Reloading the 38 S&W

[9.3X62AL]

I have 4 revolvers on hand that chamber the 38 S&W. 1) Iver Johnson "Owl Head" top-break, 3" barrel. For a mid-quality arm, it is quite well-made. I shoot docile .375" roundballs run through a .363" H&I die--seated with a small bit of case mouth ahead of the ball radius--roll crimped--then a drop of LLA squeezed into that little "ditch". 2) Colt Police Positive x 4" (1920)--a little jewel. #358477 @ .359", 3.0 grains of Unique imparts 700-725 FPS. 3) and 4)--Webley-Enfield WWII top-break and S&W M&P x 5"--both get NEI #169A (202 grain RN) atop 3.0 grains of Unique or 3.3 grains of Herco. The former load runs about 650-675 FPS in both guns, the latter Herco load gets 675-700 FPS. These 38/200 loads are on another level from what is seen in most 38 S&W shooting.

[Thin Man]

Lots of good comments here. May I add a few...

To resize your brass get a die set for 38 Super/38 ACP, it will give you correct dimension brass. Not a wasteful purchase if you have or want pistols in either of these calibers. Or, how about both???

For molds, watch the sales venues for an old Lyman tong tool in 38 S&W. These usually sell for much less than a GB or custom new mold. I have bought 3 of these and all of them give me different diameter and weight boolits usually in the 145 +/- weight. I suspect the undersize molds were intended to coordinate with the black powder fouling days, larger diameter when smokeless and cranky shooters demanded such. All of these are RN profile, nostalgia can be a good thing. Some molds are single lube groove, some two. Faster powders are your friend, light loads rule with older or loose or hinged frames.

Hope this helps.

Thin Man

[ddixie884]

Brass is available from Star-Line for $90.00 for 500 shipped. That ought to last a few years at .38S&W pressures.........

[Outpost75]

I use a Lee 9x18MAK die set with .38 Special shell holder to load for .38 S&W and .380 Rimmed Short and these work fine.

I load for a circa 1930 Colt Police Positive .38 Colt New Police and a Webley Mark IV.

Most accurate bullet for me has been Accurate 36-155D with 2.5 grains of Bullseye. Tom also cuts this profile in 178-grain and 193-grain weights for British revolvers zeroed for the heavier Mk1 or Mk2 service loads and has a heavier 201-grain ogival wadcutter too.

Attachment 171726Attachment 171727Attachment 171728Attachment 171729Attachment 171730

Velocity Comparisons Webley & Scott .380 Mark IV vs. .38 Colt New Police Positive

Ammunition:____________________Webley Mark IV_____Colt Police Positive

Fiocchi 146-grain LRN factory load_______750 fps, 19 Sd_______794 fps, 14 Sd

Accurate 36-155D, 2.1 grs. Bullseye______640 fps, 8 Sd________691 fps, 11 Sd
“______“______“, 2.5 grs. Bullseye______705 fps, 19 Sd_______718 fps, 6 Sd
Accurate 36-178D, 2.1 grs. Bullseye______595 fps, 10 Sd_______601 fps, 18 Sd
Accurate 36-201D, 2.1 grs. Bullseye______601 fps, 12 Sd_______612 fps, 20 Sd
NOE 201-grain Mk2, 2.1 grs. Bullseye_____609 fps, 12 Sd_______629, fps 15 Sd

Attachment 171731Attachment 171732

[Reverend Al]

I have an old Cramer 6 cavity mould for the .38 S&W (146 grain round nose plain base that casts at .360" in WW) and I use it with a very conservative 1.5 grains of Bullseye for my old top break revolvers. It's a very soft load that is easy on those old, weak actions ...

[Ole Joe Clarke]

Strange, I was digging in my "misc range" brass the other day and found a few .38 S&W (11 pcs) some .32 S&W (15 pcs) and 101 pcs of .32 S&W long hulls. I was thinking of putting them on the for sale site and see if there is any interest. Most of them are R-P.

Now, if I just had a pistol......

Have a blessed day,

Leon

[BrutalAB]

Zombie thread...

Gonna be loading 38 s&w soon for my brother.
Im expecting it to be very low volume. Reloading the same 50 pieces of brass over and over.
With powder coat i have plenty of moulds to make boolits over .360 so that is covered.
I gotta get dies though.

Is it still recomended to get 9mm mak or 38 super/acp dies instead of 38 s&w dies?
For what its worth, im going to be getting lee dies for this.

[Dan Cash]

an old thread that needs updating
How bout paper patching a 38 wadcutter?

Our forum friend from Switzerland was showing his 10mm something service revolver the other day with associated ammo. That stuff was paper patched so I suppose paper patching .357 to .363-.365 would work fine.

[Outpost75]

No need to patch .357 bullets. Most common .38 molds cast oversized anyway. Soft HBWC bullets slug-up well. Accurate also has a variety of molds optimized especially for the .38 S&W, .380 Rimmed, the Mk2, .380-200, etc.

For most common .38 S&W revolvers you want lead bullets .362-.363," but lead bullets in factory loads are actually .357-.358 of soft lead, which slug up nicely when loaded with fast-burning powders like Bullseye or TiteGroup.

[murf205]

I have an Accurate Molds 38 158 gr mold that drops at .360 and it made my little first model 33 shoot great. I powder coated it to .361 and caught a lot of flack for not making the loaded rounds look original but it shoots lights out with a .361 boolit.

[oscarflytyer]

glad this floated to the top. I having been hoping to find a nice old Colt or Smith in 38 S&W at a can't pass price. Passed on a few as not set up to load. Then a mold and dies came around and I snagged them. Bow just need to find the donor gun!

[Oyeboten]

I have 100 .38 S&W Cartridges loaded with 3 F 'Swiss' Black Powder, and their little Beeswax thin Wafer, pending my decision on which Boolits to use, and it got too cold here and has been cold here a while now, so I am waiting for a warmer day or two to cast up some more candidates.

I have three or four old IDEAL Molds for .360 Boolits and I have only cast some from one of them, for this Boolit, and I will load some up with this of course.

My other Molds cast a heavier semi-Wadcutter...and I can post some pictures once I have various examples Cast.

This is a fun one though, for Paper Target.

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