Who Knew?

[Griff]

My once fired .32-40 brass stretched. Probably less than 50% of the 60 rounds I reloaded today. Lyman's 50th sez "trim-to" length is 2.120". Some of mine were as long as 2.23". Most were in the 2.15" range. I dropped my previous load of 15 grains of 5744 to 14 grains, as the 15 grain charge seemed about 100-125 fps too fast. i think another trip to the range tomorrow is warranted! Hopefully, I remember everything this time!

[Sixgun]

Hey Griff….what kind of a rifle is it, an old 94? New one?…..could have a long chamber if it’s a new one…….back the fls off 2 full turns, resize and load a bullet minus powder and see if it chambers..if it dont, turn in 1/4 turn u til it does.


A new rifle shouldn’t have any excessive headspace and an old rifle most likely dies. But, if it’s a foreign gun all bets are off. Then it could be anything.

I have extensive experience with that round and all I’ve ever used was 30-30 brass. Just run it through a 32-40 fls. Seat the bullet to correct length just shy of the lands…….single shot should be loaded out as far as possible.

My all time load was an RCBS 170 gr. GC.with 20 grains of 5744 for around 1800….don’t have my notes handy.—-006

[Griff]

Six, it's the "new-to-me" Miroku made Winchester 1885 Limited.


I know that I "could" use any of that family of cartridges to form brass from... but, if I have a quirk, it's liking to have my brass head-stamped in the cartridge I'm loading for. Although, I did buy some of Starline's 2.125" .38-55 brass to use, I haven't broken into that bag of 100. I also have quite a bit of .40-90SBN formed from various .45 Basic brass also... although back in the early 1992 I splurged for some properly marked Bertram Brass for the .40-90SBN. Originally ordered 100 pieces, but received 200 because it the vendor felt bad taking 2 years to get it to me! Made for a good price overall.

And I can't swear to the fact that it's stretched... I hate setting up my trimmer, so I don't measure all that often... I do with my high power stuff after each firing, 'cause usually have to trim it. And from today's trip to the range it seems well sorted. The drop to 14 grains of 5744 was a much more realistic 1468 pfs. And the target doesn't lie. 1st target @ 100 yards... took me quite a bit of setting, then re-setting the scope, but finally got 3 shots in the X-ring.


Moved to the bottom target and put 4 shots in the 2" X-ring. Balance of shots on that target were from previous trips, or... shots at the top target while still fiddling with adjustments. Total shots expended in today's effort was 35! I'll think I'll keep using this 14 grain load. Although it seems to leave a lot of soot in the bore. Now, I'm almost afraid to clean it! At least it seems to have some repeatability.

[Grizz]

that's good shootin' right there . . . cant miss'em

[Sixgun]

Ok Griff, you have it under control……yea, the Jap guns are the best…..hell, I wouldn’t even size em…pop out the primer and use a LFC die. 5744 is a very volatile powder and needs little to no tight neck tension…………

What’s the barrel slug out at? I’d run the biggest diameter bullet that the chamber will accept even if it’s .381…….if you want extreme accuracy you could even inside neck ream a thou or two to enable a larger diameter bullet. My original 1885 in 40-82 will hit clay birds every shot out to 300 meters then about at 385 meters, the slow express rifling takes over and it’ll jump from 4” @ 300 to a foot at 385.

>>>>>>>>>>>>>Then start indexing and you’ll be the “man to beat” at the matches.<<<<<<<<< (important with a single shot)

Did ya notice that with old eyes, even a scope don’t help much anymore? ——006

[Griff]

Did ya notice that with old eyes, even a scope don’t help much anymore? ——006/

Surprisingly, this does seem to help. With iron sights, I find myself trying to line up a fuzzy rear sight with the bead of a fuzzy front sight and line both up on a fuzzy target! This scope has a long eye relief and my only trouble is getting a full FOV and a clear look at the reticle.

[Bill in Oregon]

Griff, I for one am enjoying your .38-55 adventure. I wish to heck I had kept the Marlin Cowboy in that caliber that I bought a whole swaging outfit from Dave Corbin to feed it custom .379 jacketed softpoints. Have mercy they were accurate!

[Walt]

Griff, that's a beautiful rifle....thanks for the picture!

[Griff]

Griff, I for one am enjoying your .38-55 adventure. I wish to heck I had kept the Marlin Cowboy in that caliber that I bought a whole swaging outfit from Dave Corbin to feed it custom .379 jacketed softpoints. Have mercy they were accurate!

Actually, it's a .32-40. Back in the mid '80s I bought a bunch of JW Commemorative ammo in this cartridge and gave a box of it to my friend for a birthday present, keeping most to fuel my need for a rifle in this chambering. I've lusted after many 1885s, from originals to repros, to customs of the like from C. Sharps. When a forum member mentioned he was considering selling this one last year... I jumped on it! Gathering brass has been an adventure. Dies, a mold or two, plus some store bought bullets... Adding a Lyman 17A front sight to the included tang sight didn't really meet the quest for accuracy I hoped for out of this rifle. (My eyes ain't what they used to be). Anyway, the rifle came with a set of scope mounts and I tested my loads with a 4X scope to see what promise the rifle held. But, to compete in Long Range Optical side matches in SASS requires an externally adjusted ¾" scope. Being cheap (frugal), this setup meets the rules at a lower cost. It's finally starting to come together.

I think this girl is ready to take hunting. I just have to take my jacketed rounds out to compare them to these cast bullets from Missouri bullet and my home cast version.

[Bill in Oregon]

D'OH! I don't know why I switched the two cartridges in my feeble mind. Maybe because they were such go-to stalwarts of the Schuetzen era.

[coyote nose]

I measure case length before reloading and trim, every time if necessary. You could run into serious issues if the case is too long.

[Griff]

D'OH! I don't know why I switched the two cartridges in my feeble mind. Maybe because they were such go-to stalwarts of the Schuetzen era.

Probably my fault for mentioning the .38-55 in my post...

I measure case length before reloading and trim, every time if necessary. You could run into serious issues if the case is too long.

I don't know why it surprised me, maybe as it ain't a bottle necked case. I usually trim my .30-30s a thousandths or so short so I don't have to trim every loading. But, I measure each case after sizing every time. I'll sort out those that need trimming and get on with loading those that don't. Which is today's project... I looked for some .30-30 cast loads before my last match and only found jacketed rounds, or new ammo. I usually keep about 2-300 cast rounds loaded for competition. Now... to powder coat, or not?