PP Bullet for My New 38-55

[Flash Pan Dan]

Hello All,
I will be the happy recipient of a CPA Stevens 44 ½ rifle in 38-55 caliber this Thursday. It has a 1 in 14 twist barrel and a tight chamber with a 15 degree lead. I had it chambered for PP bullets. It is .368 bore with a .375 groove diameter. Its intended use is for 2 – 300 yard matches and some silhouette shooting. I planned to use 280 to 330 grain bullets of a length of 1.300 or less. My original plan was to order a KAL mold in .362 diameter. But I was talking to someone at the range last week and he suggested I go with a .361 or even a .360 bullet.
Currently, I am shooting a .395 buIlet in my 40-65 without any problems so allowing .006 for the paper on the 38-55 seemed reasonable. I would greatly appreciate some opinions.

[bruce moulds]

dan,
go for thinner paper and thicker bullet for the same fit where possible.
in the zone you are talking about, seth cole have a white and a yellow of slightly different thicknesses, giving you a bit of wiggle room. 55w and 55y.
good on you for going the pp route.
keep safe,
bruce.

[Don McDowell]

I have zero real experience with the 38-55, but I do have a keyboard

I would think that if like other chambers, going with a bullet at .361 or .362 would give you some wiggle room for paper thickness, and keeping that bullet to 1.2 inches in length.

[powderburner]

I think your alloy of choice will determine which diamater is better ,

[MikeT]

Hello All,
I will be the happy recipient of a CPA Stevens 44 ½ rifle in 38-55 caliber this Thursday. It has a 1 in 14 twist barrel and a tight chamber with a 15 degree lead. I had it chambered for PP bullets. It is .368 bore with a .375 groove diameter. Its intended use is for 2 – 300 yard matches and some silhouette shooting. I planned to use 280 to 330 grain bullets of a length of 1.300 or less. My original plan was to order a KAL mold in .362 diameter. But I was talking to someone at the range last week and he suggested I go with a .361 or even a .360 bullet.
Currently, I am shooting a .395 buIlet in my 40-65 without any problems so allowing .006 for the paper on the 38-55 seemed reasonable. I would greatly appreciate some opinions.

Flash Pan Dan,
Get the paper first, or you can buy several different diameter bullet moulds to find the right fit.
Also consider a LEE sizing die so you can size the patched bullets if they are a bit too tight. Paper is not necessarily a uniform thickness.
I shoot a Accurate Moulds PP bullet that is 320 grains, but my twist rate is 15. You may want to shoot some bullets before choosing a bullet mould. I could send you some 340 grain and 320 gr. bullets to try out in that new rifle.

Keep on hav'n fun!
MikeT

[Gunlaker]

I shoot .38 paper patched bullets in two highwalls. One is a 1:14 twist Badger and the other is an RKS gain twist ending in 1:14. I'm breech seating a .363" diameter 1.29" long Brooks elliptical bullet patched with 8lb Seth Cole paper. That fits well in both of my rifles and accuracy is excellent at 200m.

I went with 1.29" as more than a few guys, including Michael Rix, advised me to keep it at 1.3" or less for my twist should I try to shoot midrange with them.

I used a set of pin gauges and I wet patched them with my paper. I test fit them in the throat of my rifle before deciding on a diameter. The Badger is a .38-55 with a 1.5 degree leade, and I don't know about the other rifle, a .38-50 RH. I bought the rifle and tried the bullets. It shoots like magic so I have not cast the chamber.

Chris.

[Gunlaker]

Oops. I just realized that the pin gauge trick is what I did on my .32-40. I just slugged the bore on my first highwall and ordered the bullet based on the thickness of my paper.

But the paper patched pin gauge trick is nice and I'm happy with the results.

Chris.

[Flash Pan Dan]

Thank you so much for your responses. I am currently using a Utrecht Tracing Paper, 8.0 lb, and when patched dry it adds .00535 to my 40-65 bullets made out of pure lead. I use pure lead in that rifle because it is not a PP chamber but it can hold 1.5 MOA at 200 yards.
Powderburner, would you elaborate on the alloy having a determinate factor on the bullet diameter? I am planning on using a 16:1 or 20:1 alloy to start with.

[Don McDowell]

With the slicks that were cut to give me .434 from 20-1, using 16-1 makes them drop at .435

[powderburner]

I think that depending on your alloy :
You will get a different diameter ,
You will get different bump up
And both will affect your seating and clambering of the round ,
Nothing set in stone just some observations I have seen