Chain preference on a 550XP

[Spike60]

Not to go off topic, but you guys aren't willing to be seduced by the caliber carnival? Whole thing is about creating more reasons to but new guns. Not a bad thing in and of itself. And not a lot different than most of us looking for reasons to buy more saws. Honey, I really need to get that new 6.5  No need beyond fun. But bartender is right as usual. 3 oght 6 pretty much covers everything anyone in NA will run into.

Dave, quite a preference for vintage calibers. Had to look up 38-55. Not all that different that running the older saws, is it? 

[Old Greenhorn]

OH my, I strongly disagree! You never have enough and an '06 is kind of useless here in the Catskills but it can work. 30-30 or 35 Remington would be better choices. I have all of those, but also keep .308, .303, .222 Remington, .22 Hornet, and several others handy. You can never have enough calibers. I have an original Model 73 Winchester in 38-55 too.
 Don't get me started! Oh wait.......

[DHansen]

Bob, I have more fun pulling out a 181SE from the back of my Old Bronco or an old Lever action Winchester or Marlin.  They will start a conversation and spark interest.  Like I said I have more fun with the vintage stuff.  I suppose a person making a living dropping trees or guide on a hunt needs the assurance of newer equipment, but I trust my old equipment.  That old Suburban with the winch I bought new in 1993.  

[DHansen]

Old Greenhorn,  I am not familiar with a Winchester model 73 in 38-55  Fill us in. 

[Spike60]

Don't get ME started! I support the more is better concept. Guns and saws alike. I'm a .308/.243 guy. But 30.06 is the most versatile round out there, and should be respected. Fear that we have unleashed a monster here.   8)

Guns and saws...SO similar!

[DHansen]

Us guys that like burning gasoline and gunpowder, I think God must have sprinkled something special on us.

[Spike60]

@chet , roll up your sleeves.  There's gonna be a Donnybrook to sort out. 

[Old Greenhorn]

Old Greenhorn,  I am not familiar with a Winchester model 73 in 38-55  Fill us in.

You know, I am thinking now, it might be 38-40 but I really think its 38-55. It's put 'away' so not real easy to check right now. It's an original model 1873 with a heavy Octagonal barrel. The 73 was the predecessor to the model '94 which was much lighter and took smokeless. The 38-55 rounds were black powder and I don't think I would try using smokeless without a lot of research first. That barrel will handle it fine, just not sure about the breech. I have a lot of rifles and it's hard to keep them in my head. I have an original Sharps Carbine breech loader that uses paper cartridges and I can't even recall the caliber, I think it's .50. I don't have any repo's, all the old stuff I have is original. My prize is a Colt Navy pistol in, I think, .36 caliber, I have always wanted to shoot, but it's still missing the loading lever and I don't know squat about black powder shooting or loading. Never got into it. But it's a pretty gun.
I think we need a new thread, this is going way off the original subject and is picking up speed. Sorry all.

[DHansen]

Thread drift is fine, it happens and doesn't bother me at all.  I learn stuff and it is interesting.  The 1873 is short action, so 44-40 was first in that rifle, then the 38-40 and 32-20 showed up later.  My 1873's are in 44-40.  The 38-55 is a longer action and used in the model 94 Winchester and model 93 Marlin.  Very cool collection you have.  

[chet]

@Spike60 , I'm ready ;D       

 Myself, I'm partial ta my 2100CD dressed with 72LPX full complement, or the 25/35 Winchester version of my 1899 Savage Lever.    But now a days I'm more apt ta carry one of my 372XPs, or my Remington 700 BDL firing a 270 cartridge.

[DHansen]

Remaining cartridge indicator on the Savage?  Very cool lever action.

[barbender]

 OG, I've always liked you but saying the '06 is useless (unless restricted by law like in Minnesota's shotgun zone) is nigh on blasphemy😁

 I stand by my original assessment- I can use an '06 here in the woods, where shots are typically less than 50 yards in my experience. Then I could turn around and take it on a western elk hunt, and I'd be better off with it than everyone that bought a 6.5 Creedmoor and thinks it's a death ray. 

You would be at a disadvantage with the old short action lever cartridges out west, however. 

The only real change in these modern "long range" cartridges are faster rifling twists, and longer cartridge necks. Both designed to make use of heavy for caliber, long bullets. As far as I'm concerned, a 270 or 30/06 with a faster twist rate would be at zero disadvantage. 

 I came back from getting spanked on a Wyoming elk hunt where my inexperience kept me from getting in range of the bulls I saw. I'm really good at getting 500 yards away from elk😂 Well when I got home I was going to build me one of those 1000 yard elk killers. I started looking at some of the fire-breathing calibers like 280 Nosler, 300 RUM, Weatherby's. I started to realize that for burning about twice as much powder per shot, out of a big heavy rifle wearing a 24" or even a 26" barrel, with nasty recoil, would gain me about at best 400-500 fps and around 100 yards of point blank range. It didn't strike me as worth the effort. I figured my effort would be better spent on learning to accurately determine yardage and knowing my trusty ol 280 Rem. inside and out. 

 At the end of the day, I'm probably just bent that I've always had Husky/Jred 3/8" saws in .058". Now I got a Stihl 500i and it has dang .50" and I'll have to have 2 different gauges around😊

[Spike60]

@barbender  "death ray"  :D

Let's not miss this marketing opportunity. 

New "6.5 short magnum death ray", in stores this summer. Taking deposits now. 

[DHansen]

'kind of useless here in the Catskills but it can work.'   

And the 35Rem being a very good choice in his area I think I would feel the same.  We all have our preferences.  I don't think the benefits of the 30-06 are realized in heavy cover.  Just like any tool, slight variations to perform or excel in different conditions or task.

[Spike60]

For years, one of my sayings about saws has been, "it'll put wood in the truck".

Same as all these guns will put meat in the freezer. It's all good. 

[Spike60]

Bob, I have more fun pulling out a 181SE from the back of my Old Bronco or an old Lever action Winchester or Marlin.  They will start a conversation and spark interest.  Like I said I have more fun with the vintage stuff.  I suppose a person making a living dropping trees or guide on a hunt needs the assurance of newer equipment, but I trust my old equipment.  That old Suburban with the winch I bought new in 1993.  

Same here. Love cutting firewood with the old girls. My favorite vintage 50cc/70cc 2 saw plan is a 49sp/70e Jonsered combo. Almost makes me wonder why I own newer saws. ProMac 60, XL925 for the home team is another. We're back on topic.    

[Old Greenhorn]

Cripes, we really need a new thread. Barbender, I hear you, but I was raised by a gunsmith. ;D My Pop loved his 03A3's which he made a nice little business out of sporterizing for others. His is a work of art. But he would be the first to tell you, as he taught me, hunting in these woods with the heavy cover, you will miss a lot of shots. He hunted moose in Newfoundland every September and that was what he built his gun for. He shot 220 grain up there, down here, he would use his 99D Savage in .308. (Dad had a 'thing' for 99's and at one point he had 12 or more in his rack. I don't know where they went. I have a 99D in 30-30, I bought it because it is rare and an elegant gun). But the point is the velocity is so high that any tiny little ting the projectile hits ill send it off in another direction. My carry gun around here, when I was hunting was/is a 35 Remington as Dhansen suggested. I shoot a Marlin 366 SDL That my Mom gave to my Pop on their 5th wedding anniversary. You might say the gun is special for me.
 I was immersed in he gun world as a kid and through my 20's and 30's, then kids came along and priorities. Now I am getting near 70 and I still respect and love the 'hobby' but I have forgotten a lot of stuff, and it's a same that I have a lot of fine pieces I have not laid eyes on in years, but I still have and cherish them.
 You guys are getting me going and I really need to get to bed. Have I mentioned this should really be a different thread? My apologies to the OP.

[chet]

Spike I'll agree on yer old saw choices 'cept one.  :D  Ditch da 49sp for a 52E. 

[chet]

To answer DHansen, yes to the Brass cartridge indicator.

[barbender]

Ok back on topic, there still only needs to be one chain gauge for 325, and one for 3/8. I don't even care what it is. Heck we can make a new one up, just as long as going forward that's all there is. I tend to be a fan of standardization.

 My money is on a narrow kerf .050" on that 550xp. That's what I always ran on my 346xp and it cut great👍

[DHansen]

Society of Chainsaw Engineers!  SCE.   They can standardize Pitch and gauge.  Like nuts and bolts. 

[chet]

Back in my earlier years when money was a little harder to come by, I would outfit all my saws with 50 gauge bars. When da bars got too sloppy for da 50 gauge chain I'd switch to 58 gauge chain. None ever lasted long enough to get to da 63 chain.  ;D

[barbender]

Chet, now you got me thinking I'm missing out on an untapped benefit 😂

[Spike60]

Chet, have a couple each of the 49's and 52's. I'll concede the 52 is a little better choice. Not for the closed port, but really for the "E" part and no points. But 49sp's were big sellers around here in their day. It's amazing how many of them survived and still run. Think I have 5 of them. 

Jonsered was top dog back then in these parts. Al Ostrander took on the line back in 1972. The product was good, but he focused on parts and service. He once told me, "Lotta people are happy to sell you a saw, but they aren't to happy about working on them". Lost Al a few years ago. Still buddies with his son Danny.

[Spike60]

The gauge thing goes back to when saw markets were more regional than national. The 2 big dogs, Mac and homelite on opposite ends of the country went with .058 and .050 respectively. Some old timers refer to .058 as McCulloch chain. Everyone else picked one or the other. Some companies offered both to better fit into whatever trend a given market was dominated by. Jonsered stuck with .058 on both 3/8 and .325 right up until Tilton lost it about 10 years ago. 

I always ordered both Husky and Jonsered saws with .058. In either 3/8 or .325, so we weren't selling the red saw with one gauge and the orange saw with another. Plus I have to admit to the devious enjoyment that none of the stihl dealers around here had any 58 gauge chain to sell these guys.  ;D