Marlin 336 Cowboy in 38-55 - Idiosyncrasies?

[Blackpowder Burn]

Yep, I did.  I wanted to try the shorter brass again, as I have so much more of it on hand, and it ain't cheap!  It seems that with this particular rifle it is more important to have a good solid roll crimp than anything else.  I tried a Redding profile crimp, but found that the profile crimp section of the die was reducing the bullet diameter by about 0.003" during the crimping process.  I went back to using the standard roll crimp provided by the normal RCBS seat/crimp die, and the results improved.  I might be able to do a little better with the longer brass, but if I can get under 2" with a levergun with open sights at 100 yards, I'm happy.

[Scratch]

Good to know.  Saves me some time and money  when I start developing loads.

[Stillwater]

It would be real nice if this thread could be made into a sticky... There is a lot of good information that will cut down on the fuss, and bother, with reloading the .38-55 cartridge...

Bill

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[J.D. Yellowhammer]

I have a Marlin 336 in .38-55, I also have a Winchester/Miroku High Wall in .38-55. The best case scenario is have one load, that shoots well in each .38-55 firearm. However, I don't think there will be a real chance for that to happen.

I don't think so, either.  The factory spec for a Miroku .38-55 is .376 groove dia.  That's about exactly what mine slugs at.  My bullets are fairly soft (20-1 to 30-1) .377.  The rifle shoots like a laser beam.  Before this I had an H&R .38-55 and when I shot my first rounds with .378 bullets, they tumbled and keyholed the targets. I slugged it and found out the bore was .380.