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I don’t believe the High Wall was ever offered in .38-56 Winchester. But…… when I was a teenager (many moons ago!) my brother and I were in the pine hills north of Pompey’s Pillar Montana where we were exploring an old homestead cabin. In it we found a coffee can with 19 loaded 38-56 cartridges in it. Gosh, we were sure we’d find and 1886 rifle in there too. While we didn’t, thereafter I wanted (needed) a rifle in caliber .38-56. Years later a favorite aunt who lived on the South Fork of the Shoshone River in Wyoming gifted me an 1885 High Wall given to her many years earlier by an old trapper named Max whom she had befriended. It was in .32-20 and the bore was beyond shootable. After playing with it a few years I found a Bozeman gunsmith who could and did re-barrel and chamber it to .38-56 with a nice half octagon/round barrel. New sights and some re-finishing resulted a rifle I’ve been shooting targets and hunting with for nearly 40 years. I shot some mule deer with it and the cartridge did a good job. It has been easy to reload for. I mostly use bullets I cast but I’ve also enjoyed targeting with Hornady 220 gr. .375″ jacketed bullets. Most groups are around an inch at 100 yards. Number of rounds fired must be in the thousands. I really enjoy single shot BP rifles and took bison with my .40-65 High Wall and shoot lots of .32-40 through my 1875 C. Sharps. Recent purchase of a Low Wall in .32 Ideal has added even more interesting experimentation in handloading.
And with continued interest in the .38-56 cartridge about 25 years ago I had Arnold Erhardt at Capitol Sports in Helena re-barrel my Browning 86 in .45-70 to .38-56 (bottom carbine in the photo – others are .50 Alaskan and .45-60). Using cast bullets and black powder, I ‘ve had good luck taking whitetails with it. The recoil is much much less than the beating I took when the carbine was in .45-70!
Brian Sindelar said
I don’t believe the High Wall was ever offered in .38-56 Winchester.
It was, but not commonly; friend of mine had one. It’s quite as “good” as the older .38-55, but what was the point of introducing a ballistically duplicate cartridge?
Brian Sindelar said
I don’t believe the High Wall was ever offered in .38-56 Winchester.
It most certainly was one of the standard cataloged cartridges for the Single Shot (high-wall) rifles. While not nearly as common or popular as its ballistic twin the 38-55 cartridge, it was produced in a larger number than most other cartridges. Of the more than (90) different cartridges found in the Single Shot, the 38-56 WCF ranks 20th on the production chart. It was a popular target cartridge in Australia, with more than (70) of exported there.
Bert
WACA Historian & Board of Director Member #6571L
Thanks for this information, Bert. Now I don’t feel bad about choosing .38-56 chambering when I had the rifle re-barreled. At the time almost 40 years ago I knew not a thing about the 1885 rifles. I know a lot more now, thanks to you guys.
We even know of a factory original Low Wall in .38-56. A member here has it.
steve004 said
We even know of a factory original Low Wall in .38-56. A member here has it.
Yes, something most of us missed, recently sold on Gunbroker. Probably one of a kind!
Is it ok to shoot 38-56 ammo thru a 38-55 barrel? Or Marlin 25-36 thru a 25-35 barrel?…without possible issues.
Rick C
RickC said
Is it ok to shoot 38-56 ammo thru a 38-55 barrel? Or Marlin 25-36 thru a 25-35 barrel?…without possible issues.
If the 38-55 brl was re-chambered–38-56 is a slightly bottle-necked case. Both 25-36 & 25-35 are bottle-necks, but not the same dimensions, I don’t believe; might be worth trying, though.
RickC said
Is it ok to shoot 38-56 ammo thru a 38-55 barrel? Or Marlin 25-36 thru a 25-35 barrel?…without possible issues.
The .38-56 cartridge is a bottle neck cartridge and will not chamber in a .38-55 chamber. And, it would not be appropriate to shoot a .38-55 cartridge in a .38-56 chamber (even though it would slide in). For the Marlins, the .25-36 case is longer than the .25-35 and should not be tried in a .25-35. However, it is appropriate to fire .25-35 in a Marlin .25-36. The likelihood of running across a box of .25-36 cartridges is very low and what supply that exists out there are mainly in the hands of collectors. I use .25-35 brass in my .25-36 and I suspect this is nearly universal practice.
Thanks for the info Steve. Good to know. I have a few of the M brands ? in my collection.
Rick C
RickC said
I have a few of the M brands in my collection.
Yes, but do have one of these?
mrcvs said
steve004 said
We even know of a factory original Low Wall in .38-56. A member here has it.
Yes, something most of us missed, recently sold on Gunbroker. Probably one of a kind!
Nope, it is not one-of-a-kind! There are a several other low-wall rifles out there that were chambered for high-wall cartridges. One of them that I chased was a standard low-wall in 40-65 WCF. There are a few each in 32-40 and 38-55 listed in the warehouse ledger records. Thus far they were all made using the early production low-wall receiver frames with the high-breech block.
WACA Historian & Board of Director Member #6571L
Bert H. said
mrcvs said
steve004 said
We even know of a factory original Low Wall in .38-56. A member here has it.
Yes, something most of us missed, recently sold on Gunbroker. Probably one of a kind!
Nope, it is not one-of-a-kind! There are a several other low-wall rifles out there that were chambered for high-wall cartridges. One of them that I chased was a standard low-wall in 40-65 WCF. There are a few each in 32-40 and 38-55 listed in the warehouse ledger records. Thus far they were all made using the early production low-wall receiver frames with the high-breech block.
I meant that the .38 – 56 low wall single shot rifle might be the only one that is both low Wall and .38 – 56. If not, how many in such a configuration?
I did suspect that other low wall rifles in high wall chamberings might exist, but wasn’t sure. Thank you Bert for confirming this!
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