The Firing Line Forums - View Single Post - reloading 38-55 wcf

ssgt blaine · July 18, 2010, 05:52 PM

heloo everyone. im new to this site and fairly new to reloading. my grandfather recently gave me his fathers rifle, a winchester model 94 38-55 manufactured in 1928, and its in great condition. i decided to reload for this rifle for 3 main reasons. 1 the availiblity of ammo around me is very scarce. 2 the price is about $2 a round. and 3 from the research ive done on the rifle, ive found its not good to shoot jacketed rounds through it being that its pre world war2 era rifle. i own a lee challenger breech lock press and i purchased some rcbs cowboy dies in 38-55. my problem seems to be with the expanding die (.379). it always seems to bulge out to one side. i know that too much lube can cause this, but it does it even without the cases being lubed. ive tried it on once fired winchester brass from factory round, and virgin winchester brass with the same results. im not sure whether its operator error or the die itself. i have a mountain of other questions about reloading this caliber because i cant find alot of information on the web about it. if someone with some experience with this caliber can pass along some of their wisdom, it would be greatly appreciated.

July 18, 2010, 05:52 PM	#1
ssgt blaine Junior Member Join Date: July 5, 2010 Posts: 3	reloading 38-55 wcf heloo everyone. im new to this site and fairly new to reloading. my grandfather recently gave me his fathers rifle, a winchester model 94 38-55 manufactured in 1928, and its in great condition. i decided to reload for this rifle for 3 main reasons. 1 the availiblity of ammo around me is very scarce. 2 the price is about $2 a round. and 3 from the research ive done on the rifle, ive found its not good to shoot jacketed rounds through it being that its pre world war2 era rifle. i own a lee challenger breech lock press and i purchased some rcbs cowboy dies in 38-55. my problem seems to be with the expanding die (.379). it always seems to bulge out to one side. i know that too much lube can cause this, but it does it even without the cases being lubed. ive tried it on once fired winchester brass from factory round, and virgin winchester brass with the same results. im not sure whether its operator error or the die itself. i have a mountain of other questions about reloading this caliber because i cant find alot of information on the web about it. if someone with some experience with this caliber can pass along some of their wisdom, it would be greatly appreciated.