Having received a Bullberry barrel in 38-55 Win for my Contender, I decided to hunt with it this year. Load development was a chore since my other 38-55s are rifles with .380 groove diameter. Bullberry, and other manufactures of 38-55 barrels use .375" barrel blanks.
Fortunately I have a 375-JDJ so I used the Accurate mold for it (AM-376265D) to cast off some .375" bullets. I also used some NOE 379-235-RF bullets, resized from .379 to .376 to make some test loads. Unlike 19th century loads for the 38-55, I wanted to get a little more boiler pressure and the resultant velocity. I open up QuickLOAD to see what propellants would give me maximum case fill and highest burn percentage while keeping chamber pressure below 44,000 PSI.
IMR-3031 fit the bill with both the 224gr and 265gr bullets. It actually burned cleaner than I had anticipated. I tested the loads and still have all of my fingers. The scope was zeroed for 50 yards and to my surprise, I was getting very small groups. I cleaned the barrel and fired a zero check with two rounds. The both struck dead center with about 1" between them
I'll write all this up in grandiose fashion for the Fouling Shot and submit it for future publication. I'll keep it brief here.
The Bullberry barrel will chamber Starline 2.125" long 38-55 brass with the .376" bullets as well as those loaded for the 1894 rifle with .380" bullets. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that after getting the barrel last year. It has a great throat.
The load used today and in the future is with Starline 2.125" brass, 32gr IMR-3031, Winchester Large Rifle primers, the Accurate Mold 376265D bullet cast in WW metal and drop quenched, as well as the NOE 379-235-RF cast with the hollow point pin giving me a 224gr bullet in Lyman #2 alloy. Both bullets are lubed with White's 50/50 lube and a Lyman gas check is on the 265gr bullet.
Cartridge length is 2.615" with the Accurate bullet and 2.417" with the NOE bullet. Everything worked fine today. Cartridges fired great. No high pressure signs. Easy extraction, normal primer sign. I will get these fired over a chronograph soon to see what kind of velocity I am getting. The lighter bullets at 224gr had more felt recoil than the heavier 265gr bullets. I am still pondering that. They smoked more too. Interesting.
Bullberry 38-55 Win barrel, Leopold 4x EER scope.
L-R NOE 379-235-RF bullet with HP at 224gr. Cartridge with Accurate 376265D bullet. Accurate 376265D bullet with Lyman GC seated.
This girl has a tad bit of recoil. Manageable recoil but you better be ready for it.
With rifle in hand, I confidently go forth into the darkness.
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