.38-55 conversion?

Rossi's latest and past big game rifle based on the 336 frame!
Post Reply
rondog
250 Shots
250 Shots
Posts: 452
Joined: 19 Oct 2015 01:32
Location: Colorado
Has thanked: 181 times
Been thanked: 142 times

.38-55 conversion?

Post by rondog »

Has anybody here ever had a .30-30 Rio Grande converted to .38-55? Just wondering if one would make a good donor for conversion?
User avatar
Ranch Dog
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 9398
Joined: 23 Jan 2012 07:44
Location: Inez, TX
Has thanked: 1837 times
Been thanked: 2281 times

Re: .38-55 conversion?

Post by Ranch Dog »

rondog wrote:Has anybody here ever had a .30-30 Rio Grande converted to .38-55? Just wondering if one would make a good donor for conversion?
Yep, I did. JES told me not to send him another, but he did not explain it, and I'm not sure why he said it. From my end, it is a wonderful rifle. I had him cut the 38-55 Win chamber with the 375 Win bore & groove (.366"/.376"). I didn't want to be screwing around with fat bullets. The rifle is extremely accurate. I use Winchester brass and a TLC378-250-RF that I designed.

The only thing that I had to do to the rifle was open the upper inside of the magazine port to allow the long bullet nose to clear the inside radius of the hole. I did that work with a rounded file from outside of the port.

100-yards...

Image

Before killing this dude.

Image

My load. The bullet is labeled "380," but it is really "378". I did a group buy for the "380" for the fat guys.

Image

Within a couple of months, I refinished the would with Tru-Oil. It is a beautiful rifle.

I bought the rifle on sale for $250 and at the time JES was charging $225.
Michael
Image
User avatar
Ranch Dog
Site Admin
Site Admin
Posts: 9398
Joined: 23 Jan 2012 07:44
Location: Inez, TX
Has thanked: 1837 times
Been thanked: 2281 times

Re: .38-55 conversion?

Post by Ranch Dog »

Here is my original topic: https://www.rossi-rifleman.com/viewtopic.php?f=11&t=72

The Rossi has quietly doing it's thing for 6 and a half years now. No telling how many hogs the rifle has killed. It really put my Marlin 375 out of business as I would rather shoot the Rossi. I did pump new live into the Marlin by putting the XS Scout stuff on it.
Michael
Image
User avatar
GasGuzzler
Moderator
Moderator
Posts: 2745
Joined: 02 Nov 2015 19:54
Location: Cooke County, TX
Has thanked: 310 times
Been thanked: 451 times

Re: .38-55 conversion?

Post by GasGuzzler »

Dang now I want one and I know where another (not using my 1951 model) 336 .30-30 is...
__________________________________________________________________________________________
I've always been crazy but it's kept me from going insane.
User avatar
alphalimafoxtrot
Posts: 249
Joined: 15 Dec 2015 05:16
Location: Alexandria Virginia
Has thanked: 378 times
Been thanked: 59 times

Re: .38-55 conversion?

Post by alphalimafoxtrot »

GasGuzzler wrote:Dang now I want one and I know where another (not using my 1951 model) 336 .30-30 is...
+1 and me too! My old Marlin is happy that he's safe from the temptation - .35 Remington keeps him that way!

Now I got all sorts of lever-action 30-30's on my GB watch list......grrrr +guns
I am a regular joe, consisting of 78% coffee, 12% hot air, 9% organizational abilities, and 1% luck.
Ohio3Wheels
1000 Shots
1000 Shots
Posts: 1599
Joined: 31 Jul 2014 15:18
Location: Dayton Oh
Has thanked: 227 times
Been thanked: 328 times

Re: .38-55 conversion?

Post by Ohio3Wheels »

Yep, my '75 336 in 35 Rem agrees. I couldn't figure a reasonable way to convert is to a straight wall case. The '80 JM that I sent to Jesse is a nice looking rifle and I'm sure some Marlin purists would be aghast at this taking place, but I wanted a 38-55 and the least expensive non-conversion route was close to double what this one is costing. I will decide on the cross-bolt safety when it gets back and I shoot it for a bit.

More later, make smoke,
Curt... makin' smoke and raising my carbon foot print one cartridge at a time Image
Post Reply