I have a chance to buy a Marlin-Ballard #2 rifle in 38 caliber rim or center fire. What brass can be made to fit this gun in center fire and what bullet would work (weight wise)?

The brass isn't the problem.  .38 Special is easily trimmed to the right length.   The problem is that the .38 rimfire used a heeled bullet, about .355 on the heel, and the full diameter being nominally .375, but if my rifle is any guide, it was more like .380.    A mould for a suitable bullet will be a custom item.   Not as expensive as it might be nowadays, what with so many mould makers using CNC lathes instead of cherries.  Books say the nominal weight was about 150 grains.

My .38 Long Rook Rifle works adequately with .38 Spl. shells loaded flush with Hornady swaged hollow base wad cutters. The loads are the usual light pistol target loads, but they seem to expand the base sufficiently to grip the rifling.  Do not go heavier.

More accuracy can be achieved by cutting the .38 Spl. cases down to .38 Long length, and using the heeled bullet moulds as has been mentioned.

bisaacson wrote on Aug 11^th, 2016 at 3:03pm:


The forum community comes through again !

This cartridge may be marginally OK in a revolver, but I wonder what all these rifles were being used for.  Cartridges of the World describes it as "a good short range small game load, but accuracy was only fair."  Accuracy no better than fair sure seems to me to exclude it as any kind of acceptable small game load, aside from shooting possums in your chicken coop.

The .38 Long Ballard in my collection is all dolled up with ornate Schuetzen wood and a DST, if that means anything.

38 long outside lubricated (heel bullet) Ideal #4 molds/tools aren't uncommon on e-bay.  The #8 Ideal hollow base 38 Long Inside Lubricated (LIL) tool is uncommon and I use it for my 38XL Remington rolling block with good results.  The heel bullet is a pain in the neck - easy to load, but hard to keep loaded, as the bullet tends to fall out prematurely.  I haven't tried a Lee crimper yet because the hollow base #8 tool/mold works so well.  I guard that tool jealously.   

The army did some studies on the 1892 Colt and its later models and decided that the action was strong enough for the new-fangled 38 Special with smokeless powder and bored out the chambers to accept the special when the pistols were sent back to arsenals and stamped the modified weapons with the later inspector's initial on the left frame in front of the grips but it's easy to tell as the front of the chambers are flush with the rear part of the chambers with no "choke" step.  By about '98, all new ones were Specials.

38 Ballard bores may be a tad bigger than the 38 special bullets and they may bounce bullets back and forth.  I had mine with a truly rotten bore relined to 38 Special.

James

I use Lee liquid alox in both .32 Long and .38 Long to hold them better in the case. The alox adds to the bullet's lubrication, along with holding it in the case mouth.
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