.38/55 ammo

[William Tell]

Finally sit up my 100 yd. gong. So I now able to break out my Model 1871 Wesson&Harrington. Beautiful rifle, bought it as a used rifle because the fellow that order it was disappointed in the wood work, wood to metal in a couple places doesn't meet properly. But I would have to point it out for you to notice.
The problem I had is , I have two different brands of ammo, Ultramax .38/55, 245 gr.,round nose and flat point.Winchester Super X .38/55 Winchester,255 gr.,soft point.(I think I see the answer to my problem already)
The Ultramax would not fit but the Winchester fit fine.The difference was the Winchester had a crimp about an inch below the bullet while the Ultramax didn't . Checking the case they both have W-W,38-55 Win.
So the answer is yes their is a difference between .38/55 and .38/55 Winchester. Is their anything else I should be aware of with this round. Thanks .       

[Thomas (Tom) Horn aka James Hicks]

I have a Winchester '85 Single Shot (Miroku) in 38-55.  The rifle took Winchester 38-55 factory loads jacketed bullets soft point with no problem...BUT when I used New Unprimed Winchester Brass and loaded my own using a 245 grain RNFP in dia, of .380" the cartridge would not slide all the way into the chamber. Using the same lead bullet in Starline Brass, no problem.  So, what I did was after fully loading the Winchester Brass with the above mentioned bullet and doing final crimp... I took the depriming pin out of the Sizing Die and and relubed the loaded cartridge and then resized it in the die.  Problem solved.  I only have this problem with Winchester Brass.  My rifle bore slugged out to .379" and that is why I ordered the 245 grainers in dia of .380". I have not used any Remington Brass so I do not know if the problem will reoccur.  But RESIZING the loaded cartridge solved the problem I was having with my 38-55 using unprimed Winchester Brass.

[Blackpowder Burn]

38-55 chambers can vary considerably, as can bore diameter.  Winchester uses 0.375 diameter bullets in both 375 Winchester (a renamed 38-55 operating at higher pressure) and in 38-55 loads.  Therefore, their ammo will chamber in any 38-55, but frequently accuracy suffers because the bullets are undersized for many 38-55 chambers.  Also, Winchester brass has greater wall thickness than original 38-55 brass (due to the higher pressures of the 375 Winchester - they use the same brass for both cartridges, just headstamp them differently).  Thus, when you use a lead bullet of larger diameter (0.379 - 0.380), the cartridge is slightly too large in diameter to chamber.  Starline brass is of proper original dimensions and should chamber fine with any bullet diameter.  I have a Marlin with a 0.3795 bore and shoot a 0.380 bullet in Starline brass.

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[Ranch 13]

Your rifle is actually chambered in the pattern of the original 38-55 ballard, and as such is really better suited for paper patch. 38-55 and 38-55 Winchester are basically the same thing, what you're seeing is most likely a difference in the bullet diameter and case neck thickness between the two brands of ammunition.

[William Tell]

great information, also a lead on the Remington book. thank's much