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Reloading 38-55


Frontier Lone Rider

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In 2016 I loaded enough 38-55 Ammo to last for shooting Long Range until this Summer.

 

Of course, I am using a different press and dies, but I am having some issues.

 

The new reloads lever through my Marlin 336 just fine, but they get stuck in my H&R 1871 Target Classic and have to be tapped out with a rod?  The ones I loaded in 2016 still work fine in both rifles.

 

I thought I might try shortening the round and crimping deeper.  What are your thoughts?

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.380 diameter cast in Winchester brass won't feed into my Marlin but .379 in the same brass does.

 

Starline 2.125" brass if you can find it.

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I've got an old Winchester 94 that has a tight chamber and a larger bore (0.3795").  Starline's brass (both lengths) has a thinner neck wall than Winchester brass, and is the only brass I've found that will allow me to reload the larger lead bullets that are needed in my rifle.  The longer (2.125") Starline brass shoots better because I can push the bullet out closer to the the lands of the barrel, but the shorter brass (2.080") works pretty well.

 

I was recently able to obtain some of the shorter brass from Starline, but the longer version remains very difficult to find.

 

 

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8 hours ago, Rough 'N Ready Rob said:

If it is Winchester brass that is your problem, use Starline, long if you can get it

  Rob

Unbelievable.

 

I had made up five dummy rounds, which I was attempting to adjust the OAL to see when they would eject.  They never did.  I checked and they are all WW Head Stamp.  I made up a dummy round using Starline and it went flying out.  Tomorrow I will prime more Starline Brass and work on the OAL again.

 

I have shot a mix of WW and Starline Brass for years.  They both worked in the Marlin 336 and my 1885s, but now not in the Target Classic.  I am just now starting to use the Target Classic.

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12 hours ago, Frontier Lone Rider said:

Unbelievable.

 

I had made up five dummy rounds, which I was attempting to adjust the OAL to see when they would eject.  They never did.  I checked and they are all WW Head Stamp.  I made up a dummy round using Starline and it went flying out.  Tomorrow I will prime more Starline Brass and work on the OAL again.

 

I have shot a mix of WW and Starline Brass for years.  They both worked in the Marlin 336 and my 1885s, but now not in the Target Classic.  I am just now starting to use the Target Classic.

 

When I had a Buffalo Classic a friend reamed out the chamber ever so slightly and then I could use any brass.

 

Just make sure you don't go too far and change the headspace.

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On 7/7/2022 at 8:58 PM, Frontier Lone Rider said:

Unbelievable.

 

I had made up five dummy rounds, which I was attempting to adjust the OAL to see when they would eject.  They never did.  I checked and they are all WW Head Stamp.  I made up a dummy round using Starline and it went flying out.  Tomorrow I will prime more Starline Brass and work on the OAL again.

 

I have shot a mix of WW and Starline Brass for years.  They both worked in the Marlin 336 and my 1885s, but now not in the Target Classic.  I am just now starting to use the Target Classic.

 

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Starline has a great writeup on this very subject. They designed their brass for tight chamber, large bore rifles. I use short brass because of the variety of rifles we use and it works just fine. Never tried the long brass and gave away all my other brass.

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