why not 38-55???

[FLINT]

I've been thinking about this for a while. years.

Why doesn't anyone load hunting ammo for the 38-55?

Literally the only thing you can buy is cowboy ammo. HSM or Black Hills.

However, if you go to just Midway right now, there are literally SIX different hunting loads available for the 32 special!!! Which is great for the 32 special. but doesn't it seem that there should be WAY more 38-55s in circulation than 32 WS???

Something doesn't add up.

Currently both Henry and Winchester make rifles chambered in 38-55 that you can buy. When was the last time anyone sold new rifles chambered in 32WS? I think winchester did temporarily in the early 2000s before they closed down.

Are too few people buying the new Henrys and winchesters to justify making ammo? I don't think winchester has done a run of their super x 38-55 since covid. I bought one box four years ago at a gun show.

are the only people who buy this caliber already/also handloaders? I do handload but it's nice to have options sometimes.

Just seems weird to have no 'real' ammo available for a cartridge that's 150 years old and is currently being chambered for in modern rifles!!! I can't think of another cartridge as neglected as the 38-55

[EdinCT]

Buffalo Bore loads it I believe but its pretty dear last time I looked. The 32 spec was loaded with kleanbore primers so there is a good chance more rifles survived the mercuric primer era. I recommend loading 150 rounds and when you shoot up a few boxes reload them.
https://www.buffalobore.com/index.php?l ... _list&c=50

[Griff]

These folks claim to have some: https://www.canecreekmunitions.com/prod ... 38-55-win/ Always check ammoseek.com.

[veeman]

I honestly haven't looked on store shelves for years as I'm a reloader, just don't need to look. I got 2 deer in 2 days with my Winchester Chief Crazy Horse 94 using 255g Barnes bullet over 18.0g of 2400. Worked like a charm.

[yooper2]

I think the primary reason that mainstream ammo makers only make "cowboy" loads is the number of weak designs out there chambered for the 38-55. With Ballard's and Stevens 44s among others out there it is probably viewed as too much of a liability. The 32 Special for example is a smokeless cartridge and always has been, it's only found in comparatively strong actions.


Eric

[marlinman93]

The answer is simple. There are still huge numbers of old rifles from the 1800's and early 1900s around that are chambered in the .38-55 Ballard that a hotter or heavier hitting hunting load might not be good for. It's a liability issue where makers don't want to get sued when a novice takes grandpa's old rifle out and has a problem using their modern ammo. All rifles chambered in .32 Win. Spl. are modern by smokeless powder standards as it didn't hit the market until after smokeless powders arrived.
If you want hunting loads for a modern .38-55 it's time to take up reloading.

[Bryan Austin]

....but yet the 45-70 is HIGHLY manufactured with three different powder loads. Trapdoor, Leveractions and Rugers.

HOGWASH!
The 38-55 was one of the first popular "High Power" cartridges out there when smokeless powder was introduced.
It is not manufactured because it is not demanded.

[yooper2]

While true that the 45-70 is commercially available at different pressures, you will not find high pressure loads from the mainstream manufacturers. All come from smaller boutique firms.

Further, the number of modern/strong 45-70s utterly dwarfs the number of 38-55s. I wouldn't want to guess at the ratio of 45-70s to 38-55s produced since WWII, there are simply less around.

I'm very fond of the 38-55 and 375 Winchester for hunting but I wouldn't expect to find either on the shelf nowadays.

Eric

[samsi]

At the gun show last weekend I saw 5 boxes of the old blue and white box Big Bore.375 ammo, 3 full and 2 of empty cases. He only wanted 100 bucks, which isn't bad these days. I left without them but probably shouldn't have.

[piller]

32 Special was mentioned. It is another good old round. Yes, a modern rifle in good shape for the 32 Ws, or the 38-55 would still work just as well as always. Moderate speed cartridges are not what the manufacturers have been pushing for a long time.

[FLINT]

Some good points have been brought up.

However, I still think that the availability of ammo is not on par with the availability of guns chambered for it.

Why was there never a leverevolution round made for it? Doesn't it seem like a glaring exception? Leverevolution ammo is currently being made for the 348 win! The model 71 is exceedingly more rare than 38-55 chambered guns.

I think the last comment was hitting on something. I think sometimes supply drives demand more than the other way around.

Regardless of any possible explanation, I will always find it very strange that none of the other major ammo maufacturers (Federal, Remington, Hornady) make ammo for it and that WInchester hasn't in at least a half decade. Just doesn't add up to me. Seems like it should be more popular, or would be...

[Gobblerforge]

I would also like to know why the 38-55 was never a standard round for bolt actions. I would love to have a bolt action in it so I could scope it but only lever actions were ever standard.

[Griff]

I think it has to do more with dimensional inconsistencies than outright popularity. The fluctuation of chamber, bore & groove dimensions over the years has grown to the point where one of the most oft inquiries on various forums when the subject is the .38-55 is, "what size bullet should I use in my (fill in gun model here)? Also, the advent of the 375 Winchester took away many potential new buyers of a .38-55 rifle. I mean, what's not to like? A similar class of round, measurably more powerful, in a platform already proven popular with American shooters. The fact that it's also not being supported by the ammo & component makers attests to the fickleness of said manufacturers. They don't get huge sales increases on tried & true cartridges... only on the latest and "greatest" thing to come out of their testing labs. While cartridges of an overwhelming popularity continue to have products available, the rest fall by the wayside. Rounds that have component cross, i.e., same bullet diameter & basic shape, continue to have new products introduced, others are left out in the cold. Although its popularity is probably fairly flat, when have you seen a new bullet for the .30-30? Unlike other .30 caliber cartridges... (.30-06, .308, the same goes for various 7mm cartridges). Even tho' Winchester made .38-55 mdl 94s in some of their commemorative models, and, again USRA and FN in their 94AE versions... they didn't fly off the shelves of gun stores. And those were probably the most consistent dimensionally of any .38-55s produced... and yet they followed the .375 platform vs. the earlier .378-9 bore diameters. What I love about the .30-30, is that the exact same ammo will perform to my best expectations, whether I load it in my newest mdl 94 Winchester, or my oldest. Folks with a .38-55 might not be able to say that.

And while .38-55s are still very popular for various side match duties among SASS shooters, I know of none that don't reload.

[Galloway]

Yes its weird. The internet drives trends in the industry now and people that own great old guns arent necessarily using them for anything else.