My 38-55 speaks

[44LVR]

Went out the back door this past Sunday morning armed with my trusty Marlin Cowboy in .38-55 and crossed my field and then into the heavy timber. Went in about 100 yards and darned if I didn't see a fresh track. Went on up my trail a bit farther and found a definately FRESH elk trail. Kept easing up the hill I was on and then pow, crash, something on the other side of the hill just out of sight took off running. I sprinted up the hill about 100 yards to the top and looking down through the timber below me I saw a cow elk standing there watching me at about 100 yards. I froze and waited. She took off running from my right to left. Another came from my right and took off after her and it was a calf elk. Remaining frozen I waited. Then another elk comes from my right and it had antlers! He was running flat out after the cow and calf and definately had 3 or more points on one side.

It was tough shooting through the thick timber and my first shot took him through the shoulders and didn't slow him down a bit. 2nd shot took him directly behind the shoulder and that slowed him a bit. A 3rd shot was also behind the shoulder and that stopped him. I waited a couple seconds and he toppled over backward. The closer I got to him the bigger he got. No ground shrinkage what so ever! My initial thought when I walked up to him was that he was the biggest elk I had ever seen, let alone killed. Counting the points to make sure I hadn't somehow been mistaken I found he was an even 5x5. A pretty nice bull. I called a bunch of friends and they came up and helped me drag it out to my field, about 250 yards, and we loaded it into the back of my truck so I could take it up to a friends shop. My 27th bull elk. His antlers measured 44" wide. His brow tines were 16" long. Not giant 'book' antlers, but very nice. My wife agreed we should mount this set, European style. I usually just throw them into the 'pile', but my wife helped with this one and throughly enjoyed the entire process. There is just something special about this bull.

My load was the RCBS 37-250 which weighs 278grs sized and lubed with GC in place. I use 31.5grs 3031 and I estimate the velocity out of the 24" barrel at about 1700fps. The shot that went through both shoulders actually stopped on the off side and darned if I didn't recover my 2nd cast bullet ever. I haven't measured it, but it looks to be expanded close to or over .60 caliber and still weighs 244.5grs. Pretty good performance for straight wheel weights, let alone a premium bullet!

44

[mescalero1]

That is just GREAT.

[hfcable]

Holy cow or holy bull... elk, i guess. wonderful! am i jealous!?
i have killed caribou [running] the same way with my 38/55 but they are not as big as the elk of course, would love to have seen it.
great hunting and great shooting! congratulations!

[TedH]

That is awesome, but where are the pictures?

[Rusty]

If you get a chance to post, it would be neat to see pictures of the bullet.

[Old Savage]

Congratulations on your kill and your shooting.

[1886]

Great story. Love that Marlin CB .38-55. 1886.

[brucew44guns]

I don't think you mentioned what state this was. But you are indeed a fortunate soul to have that kind of hunting in your back yard. The elk will be a nice thing to have in the freezer this winter for sure. Congrats.

[txpete]

great story and congrads on your hunt.the 38/55 can do it .
makes you think about all the guys out their with the ultra short mags and if you don't have one your s.o.l in camp .
enjoy those steaks
pete

[Ysabel Kid]

That is awesome, but where are the pictures?

+1

[20cows]

When .38-55 speaks,...

elks listen!

[KirkD]

It is always good to hear good hunting stories that involve the 38-55, one of my favorite cartridges. Looks like it did very well. Congratulations on a successful hunt with a classic cartridge.

[Tycer]

YUM! Nice story!

[Hobie]

I'd love to see photos but if you're at all like me you get so excited the camera is forgotten.

[dr walker]

Congratulations on what sounds like a nice elk.

[44LVR]

I have about a 1/2 dozen photos but I'm so computer illiterate I can't figure out how to post them. I'm still waiting for my wife to send me the photo's of the bullet I recovered, from her work computer. It is awesome performance from straight wheelweights!

44

[Griff]

Congrats... ...and ain't anybody so computer illiterate that can't figure out how to post pics with Hobie's fantastic tutorial!

[rjohns94]

awesome, congrats!!!

[kemosabi45]

Sweet..... Very Sweet.....I wish I was there......

[Blaine]

Good on ya!

[Nath]

Thats fantastic, I love to hear these hunting stories. Well done and thanks for proving again how you don't need 50,000 ft/lbs and 7000fps. More ain't better and enough is errr enough

Nath.

[geobru]

Ithink I am jealous of your back yard!

George

[marlinman93]

What a great elk hunt, and great shooting! I sure hope you find a way to post pics! I'd love to see them!

[KCSO]

Since I use 32 grains and a 260 in my 38-55 this explains why I have yet to recover one from a deer. This has been my expierence with the 38-55 a totaly reliable deer, elk or anything gun.

[iceman]

Good shooting!! Nothing wrong with the 38-55. If I can only get this week in, I'm off for 2 weeks of walking around looking for deer either with a 356 mod 94 or my front loader.

[44LVR]

Thanks for all the kind words, folks. I'm waiting for my wife to return from a conference and finish downloading pictures and then let HER figure out how to post them. I can't wait to see the bullet photo downloaded, it is a picture perfect example of what you want from a bullet.

George, you know pretty closely where I killed it, I think. And yes, my backyard is AWESOME!

44

[Bluehawk]

GREAT I love hearing stories about the 38-55 GOOD GOING
IM using the same load 31 grains of 30-31 with cast or Barnes 377 bullets they have worked great on two deer so far IM cant wait for a few more weeks to try them again !
Congrats