Loading the 38 S&W (Not Special)

[Dolomite_supafly]

So today I bought a 38 S&W revolver. The 38 S&W was the precursor to the 38 S&W Specail and Magnum. And because the S&W is an earlier version the case is also much shorter than a Special or Magnum.

So I sat here trying to find S&W dies then thought to myself it looks suspiciously like a 9mm with a rim. Well they are so close I am using 9mm sizing and loading dies with a 38 Special shell holder and it seems to work great.

Other than a few minor changes in the depth of the dies they are working great.

So if anyone else out there own a 38 S&W revolver an thought ammo was to expensive then reload. The cost to do it would be about the same as 3 or 4 boxes of ammo. Ammo is going to cost me less than a 22 lr now because I cast. The most expensive part of the load is the primer at .03 and probably .01 in powder.

Dolomite

[Caster]

Slug your bore. The 38 S&W does not use the same bullet. The .38 S&W is about .360

[Dolomite_supafly]

Unsized 158's seem like they are doing pretty well. I tried some 90 grain Gold Dots I had laying around and they were WAY too small. It is shooting a bit off compared to the factor ammo because they are probably a bit small.

I have a decent load that mimic's the factoy loads well now. The little gun will just about jump out of your hand with factory rounds. Mine are a little tamer.

I am going to cast some really soft 158's for it. I will probably take some confettie circles and pace them between the two mold blocks to give me a few more .001" of OD on the bullets.

[Guest Riverrat]

You'll have an oval bullet, not a round one.

[Dolomite_supafly]

Not looking for match grade accuracy. Besides the bullet will still seal on the small sides. as the pressure rises the bullet obturates and seals to the bore or at least should. The the large side of the bullet should engrave the rifling.

The bullet needs to be .360" and without a custom mold I need to do something to engage rifling.

Dolomite

[Jonnin]

you can use makarov bullets I think for a light load, probably cost less too.

[Guest Riverrat]

My old Speers reloading book says not to size .358 cast bullets for the 38 sw. The old Lee catalog I have has 5 molds listed for 38 spl., 38 s&w*, 38 colt police. (* does not need to be sized.) I'm using the Lee 90464, TL356-124-2R mold, with alox lube. Some bullets run through the sizer without much force, other are tighter. So guessing, some of your bullets will be .359 and some .360. I'm going to Memphis tomorrow, I'll ask while I'm there.

Edited September 4, 2012 by Riverrat

[Dolomite_supafly]

you can use makarov bullets I think for a light load, probably cost less too.

Can't get cheaper than a bullet that I cast.

Dolomite

[Guest Riverrat]

makarov bullets are .365 cast.

[Dolomite_supafly]

I will keep an eye out. If I can pick up a Makarov mold cheap I will. Thanks for the info. A 95 grain bullet at 700 fps would make a fun little plinker.

Dolomite

[Guest Riverrat]

Mic your bullets from a .358 mold see what you have. Jim and I did some fresh ones today. His 3 banger is casting at .360 and his 4 banger is casting at .3605. All the others are at .359 to .35905. I guess I wrote that right. He got a new mold in the mail today. Lyman single cav. .358-160gr. hollow point. The pin enters almost 1/4". He is going to reduce the wheel weights by adding pure lead and make them +P's.

[1gewehr]

I've got an old mold I use for .38S&W that makes 200gr .362 bullets. When I use 2.5gr of Unique, that replicates the British military load of about 625fps. It's been very accurate from my Webley and S&W revolvers. I only use 148gr wadcutter bullets with the same 2.5gr of Unique in my old Iver Johnson and H&R revolvers. That mold throws bullets .360 in diameter which work fine in those old top-break revolvers without resizing.

[JAB]

Slug your bore. The 38 S&W does not use the same bullet. The .38 S&W is about .360

I wondered about that. Just out of curiosity, I once tried to see if a .38 S&W round would chamber in a .38 Special revolver. It would not because the round was too fat.

Dolomite, that sounds like a fun project you have going there. I've seen some pretty decent looking revolvers chambered for .38 S&W here and there at very inexpensive prices. I've considered getting a revolver chambered for .32 Long just for fun and I figure it would be kind of along the same lines - fun and fairly inexpensive to shoot if you load your own (I've shot an old H&R snubbie chambered in .32 Long and found it fun and surprisingly accurate.) Right now, though, I'm staying busy just trying to get the hang of reloading for .38Special/.357 and .44.

[Guest Riverrat]

Jab Said, I wondered about that. Just out of curiosity, I once tried to see if a .38 S&W round would chamber in a .38 Special revolver. It would not because the round was too fat.

Larger diameter, not fat. Fat would be oval, fat belly, fat caboose, fat head.

Will a 32 long shot in a 327?

Edited September 6, 2012 by Riverrat