Had JES take a M3366 30-30 with a bubba'd bore out to 38-55 with the 3 groove rifleing. I use nothing but cast bullets, but this thing is really accurate and cleans easily. He was quick, professional, and he will get more work from me if the right options come up again.
Didn't you kill a deer with that last year? I have a few spare 30/30's around, thinking hard about a 38/55. Do you use Starline brass and don't they come in 2 different lengths?
Thanks
Sure did get a doe last year with the 38-55. Loaded Starline 2.082 length brass with 21gr 4198 and a home cast 250gr bullet. Accurate 38-250B sized to .377, plain based, cast at about 9-10 Bhn. Velocity is about 1440fps. Shot was at less than 30 yards in heavy timber, slightly quartering to me. Bullet took a section of the heavy shoulder bone back through the ribs and left it in the lungs while the bullet continued on it's path and exited in front of the far flank. Doe stumbled less than 25 yards before dropping.
Got another load I'm wanting to try this year, 32 gr. 3031 over the same bullet for 1600+fps. Probably use a slightly harder 14BHN bullet because that's what I've got ready.
Some argue that JES doesn't use the traditional bore size on the 38-55, some of the original Marlins went up over .380. JES uses .3755-.376 or so, not sure exactly his specs. It's a Saami chamber with the slightly smaller bore and groove in case someone wants to use standard .375 jacketed bullets. The bigger bores run into problems with cast bullets because when sizing to .001-.002 over groove size, you "sometimes" end up with the case of a seated bullet being oversize to the chamber and throat depending on how they were sized. At least that's my take on the situation.
Since I'm only running cast on this rifle I went with JES and size everything to match. Works great for me. I'm not necessarily a traditionalist on everything.
