What straight wall cartridge?

[nakneker]

I picked up a Browning 1885 in 45 Colt today, half octagon barrel, tang peep. Miruko of course, should be a enjoyable little rifle.

 

[ISS]

A thought; I have an as new CPA in 38-50. Nice case, made from 30-40 Krag if you are interested...?

 

[nakneker]

A thought; I have an as new CPA in 38-50. Nice case, made from 30-40 Krag if you are interested...?

With the 38-55 inbound I better pass but I appreciate the thought! You have a lot of these straight wall cartridges!

 

[FNSafari]

I have bolt action rifles covered, I good array of levers too. I’m looking at trying some older historical cartridges just for fun, straight wall cartridges mainly. I have a couple 45-70 levers and #1 45-70, 30-30 levers and a #1, 35 rem lever and 444 lever. Just looking for something different, maybe a 38-55 or 405 win in a 1885. I’m not interested in anything bigger than a 45-70, that’s about my threshold for recoil. The little 44-40, 32-20 and 25-20s would be fun in a lever or a falling block. Not interested in black powder metallic cartridges.

Anyways, I figured some of you guys have been down this road and thought I’d ask.


What I’m missing or what’s your opinion for a fun to load and shoot platform that has some history behind it.

38-55

 

[nakneker]

38-55

I have one inbound, I’ll post a pic when it shows up. Found one with beautiful wood, unfired.

 

[FNSafari]

Nice find. What make? If it's a newer one it may have the 2.085" chamber (vs the 2.125"), a plus when looking for brass. Looking forward to seeing it. Mine is an 1893 Marlin.

 

[Pawnee Bill]

Look at the 50-110 or sometimes called the 50 Express. The last of the big calibers for buffalo hunters, but it came too late (1886).

 

[Treerat-sniper]

I live in a formerly straight-wall deer state (now .35+ bottlenecks are legal). So I've played with most of the common lever cartridges from .357 mag to .45-70 (have done most of them in a wheel-gun or Contender/Encore as well). Though not straight-wall, most recently I've been working with my 336XLR in 35 Rem. Been playing with Hornady FTX pills & Leverevolution powder.




I have killed a truckload of deer with a .44 magnum in revolvers, Contenders, bolt & lever-actions...that would probably be my go-to for a lever-gun.

 

[nakneker]

I picked up the three 1885s today. Beautiful little rifles, 22 hornet Browning low wall, 45 Colt Browning low wall and a Highwall Browning in 38-55. That last one has some weight to it. I’ll put optics on the hornet, maybe on the 38-55 too, my eyes aren’t what they once were. The 45 Colt doesn’t have enough range for an optic and I can see well enough to use the tang peep. Trying to make a deal on a Winchester 1885 in 30-30. The 38-55 has some beautiful wood, pic doesn’t show it very well.

I’ve always played around with Ruger #1s, I’m a fan of those rifles. I recently saw a post from Rick in Oregon (forum member) who was sharing his 1885 in 22 K hornet. He shoots a lot and I sent him a message asking him about his rifle and its accuracy, I blame him for these three rifles. He had nothing good things to say.

 

[joshb]

I picked up the three 1885s today. Beautiful little rifles, 22 hornet Browning low wall, 45 Colt Browning low wall and a Highwall Browning in 38-55. That last one has some weight to it. I’ll put optics on the hornet, maybe on the 38-55 too, my eyes aren’t what they once were. The 45 Colt doesn’t have enough range for an optic and I can see well enough to use the tang peep. Trying to make a deal on a Winchester 1885 in 30-30. The 38-55 has some beautiful wood, pic doesn’t show it very well.

I’ve always played around with Ruger #1s, I’m a fan of those rifles. I recently saw a post from Rick in Oregon (forum member) who was sharing his 1885 in 22 K hornet. He shoots a lot and I sent him a message asking him about his rifle and its accuracy, I blame him for these three rifles. He had nothing good things to say.

Just a thought here: I had my Rossi 45 Colt out at that range where I was shooting my Glock 10mm. With my handloads, ,I was easily hitting the 150 yard gong with open sights with authority. If those are modern made, your gun should handle 44 Magnum equivalent loads.

 

[nakneker]

Just a thought here: I had my Rossi 45 Colt out at that range where I was shooting my Glock 10mm. With my handloads, ,I was easily hitting the 150 yard gong with open sights with authority. If those are modern made, your gun should handle 44 Magnum equivalent loads.

These are all Miruko guns, looking for load info now. I’m not sure where to draw the line with this rifle. I have lots of 45 Colt components on hand. I get like a little kid sometimes, hoping to be shooting that rifle before the sun goes down.

Edit, looks like it can handle Josh, thanks for your input. I’ll research it a bit more too.

 

[joshb]

These are all Miruko guns, looking for load info now. I’m not sure where to draw the line with this rifle. I have lots of 45 Colt components on hand. I get like a little kid sometimes, hoping to be shooting that rifle before the sun goes down.

Edit, looks like it can handle Josh, thanks for your input. I’ll research it a bit more too.

Look at the Ruger/TC loads. A#9 is the powder I like.

 

[joshb]

These are all Miruko guns, looking for load info now. I’m not sure where to draw the line with this rifle. I have lots of 45 Colt components on hand. I get like a little kid sometimes, hoping to be shooting that rifle before the sun goes down.

Edit, looks like it can handle Josh, thanks for your input. I’ll research it a bit more too.

I just checked my load data. I’m putting 20.6 grains A#9 behind a 250 grain plated FN bullet and getting 16-1700 FPS with my 24 inch barrel.

 

[dellet]

The Miroku browning low walls are a very stout action. It would take a little work or a serious mistake to blow one up with a pistol cartridge. It was chambered in both 243 and 260 Remington. Don’t take that as a challenge tho.
The rifle will hold up better than most shoulders.

A better rear sight like an MVA or one by Lee Shaver, will make a huge difference.

SIGHTS - Montana Vintage Arms

montanavintagearms.com

 

[ISS]

Looking for some more serious firepower? There is an 1895 Winchester replica in 405 leaned against the wall...

 

[nakneker]

The Miroku browning low walls are a very stout action. It would take a little work or a serious mistake to blow one up with a pistol cartridge. It was chambered in both 243 and 260 Remington. Don’t take that as a challenge tho.
The rifle will hold up better than most shoulders.

A better rear sight like an MVA or one by Lee Shaver, will make a huge difference.

SIGHTS - Montana Vintage Arms

montanavintagearms.com

I ended up shooting it this afternoon, the little factory sight is better than expected. Four shots to sight it in at 40 and then I was spinning the 6 inch gong at 90 off hand with moderate load of AA5744 and 250 XTPs. Fun little rifle. Thanks for the link on the sights, those look nice! I can certainly see what the attraction is to these rifles, l was all smiles. I’m gonna scope the hornet in the morning and load up a few rounds and see what it does. I don’t have the 38-55 brass yet so that one will have to sit until it gets here.

 

[nakneker]

Looking for some more serious firepower? There is an 1895 Winchester replica in 405 leaned against the wall...

I think I’m out of fun money for the immediate future. Sounds like a neat rifle though!

 

[dellet]

I ended up shooting it this afternoon, the little factory sight is better than expected. Four shots to sight it in at 40 and then I was spinning the 6 inch gong at 90 off hand with moderate load of AA5744 and 250 XTPs. Fun little rifle. Thanks for the link on the sights, those look nice! I can certainly see what the attraction is to these rifles, l was all smiles. I’m gonna scope the hornet in the morning and load up a few rounds and see what it does. I don’t have the 38-55 brass yet so that one will have to sit until it gets here.

Single shots and straight walled cartridges can be addictive. Once you realize that there’s a lot of fun to be had with low velocity and shorter distances, it can get interesting with obsolete cartridges.



Left to right
38-55, 32-35 Maynard, 30-30 Wesson, 28-30, 25-21, 25-20 Single shot.
Technically the 30-30 Wesson and 25-20 SS are shouldered.

 

[nakneker]

Single shots and straight walled cartridges can be addictive. Once you realize that there’s a lot of fun to be had with low velocity and shorter distances, it can get interesting with obsolete cartridges.

View attachment 1644957

Left to right
38-55, 32-35 Maynard, 30-30 Wesson, 28-30, 25-21, 25-20 Single shot.
Technically the 30-30 Wesson and 25-20 SS are shouldered.

I’ve only heard of two of those, neat! There is something really interesting to me about these old cartridges, historical, fun to shoot and just different. One thing I’m pretty uneducated about is lead bullets, my father cast his own for years and after he stopped casting his own he continued to shoot a lot of lead bullets. I’ve never really dove into that, not sure at what velocity you start leading a barrel, if the need lube, gas checks, how soft or how hard they should be for a given cartridge but I’m hoping to learn more about that. I still have several thousand of his .452, .458 and others just sitting on my shelves waiting to be used.

 

[ISS]

Used to be that multiplying the Bhn times 1446 would provide approximate yield strength. That is where one could expect leading in a barrel. A way to avoid it would be a gas check or the powder coating of the bullets and baking them for about 20 minutes in a convection oven.