38-55 Win in Rio Grande

[Model 52]

Great thread.

I shoot a .375 Win and I've found it to be the most enjoyable lever gun caliber I own. Given the hard to find nature of .375I usually shoot with .30-30 brass blown out to .375 ish dimensions and then load it up to similar 45,000-48,000 psi pressures, not quite pushing it as hard as I do actual .375 Win brass.

I measured the water volume of a sample of 50 of each and found that the average is consistently higher on the .30-30>.375 cases than on the .375 cases when trimmed to the same OAL, but I also found a great deal of overlap with some .375 cases having less volume than some .30-30>.375 cases. But what matters is the low end of the range, and the .30-30 derived cases are clearly thinner walled - mildly so, but thinner none the less.

[Ranch Dog]

This 38-55 has me thinking now. You guys are not helping here..... I figured the the new 45-70 would keep me busy for hopefully a year now I am thinking well this looks neat.

Hah! I think the 32 Win Spl and 38-55 Win would make good sense for Rossi to add to their line up. Not much consideration beyond the 30-30 Win.

[Ranch Dog]

I shoot a .375 Win and I've found it to be the most enjoyable lever gun caliber I own. Given the hard to find nature of .375I usually shoot with .30-30 brass blown out to .375 ish dimensions and then load it up to similar 45,000-48,000 psi pressures, not quite pushing it as hard as I do actual .375 Win brass.

My love of the 375 is what caused me to do the 38-55 Win conversion to a RG. I went with the 38-55 chamber cut over the 375 as it affords a bit more utility with large bullets. I believe you are right on the money with you reduction for the thinner 30-30 Win brass.

My wife and I were up in San Antonio about 6 years ago and a Sportsman Warehouse was closing up. At least I think that is what it was,it seemed like a new store. We pulled off the loop and went in, everything was reduced but not much left. The aisle where the brass had been was cleaned out except for the 375 Win, it was marked half price. Taking it all , I went to check out and mentioned that I wish they had more, the fellow said "hang on, there is more in the back!" I think I left the store with more than two thousand cases.

I've owned three of the Marlin rifles including a NIB. I decided to keep the rifle that I hunt with all the time and sell the other two. The new rifle had never a cartridge cycled through it but I figured I would never shoot it as I love my beater and it is more like me.

[Ranch Dog]

If the wind allows I'm going to get out today and run a final 10 shot string of my chosen load through the chronograph and call my work with this cartridge done. Need a minor adjustment for zero at 100-yards as well. I will be using a full case of H322, 37.1 grains, for 2025 FPS. I selected the H322 after shooting the powders most likely to deliver 2000 FPS; BL-C(2), H322, H335, and W748. BL-C(2) and W748 where bitter disappointments. H335 had as good of accuracy as H322 but was 50 FPS slower. I decided not to shoot Benchmark, H4198, H4895, and Varget as they have no hope of hitting the 2000 FPS mark.

I will come back and shoot H-LVR after I model the powder for QuickLoad through my RG3030. That work will be easier in that rifle as there are known loads with the powder and bullets I have on hand to use as the comparison.

Also, I did make a change to the scope removing the Bushnell Banner 1-6X28 Lite Site and replacing it with the my beloved Banner 1.5-4.5X32. The Lite Site is a great scope but I've had it out twice this week into the evening and the optics are just not as clear as the newer banner. It is just a matter of 30 years of life and the technology that is now used on lenses from grinding them to the coatings. The Lite Sight will stick around and I might see if I can send it back to Bushnell for an overhaul. The change now means the scopes on all my RGs are the same and that lends itself to a bit more familiarity in the field, especially at night.

Here is how my Rio Grandes stack up against each other with these bullets.

RG_FPE.jpg

RG_Thornily.jpg

RG_Taylor.jpg

RG_Penetration.jpg

RG_Wound.jpg

[Ranch Dog]

Did quite a bit more shooting with the rifle today. This is a target from my 100 yard shooting, just pounding away like I was shooting at a hog.



The target wasn't up against the oak but it makes for a better picture than at the berm. Here is a close up where you can see two flyers out of ten. Those I'm sure are me not the gun or load.



It is ready for a hog but will tear it down next week for the TruOil. This rifle has a nice color and grain so the TO will go right on top.

[Steelbanger]

Oh those pesky flyers! This target is a few years old but I have it saved and it shows a ten shot group, five shots each with two different rifles, a 357 mag and a 38-55. Note the first shot is at the top of the hump and the next nine right where they were supposed to be.

Two rifle group.JPG

[dpe.ahoy]

Good looking groups from both of you!! Been waiting for you to do some more work with the 38-55 Michael, I think that cartridge has a lot more to offer on game than many realize. I have two Marlins, M375, 38-55, an H&R 38-55 and a Ruger #3 375 Win. Plan on playing with them a lot more this year and take one or more out hunting this year. I'm liking the looks of your bullet and bet it will perform as well on game as the rest of your designs. Don't know if they still have it available, but Starline puts out two lengths of 38-55 brass, I bought 500 of the longer cases last year (or was it two, darn CRS) and have a bunch of Winchester 38-55 factory ammo I want to pull the bullets on and put my own powder in. I asked about using Accurate 1680 from the distributer over here in Miles City, MT and got a response from the ballistics dept. that it would work great in the 375/ 38-55 cartridges. What does Quick Load have to say about that powder?? DP

[Ranch Dog]

What does Quick Load have to say about that powder?? DP

Quick Load will generating the data for the powder but as with anything, the quality of the data is in the setup. Do a good job of generating the data, especially with a cartridge that has so many possibilities like the 38-55 Win has, I would need all the setup for the load: Bullet diameter and length, case length and H20 capacity if the case is a different length from SAAMI, and finally the pressure you want to shoot the cartridge at in that all of this is typically done over the 38-55 Win max.

[dpe.ahoy]

Dang, we're back to the old "Garbage in-Garbage out" thing again. Mr Loubster had told me that with the 220 gr. Hornady, I couldn't get too much powder in the case as it was on the verge of being too slow. I thought that somewhat strange as A1680 is faster than RL7, both 4198's and H322. I did load some test rounds with the 200 gr. Sierra and 220 gr Hornady using 1680 to run in the M 375 and the Hornady shot better. At the time I was out of RL 7 and will do more load development this summer. Looking forward to following your work with the 38-55. DP

[pricedo]

I put the Tru-Oil on top of the resident "shoe polish" finish and just used masking tape to stop the oil from slopping on to the metal.
It's good to remove the forearm and treat the inside surface of the wood to: 1) create a moisture seal & 2) to create a barrier to prevent the acidic jungle wood from pitting the metal of the barrel & magazine tube.
I like to apply the Tru-Oil with the wood in place on the gun cause it cures in the w/m interfaces and creates an effective water shed.