.38-50 Hepburn

[Kurt]

You don’t have to be a member to shoot the silhouette matches.

Yes I know that Ian. It open the campground and get powder if they have it.

Here is my new CPA .38-50. I will say this they put some pretty standard wood on their rifle. I have not been disappointed with the wood on all the CPA rifles I have.
I put the first coat of pure Tung oil on it to seal the wood.
This chamber is a little tighter than the DZ Hep has and I gad to swage the cases base down to get them to chamber.
The chamber must have been cut for the Rem .30-40 Krag brass, but I have 100 ready to load when I get the wood finished.
I'm looking for some Rem brass so I have a different head stamp for this rifle to keep them sorted with out cutting a mark on the rim.
Kurt

[ian45662]

Yea their standard wood is great. Our 38s were cut for Remington brass. I have been shooting Grafs brass out if them though and they don’t seem to mind it but I do ream the inside of a case once it has been fired. The graf brass is thicker than the rem brass. The rem brass also holds 2.5-3 grains more powder. Saturday I am going to do a ladder test with the graf and rem brass with the 3F powder. I am also going to shoot some grease groove bullets out of it just to see how they shoot.

[Kevin Alexander]

A question for Kurt, Ian and anyone else that could answer.

What reamer did you guys have CPA use for the 38-50?
Will that reamer work for 303 British brass?
Does anyone have any info on reamers to use for this caliber when trying to use 303 British brass?

Thanks,

KA

[Kurt]

Kevin,

No the .303 Brit will be too short. I fire formed one .303 case and it was short. I don't remember how much but I will look in my scrap box and check the length.
I used their reamer for this project. I tried to have a reamer made but PT&G I don't think they had much interest in making it with the time frame they gave me.
The CPA reamer has .050" freebore and this is workable so I went with it. If you want to use the .303 brass a .38-55 is an option for you maybe.
Here is the print of that chamber.

[Kevin Alexander]

Thanks Kurt, that’s what I needed to know. My 303 brass might be better suited for rifle in 40-50SS.

KA.

[Kurt]

Kevin,

The Cat must have ate that case
If you can find some .40-70 BA stretched .30-40 Krag brass you can just run that through a sizing die and use it. I have not tried the .405 Hornady brass sized for this caliber but it should be close if you can swage the base down slightly but the case wall will be on the thick side but should be good for a PP only bullet.
I might try that brass down the line and see how it comes out.

[ian45662]

A question for Kurt, Ian and anyone else that could answer.

What reamer did you guys have CPA use for the 38-50?
Will that reamer work for 303 British brass?
Does anyone have any info on reamers to use for this caliber when trying to use 303 British brass?

Thanks,

KA

[Kurt]

I would have sooner used the DT reamer then theirs. With their reamer the base is very tight for the .30-40 Krag brass. Win, Rem and Captech. I had to make a base swage die to reduce the diameter of the shell.
I designed a reamer very close to Ian's drawing except I like the 5º chamber transition instead of the 45º plus a slightly tighter neck ,ut I could not get a reamer ground soon enough.

[ian45662]

Going to Friendship tomorrow for some practice on some sillywets. Might shoot a couple paper targets also. Almost 50 degrees in January so I will take advantage of that.

[Kurt]

Well rub it in LOL,
Take a couple shots for me also .

Been snowing here and back down in the low 20's.