38-55

[Quilly]

has anyone taken deer with this round? up in maine last weekend i found several on the gun rack at the norway trading post in maine. seems to be a nice littel gun. had a 24" barrel. but really never heard of this caliber in the forums before.

[eldeguello]

The .38/55 is another of those rounds that you must handload if you intend to shoot deer with it, because the factory ammo only goes around 1300 FPS with a 255-grain bullet. This is not adequate for deer except under the most favorable of circumstances!! If you hand load it, you can get up to 1800 FPS or so, from a strong rifle like a modern-made M94 Winchester or a strong single-shot. So loaded, the .38/55 gets close to the .375 Winchester in power. (It is an old-time Scheutzen target rifle cartridge, once used in the same rifles as the old .32/40, for 200-yard offhand competition shooting. A VERY ACCURATE load, in the right gun!!)

Keep yore powder dry!!

[aunsaber]

I have a 38-55 Marlin and I agree that it is a little anemic with factory loads but the heavy bullet makes up a little bit.
I would compare it with a 30-30 has far as what and when to shoot in a hunting situation.

[ths78]

Hey Quilly, check this out...hope it helps, ths78

http://www.reloadbench.com/cartridges/3855w.html