Winchester 38-55 conversion questions

SPROCKET · Post by **SPROCKET** » Mon Apr 14, 2008 11:29 pm

So, I was thinking about how to spend my tax refund and I figure a 38-55 might fit the bill. I'd like to take something like a Sears Ted Stevens 30-30 and have it relined or rebarreled. The questions I have are

-could you load to 30-30 pressures in a relined 30-30?

-if you can, does the same hold true for a rebarrel?

-is there a generally accepted optimal barrel length for the 38-55?

Thanks for any help.

-Sprocket

homefront · Post by **homefront** » Tue Apr 15, 2008 4:33 am

1) You could simply re barrel it (then you'd have a spare .30-30 barrel): http://www.buffaloarms.com/browse.cfm/b ... age=fadded

2) Having it re-bored/chambered wouldn't cost much more than the above barrel and would keep the rifle looking original.

3) Read this article by Paco: http://www.leverguns.com/articles/paco/ ... harges.htm

4) Any length over 18" will burn all your powder and stabilize a 255gr. bullet.

5) I don't see the need to re-line the barrel.

20cows · Post by **20cows** » Tue Apr 15, 2008 4:46 am

I have had three Winchester 94s rebored from .30-30 to .38-55, two of mine and one of my brother's. 100% success each time.

The last two were done by Jes Ocumpaugh.

The rebore/rechamber was the only change necessary.

Oh, one is a 26" rifle, one a 20" carbine and the one I use the most is a 16.5" trapper, shooting a 275 gr. cast bullet.

Lefty Dude · Post by **Lefty Dude** » Tue Apr 15, 2008 12:36 pm

If you are shoot BP, then I would go with a longer barrel.

Like stated previous, the modern powders will give you the burn in the first 18".

I have proof of this, My Brother has a 94 win. 30-30 BBC 20" SRC. I have a 26" octagon 30-30 Win. Legacy. We have shot my lead loads together at at a Cowboy Action Side Match. His 20" shoots the same load flatter than my 26", We were shooting at a steel Buffalo at 175 meters. He was knocking his down and my rounds were falling short by 4' to 8 '. He was holding center of mass, and so was I. I shot at the top and still fell short. I raised my ladder sight bar two notches and was on the money.

The load was a 170 gr. gas/checked laser-cast, with 20 grains of Alliant Reloader 7 powder.

If I were re-barreling a 30-30 to 38-55. I would go with 22".

Longfin · Post by **Longfin** » Tue Apr 15, 2008 4:57 pm

I spoke with Jesse yesterday about converting a Marlin 336 30-30 to 38-55. He indicated it would be a .376 groove diameter with a 1-15 twist. He indicates it is safe to fire factory .375 Winchester in this conversion. ???? Also indicated the current price is $225.00. I have two of the 336 Texans and I considering converting one to 38-55. I'm just not exactly sure why. I guess I have made a small step in that direction, as I went to the local gun shop pawn shop gas station game room and convenience store and found one dusty box of Winchester 255 grain 38-55. They had it priced for $15.00 including tax. On the box they had marked it up to $15.00 from $13.99 which was originally the price sticker. At that price I figured I would get it even if I never got the conversion done.

Post by **Hobie** » Tue Apr 15, 2008 6:19 pm

The 336T would be an IDEAL .38-55. Yes, you should be able to fire the .375 Winchester in the long .38-55 chamber and do so safely, if you needed to do so.

Lefty Dude · Post by **Lefty Dude** » Tue Apr 15, 2008 8:16 pm

Longfin wrote:I spoke with Jesse yesterday about converting a Marlin 336 30-30 to 38-55. He indicated it would be a .376 groove diameter with a 1-15 twist. He indicates it is safe to fire factory .375 Winchester in this conversion. ???? Also indicated the current price is $225.00. I have two of the 336 Texans and I considering converting one to 38-55. I'm just not exactly sure why. I guess I have made a small step in that direction, as I went to the local gun shop pawn shop gas station game room and convenience store and found one dusty box of Winchester 255 grain 38-55. They had it priced for $15.00 including tax. On the box they had marked it up to $15.00 from $13.99 which was originally the price sticker. At that price I figured I would get it even if I never got the conversion done.

Is his chambering reamer a true 38-55 reamer or the modern length .375 reamer ? The 38-55 is slightly longer than the .375. I like the .376 groove.
The Marlin's tend to be what ever reamer is on sale this week.

Most of the Modern 38-55 is the .375 length. I believe Starline brass can be had in both the old & new length.

Sixgun · Post by **Sixgun** » Tue Apr 15, 2008 8:27 pm

Most of the Modern 38-55 is the .375 length. I believe Starline brass can be had in both the old & new length.

The above boys gave excellent advice. I'm with them. As for brass length, don't worry about it. I use blown out 30-30 brass for all of my 38-55's and I shoot several thousand of them a year. Length is 2.00. I seat the bullets out to mol-----------Sixgun

Lefty Dude · Post by **Lefty Dude** » Tue Apr 15, 2008 10:54 pm

I also used 30-30 brass for my .375 Winny. However some shooters do not have the reloading experience to neck the case's up. For full loads I used .375 cases. I also had a Ruger #3 in .375, In the Ruger I only seated the bullets about a 1/4" in the case. Wished I had that Ruger still, it was one fine shooter. I used 375 H&H bullets and took a Bull Elk with one shot.

When I had my .375 Winny I shot 36 cal. round lead balls, makes a very cheap plinker load. I paper patched the round ball.

The load is in the "Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook"

Post by **Hobie** » Wed Apr 16, 2008 7:20 am

The case lengths shortest to longest are the .375, the short .38-55 and the long .38-55. The short .38-55 and the .375 Win are NOT the same length according to published standards. I've used the short cases but prefer the longer cases.

The "short" .38-55 is 2.080" and that is not a lot different from the .375 Win. HOWEVER, the brass is different and there is a reason the .375 Win brass is different.

Photo courtesy of Norm Johnson...

SPROCKET · Post by **SPROCKET** » Thu Apr 17, 2008 11:18 pm

If I go the rebarrel route... Does anyone have an opinion on the Numrich or Badger barrels?

runfiverun · Post by **runfiverun** » Fri Apr 18, 2008 10:44 pm

my marlin in 375 win will easily take the .080 38-55 brass
it will also shoot .380 diameter cast bullets.
it does shoot the 375 jacketed okay though.
whatever bbl you do decide on i would make sure of your dimensions
and the throat area especially if you are going to use cast.

20cows · Post by **20cows** » Sat Apr 19, 2008 6:39 am

If I remember right, Griff used a Numrich barrel to make a Win 94 rifle in .38-55.

BenT · Post by **BenT** » Sat Apr 19, 2008 7:16 am

The 26" octagon Numrich 38-55 barrel I have slugs out at .375.

Abilene · Post by **Abilene** » Sat Apr 26, 2008 6:24 pm

I just got both of the barrels I sent to Jess back, and have shot the 20 incher w/ loads a little on the warm side, also Winchester factory, and a .380 cast bullet from a Veral Smith mold. I can't gripe about the rifle, It shoots everything we put in it. I also used factory brass and made some out of 30-30, I am very pleased. Now I must put the 26" gun together, it started life as a 32-40, but it looked like a sewer pipe. Now it has a brand new .376 bore. Abilene

1886 · Post by **1886** » Sat Apr 26, 2008 6:34 pm

If you have the .38-55 work done use the longer, 2.125" Starline brass. There is absolutely no reason not to. Please let us know how you fare. 1886.

Longfin · Post by **Longfin** » Sun Apr 27, 2008 8:30 am

Abilene, good to heard that you are pleased with the conversions Jesse did for you. I'm looking forward to getting my rifle back. Question for you, how did those big 380 bullets work in the 376 barrel? Seems it would be a squeeze.
Also a question for the group. The 38-55 conversions from Jesse can use factory 375 Win ammo as Hobie and others have stated. The barrel Jesse cuts is more of a 375 (.376 groove) than the typically larger .379/.380 as seen in the Marlin 38-55. Would/could one use 375 load data and use 375 Win brass and 38-55 load data and 38-55 brass? Hope my question makes sense. What I'm getting at is that the stronger 375 brass seems to be the relavant factor in using 375 load data.

Okie · Post by **Okie** » Mon Apr 28, 2008 7:40 pm

Longfin wrote:I spoke with Jesse yesterday about converting a Marlin 336 30-30 to 38-55. He indicated it would be a .376 groove diameter with a 1-15 twist. He indicates it is safe to fire factory .375 Winchester in this conversion. ???? Also indicated the current price is $225.00. I have two of the 336 Texans and I considering converting one to 38-55. I'm just not exactly sure why. I guess I have made a small step in that direction, as I went to the local gun shop pawn shop gas station game room and convenience store and found one dusty box of Winchester 255 grain 38-55. They had it priced for $15.00 including tax. On the box they had marked it up to $15.00 from $13.99 which was originally the price sticker. At that price I figured I would get it even if I never got the conversion done.

I checked with Jess and the job is normally $145 plus return shipping as his flier indicates.

Longfin · Post by **Longfin** » Mon Apr 28, 2008 7:56 pm

Well, I don't understand the difference. When I talked with him, he told me $225.00 which included return shipping. I received the converted rifle back from him this afternoon. the return shipping on the box was around $27.00. No refund or change was found in the box, LOL!

BenT · Post by **BenT** » Mon Apr 28, 2008 8:26 pm

Longfin if you read Paco's article on the 375 you will see that the strength of the brass doesn't seem to matter in the straight wall case. Paco uses the 38-55 brass in his 375 hot loads because it's thinner and can hold more powder.

What grain bullet are you going to be trying? The 255 grain lead seems to be the common one. I would like to see something in the 215 -220 grain area. Then one should be able to match 35 rem 200 grain ballistics.
I've had good luck with reloader 7.

Good Luck with your new and improved levergun!

Longfin · Post by **Longfin** » Mon Apr 28, 2008 10:30 pm

Thanks for the info on the brass Ben. That being the case, no reason to use 375 brass. If looking for a 220 grain bullet, the Hornady 220 grain should be your huckleberry. Lots of load data available using that bullet. Since I have a Marlin in 35 Remington I'm not trying to duplicate that round. I'll most likely go more tradition with a 250-265 grain cast bullet. Probably from Bear Tooth Bullets. To me it seems like this old cartridge should be lead. I'm even considering some 20:1 cast bullets and load it down to more original levels. Lots of options.

Winchester 38-55 conversion questions

Winchester 38-55 conversion questions

Rebore pricing