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38 55 Ammo Winchester ---- Bert ???? Or
Rex Mahan
Member Posts: 529 ✭✭
Is there a particular brand of ammo that is better? I tired sighting mine in with Black hills and found it hard to get it. I understand that reloading is the best way but Im not doing that yet. I will soon
Comments
Consequently, ammo is scarce and generally expensive.
Black Hills ammo is considered excellent. I haven't tried their .38-55, but I've got some .223 that is really top notch.
Winchester still makes factory ammo in this caliber.
One problem in ordering ammunition in the mail is that shipping it is generally quite expensive.
If you have a hard time finding any in your area, one potentially good way to get some is to ask your favorite local gunstore to order you a case. Since they'd be getting it as part of a larger order, that should reduce the overall shipping charges.
Mike made a very good point... all pre-war (WW II) Winchesters chambered for the 38-55 had a nominal .378 bore diameter. Modern 38-55 factory ammo is loaded with a .375 buller (the same one used for the now defunct .375 Winchester that was available in the Model 94 Big Bore).
does .003 make that much difference? WOW.
a .003 difference is huge as it pertains to bullet versus bore diameter, and the resulting accuracy difference.
To give you an example of how critical the bullet verus bore diameter difference is, I have an old Winchester high-wall that is factory chambered for 40-70 Ballard cartridge, and it has a bore diameter of .407. When I loaded up a 20-round batch of .407 diameter hard cast bullets (330-grain which is the factory weight spec), and tested them, 1 out of every of 3 would keyhole the target at 100-yards and barely hit paper. The other two would be within .5 inch of the bull. I swaged the bullets to .408, and they shot like a dream (3-shot groups of .75 inch). I used 24 grains of IMR 4198 for all loads.
So, as little as a .001 difference in the bullet diameter can drastically change the accuracy results[:0].
W.D.