I was thinking about getting a 38-55 win!!! I was just looking for the good and bad of the round. any info will be helpful!!!!

Had My Marlin 38-55 CB for a year now. Ever had the old discussion of what if you could only have (ONE) rifle. I've had about 40 or 50 rifles over the last 40 years and out of all of them it would be this 38-55 Marlin CB, hands down. You will have to handload for it, bore dia's are all over the place. A Little Sharps in 38-55 would be the absolute cats backside, pricy but WOW, what a rifle. Now that's just my personal feeling, there will be others who differ and they have a right to, but you asked and that's my story.

Wascally Wabbit

Carner, buy it you'll not regret it. Getting past reloading is the only hurdle if you don't reload. There is a few little things about loading for it, but do a search on 38-55 and you'll get a lot of input. Jacketed bullets are available, from Barnes (255 gn .377 dia.) Boer (220 gn not sure on the dia) "Stone Fence Devastators" The best bullet I know of for this rifle. My bbl measures .3785 when slugged. You can get a lot of different cast bullets. Ricosheawabbit, says it best if you could only have one rifle.

How much ext umph can you get out of a 38-55win if you handload??? dose it matter what gun its for??? like a brand new Winchester on a newer Marlin????

Both the W and Marlin are strong rifles, the Marlin is easier to take care of and has a lot of pluses when it comes to working on them to make them slicker. You can expect minimum of 400fps from handloads, on the stout side.

I have had mine for a little over a year, the only bad thing I can think of is that I did not buy one 30 years ago. The rest of the rifles in my safe are getting jealous because the 38/55 gets to go the range and woods alot more than any of the others.

The 38/55 is one great cartridge!! I second what swany said about the Stone Fence bullets. They are hands down the best bullet for the Marlin CB. I would put them up against any bullet out there. I'm getting 2012 FPS out of mine with the Stone Fence 250 gr JFP .378dia. I have had my rifle about a year and a half and have killed two deer with it. One at 160 yards and it flipped the deer upside down. The second at about 60 yards and it fell like it was hit by a train. I love shooting this rifle and they are real tack drivers. Get one!

Gents:

I can't find any info on the Stone Fence bullets on the web. Does anyone have a URL for the manufacturer or a vendor???

Thanks,
RSY

Here is Dave's (stone fence) email address:

david.s.deering@ accenture.com