| .38-56 WCF | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 .38-56 WCF (left) and .30-30 Winchester (right) | ||||||||||||
| Type | Rifle | |||||||||||
| Place of origin | United States | |||||||||||
| Production history | ||||||||||||
| Produced | 1887–1930s | |||||||||||
| Specifications | ||||||||||||
| Case type | Rimmed, Bottleneck | |||||||||||
| Bullet diameter | .3775 in (9.59 mm) | |||||||||||
| Neck diameter | .40 in (10 mm) | |||||||||||
| Shoulder diameter | .445 in (11.3 mm) | |||||||||||
| Base diameter | .505 in (12.8 mm) | |||||||||||
| Rim diameter | .605 in (15.4 mm) | |||||||||||
| Rim thickness | .065 in (1.7 mm) | |||||||||||
| Case length | 2.10 in (53 mm) | |||||||||||
| Overall length | 2.50 in (64 mm) | |||||||||||
| Primer type | Large rifle | |||||||||||
| Ballistic performance | ||||||||||||
| ||||||||||||
| Test barrel length: 26" Source(s): LoadData.com,[1] Rifle Magazine[2] | ||||||||||||
The .38-56 Winchester Center Fire or .38-56 Winchester cartridge was introduced in 1887 by Winchester for the Winchester Model 1886,[3] and was also used in the Marlin Model of 1895.
Production of Winchester Model 1886 rifles chambered in this cartridge ceased in 1910 due to lack of demand,[3] and most commercial production of the cartridge itself ceased in the 1930s. New production loaded cartridges and unloaded brass cases are rare and are often created using reformed .45-70 brass. The cartridge was originally intended to outperform the similar .38-55 Winchester but in reality had very similar ballistics despite using more gunpowder.[4]
