Help with some info on the 38-56

[fordwannabe]

I am going to buy another 1886 and it is in 38-56. I see it is a necked down 45-70 case and started in the black powder era, ok so edumacate me. If you have links about the history, what game it is intended for, pretty much anything you got I sure would appreciate it.

Note to sixgun: you may notice I said I am buying it, I talked to him this week and he'll take $100 a pay until it's paid off with a small/medium deposit. thanks for the "ENCOURAGEMENT!!!"
Thanks Guys, Tom

[Buck Elliott]

It was supposed to be a great improvement over the Winchester/Ballard .38-55. It failed to show much gain, and died a slow, lingering death. One of the least-"popular" calibers for '86 collectors.

[Gun Smith]

I love to shoot my 38/56. It shoots more accurately at 100 yards than I can hold it, and
it doesn't "kill at both ends" like some other calibers in the '86 line. Snooky Williamson says to reload using 38/55 high velocity specs. A word of caution, he hot rodded a lot of his loads so you should always work up to maximun a bit at a time. His loads shot around 1500-2000 FPS with 255 gr. bullets. And "no ball powders, period!" He compares it directly to the 38/55 and the 375 Winchester calibers. He felt it was Winchester's idea to fill the hole between the 35 caliber and 40 caliber cartridges in their line. Or, another way to sell more guns to us fools. He felt jacketed bullets were not suited to this caliber and used lead bullets for hunting on his ranches. He said it was a good caliber up to elk and moose. But he passed on using it for bears.
You can't go wrong with virtually any M. 86 Winchester in your collection. Beautifully made guns and great collectables.

[.45colt]

In "shooting leverguns of the old West" Mike Venturnio has four pages on the 38-56. He was able to get 1,404fps using 56gr of FFg under an RCBS 255grn lead bullet. using Goex Cartridge (57gr) with the same bullet He got 1,385fps and two groups of 2.88" at 100 yards. He remarked that out of an 86 there isn't much recoil with this cartridge.He comments that He was surprised and extremly pleased with the performance of it.

[fordwannabe]

Thank you guys! Tom

[rangerider7]

I love mine; it is a flat shooter and very accurate.

[cowboykell]

One of my favorite cartridges. I have a Win 1886, Win 1885, Marlin 1895, and Colt Lightning all in 38-56. Did I say it is one of my favorite cartridges?

[KirkD]

My copy of an 1895 Winchester catalogue gives the following ballistics for the 38-55 and the 38-56 (for comparison).

38-55: 255 grain bullet at 1,285 fps

38-56: 255 grain bullet at 1,359 fps

The 1886 has a stronger action than the 1894, so with the right kind of smokeless loads, you can send the 38-56 bullet out the barrel a lot faster than the 1894 38-55. Whether you want to do this or not, I don't know, but I'd stop way short of Snooky's loads. Obviously, his Winchester stood such loads, at least for the brief time he may have tried them, but would his '86 stand some of the higher end loads over the long term? I don't know, but Sixgun might have some advice to give on this, as he is more experienced with the '86.

I like the 38-56 for its history and because it is obsolete, and because I could use the exact same bullets I use in my 38-55, although I've never owned a 38-56. I would not get one simply because of its ballistics; the 38-55 is a better choice in my opinion due to available brass. But for history and enjoyment, I'd love to have a 38-56.

[Mike D.]

My two .38-56 1886 Winchesters are highly accurate, although the bore diameters vary by .003 between them. One, built in 1890 has a .379 bore and other, a 1907 gun with a Nickel Steel barrel measures a tight .376. I won't go into my loads for the later one because it is only fired with jacketed bullets and rather hot loads.

My favorite load for the "BP" .38-56 is 40 grains of IMR 4895 behind a 250 grain Laser Cast Hard cast lead bullet sized at .381. The brass is formed from Starline .45-70 cases. The average MV is 1721 FPS, with negligible recoil and tight 100 yd groups. Both guns have excellent, pit free, bores and unworn rifling, so accuracy is top notch. Actually, a somewhat pitted BP used bore can still shoot very well with correctly sized bullets. The first thing you should do is slug the bore to determine the exact diameter and size your bullets accordingly. I have both RCBS and Lee dies and crimp the cartridges using the Lee Factory Crimp die.

Whatever you do, the .38-56 is a hoot to shoot, and very capable of taking deer size game out to 200 yds. Try it, you'll like it.

[fordwannabe]

Well i have lots of 45-70 brass and one of the gentlemen on this site just sold me a set of reloading dies......now all I need is the rifle. Tom