The classic 38-55 Winchester is better than the 360 Buckhammer. The 360 Buckhammer is another boutique cartridge that the firearm and ammunition industries are going to push on consumers. Conversely, the 38-55 has been around for about 140 years and industry actively refuses to embrace it for modern hunting applications. Research the 38-55 for yourselves, Chuck Hawks has some good write ups on it. The 38-55 was the parent case to the 30-30 and the mild original load of a 255-grain bullet at a muzzle velocity of 1300fps has taken many heads of game. Ammunition companies used to sell a 1600-1700fps load which seems to be a sweet spot for terminal performance and recoil. Buffalo Bore sells 38-55 ammunition, but it is probably best reserved for CPX3 game (only use in modern rifles). The point being that the new boutique 360 Buckhammer was and is not needed.
Guns and Shooting Killing Power Score @100 yards:
.38-55 Winchester (255 grain at MV 1320 fps) - 22.7 KPS
.38-55 Winchester (255 grain at MV 1635 fps) - 33.5 KPS
.38-55 Winchester (255 grain at MV 1950 fps) - 44.3 KPS
For comparison:
.30-06 Springfield (150 grain at MV 2920 fps) - 37.3 KPS
.30-06 Springfield (165 grain at MV 2850 fps) - 47.3 KPS
.30-06 Springfield (180 grain at MV 2700 fps) - 49.2 KPS
38-55 Recoil Information from Chuck Hawks:
255gr bullet at 1320 fps from 7.5lbs rifle = 7.8 recoil energy and 8.2 recoil velocity
255gr bullet at 1635 fps from 7.5lbs rifle = 12.6 recoil energy and 10.2 recoil velocity
255gr bullet at 1950 fps from 7.5lbs rifle = 17.4 recoil energy and 12.2 recoil velocity
Other than the fact that you can't use a 38/55 to hunt in several states, but you can use the 360 Buckhammer.
Good news, Gunsmoke is on.
