling. Don't waste your time, the 38-55 is not a varmint gun, COAL is of little meaning so long as the round feeds correctly. The 38-55 has a long tapered throat, I try to avoid that throat and it's issues thus the intermediate length brass (2.082).

You may know all this already but some of our readers may not. I wont bore you with any more on this.

Thanks
JB

Oh yes, for anyone who thinks that the 38-55 will not shoot, here is a couple of 100 yard targets shot with laser cast bullets over 10 gr. of Unique. Five shot groups.



Witnessed by several other shooters at the range.

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Found 50 Starline brass tonight in Tulsa it is the 2.082 length . Hope to get home by Aug. to do some reloading & shooting. Got 8 lbs of Unique so will see how my M94 likes it.

Hope to get a group like those jbledsoe. Nice!

Very cool old cartridge. My experience is somewhat limited but several years ago I found a 336 cowboy and bought it for a shooting buddy that let's me hunt his farm. He's into casting and old cartridges. It's a real pussy cat and is really very accurate.

I found some new Starline brass last week and had it sent to the house. Don't know when I'll get home to reload & shoot some, but I have all my stuff there waiting on me when I do!!

Well after a whole day of traveling, which started this morning in Watertown, NY. I am in my room at Texarkana at the Marriott as usual. Did 100 days here last stay and the folks here are great. The wife left my pick-up out front, and bless her heart inside was the Handloader No. 210 from April 2001 with atricle about handloading cast boolits for the 38-55. Written by Mike Thomas it shows some loads that were & are for the Browning High Wall. He lists the one mold I have, Lyman 375449 and his WW drop about the same weight as mine. He list 271, IIRC, thats what mine dropped at. Get to go home and load some 38-55 this weekend, and if all works out right, shoot some through the Ledgendary Fronteirsman, which from here on out will be called my,"Go to town gun"! On account it so purdy!

i got mine from brother-in-law after he passed. ser# makes it made in 1897. very slick handling and shoots ok for my old eyes. some were in its history it was re-blued and has gold trigger. never tried anything but factory ammo. have fun, D O M I T !

I got to reload and finally shoot some rounds of my 38-55 yesterday. I started out with my cast boolits from a Lyman mold that dropped at .379 & 271 gr. I applied my Ben's Red boolit lube by hand. I used 21 gr. of RS 4759 in W-W 38-55 brass, 2.082 with a COAL of 2.50 for starters. Drove over to my Dad's place where we shoot and the first shot the forearm slid forward. With all that first group had three touching @ 50 yards in 2 groups was happy and think this will work. Now I have found a Tenon, as someone here helped me find, is on order and on its way. Heading out of town again to train Soldiers for another month. When I get home later will get to fix the Frontiersman and try again!

Glad you enjoyed it.

There is something about that cartridge; accurate, capable, minimal recoil; a pleasure to shoot and load for; it just feels right in a lever gun.

Good luck in the field.

I agree, it is very special, my M-94 loaded feels like it weighs about 6.5 lbs in my hand, the 265 gr cast performance bullets at 1875 fps blow through deer and pigs like they weren't even there.

I use a Lyman receiver peep on mine, wouldn't hesitate to use on any stateside game inside 200 yards.

Gunner