Showing posts with label Reloading. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Reloading. Show all posts

Saturday, October 30, 2010

38-55 Winchester Starline Brass - A Case Study

Starline finally did a run on the 38-55 2.125" brass and 500 of them arrived on my Doorstep Grin


I tried to bump it up to 1,000 but they didn't have the inventory...  Undecided


Starline 2.125 and Winchester 38-55 brass


Right out of the box


Side by side comparison

The Lee 379-250 RF shoots very well in both W's and my 336 Cowboys.  With the Winchester brass the Lee bullet must be sized to .379" in order to cycle into W's and mine will cycle them as cast.  His shoots the .379" sized bullets very well and mine has a definite preference for the larger as cast variety.


Lee bullet as cast


The as cast Lee bullet in Starline Brass wide dimension is .395"  Loaded with the (excellent) RCBS Cowboy dies, crimping die set ~5/8 of a turn past touching.


The Winchester brass loaded with an as cast Lee Bullet.  This round will cycle easily through my CB but NOT W's.   With the Starline brass and the fatter as cast bullet it will cycle easily in his rifle.

The OAL for the Lee bullet in the Starline 38-55 2.125" case is 2.530" using all of the crimp groove. It cycles flawlessly through my CB.  Comparatively the OAL I've been using with the Winchester/Lee combo is 2.500"

A 2.550" OAL will cycle through the Marlin 336 Cowboy's chamber.


In tests over the chronograph there have been no appreciable differences in velocity between the Starline and Winchester Brass.  Accuracy too seems to be unaffected.

Saturday, January 30, 2010

SP101 sends a few more down range

The testing of the SP101 continues.

USE LOAD DATA AT YOUR OWN RISK! ALWAYS double check data!

38 Special - Lee 358-158-RF cast with 20/1 alloy. Bullseye 4 grains (Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook Data), CCI 500 primer, Herters Brass. Averaged 765 fps and shot POA at 5 yards. Looks like it could be the most accurate load yet.

357 Magnum - Lee 358-158-RF cast with 20/1 alloy. Bullseye 6.6 grains (Lyman #48 Data), CCI 500 primers, Winchester Brass. Averaged just under 1100 fps and showed promising accuracy.

I've also been carrying IWB. So far it is very comfortable in positions 3 & 4. Easy access and draw. Comfortable, secure and the weight is mostly unnoticed.