This is the start of the 3rd season for me with the 38-56 and it has been a struggle up to now. If you send me an Australian $20 gold-piece I'll tell you all my secrets.

First, I only shoot fixed ammo.
After many different bullet/load mixes have found two (2) bullets that are working well at longer distances. They are the 330gr Lyman and the 325gr BACo. Have done most of my shooting this year with the 325gr bullet and 56gr of 1.5F Swiss, using three wads (2x 0.060" & 1x 0.030" fiber) to get the bullet spaced out into the lands. Both Starline and Rem cases resized to 38-56. Rem LR primers and, essentially no compression. Drop-tube the powder, thumb in the first wad and seat onto the powder using a pencil and then the next two wads the same way. Thumb-seat the bullet. No compression to speak of and no neck tension. I do not touch the brass after it has been fire-formed. SPG lube.
My experience has been that more powder and compression leads to worse performance on the target, which is sort of the general rule for BP bottleneck cases. I've never tried more than 61gr as everything I've tried above 58gr has opened up the groups. 
At our mid-range match the end of last month this load, in a 32" long full octagon Green Mountain 14" twist barrel in a C. Sharps High Wall SST shot a 98-2x at 200yd, 78 at 300yd (after the dumbass shooter threw away two shots - a 5 & a miss) and an 84 at 600yd (where the same da shooter needs to learn a consistent hold). So, am optimistic that this load can be refined into something that is competitive. 

Can you post a pic of your bullet and tell us more about it (weight, length, diameter of the bands, etc.) and a pic of your chamber cast? Have you slugged the bore? If so, what are the results. 

Has been a bit of a trial to get to this point, but I was new to BP when I started, and have learned a great deal in the past couple of years. Both here and on the Shiloh Sharps forum, and especially from folks at the various competitions.

Try loading 56gr of Swiss 1.5F and as many wads as it takes to leave no air-space between the top wad and the base of the bullet. Will get your recoil down some, as well. Based on the 98-2x at 200m, would think it would be as good at 100m. Normally only shoot pigs off-hand at 100m, so cannot say how well it would score at the distance. If I was going to shoot for score at 100m I would likely try a lighter bullet like the 300gr Hoch or Brooks. If you want to try them and some of the 325gr BACo bullets, cover the postage ($24USD) and I'll send you 10 of each.

Try 5-rounds with what you've got and 5 more with a second wad and then a third wad and see if you find any difference. I've not shot Wano, so do not know if it is closer to Swiss (which doesn't like compression) or Goex (which doesn't mind some compression). 
Definitely agree about a mould library.
Good luck with all.

Mike are you wiping the bore between shots?  I'm quite new to breech seating with black powder, but my CPA rifle is very picky about bore condition.  For both .32-40 and .38-55 I wipe the bore with two damp patches between shots.  I've been following that up with two dry patches.   

Be really careful about lead accumulation.  In my rifles even a small amount of lead in the bore will throw shots well out of the group.  I find these smaller calibres far more picky about bore condition than my .45 calibre black powder rifles.

Chris.

Hi again
I wipe between shots, two damp patches and one dry. I usually check the bore for lead using Birchwood Casey lead removing cloth, no problem there. I will continue to add wads till I feel that the bullet is being forced into the lands but I feel that then the bullet will also be increasing pressure on the powder column and possibly causing problems.
Mike

Thanks guys
Today I tried seating the bullet out an extra .060" by adding another .060" wad. I have kept the load light, only 50 gr of Wano 2f, The bullet weighs 320 gr cast in Lyman #2 alloy. I tried the load I used yesterday with the OAL at 3.060" and the group was about 2.5" high and 4.2" wide. The next five shots were with three .060" wads for an OAL of 3.135", this shot into 1.120", a big improvement.
I have just had a casting session and made another 50 bullets, half are the Lyman #2 alloy and the others are 20-1. I will try these tomorrow. By the way I'm wiping with a mixture of water and cutting oil 10-1.
Once again all help is greatly appreciated.
Mike.

Hi Fazer
I have a pretty good stock of Starline 45/70 and 45/basic brass so that was the main reason I went with the 38/56 barrel instead, of say a 38/55. With the 38/56 I don't have to change extractors in my Stevens when I swap barrels. All of the brass I have was sourced from the US sometime in the past. So far, in five years, I have never had a case fail, no doubt having just said that I have put the kybosh on myself.
Mike.