.38-55

[jhcii]

So there's a few pictures of my 1897 1894 Winchester in .38-55.

Bore is perfect without pitting or rust. It actually looks brand new to see the bore.

First time I shot the .38-55 was in a Marlin Cowboy Limited Edition at the turn of 2000. I liked it. I sold it. That goes a sad way but when I found this Winchester 1894 in .38-55 I took it home with the feeling the Marlin was recent make and this is original .38-55. It shoots a 255gr flat point at 1300 or so at the muzzle in .38 Caliber. Thirty eight bullet weighing 255 grains at 55 gr black powder.

The rifle holds 9 in the tube for a total of 9+ chambered round. The bullets are long and all lead in front. They can go through Elk easily and commonly punch through any live target up to 200 or beyond yards.

Accuracy is like a .22 which is really quite accurate clear out to 100 or so yards with the open sights.

I've owned numerous .30-30s in old 1894 and they all are fine but this .38-55 deserves some air time compared to the .30-30 1894 Winchester. It feeds smooth. It shoots a bit slower than the .30-30 smokeless that revolutionized the .30 WCF into the 1894.

This gun I ran into a couple or more years ago for a reasonable price but the rifle bore is perfect without aging. Sometimes people assume a rifle bore is as old as the gun and the outside but not here. This rifle has outside wear without the bore being neglected since 1897.

Enjoy.

 

[30-30remchester]

I had a similar rifle. Same make, yom, and caliber. I had it for long enough to shoot a small bull elk and a mule deer buck. Wish I had it back.

 

[s&wchad]

Nice antique solid frame Winchester Model 1894 chambered for a great cartridge! I've collected '94's for quite a while and it's difficult to find a .38-55 with an excellent bore, since it was originally a black powder cartridge.

Here's a pretty much standard takedown rifle in .38-55:

... and an antique Deluxe model:

 

[shooter92]

38-55 also

I too just recently enjoyed shooting a 94 Winchester 38-55 that I inherited. I finally found some factory ammo and love shooting it! First time on the bench, I knocked down 3/5 targets at 100 yards! I ordered brass from Starline but am perplexed about the dies.. regular or Cowboy? I really want to shoot jacketed and lead. What is the best powder and bullets? Any help would be appreciated.

 

[Skeetr57]

One problem with old original 38-55 Winchesters is bore diameter. They are almost all oversize, up to .378" or so instead of the nominal .375" Some of the commemoratives are oversize also. I currently have two rifles in .38-55. One is a M1894 half magazine rifle that was originally a .32 Win Spl, but the bore was shot, so I sent it to PO Ackley and had it rebored to .38-55. The new bore is dead on .375. I also have an old Marlin 336 carbine that I rebarreled with an original Marlin M1893 carbine barrel. That barrel is also .375", and is the best shooting lever action I have ever fired. I load them with Sierra 22o gr bullets meant for the .375 Winchester and H322 powder to about 1800 fps. I killed a nice 8 pt white tail with it, and my 12 yo grandson killed his first deer with it this year. Barnes makes a bullets in the original weight in .377, or they did, but the original throat may not allow for the use of the larger diameter bullets.




the

 

[shotgun693]

I have a Marlin .38-55. It is an amazingly accurate rifle. I know people will think I'm blowing smoke but I have shot a inch group using factory ammo and iron sights at 100 yards. I have my own load I'm fine tuning but I think it will match the factory in accuracy but at about 150 fps more muzzle velocity. There's nothing in Texas that I'm not sure I could kill with mine.

 

[Frank46]

Nice wood on the takedown. Frank

 

[jhcii]

Picture of .38-55 ammunition (cowboy 255gr flat point)

It's called Ammunition Seconds 20 rounds per box at the price you can see there,

$34.99 per 20 rounds.

It's all lead and shoots as accurate--more accurate--than I can do with iron sights. The iron sights are indeed precise to see at 100 yards and all I do is put a round bull's eye pistol target to see the target clearly. The sights go with the target at that range and shooting at 100 yards is as easy as shooting at 25 yards. After the 100 yard mark the .38-55 drops similar to the trajectory of a 40 grain long rifle in a match type .22 rimfire rifle.

With this rifle holding nine rounds in the tube it stands by the front door of our house. It is not an automatic rifle by any definition but the action and reliability is top of scale. The load is a .38 bullet weighing an awful lot more than a .38 Special going over the speed of sound.

In the field the gun is not a concern for exposure and firing since 1897 when it was made. It works.

I love it!

Thanks to all responding, jhcii.

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

Winchester 94's have bores as large as .383", a friend's 1907 94 would not stabilize any smaller diameter. Bear Creek Bullets has bullets in several diameters. Using their bullet in .377", over 8+/- grains of Trail Boss in long Starline brass, My modern 1885 in 38-55 with a copy of Marble's tang sight and a Lyman globe front sight shot 20 rounds in a group that a nickle would cover at 100 yards. Velocity was 820 fps which is way too slow for hunting, but is great for paper targets and steel gongs. If loading Black Powder, most modern style cast bullets don't hold enough bullet lube to keep the fouling soft, so a "cookie" under the bullet is necessary and a over the powder card.

Ivan

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

Winchester 94's have bores as large as .383", a friend's 1907 94 would not stabilize any smaller diameter. Bear Creek Bullets has bullets in several diameters. Using their bullet in .377", over 8+/- grains of Trail Boss in long Starline brass, My modern 1885 in 38-55 with a copy of Marble's tang sight and a Lyman globe front sight shot 20 rounds in a group that a nickle would cover at 100 yards. Velocity was 820 fps which is way too slow for hunting, but is great for paper targets and steel gongs. If loading Black Powder, most modern style cast bullets don't hold enough bullet lube to keep the fouling soft, so a "cookie" under the bullet is necessary and a over the powder card.

Ivan

 

[STCM(SW)]

Never could get my Winchester 38-55 HW to shoot the way I though it should.

 

[Inusuit]

I have a Marlin .38-55. It is an amazingly accurate rifle. I know people will think I'm blowing smoke but I have shot a inch group using factory ammo and iron sights at 100 yards. I have my own load I'm fine tuning but I think it will match the factory in accuracy but at about 150 fps more muzzle velocity. There's nothing in Texas that I'm not sure I could kill with mine.

I also have an 1893 Marlin in .38-55 that I bought while working in a hardware store in 1962. Some guy had the hots for a Marlin .22 rifle but no money. I asked if he anything to trade and he brought in this Marlin. I gave him $25 for it, and he left with the .22 a happy camper. While the bore on my rifle is a bit pitted, it is still the most accurate lever action I own when loaded with heavy hard cast bullets at moderate velocity.