I don't know what a barrel cost, but it looks like that is the way to go.

Well, I wonder how 44 special matches up.

Great video. I am glad you took the timime always. e as I don't have the time always but always have the question.

I hate that for you. I have had similar problems with some rifles of the past. I may look to have it rebarreled as I know it is more important for you as a rifle than a collector gun, Guns that don't shoot don't deserve a place in my safe. Good luck to you and I feel your pain.

I have seen stuff like this before. lol it's better the way you have it than the other way around aka blunderbuss type barrel. What I would do is load slightly oversized cast lead, see how that does, I have had best luck with that on barrels that don't shoot good.

Rebarrel it.

That's what a lot of these safe queen people don't understand. Guns were made to be used, and for a lot of people, part of the enjoyment of hunting is carrying a beautifully crafted gun that you can admire when you're out in the field.

#1 Before replacing the barrel, check around on a reputable gunsmith known for lead-lapping barrels He could take down the tight spots some to even out the bore enuf to throw a consistant shot. #2: Have the bore overbored to .338-55? #3: swap in new barrel for it, somthing Green Mountain Rifle Barrel Company lists nine barrel blanks for the .38/55 WCF Better aftermarket sights avaible from,Track of the Wolf, Dixie Gun Works or Brownells.

I am a bit late to this discussion but I have a couple of suggestions. You didn't say what type of brass you are using. Modern Winchester brand cases are generally too thick at the case mouth to allow you to chamber a properly sized cast bullet. You should size your cast bullets to the diameter of the throat of the chamber. I would suggest getting some of the Starline #382125 brass made to the original length and thickness and try some cast bullets sized to throat diameter. I have three different vintage 38-55 rifles and none of them will shoot a jacketed bullet. They all spray Winchester factory loads from the 1970's or later like buckshot. With properly sized cast bullets in the Starline cases all my rifles shoot groups of 2" or less at 100 yards.

Could a barrel maker lap the bore to .381?

The barrel was probably drilled with a gun drill that wasn't straight throughout its length. Sell the rifle. Find and buy a .38-55 Marlin 336 CB used. The Pope style rifling was well made. It was designed for cast bullets. Marlin had better quality control than Winchester back in that period. Marlin wasn't owned by Remington then.

No matter what you do if it has a bad barrel it will never shoot good.

Get an old Marlin. I have a 336T .30/30 made I think in 1979 that shoots inch and a half groups!

Reline the barrel.

My father-in-law lived into his 97th year. He often spoke of his 38-55 he used primarily for white tail hunting in the hill country and west Texas. He never mentioned any problems with it, in fact said it was accurate and he often stopped deer on the run. Best wishes in your efforts. Seems like a new barrel would be in order.

My Brazilian lever actions have great barrels apparently. They all shoot great. Better than me anyway.

You squeeze the BACK trigger FIRST scout

Please pardon my ignorance as I’ve never had either one but have been thinking about buying a new Ruger Vaquero in 45 Colt. But I immediately thought as you began shooting….wow them black powder rounds have really got some BOOM 💥 to them! I mean they look pretty dang stout judging by the recoil! It looks like they are jumping more than the modern smokeless rounds I see everyone shooting. I thought being black powder would be quite a bit less powerful? I been reading up on how with a Colt SA clone like the Ruger you can’t shoot the more powerful cartridges like +P rounds because the frame can’t safely handle them. And when I watch guys shoot standard factory loads like you would get a Cabela’s or local gun store they don’t appear the recoil very much. Just a big ole bullet but not a whole lot of power behind them. But man them black powder rounds looked like they really had some boom 💥 to them! And the velocities seem to be right around the same as modern smokeless. Am I wrong? It just looked like those rounds you were shooting were stronger with more recoil than modern ones I see guys shooting on here I really enjoyed the video! I look forward to checking out the rest of your stuff 👍

Perhaps the reason they "choke" the barrel is to reduce the chamber pressures by reducing the initial force needed to seat the bullet into the groves. They might use lower strength steels and want the additional safety factor, or they think that people will be handloading and attempting to attain velocities beyond what is intended for the cartridge. Just a guess because I have seen choked (taper bored) barrels on older guns as well.

Unserious comment here. They've got PARADOX rifling! Thats traditionally a high end thing, right? Slightly more serious comment. Get a 38-55 Marlin Cowboy. Tight chamber and requires special care in handloading..(mine did anyway) .but DAMN that thing was accurate. (Using .380 245gr pills) As to Ubertis...I had a 24" 44-40.... and one day after a Benchrest match I put IT on my BR stands, still had all the wind flags out too. Shot a 5 shot group at 100 yards (even in Australia BR is shot at 100 and 200 YARDS not metres) and our official scorer measured it at 1.211" Lead bullets and Iron sights....Colour me impressed.

You might check the magazine cap screw and make sure its not putting pressure on the barrel, also check the magazine hangar dovetail. The hanger should fit snugly but it shouldn't take excessive force to drive into the dovetail, do the same with the forend cap screw escutcheon. Also, check the forend cap and front stock for pressure points against the barrel.

You could try fire lapping as a fairly inexpensive fix. After that if accuracy was still the problem you may consider re-boring, if it were mine I would re-bore and re-chamber to .41 mag if possible. Rim diameter is close and it would need a shortened feed but would be a unique rifle for hunting.

This problem of yours is fairly classic with the 38-55. Worse yet, with most rifles, seating any bullet larger than 0.388 will NOT chamber . . . so, you have it easy, if you can stomach that. The solution with my Marlin 38-55 (a Shootists' Special, actually) was to follow Mic McPherson's advice. I bought thin (0.0075") neck-wall brass from Starline, to start. This allows seating bullets up to 0.381" in diameter . . . they'll chamber just fine, thank you.Secondly, I shoot only paper-patched cast bullets that are first sized to 0.371" and then they are given a 2X (two layer) paper patch using 16# notebook paper, yielding a finished diameter of 0.381, which equals the barrel's groove diameter. These cartridges will yield groups of 3" or better at 100 yards. Better yet, order a mould casting a flat-faced (0.7" diameter meplat) bullet of 0.370" diameter and 250-to-300 grain weight. Cast from wheelweight alloy for full-pressure loads or go to a 50/50 mix of lead and wheelweight for a load in the 20K pressure range. What is special about paper-patched cast bullets (PPCB's) is that they zip into the rifled barrel so quickly that the air in the paper (~50% by volume) cannot escape, to it acts like a very-high-pressure annulus around the bullet, which annulus expands or contracts as necessary to fit variations in the bore-or-groove diameter. Try it. It works, as do most suggestions from Shootist Mic McPherso (check out his several books available through Amazon . . . MAAAHvelous!).

How did Marlin cowboy 3855 24 inch octagonal barrel salt lake suite had an H&R 28 inch barrel heavy bull barrel on that thing it shot suite 23855

Call the guy at cinnabar maybe he can help

thanks for your clip, never heard before. But now I am very sad hearing that. I do not understand why US companies are often producing junk since late seventies or early eighties. Und why US production is given up to other countries e.g. Asia. Same story as in Europe. Hope Mr Trump will correct this wrong direction... greetings from Germany.....

Bore it out and install a heavy rifled liner

Tapered bore dieameters are not unheard of. The British Martini Henry uses that system. The freebore area is .47 caliber but by the time it gets to the muzzle it is a ..45. In the days of lead bullets and black powder it wasn't a big thing. The soft lead would obturate to fit the bore and tolerated being squeezed down. An issue of the barrel leading could be resolved by using paper patched bullets which the Martini Henry did. Of course with jacketed bullets and smokeless powders that system does not work as well.

Have you tried “repro rubber”. As a quality technician, I have used this product to measure features that can’t be measured with normal methods. I would tape the muzzle and pour the repro rubber from the chamber. After a few minutes the liquid will solidify. It will be soft and flexible a you should be able to push it towards the breach and remove the whole thing. It shouldn’t leave any residue either. It will be soft so calipers or micrometers will not be truly accurate. You can then cut 1/4” sections and measure them on an optical comparator. Now the hard part: do have access to a comparator or know someone that has access to one? This will allow you to measure any point in the bore.

Additional note several months later. I hear that "old new stock" and "surplus" barrels are better than the "seconds," which are apparently used in commemorative firearms. In other words, don't ignore the possibility of replacing the barrel with an original 38-55. Why do I say this? Because my brother has a 38-55 (not a commemorative) that he swears by as a "meat on the table" gun. He tells me, "I shoot, and then walk to where I shot and collect my deer." Now I haven't shot his gun, but a production run firearm that reliably puts meat on the table is arguably very accurate.

It's a poor workman that blames his tools.

I bought a Henry 38.55 2 years ago. Accuracy is good, but I need Williams or Lyman receiver sights. Not much out there about this caliber, so thanks for the info. BTW, the Japanese made Brownings had qualty issues many years ago, but Miroku puts out excellent products now. I always liked Uberti quality. Also BTW, most of the 38.55 commercial ammo. including a brand made in Montana, have gas check bullets. Wonder why?

I had a brother in law that had a 38-55 that wasn't shooting well. I gave it a try, at 50 yards the bullets were keyholing.

Paper cartridges worked excellent! That gun shoots great!

Your rounds went high

Rebore to 45-70!

Hope you solve this issue. I have an early (1905) Winchester in 38-55 and it is a true .380 all the way down the barrel. Shoots about 3 inch groups at 100 yards. I honestly don't think Winchester expected people to shoot the collector series rifles. I also own a Winchester model 70 marked .270 on the barrel but actually is chambered in 30-06. Should of seen the day I tried to sight it in with.270 ammo, lol. Winchester wants me to send them the gun but that's not going to happen.

try a paper patch

Is it leaded? sometimes the end of the barrel leads before the chamber area.

How does it shoot with Winchester Factory ammo?.. Clay

Comemeret guns are all ways made frome junke

Just my 2 cents here. Been hand loading for a bit over 45 years. I would try a really good hard cast lead bullet at .381 the barrel on my Winchester 38/55 is .377 l use a 245 grain RNFP .378 diameter and it shoots very accurate. I know this post is a year old maybe you have already tried this. Good luck.

fascinating, and it makes sense. Last summer while at Fort Lincoln at Mandan ND I took the tour through Custer's house. While it had been dismantled by the locals to some degree they had photos to rebuild it. It even contained a few original possessions of the couples. The tour guide was amazing and had lots to tell. This info was not told. I took well over 100 photos inside their house. I'd love to tour it again. But I live close so I plan on doing that as I wasn't feeling the best that day. Extremely hot and my iron level was on fumes and I had low blood sugar. So I definitely want to go again. I plan on asking the tour guide if he had heard that story. It was a paid tour to go in their house.

Steve Quayle your neighbor? 😊

For what it's worth. I would try another barrel. Just a suggestion.

Respectfully, Why not a 6 o clock hold on your target if you’re sights disappear in the black bull. Always interested in watching your channel. Thanks

That is wild! I’d like to see if the “regular” versions are any better. My Italian Investarms muzzleloader and Uberti 1873 38/357 shoot MOA.

Contact Doug Turball ask his advice,that's what he does for a living

I use a hollow base bullet out of my 45 70 and it has the best groups. I use smokeless powder with hollow base bullet that are made from wheel weights.They are a lot thicker at the base than the old black powder ones. I also size all my casts and put a crimp in the cases. The lead slug also loosens up after a foot but doesn't fall. They are 405 and fly at 1950+ FPS and groups easily @ 4" at 250 yards. I have replaced 3 different barrels on different guns because they didn't group, It drives me nuts if my guns don't work right.

Sleve it