Winchester 38/55 range report
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Please post political post in the new Politics forum.
- KirkD
- Desktop Artiste
- Posts: 4406
- Joined: Sat Apr 07, 2007 6:52 am
- Location: Central Ontario, Canada
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Winchester 38/55 range report
Things went well at work this morning, so over the lunch hour I figured I'd make a quick trip down to the range to celebrate. I'm supposed to start practicing with my 1959 Model 94 30-30, but when I went to reload last night, I realized I was out of IMR 3031. So today, I grabbed my old Winchester 1894 38-55 octagon-barrelled rifle. The serial number is 74059 which, according to Madis, puts it at 1896. However, as has been revealed, Madis's numbers are badly off for the Model 1894 during this period. The factory records indicate that this rifle was actually recieved in the warehouse on the 24th of November, 1899 and shipped the following September 28th, 1900. That's a long time to be in the warehouse. Anyway, here's a photo of the old girl:
Load: 18 grains of 5744 and 1/2 sheet of 1-ply toilet paper under a 255 grain bevel base bullet with a BHN of 7 (half ww and half pure lead) sized to .379.
Brass: Some loads were done with the old, long brass, in this case Dominion. The other loads were done with the modern short brass from Winchester.
First Five Shots: 100 yards, short brass, forearm on a padded rest.
Photo of the target is shown below. My bore is .381 but the bullets are sized to .379. They seem to be soft enough to bump up reasonably well. A bevel base cast bullet isn't the greatest in my opinion. I've got a custom 38/55 mould being made by Veral Smith ( http://www.lbtmoulds.com/ )
Second Five Shots:100 yards, long brass, forearm on a padded rest
The longer brass consistently gives me poorer groups for some reason. They continued to do so today. Here's the target:
Third Five Shots: 100 yards, free-standing, offhand, long brass
I then decided to try some offhand shooting at 100 yards. Here's the result:
Final Eleven Shots: 100 yards, free standing, offhand, mixed brass, two sets of shots
Feeling confident after the previous offhand target, I squeezed five more off and walked down range to see the result. Pretty bad (they are labelled 'A' on the target). I knew why this set of shots was bad .... with increased confidence came less attention paid to a the sight picture when I squeezed off the shot. I left the target up and headed back to the line to shoot my remaining 6 shots. This time, I concentrated on the sight picture, and got some improvement. This second batch are labelled 'B' on the target. As you can see, I still need a lot of practice. I was sorely tempted not to post this last target but my conscience wouldn't let me hide it, so here it is!
Load: 18 grains of 5744 and 1/2 sheet of 1-ply toilet paper under a 255 grain bevel base bullet with a BHN of 7 (half ww and half pure lead) sized to .379.
Brass: Some loads were done with the old, long brass, in this case Dominion. The other loads were done with the modern short brass from Winchester.
First Five Shots: 100 yards, short brass, forearm on a padded rest.
Photo of the target is shown below. My bore is .381 but the bullets are sized to .379. They seem to be soft enough to bump up reasonably well. A bevel base cast bullet isn't the greatest in my opinion. I've got a custom 38/55 mould being made by Veral Smith ( http://www.lbtmoulds.com/ )
Second Five Shots:100 yards, long brass, forearm on a padded rest
The longer brass consistently gives me poorer groups for some reason. They continued to do so today. Here's the target:
Third Five Shots: 100 yards, free-standing, offhand, long brass
I then decided to try some offhand shooting at 100 yards. Here's the result:
Final Eleven Shots: 100 yards, free standing, offhand, mixed brass, two sets of shots
Feeling confident after the previous offhand target, I squeezed five more off and walked down range to see the result. Pretty bad (they are labelled 'A' on the target). I knew why this set of shots was bad .... with increased confidence came less attention paid to a the sight picture when I squeezed off the shot. I left the target up and headed back to the line to shoot my remaining 6 shots. This time, I concentrated on the sight picture, and got some improvement. This second batch are labelled 'B' on the target. As you can see, I still need a lot of practice. I was sorely tempted not to post this last target but my conscience wouldn't let me hide it, so here it is!
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- Advanced Levergunner
- Posts: 5493
- Joined: Mon Apr 02, 2007 9:23 pm
- Location: Batesville,Arkansas
Kirk that rifle is a real beauty,a long slender Winchester rifle is a fine thing.It looks like your groups are shrinking down to minute of deer.
I am working with 5744 and cast with the 32-20.It does show some promise.I think it will work for CAS shooting.
Jerry
I am working with 5744 and cast with the 32-20.It does show some promise.I think it will work for CAS shooting.
Jerry
JerryB II Corinthians 3:17, Now the Lord is that Spirit: and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty.
JOSHUA 24:15
JOSHUA 24:15
- KirkD
- Desktop Artiste
- Posts: 4406
- Joined: Sat Apr 07, 2007 6:52 am
- Location: Central Ontario, Canada
- Contact:
Junkbug, there's a local fellow who had been doing my casting and he borrowed the mould from someone. You are right, I do not like the bevel base bullet. I feel that it is harder to bump up a bevel base bullet to an oversize bore like mine and more conducive to leading and inaccuracy. This is why I finally decided to get a Veral Smith mould.
- Ysabel Kid
- Moderator
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- Location: South Carolina, USA
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Kirk -
Another great range report. You really set the standard here! I can't think of a better way to spend a lunch hour. Well, not that I can say here on this family board (I do work from home when I am "in the office", and the kids are back in school ).
I couldn't get the link on the Smith molds to work. Any chance it is not correct?
Thanks!
Another great range report. You really set the standard here! I can't think of a better way to spend a lunch hour. Well, not that I can say here on this family board (I do work from home when I am "in the office", and the kids are back in school ).
I couldn't get the link on the Smith molds to work. Any chance it is not correct?
Thanks!
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- Levergunner 2.0
- Posts: 431
- Joined: Sun Apr 01, 2007 7:56 pm
Great looking rifle!
Hi, Kirk,
Very nice!! Thanks for posting -- I always love seeing your old Winchesters!
Out of curiosity, what kind of delivery time is Veral Smith quoting
these days? Did you send him a chamber cast?
Thanks much,
John
Very nice!! Thanks for posting -- I always love seeing your old Winchesters!
Out of curiosity, what kind of delivery time is Veral Smith quoting
these days? Did you send him a chamber cast?
Thanks much,
John