A little bit of trouble to do, but .38 Special cases cut to length work OK in a .38 S&W chamber. Back in the day, I made a lot of such cases, but I eventually accumulated lots of the real thing. So the need for cut-down .38 Special cases went away. I've never had a case split. I've always used .357-.358 dia. lead bullets for loading the .38 S&W, and it seems to shoot accurately for me. I've always used a Lyman TLJ .38 Super die set for loading .38 S&W.
My standard load, of which I have fired a great many in a .38 DA 4th model, is 3 grains of Unique behind a .358 125 grain lead bullet. In a later model revolver, you can load somewhat hotter than that, and actually get to .38 Special ballistics.
Last edited by DWalt; 03-10-2012 at 04:48 PM.
|