Marlin 38-55
Anyone here own one, and do you like it????? I'm looking to purchase one. I will be reloading for it. I'm definitely buying The Marlin CB 1894. Don't care for the Winchesters or other brands. I collect the marlin's, but this one is going to be a shooter. Mostly for 100 to 200 yard shots, in PA. Oak
0
-
Don't have a clue about a 38-55 except for an old Lyman reloading book on obsolete cartriges but it seems to me shot placement would have to be perfect to get a clean kill. Personally, I've never been big on tracking a wounded deer.
Glad to see you posting. Please continue doing so!!0 -
If memory serves, it shoots about a 200-gr lead slug at roughly 1300-1400 fps, right? A bit mild, but "deer-able" and well within what many muzzleloaders deliver.
I had a .375 Win Contender 16" and considered it a decent elk gun with the right bullets and short range. NOTE! the idiots at Winchester designed the .375 Win on a shorter case than the old .38-55, which means the .375 will chamber in an older gun. DO NOT try this. Pressures are considerably higher and probably catastrophic in guns like yours.0 -
https://www.marlinfirearms.com/lever-action/model-1894/model-1894cb is in 357/38 these days?
Not shot many 38-55, not even sure I reloaded for any.0 -
I have a Winchester 1894 in 38-55 and I shoot it a little. I reload it too. A few things I have found:
Bore diameter varies. I shoot cast bullets so I size mine to my bore and they shoot good.
Brass varies in length, weight and strength. I use Starline brass only(30-30 Winchester necked up). Winchester brass is brittle and some Speer and PP brass was all over the place.
They are soft shooting guns. The 30WCF and 35 Remington are better Deer killers and have more power(Plus its easy to find ammo and components) but they "kick" more or at least fell like they do for some reason.
You can neck up 30wcf brass or 32 Win special to make 38-55. You can also use 375 Winchester brass but it will be shorter and thicker so case capacity will suffer(Plus its hard to find).
My gun likes a 255 cast lead bullet(RCBS 37250) with a gas check sized to .379 and driven to 1600fps. I shot some Barns jacketed bullets and they were not too accurate because they were undersized.
If I was going to get a Marlin in a medium caliber I think I would go with a 35 Remington, but the old Ballard cartridge is fun to shoot.0 -
the marlin 1894 is for short pistol length cartridges, pretty sure it wont handle a 38-55 length cart. 0 -
My .38-55 is a re-bored Remington 788 .30-30. A slight modification to the detachable magazine was all that was necessary for it to feed. It's set up with a 4X Leupold. The limiting factor for loads in that rifle is the case capacity. The traditional .38-55 bullet is 255 gr. Winchester factory loads with that bullet clocked only 1126 fps from my rifle. Suitable jacketed bullets for reloading are hard to find but Hornady makes a 220 gr. bullet for the .375 Winchester (it's probably discontinued now) that works very well for handloads in my .38-55. I use that bullet with a compressed load of Reloader 7 and get 2300 fps and 1.72" groups. That load would be WAY-WAY over the top for a marlin lever gun. I would think that cast bullets would be the way to go with your Marlin. A 250 gr. cast bullet loaded to 1300-1400 fps would work well for a short range deer load.
Good luck with your rifle.0 -
Sam, thanks for correcting my poor memory of both bullet weight and speed. 0 -
I built 2 38-55's several years ago using a pair of 94 receivers that were originally 30-30...One with a 30" barrel and one with a 20" barrel. I only shot cast .381 in the long barrel (Until I ran out of .381's) Now I shoot Sierra 200gr FP in both. I gave up on 38-55 brass (very hard to trim and slightly longer than the actions would except) I really like the 375 Win brass! I too like R7 and 3031...Despite the fact the .375 Hornady bullets were undersized, they shoot very well in both rifles...Fun to shoot! 0 -
No Prob Rocky you were close.
I think you are the only other guy I know that has a 375 win barrel for a Contender. I had a Super 14 barrel and I must say it was the most brutal caliber to shoot I have ever tried. Worse than a 45-70 full house load with a 405gr bullet.
I sold the barrel to a guy who was getting stationed in AK and wanted to hunt Musk Ox and Moose. I figured it would do the job and he did too. I sold him the barrel 100 brass cases and a die set.0 -
I think mine was a Super 14" too, contrary to what I wrote above. Yes, it would come up and back right smart, for sure. Not something you'd sit down and run 100 rounds through, but perfectly tolerable. Again, IIRC, I got 2000 fps with the Barnes 210 X bullet and considered that a perfectly adequate elk outfit, although I never managed to tag one with it. On deer, the Hornady bullet designed for it was like the Hammer of Thor. I sold that barrel with scope and rings, dies, bullets, load data, and 200 pieces of brass when I gave up hunting. 0 -
I have owned a couple levers and a roller in 38-55. My advice is to get the most out of these rifles is to reload and be prepared to be disappointed if you prefer jacketed bullets because there are few choices and you are lucky if you find them in stock. The best one out there for hunting is the Barnes 255 JHP. This bullet loaded to around 1600 fps will take out all NA game up to 100 yds.
Cast bullets are a different story as there are many options. I get better accuracy from the cast bullets than jacketed, watch for leading and use a good lube with gas checks. Also recommend slugging your bore as bore diameters are not all the same.0 -
For hunting I use the Buffalo Bore load but then my 38-55's are modern versions one is the Jap made 1885 and a Marlin 336 even then I try to keep the shots under 150 yard 0 -
I have a bunch of Winchester 38-55s and one Marlin. The Marlin is a model 1881, the original top-eject Marlin! I've never shot the Marlin but the Winchesters are fun to shoot and easy on the old shoulder. Accuracy is a different issue though. I've slugged most of the bores and no two are the same. Most would be considered over-sized and shoot poorly. That's old-Winchester quality control for you. As is common with older Winchester 1894s, the bore at the muzzle is often worn making accuracy even worse. This was usually caused by cleaning from the muzzle end instead of dealing with the difficult 1894 disassembly and reassembly. 0 -
WOW. Thanks for all the info. I have all the reloading components, I just need to get some starline brass and the gun 
. My dad has several and is making me the bullets. It is his favorite hobby. He makes bullets of all different calibers, all winter long. He told me to buy the gun and he will teach me how to make the bullets. I have a melting pot, lead and tin, but don't know how to figure out how to mix it all. He is good with that. I said from 100 to 200 yards, but realistically, most of my shots up there are under 75 yards. I had one shot at 180 yards. I have a Marlin 35 Rem, 30-30's, 30WCF as well as 32 win special. I wanted something new to play with. I really appreciate all the info. Thanks Sam and Rocky, for your professional input.Oak0
Please sign in to leave a comment.
Comments
14 comments