[JollyWhiteGiant]

Ok general loading question.

Been thinking of this caliber in a lever gun for both target plinking and game getting.

Anyone do much with this round that can give me some more in depth info. While I will probably make some lighter cowboy style loads, what is the game range of this round?

[Jayhawker]

I've owned a Winchester Legacy in this caliber since just before Winchester folded. Before you do anything else, slug the barrel because that will determine what you do after that. Mine is .3794 and when I tried .380 or .381 bullets, I found out the chamber would not accept anything larger than .379. So I've ended-up shooting relatively soft, 13-14 Bhn Bear Creek moly bullets for 12-1400fps loads which is original velocity. They obdurate and do not lead and are accurate. I don't hunt but many do with the .38-55. For loads up to and over 1800 fps, I use a hard bullet 20-21 Bhn, with a large charge of IMR 3031 or Reloader 7. Hard on a bum shoulder but quite accurate. if your bore is small enough you can use Hornady's or Barnes but you need deep pockets to shoot a lot.There's a member of the Leverguns Forum who hand-makes bullets for the .38-55 that are really excellent but is selling them in very limited quantities at this point.
If you really want good and far more experienced information than I can give you, go to the Leverguns Forum at http://leverguns.sixgunner.com/default.asp. At this time , they got hacked off line by a bunch of antigunners but I think they will be back.Those guys live and breathe leverguns and have forgotten more than I'll ever know.

Good luck

[Texas Colt]

Jayhawker is right on the money. Slug your bore first.

I have a late production Winchester 94 that slugged at .379. Cast Performance (www.castperformance.com) has a real nice 260 grain gas-check bullet sized to .380 that works well for me. I use 21.0 grains of IMR 4198. That gives me 1400 fps out of a 20" barrel.