Home Forums Lever Action Central Lever Actions - General Has anyone here hunted with and taken game with a 38/55?

I need to talk to someone who uses or has used a 38/55 on game. Could be some fun and a nice perk to the right person. Let me know.

MARK

Currently shooting one in a Marlin 336 with Barnes JFP bullets. Shot a doe with it and haven't done a whole lot of experimenting with it yet. I have a box of Colorado Cast 255 Grain Lead FP's to try too. If its old I like it and this is a hoot to shoot with so far. Being of new manufacture I put a Lyman Receiver sight on it with a Williams Twilight Apeture. Groups are good, but stil want to monkey around a see if I can do better. Still waiting for a Winchester 1894 to cross my path or Marlin 1893 in this caliber so I can have an original to shoot as well. Ryan

I dropped a nice buck this past season with my Marlin CB 38-55, that I got from a board member. Nice gun, and when I say the buck dropped, I mean dropped!

Not tryin to be difficult or hostile, but what is the reason for your posts re; levergun hunting? I don't think you have to use bait -bullets, or whatever to get a response from folks.
If youre wonderin wether or not the ol levergun calibers can take game, well, if you can shoot an stalk they sure as heck can and do.
Maybe with all the monster magnum stuff bandied about in all the publications, folks think unless they have a 150 gr. super bullet at 3,000 fps. nothin gets done, and I suppose such people might be astounded at what one can accomplish with a lowly levergun.
In my opinion hunting with a modern flat shootin monster magnum is just tryin to make the killin part easier.
Y'know the stoery, Mr. Joe has five days to get himself his trophy elk, and bygawd, hes gonna use range finders, night vision, helicopters, an divine intervention to get it.
I might as well say that Mr. Joe is missin the whole point. Makin the kill easier is not makin the hunt better, its just makin it faster. So, to answer your question, the 38-55 has been killin Deer for over a hundret year now, and it will continue to do so as long as real hunters take it into the high country ever fall.
Good luck n good shootin

Mark,

I agree with Mak. I'm on my second .38-55. I got rid of my first one because I didn't understand that the reloading industry just want to sell the products that are convenient to produce, rather than the correct products to suit the bore and chamber dimensions of the rifles.

Once I understood that you need to have a mould that fits the bore and reloading dies that can seat these bigger bullets, as well as a chamber that can accept these rounds, I went and bought another rifle.

It kills reliably and as long as you have the patience to stalk within 50 yards, I am confident that it will take your African Antelope. Our wild donkeys are very tough animals and a very good indication of how good your bullet placement is. The 264 gr hard cast bullets penetrate them very well and kill them reliably, even on the run. They are also deadly on pigs.

At 1600 fps you will get a + or - 2" point blank range to 150 yards. But to be honest with you if you don't need the range, 1200 fps seems to kill just as well and is much easier to shoot all day long.

I also don't understand the premise of your question, so all I an say is that a bunch of people living subsistence lifestyles in Canada don't own anything else.

I've got a Winchester 94AE Wrangler II with 16" barrel in .38/55. Have killed a couple deer with it using the old Imperial factory load that was much hotter than the pedestrian Winchester load. One dropped to the shot, the other made a death dash and piled up within 40 yards.

Havn't killed a deer with the 38-55, but did kill one with a 375 Winchester, using a 220 grain Hornady.
The Muledeer forked horn was running down a trail, right at me. I shot it in the left sholder. The bullet came out the right ham, for full length body penetration.
When hit, the deer did a back flip, and piled up. one of the "deadest" deer I ever shot!
Have a 94 that I just had er-bored to 38-55. I'll be hunting wtih it this season, with that same Hornady 220 grain bullet.
Virgil B.

I shot deer with one many years ago and it did well up to about 150 yards. I couldn't tell much difference in it and a 30-30.

Check out buffalobore.com. The firm loads a 255 grain at 1950 f.s. That must be quite a sledgehammer.

In 1964 a bunch of us were hunting mule deer out of Chemult Oregon. My uncle, Harold McCallum jump a big old boy, 3 on one side and four on the other. He shot it going away and knocked it down and then finished right there. I was impressed by the killing power of his rifle.
Some of you Winchester collectors may remember Harold as having one of the largest and most complete Winchester collections during the 60's 70's and 80's.
Harold was using a warm hand load in a Model 1894 Rifle in 38-55 to kill that old deer.
The serial number of that rifle was 8, probably made on the first day of production.

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That rifle No. 8 was most likely a prototype because Winchester records do not show a production date or any info on it. I knew Harold and did visit him in Monroe a time or two. What ever happened to his collection and old number 8? Haorld had several Winchesters with serial number 8 but the others were late manufacture gun. Harold was a great old gentleman, we miss him.

Jim

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A lot of his gun are in storage right now. His wife, my aunt Vernetta, just pasted away a month ago and right now I don't know how the guns are to be dispositioned.
He also owned serial 8, Model 1886 in 45-70 and Model 54 in 7x57.I have shot all 3 of the serial 8 rifles. One of his favorites to hunt with was a deluxe 86 in 50 express which was a fun gun to shoot also.

Doc

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Thanks Doc,

It would be nice to buy the whole collection but most of us have never seen that much money.


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....I've got that exact same gun,and have killed a couple deer with the same old Imperial load you mentioned too!The little carbine is so very handy with it's short barrel. Being an angle eject I didn't feel bad putting a scope on it. I found an old Weaver K-1 in perfect shape and put it on the WranglerII. It's like a super peep sight you can shoot with both eyes open on moving game in a pinch. The Imperial load is indeed more punch than the anemic Winchester factory 38/55 loads,and were cheaper too. Cheaper that is until I bought all two boxes I could find in Atlanta.

.....Both deer I killed with the Imperial load fell where hit through the lungs. One animal was a doe of about 80 lbs. taken for the meat locker,the other was a 9pt 31/2 year old buck that dressed at 168 lbs and kicked when down but did not rise up and expired in seconds.

.....I now have had Wisconsin Cartridge co. load Barnes Original 255gr. bullets to 1680 fps. They do a good job with fresh unfired brass(WW)and the cost was less than Winchester factory stuff. By the way i've killed a deer with the Winchester load too.A small spike buck (a button buck really)that went a few feet and fell but required a coup de gras to end his suffering, due to the first shot being to far back through the liver.I really shouldn't have taken the shot,it was a moving animal at a paced off 117 yards ,too long for the Winchester 1200fps loading,which isn't as strong as many modern muzzle loads.

....Use good loads in your 38/55,keep within 150 yards (120 so much the better), and the old 38/55 will take deer or bear without a problem. Heck it'd be super behind hounds for bear or lion too,the Wrangler would ride a horse better than most any of us, and could even do in elk or moose at brush range with boiler room hits only PLEASE.

......Rifle cartridges have changed a bunch since the hay day of the 38/55, but animals haven't changed much,nor have the laws of physics. So what the 38/55 killed in days of old,it'll still lay low today. It's got a good fun factor with it too!ENJOY!

I know there are some who swear by the .375 Winchester. The heavy, slow, blunt pointed bullet with the lollipop trajectory will certainly kill and kill well so long as the range is within about 75 or 100 yards of the target.

The the .38-55, like the .375 is an interesting round. One that I'd love to hunt with someday in the thick woods of Missouri.

To me, the round seems to be a very specialized cartridge.

The 38-55 and the .375 Win have the big bore and larger bullet which gives it an almost unusable tragectory yet the energy level is not sufficient enough to be a reliable short range bear, moose or elk option...you'd likely not choose it to ward off bears.

I have a soft spot for the big bore lever guns. The .38-55 and .375 Winchester are very interesting and would be fun to shoot.

....Check out the Buffalo Bore 38/55 loadings,or load your own to such velocities and you've got a VERY POTENT bear killer at woods ranges. A 255 grain bullet at 1850-1950 fps has more pentration and more wallop than many loads used to kill bear. Such loads of course are for MODERN manufactured guns,NOT the 100 plus year old vintage rifles of long gone days. For this reason Winchester limits it's load offerings to blackpowder load specs (255 grain bullet at 1230fps.)The Winchester factory stuff is about like using an old time muzzle loader with it's very loopy trajectory.A 255 grainer at 1850fps is a whole different deal! I shoot Barnes 255's at around 1650-1700fps when I use my Winchester 94 WranglerII angle eject.It's fun,AND DEADLY! It'll drop the meanest big boar in Georgia quick settle quick!And if you aren't up on big boars in Georgia,they're as tough, and bigger than most bear.

I have a Marlin 336CB in .38-55. Currently using 33.0 gr of H-322 behind a 260 gr. Cast Performance LFN. Haven't chrono'ed the load, but expect it ambles along at 1850-1950 fps. Took a decent 8 pt with it last opening day @ 50 yds., he went 40 yards or so before piling up. My shot was just a tad further back from where I intended to place it, but it was a quick, one-shot kill nonetheless.

This is a grand, old chambering...the "father" of the .30-30....get one, craft some handloads, and go enjoy it...

I lost no sleep in putting a scope on mine either, a Weaver 1-3x20. A lot of people consider it blasphemy to saddle such a short lever gun with a scope but I feel obligated to place that bullet as precisely as possible and my eyes don't cope with irons all that well with such a short sighting radius. The little Weaver takes very little away as far as handling qualities and it helps immensely in that dark woods I use the little .38/55 in.
I've got a lifetime supply of the Imperial ammo so doubt if I'll ever bother handloading for it. I bought my first 2 boxes in the old metallic boxes at the Charlotte gun show that I bought the Wrangler at. A short time later the old Atlanta Discount Ammo closed out their supply of the last production run of Imperial ammo and they had .38/55 for about $7.00 a box if memory serves {that was probably 17 years ago}. I bought a full case of the stuff and still have the majority of it. BTW, I think the earlier stuff in the metallic boxes was a tad hotter than the late production stuff in the more generic boxes. At least the early stuff had a lot more muzzle flash. Could be a change in powder I guess as I don't have any more of the old stuff to compare over the chrony.

No doubt....a 255 grn .38 caliber bullet going at even 1500 fp/s is going to penetrate, expand and take down a thin-skinned animal like a deer.

The question I have with this bullet....is the fairly low sectional density. Bullets that come in this caliber are usually 270 grains or more. For serious work, the .375 magnums propel 300 grn bullets.

Again, this is an interesting round and I would love to own a slick shooting .375 Win or a 38-55 someday where it would be quite at home with my 50 yard shots at Missouri Whitetail deer.