There has been some interest on this site PM-ed to me about a double rifle that I built a few years back. I delineated the building of this rifle on the double rifle section of the website NitroExpress.com and here is a link to my posting on that site, note that the posting is 3 pages long so you will have to scroll through all 3 pages to view the work.

http://forums.nitroexpress.com/show...al&topic=&Search=true#Post297834

Kindest Regards;
Stephen Howell

Stephen, that was an extremely interesting and informative thread. There are numerous craftsmen here who are obviously quite talented and gifted. But only a very few are so willing to show us the fascinating details of their work. Very generous of you. This is the stuff that keeps me coming back here. Thank you for sharing the link to your double rifle build with us.

Your work and skill are, literally, quite breathtaking. I cannot imagine owning such talent. Bravo.

While Steve's photos show his work pretty well they are no substitute for holding the gun in your hands for a real viewing. I have and it is truly a work of art.

Steve,

These photos are, well, what can I say, impressive. You are very talented. A labor of love for sure.


Thanks for posting,
John

Stephen,
I have followed your posts over on Nitro Express since I first became interested the work of Birdhunter 50 and bought two doubles that he made.

As you may remember, Bob loved all aspects of making a DR EXCEPT regulating it. After he passed away, I purchased the Beretta 45-70 that was his deer hunting rifle from the estate and turned it over to Aaron Little here in Texas and Aaron converted it to .45-90 and did a beautiful job of regulating the rifle for 45 yards. When I finally got around to hunting with it, I learned that the regulation was done so well, that it still places a R&L in a tight group at 100 yards! That bullet seriously damaged a Blackbuck that I shot just before the summer temps became too hot to enjoy outdoor activities.
And believe me when those 350 grain North Fork bullets travelling over 2000 fps hit something at 100 yards, it goes down!
Now that the weather may cool off some this fall, I plan to chrony the gun and try it on some Texas sized game such as Nilgai, hogs, Red deer, etc.

crs;

I knew Bob, aka "Birdhunter" and I know your DR that he built well also. He and I had different opinions on how much over pressure to proof test a DR, I chose high pressures and he a good bit less. It was not that Bob did not like regulating, but was a bit over careful holding chamber pressures down and he regulated using loads that were lower velocity and pressure than most any other shooter would use. Therefore shooting off the shelf ammo and handloads in one of his DR was going to produce different bullet impacts at the distance where originally regulated the point of impact.

Steve,
The build was wonderful, but I want to ask about the 38-55 McPherson Express brass you use. I make cases for some obsolete cartridges I load for from original length 38-55 (2.125-130") cases, the current length of 38-55 cases is 2.080", the same as 30-30. Even the original length cases are up to 1/16" short, depending upon how much they lengthen during sizing. My question is, how long is the 38-55 McPherson Express case? Are they a special-order case and if so, what is the minimum order?
Mike

I buy them from Starline brass and they are 2.125 inches long plus/minus a few thousands of an inch. The following links will provide info helpful to your endeavors.

https://www.starlinebrass.com/38-55-long-brass-2125


https://www.starlinebrass.com/articles/loading-with-correct-38-55-winchester-cases-38-55-rifle/

Kindest Regards;

Stephen Howell

Steve,
Thanks, those are the original length 38-55 cases that I already use, 32-40 and 35-55 were both originally that length until someone decided they could save a dollar's worth of brass in a million rounds by using 30-30 cases. I'm down to my last bag of original 38-55 cases in my old stash and was hoping I had found a case long enough to make full length 57- & 58-mm cases without shortening 9.3x72R cases. Thanks anyway.
Mike

Maybe you should search for some .375 H&H Flanged 2 1/2 inch NE cases. I had a significant amount of them 5-10 years ago and I suspect you can find some now.

https://www.handloadermagazine.com/cartridge-board-4

bushveld,
The .375 H&H Flanged has a head diameter of .454-.456" and the cases I need have.427-.433" head diameters. The 38-55 has about .422" head diameter, which is close enough to be safe and not require swaging the head, even though a little short. I have swaged heads before, but this is a lot more trouble than adjusting the rims (only a lathe job) and putting up with slightly short cases. I have resigned myself to possibly swaging case heads when my last bag of original cases runs out but had decided to use either 30-40 Krag or .303 British. I have 30-40 cases on hand, but also have a rifle, so I would likely buy currently available .303 cases. I do have a little .375 H&H Flanged 2 1/2" ammo but will save it in case I find a rifle. In my condition I would rather have one of those rifles than the Flanged Magnums.
Mike

DerAmi;

I agree with you about the desirability of the cartridge that started all the popularity of .375 caliber cartridges well over 100 years ago ---the .375 H&H 2 1/2" Flanged NE. Graeme Wright has a lot of good things to say about it as well, and significantly how easy it is to regulate a double rifle with it. Loaded with modern propellants and obtaining about 2,000 fps velocity at the muzzle and nearly 2,400 ft lbs of energy with a 270 gr projectile it is a cartridge of more than 100 years of age that can be used in many difficult situations.

When I built the .38-55 Mcpherson cartridge based double rifle, I wanted to try to duplicate the ballistics of the .375 H&H 2 1/2" Flanged NE in an old classic American made shorter cased .38-55. And although I was successful in doing that with a 255 grain projectile, I have to load the .38-55 McPherson up to around 32,000 psi with 38 grs of IMR 3031 (the pressure is according to the virtual reality ballistics software I use) . This pressure is the near limit of what this shorter case will do and when loaded at greater pressure for proofing the .38-55 McPherson case is a "throw away". I purchased a chamber reamer and cartridge cases for the .375 H&H 2 1/2 inch Flanged NE at the outset of my thinking of what cartridge I was going to use in the DR, and now after shooting 300 plus rounds through the DR, if I were to do it over I would have chosen the .375 2 1/2 inch cases. I would have had more flexibility with propellants for similar chamber pressures with that size cartridge case---one has to be very careful with heat sensitive 3031propellant especially in 90-100 degree ambient temperature summers in the South. I did experiment with other propellants with the .38-55 McPherson and the .255 gr projectile, but the speed and accuracy was best with 3031. And in that regard for the safety of such pressures I contoured the barrels to have 1 inch diameter at the breech and for 2 1/2 inches forward from the breech.

Kindest Regards;
Stephen Howell

Stephen,
I am jealous of your ability and your work.
Mike