38/55 uberti hi wall

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walter o

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I am looking for some help on reloading for my 38/55
I have starline brass(new) and 260 gr. bullets ,sized .381 to the gun .I can't find any load data for this. Don't know what old manuals to purchase to find information .can anyone direct me in the right direction or give load info.?
 
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For a book; Lyman cast bullet handbook. Online; Hodgdon powder lists 4 powders to use.

My 38-55 High Wall is a modern Winchester (ca.2005) and I use .377 cast bullets.

I really like a trail boss load that produced a 20 shot dime sized group! (Lyman tang and #17 globe sights, off a rest @ 100 yards). When Trail Boss first came out, there was no/little loading data so they told you how to best load it!

RULE 1, NEVER COMPRESS Trail Boss!!!

To start, look at your bullet, and find the crimp groove (if smooth, determine seating depth into case. You want Trail Boss to have a gap of 1/16" to 1/8" under the bullet. Weigh that powder charge & set powder measure.

My load is for 1/16" gap with 255 grain FP Bear Creek coated bullet .377, WLR primer Winchester brass. That Cartridge overall length measurement will very according to brass length and bullet depth. Est. Velocity 1300 fps.

Starline makes two lengths of brass, won't make a difference on smokeless loads, unless you mix them!

The most common bullets are flat nosed, for lever actions and are fine out to 200 or so yards. but for long range shooting (300+ yards) you will want a Round Nose (Lyman makes a Ballard designed by Harry Pope, 310gr that casts to 330 in pure lead,) or a Spitzer or Semi Spitzer.

Modern guns can use jacketed bullets safely, but for superior accuracy use a soft lead alloy (Wheel weights and type are too hard!) and stick to Black Powder Velocities (less than 1500 fps).

The cartridge was a target round invented by Ballard, from the late 1870's or early 1880's. Marlin bought out Ballard, and Winchester stole the round and renamed it when they went to the flat bullet in 1894. (in earlier High Walls the called it a 38-55 Ballard) If you keep it to target velocities, you can be amazed what a good rifle/load combination will do! (I know I was!)

Harry Pope really liked 38-55 and set some shooting records with it, until he fell in love with 32-40, and smashed every applicable record with that. His 200 & 300 yard offhand records still stand! (for 100 round & 200 round groups! The Offhand 200 yard 200 round group is just over 3" with peep sights! 32-40 still reigns in Schutzenfest!) The European name for 38-55 is 9.5x51R or 9.6x51R depending on the manufacturer.

Ivan
 
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If you use "Trail Boss" powder from Hodgdon you should go to their web site and under 'Rifle Reloading Data' find 38-55. You will see that they give a few loads for two weights bullets; 250 gr. being the closest to you bullet weight. The starting load given is 6.0 grains of Trail Boss. That should be very safe with your new rifle.

I looked in a copy of Lyman's Cast Bullet book and the data there is of course very old. IMHO, It is probably not too relevant to your situation.

I recommend that you go to the CasT Boolits forum web site and start researching and reading there. Some of the most educated cast bullets casters and shooters in the world are there and are mostly pretty nice to a beginner.
 
Go to Hodgdon's website and find 38-55 in the rifle reloading section.

Join "Cast Boolits" forum and read all the data you can bring up by 'SEARCH'. The most knowledgeable casters and shooters of cast bullets live there. Most are very willing to share their knowledge. Some are a little snippy, but that occurs everywhere.

Oops, thought my first message was lost in outer space and did not print.
 
walter o said:
I am looking for some help on reloading for my 38/55
I have starline brass(new) and 260 gr. bullets ,sized .381 to the gun .I can't find any load data for this. Don't know what old manuals to purchase to find information .can anyone direct me in the right direction or give load info.?
Click to expand...

Hodgdon data is pretty limited, but there is some. Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook #4 has good, up-to-date data. There is also an article with extensive cast bullet load data in HANDLOADER #210 (April, 2001). Loads were worked up in a Browning/ Winchester 1885 High Wall Traditional Hunter .38-55. Some of the older Lyman books have usable data, but much of this is with fast-burning pistol and shotgun powders. While a bit dated, Ken Waters PET LOADS book has some good .38-55 loads put together by the best handloading writer of that era.
 
There are a number of reports about larger than standard grove diameters on the Uberti 38-55 High Wall, in the .381-.384 range, which can lead to some accuracy issues when shooting a more standard .377-.379 diameter bullet. You might want to slug the barrel to determin the correct bullet diameter for your rifle.

The Uberti High Walls are really beautiful rifles, I have one of the Cimarron versions in 45-70, and I've thought a couple of time about re-barreling to 38-55.

Best regards,
 
Just a suggestion for those with little experience in slugging a bore...if you're not very careful, you can do some damage. A safer method, if you have access to more than one bullet diameter (bullet casters should and commercial casters may be able to supply different diameters) is to use the largest diameter bullet that will allow chambering a cartridge - without any more than slight resistance. The largest diameter bullet will generally be the most accurate.

Seat the bullet to where they firmly engrave the lands, then seat the bullet deeper to the point where there is only slight engraving. "Slight engraving" will enhance accuracy but will not allow a bullet to be pulled from the case if the cartridge is extracted. All this takes minimal experimentation.
 
My High Wall 38-55 is a Pedersoli with a 1:10 twist.I had a RCBS 2 holes that gave me 274gr;not long enough to stabilize.The thing would pattern 8 to 10'' at 50yds keyholing.
I ordered a mould from Accurate(most beautiful thing I have and a have a few dozens different brand moulds)which comes out at 330gr(38-328M) when cast 25:1.I size them with a RCBS sizing die I had a machinist open up at .380''
23.3gr IMR or H 4198in Starline brass with Federal magnum primers and pillow stuffing polyester now regularly prints at around 2'' at 100(metallic sights and 65 year old eyes,5 shot groups) with a few in the 1 1/2''area.
The best advice I can give you is match the bullet lenght to the twist of your rifle right off the bat before beginning any load experimentation.I think the Uberti has a slower twist so you'' probably work with a lighter pill than my 330gr.Also,don't try to feed it with too hard an alloy.20:1 up to 30:1 should do ok.
Slug that bore and try to go .001 to .002 over that(mine slugs .3785 and I feed it with .380).From there on,take notes about everything you try and...have fun!
 
This is a caliber where a vintage reloading handbook comes in handy. I have a Lyman #40 from 1955 with a few loads for this caliber. Using a 255 grain Cast plain base bullet, the following loads are listed:

2400 - 15.0 to 18.7g - 1200 to 1550 fps
4759 - 10.5 to 18.5g - 1050 to 1500 fps
Hi-Vel- 26.0g - 1500 fps (no longer available)
3031 - 30.0g - 1575 fps
Unique - 10.6g - 1300 fps
 
I'd have to look up my handloading notes, but feel pretty safe in saying that H4895 is hard to beat in the .38-55. Other good powders include 5744, Reloder 7, IMR4198, and SR4759. Never seen a need for fillers with any of these. I can't remember doing any comprehensive testing, but it seems I had slightly better accuracy results with CCI200 primers as opposed to Federal 210M, but they're both good primers.
 
The latest Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook 4th Edition has data on 6 different bullets from 225 grs. to 333 grs. with at least 8 different powders .
Lyman #4 is my go to for anything cast , coated or plated .

The 38-55 has not been forgotten !
Gary
 
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The hi wall is a very strong action and lead bullets have lower pressure loads than jacketed. You should be able to safely adjust loads for 255-265 gr lead bullets if no data can be found for 260 gr.
I've good results with 19-21 gr of 4198 behind a Lee 250 gr cast from my range lead/WW bend with a BHN between 11-13. No wadding and with a beeswax/crisco blend bullet lube. I have no luck with 2400. 4227 isn't quite as good as 4198.
A good plinker load is 10 gr Unique with just about any bullet weight.
Haven't had any luck with 2400.
And yes, the Cast Boolit site will give you tons of information. The ASSRA forum is another.

FWIW this is from an old Lyman manual of uncertain vintage (missing the first couple pages and front cover!)

250 gr Lyman #375248

Unique 9.9 gr 1355 fps
H240 15.0 gr 1395 fps
2400 15.0 gr 1350 fps
4227 16.0 gr 1475 fps
4759 20.0 gr 1550 fps
4198 17.0 gr 1485 fps

265 gr Lyman #375296 GC

Unique 10.0 gr 1360 fps
H240 16.7 gr 1535 fps
2400 16.7 gr 1495 fps
4227 17.0 gr 1460 fps
4759 15.5 gr 1390 fps
4198 17.0 gr 1450 fps

That's it! I dunno if they are starting loads or max!

Have fun!

John
 
rockquarry said:
I'd have to look up my handloading notes, but feel pretty safe in saying that H4895 is hard to beat in the .38-55. Other good powders include 5744, Reloder 7, IMR4198, and SR4759. Never seen a need for fillers with any of these.

Never tried Reloader 7 or 5744(I don't have any)but I've tried the others and for loads without fillers,H4895 was the best.But my 23.3gr 4198 with filler is more accurate and way more consistent than any other loads.
The problem I had to solve was that I shoot all year and while in July or August temp can be in the low 90s,in winter it is more like in the low 10s(I stay home when it hits 0).Hence the mag primer to help ensure a more constant ignition.I can do without it during summertime.
Click to expand...
 
Qc Pistolero said:
rockquarry said:
I'd have to look up my handloading notes, but feel pretty safe in saying that H4895 is hard to beat in the .38-55. Other good powders include 5744, Reloder 7, IMR4198, and SR4759. Never seen a need for fillers with any of these.

Never tried Reloader 7 or 5744(I don't have any)but I've tried the others and for loads without fillers,H4895 was the best.But my 23.3gr 4198 with filler is more accurate and way more consistent than any other loads.
The problem I had to solve was that I shoot all year and while in July or August temp can be in the low 90s,in winter it is more like in the low 10s(I stay home when it hits 0).Hence the mag primer to help ensure a more constant ignition.I can do without it during summertime.
Click to expand...

Agreed. I probably use more H4895 than anything else in .38-55. I load the Lyman 270 GC bullet to around 1450-1500 fps; very accurate and works well on deer if they're not too far.
Click to expand...
 
Qc Pistolero said:
rockquarry said:
I'd hate to be a deer in your woods;I'd certainly learn to hide very carefully!
Click to expand...

Even at a muzzle velocity of 1400-1500 fps, that Lyman bullet has a baseball trajectory. The only deer I've taken with the .38-55 was about 135 yards. In my estimation that's stretching it a little unless you're very good at range estimation. I'm not. I've fired that load at 200 yards, but it's been awhile. I think the drop with a 100 yard zero was at least fifteen inches. If you up the velocity to a max. load, it's still far from flat shooting.
Click to expand...
 
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