Putting my Kokura Arsenal Type 38 into action

[MAG-63]

Well, after many years, I've decided to finally shoot my Type 38. The rifle is in excellent shape and has a very good bore. I would welcome any tips and advice on handloads for it. I'm looking at Privi brass and something along the lines of a 120-130 grain bullet. I have IMR 4831, 4350, and 4895 powders available.

[psteinmayer]

I load for 7.7x58 for my Type 99... but I've never loaded for the type 38. I would stay away from 4350... as I think it would be too slow burning for such a lightweight bullet. Check out this link for 6.5x50 for your Type 38. They list both 4895 and 4831 with 120 gr bullets.

http://data.hodgdon.com/cartridge_load.asp

[MAG-63]

Thanks for the info. My thinking was to start with 4895 since I have a decent supply of it. BTW, I'm still hoping to shoot my '98 Krag at Camp Perry this year and I look forward to meeting you and the other Krag shooters. I'm currently working-up some loads for it as well.

[psteinmayer]

Sounds great... Looking for to meeting you too!

[madsenshooter]

You might find the PRVI brass a bit undersized, you might get a bulge on one side. I've not tried the PRVI myself, but I have worked with the woefully undersized and way too expensive Norma brass. First time I shot the Norma brass a more experienced shooter looked at the brass, shook his head and said he wouldn't shoot it anymore. Despite neck sizing only, the signs of incipient casehead failure appeared on the second loading. For a better fit, and a semi-rim of the proper thickness, I make Jap brass from Krag or .303 brass. 4350 will be about as slow as you want to go with the bullet weights you plan on using, though any of the selection you have will make the bullet come out the end of the barrel. They can be surprisingly accurate despite the fact that many have oversized groove diameters, some as big as .271". Bore diameter though is generally around .255. Recover a few bullets if you can and you'll see wide rifling marks, but no contact down in the grooves of the rifling. I don't know how true it is, but I've read that the main reason behind the Japanese going with the metford rifling was that at the time they were wanting to go to smokeless powders, their steels weren't up to the pressure potential. That would have been the earlier type 30. Allowing some gas to blow past the bullet would lower the pressure. Makes for a big buildup of carbon fouling I've found. I once slugged one without cleaning it first, thought I had a .264" groove diameter, woo hoo! After getting all the carbon fouling out, it was .270"! 6.5 bullet molds that cast that big aren't easy to come by, but NOE makes a couple.

[MAG-63]

Thanks for all of the info! I saw where you had posted some of this elsewhere. I have enough .303 and 30-40 brass to experiment with but understand the resizing process is a bit lengthy. I would certainly consider it if I like how the rifle shoots and decide to keep it. I was looking at the Privi 6.5 brass as the fastest way to get into shooting the 38 to see if I would like it (after chamber casting and slugging the bore).

[madsenshooter]

Yea, there were some real unfriendly men on that forum, they'd likely consider what I repeated above some sort of heresy, since I don't have references. I don't go there often except for their Krag forum. Quick and easy is the way to go, your chamber might be tighter than the one on my rifle. You have reloading manuals for charges? If not you can find some on Hodgdon's site. I''ve shot a few cast bullets from an uncataloged NOE mold out of one of my type 38s that's been rechambered to 6.5x257. Not good so far, the bullets were going sideways through the target.