I've been thinking of another 38-55 recently. The Marlin 336CB looks real nice but I recall hearing a lot of people complaining about the undersized chamber problem. I had a Win 94 with the same problem... .380 bore but wouldn't chamber loads with bullets of that diameter in 38-55 brass. I ended up using reformed 30-30 brass and had no problem.

Anyway, the 336CB is about the only 38-55 of recent manufacture that I can afford with the exception of the H&R target rifle but I want a levergun. I saw one in the shop for $500 NIB. Based on what you guys are seeing is this in the ballpark? I also noticed that Marlin doesn't have this cataloged on their website anymore leading me to believe that it might be out of production. Should I snap this one up or do they make runs of these periodically? Ie, are they in high demand? And last but not least, once the undersized chamber problem has been dealt with how do they shoot?

Hey Bart,
Snap it up, it's a fair price. I'v seen them for alot more. About what I paid for mine. Check out the Big bore lever section by Leadlum (Who shoots a 38-55) most of your questions will be answerd there if not, send me a PM I'll be happy to get real specific about it . .380 bore and chamber problems are not a problem, if you handload! I love my 38-55 cowboy, if I had it to do over I'd have done it sooner. I'll be happy to help if you have problems loading for it, but I WOULD snap it up!! Seeya
Ricosheawabbit

By the way Marlin shows the 38-55CB on the lever action page under 336 cowboy. Looks like they still make it.

Bart, I have one of the CBs and it is a pleasure to shoot, mine slugs out to a .3785 groove which is a little on the tight side for most of them, I shoot .379 cast over 8gns of unique and it produces in the 2 inch range all day long with no leading. Don't worry about the chamber thing you'll overcome that fast. You will definately like that rifle. There are a few small hurdles like the bullet bump which is nothing more than undersized WW brass with a larger bullet than the .375 once you shoot your brass and go to resize it make sure you back off your sizer especially if you opt for lee dies as they are .375 dies with the 38-55 expander in the expander die. You have to back off approx .1 to start with. Took me a little bit, but here is a short cut back off your die then raise the case into it and turn it down until you feel resistance then take your bullet and check the mouth opening as you are adjusting down until it won't enter. This is a good starting point, you will probably have to enter farther for proper neck tension. But when you have it at minimum you are where you should be especially with the factory crimp die that lee makes I recommend it. Another pointer I learned on this forum when I first joined, is if you want to make 38-55 cases out of 30-30 get a .375 h&h expander decapper for the lee dies and one swoop and you have your cases. Albeit a little short, but usable. If you have one with a small chamber this helps chambering the larger bullets. Getting windy but if your new to the 38-55 I'll help when I can.

Snach it up for that price! It is a fair price. It is a nice rifle, handles real well and shoots! I shoot a jacketed .378 bullet out of mine and shoots around 1 inch at 100 yards with open sights. I took a large doe with it this fall at about 160 yards and just took her plum off her feet. You wont be lacking for knock down with the 38/55.

Hey Bart,
What part of CO you from, I'm in Westminster. Seeya
Mick

Mick,

Near Woodland Park. Spent 6 months during '00 in Longmont ... not too far from you I guess. Where do you shoot up there? I never found any place close. The range near Byers (sp?) was probably the closest publicly accessible range, at least that I knew of. Did all of my shooting back down here during that period. No range...just PNF. The Hayman Fire closed down one of my favorite spots in '02. We need a real range here bad.

Mick,

Near Woodland Park. Spent 6 months during '00 in Longmont ... not too far from you I guess. Where do you shoot up there? I never found any place close. The range near Byers (sp?) was probably the closest publicly accessible range, at least that I knew of. Did all of my shooting back down here during that period. No range...just PNF. The Hayman Fire closed down one of my favorite spots in '02. We need a real range here bad.

I shoot in Watkins at the Golden Gun Club. Been a member for 17 years. It's about 1 of 3 or 4 places left in this area. It's 40 miles south west but I spend the whole day and it has everything I need so it's worth the trip.
Mick

I have some experience with the 375 Win, in a couple of rifles. I usually use 38-55 or 30-30 brass in my Marlin. Only have the 100 375 cases I ordered back in '00 when I first got the Marlin 375. A bunch of those are still unfired. I know a lot of people pooh pooh this practice of wrong head stamp for a given chambering. In this case I think nothing's to depair. The Marlin has a long chamber and I haven't tried this with the Winchester yet. Paco and Marshall got me interested in experimenting with this brass. There's nothing like fireforming your own brass and having success with it. The biggest warning I've seen is that 30-30 or 38-55 brass is weak. You know that story as well as I do. Use your own judgement. I'm getting really interested in another 38-55 rifle. I've passed on so many in the last few years that I don't think I can hold out much longer. The prices on the good ones have just about hit the ceiling.

When we lived up in Longmont I didn't have the spare time to drive long distances for shooting places. Pretty much the same story here. The little lady isn't in the best of health and spending all day at the range can't happen. Everybody's situation is different.

If your ever up this way and have the time, shoot me a pm and we'll try and spend some time at the range with your 375's and maybe your new 38-55CB if you decide on one. You can probably find one at Sportman's Warehouse for around $500.00. If not I can fix you up with a dealer who can probably get one at the same price. Sorry about the little lady's health. We'll keep you both in our prayers that both situations get resolved.

Mick

Bart,
Your ailias sounds familiar. Have you shot with the Shaketails out at Ramah?
Humpty

You are correct. The chambers are tight.

i have to load .377s or 8s depending on the bullet. I purchased a box of hard cast leads in .379 and I cannot get them to chamber.

Any one need 92 .379 hard cast bullets??? :confused:

You are correct. The chambers are tight.

i have to load .377s or 8s depending on the bullet. I purchased a box of hard cast leads in .379 and I cannot get them to chamber.

Any one need 92 .379 hard cast bullets??? :confused:

Think I asked this once, but will ask again. Have you formed any cases from 30-30's? they usually come out just a touch thinner...thin enough for my chamber to use .380" bullets when normal cases balk of that thickness.

Humpty,

I've never even seen a SASS match before, not to say I'm not interested. Ramah is a pretty good haul from Woodland Park. When are matches held there? Maybe one of these days I'll take the time to check it out? The national forest is so close that I've done all of my shooting for the last 10 years near by. I can walk to a spot to shoot...just can't haul all my stuff there easily!

As for the tight chamber problem, I can attest to what Ribbonstone says. Forming 30-30 cases for the 38-55 gives you some extra room due to wall thickness and overall case length. It's one of about three ways that I know of to "fix" this problem (there's only one real fix) : 1) 30-30 brass 2) outside neck turning 3) touch up chamber with finishing reamer of correct size. As I understand it, step 3) isn't really that hard for the average mechanically inclined person to perform. I ended up selling my Win 94 though. Just could never get it to shoot. Now I'm thinking of getting into another one. Maybe this one will shoot straighter...

Think I asked this once, but will ask again. Have you formed any cases from 30-30's? they usually come out just a touch thinner...thin enough for my chamber to use .380" bullets when normal cases balk of that thickness.

No sir,
I have not.
I have used Winnie 38-55 original brass from once fired factory loads, and 375 winnie brass, but that is a touch shorter.

I shall have to try the 30-30 brass. Is there alot of trimming involved, and who sells that particular die???
Can you provide a link??

[QUOTE=bartmasterson]The Marlin 336CB looks real nice but I recall hearing a lot of people complaining about the undersized chamber problem. I had a Win 94 with the same problem... .380 bore but wouldn't chamber loads with bullets of that diameter in 38-55 brass.

Hold on there!
There is no "chamber problem"!
The only problem is that folks want to use the cowboy rifle in a different way than how Marlin intended; that is with black powder and soft bullets that obturate to fill the grooves. A tight chamber holds the cartridge in the center, alligned with the bore for better accuracy. Also, the Win brass is thicker than "original" spec brass, which you can buy. You can also buy "stretched" (reformed) Win brass that has a bit thinner walls and is longer than the factory Win stuff. Try www.buffaloarms.com. I hope that is the correct address.

Anyway, my opinion on this is, of course, in the minority. BUT I'M RIGHT!! :D

No die, fire form. Best to start with NEW or actual real live once fired (not what some gun shops pass off as once fired).
Start with ONE case:
1. Prime 30-30 case..good place to use up primers you don't care for...brand/type seems to make no differnce.
2. 7 gr. of a fast pistol type powder (Bullseye, 700X. AA #2, Red Dot, 231, etc).
3. Fill remainder of case with corn meal (or grits, cream of wheat) and compress. A wooden dowl or any other flat faced rod-like object slightly smaller than .30cal will work. Add more after compression so that the case if FULL.
4. plug the end of the case with bullet lube (or soap, candle wax, etc)...idea is to hold the compression.
5. Point down and fire. WARNING: the corn meal is going to come out of there fast enough to tear a real big hole in anything the muzzle is close to (including your foot).
6. IF it ejects looking like a 38/55, you're set. If it ejects looking 1/2 formed, need more powder (some cases are harder than others, so the exact powder charge to fire form is arrived at by one case trial). Once the test case comes out formed, go to step one and load all the cases you want to fire form.
7. Pick the shortest one of the bunch and just trim it to even, set the trimmer to that length, and trim the rest of them. They will be slightly short, but the idea is to get them all even.

Headspace is set by the rim...expanding the case neck from .30 to .38 makes them thinner (so you can use a larger diameter bullet).

Yes, could load BP and a soft lead bullet. For some loads, I do exactly that...but it doesn't work all that well for smokeless loads even when the alloy is soft.

Realize that not every 45/70 or 38/55 shooter wants BP loads; would guess than the majority of marlin lever gun users have never fired a BP round in their rifles and have no intention of doing so...guess we can expect the same from most of the other big-bore lever gun users. It's OK by me, whatever keeps them popular keeps them in production.

I like BP, but don' tend to use it in lever guns other than the antique ones....love it in big single shots, but realize it's not what many shooters want.

I've seen it posted somewhere that you can use an expander ball for 375 H&H to open them up too. Have never tried this myself but it would be a lot more convenient. However I'd have to say that it's kind of fun fireforming them. I personally have found that about 5.0 gr of Bullseye is enough to get good yield although a little more (eg 6.0) might get close to 100%. The first batch tried I used parafin to plug the neck. Since then I've switched to poly patches about 1"x1" and use a piece an old cedar arrow shaft to tamp it down. For max loads I'd recommend what Ribbonstone says about using brass of known quality. For plinkers I don't worry about it too much. In fact I bought about 1200 once fired cases on eBay a couple of years ago just for this purpose and have had no problems. For heavier loads I have used only brass that I personally fired...factory 30-30 loads. I once loaded some of these up with about 33.5gr Re7 and Bonus Bullets 260gr RNPFGC. Fired in my Marlin 375 they were downright raspy, and produced more recoil than anything I've shot in that rifle since. Try these at your own risk.

Bottom line is that not only can you feed that persnickity 38-55 with tight chamber but gain a sense of accomplishment and some fireforming experience. Realize that I am not trying to talk anyone into doing anything they don't feel comfortable with. Use your judgement.

Gents,

the undersized chamber and thicker modern brass is the reason I designed my jacketed bullet at .378". It's a compromise, but jacketed bullets usually do ok when slightly undersized. I wanted a good shooting jacketed bullet to reload cheaper than the factory load, and warmer, for hunting. It wasn't available, so I built my own!

I think Marlin goofed a little bit when they brought out this rife, since I agree with the poster that most guys will not shoot many BP loads in their modern Marlins, and if they do it will be with lead bullets that are too hard to obturate anyway.

enjoy those .38-55's! It's a great cartridge that's very versatile but has to be handloaded to appreciate.

Hold on there!
There is no "chamber problem"!
The only problem is that folks want to use the cowboy rifle in a different way than how Marlin intended; that is with black powder and soft bullets that obturate to fill the grooves... [/QUOTE]
===========================

Maybe so - butSome of us like to shoot the guns with CB technology as it exists today along with the 'friendlier' smokeless powders now available.

Re: the chambers being tight for regular CB's - yes they are. My bore slugs .3804" but would not accept a .379" dia bullet seated in the new WW brass. Discussed the situation with Marlin and for the price of shipping back to them (one way) they ran a chambering reamer into the gun to open up to "max SAAMI spec'" and had it back to me in less than 3 weeks! Good job Marlin! The gun will now accept bullet of at least .382" (as large as I have) with a snug fit. I haven't fired it yet with cast, just got a mould from Mountain Molds - bullet sized to fit my chamber throat. Hope to be out to the range within the next couple weeks to start load development.

Best regards-

Sky C.
Longmont, CO

As I said, I'm in the minority with this opinion.
I must confess my utter and complete bias in this matter! :)

I'm "big time" into hunting with bpc firearms these days and when I was looking for good bpc firearms to hunt with, saw the 336 cb. I was hooked. Just think; Marlin made a rifle in a bpc lever gun just for guys like me (and cowboy shooters too) to use for my purposes. I also bought a Marlin in 32-20 and am waiting for a Win in 50-110. I have a Pedersoli Sharps in 45-120 and expect a Buffalo Classic in 45-70 by this weekend. I'm trying my best not to buy more. I load bp in my 45 Colt Ruger Blackhawk, my Win 30-30, and my 410 shotgun. Heck, I even loaded my 22 hornet with bp for awhile!

As I said, I'm hooked! I love the stink, the big clouds of smoke, and the primitiveness of it all and I don't understand why everybody does not see it that way. :)

So that's where I'm comming from, and why my bias shows so brightly. But, I promise to take it easy on you smokeless guys. :)

Have fun out there!

[QUOTE=boreal]As I said, I'm in the minority with this opinion.
I must confess my utter and complete bias in this matter! :)


=========

Boreal-

Hats off to you for your BP enthusiasm. I've not played with BP for use in my cartridge guns yet but might be tempted one of these days to run some thru my Sharps. I've shied away from it because of the hassles with brass and gun clean-up. With the Sharps - tear-down for cleaning doesn't seem too bad - but the thought of BP residues back in the action of a lever gun seem like much more work than fun.

Best regards-

Sky C.

Man I'm really in the minority. I bought mine just to hunt with and shoot. I can tell you that the bullet Stone Fence makes shoots great and kills deer! :D I dont shoot CB matches so I usually try to push it to the limits (safe) and get the most accurate hunting load I can. With the jacketed loads I can push them a little more. It really is a good cartridge for killing deer. ;)

Man I'm really in the minority. I bought mine just to hunt with and shoot. I can tell you that... I usually try to push it to the limits (safe) and get the most accurate hunting load I can. With the jacketed loads I can push them a little more. It really is a good cartridge for killing deer. ;)

I've shot mine with great results in accuracy out to 200 yards. Can you tell me:

Is all the energy done past 200?
Is this enough gun for midwest Elk and to what range??

I"m shooting a Barnes original X at about 1800fps...

m141a,
I have not shot an elk...yet. But I dont see why the 38/55 would not do the job. I'm sure many a buffalo fell to it and probably a lot elk too. I would think a person would be fine out to 150 yards or so. From my experience with the bullet Stone Fence makes, I think it would do the job.

Bart,
We shoot the first Sunday of the month, every month.
The range is on Elbert Co 105, north of Ramah about 6 miles.
It's 48 miles from me, in north end of Colorado Springs.
Humpty