I know that the 38 long colt is pretty much a dinosaur, but I have an old "Lightning" that I inherited. It has been checked and repaired by my gunsmith and is good to go.

Does anyone have load info for this old cartridge? It's my understanding that I can use 38 spcl brass and dies. Any help would be greatly appreciated.

Just what I need, another round to reload for. Thanks in advance for any help.

You are fortunate indeed that you have a gunsmith that can repair it!

If you are going to shoot it, I'd stay with very, very light loads. .38 Long Colt brass can be purchased new from Starline- loading data and brass are the easy parts.

Now for the hard part- bullets. If you load it with normal .38 special bullets- there will be no accuracy since the bore diameter is larger, and these guns have straight bored through chambers (no shoulders). The only choice for an accurate bullet is a heeled or "outside lubricated" one. These bullets can be bought from Gad Custom Cartridge (or even loaded cartridges from him too) or you can obtain a mould from Old West Bullet Moulds, as I did.

Lastly, crimping the bullets in the case are going to be a bit of a pain, but not unsurmountable. A usual die won't work because the bullet is the same size as the case. The only way to do it is get a Lee factory crimp die for .35 Remington (the die with the tapered collets that close up around the case and crimp the bullet). Then, you need to fabricate a piece of metal that will fit into your shellholder that will "extend" the length of the .38 LC to the same length as a .35 Remington and viola- you have a crimper.

If you are going to shoot it just a few times, it may be just as easy to buy loaded, correct cartridges. I need to take some pictures of my set up for this.

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I've loaded a goodly amount of .38 Long Colt brass to feed a Colt New Army Model 1901 revolver. If the Lightning has bored through chambers with no shoulder like the New Army (which I think it does) then you're in business, even if you have to use .38 Special cases. You may trim the cases to .38 Long Colt length if you like but it is not necessary.

Due to bore diameter the easiest way to obtain practical and useful accuracy is to simply load the .358" diameter 148 grain hollow base wadcutters. My Colt has a bore of .363 and keyholes with .358 diamater solid base bullets. If you are looking for a bullet that has more of a period "look" about it then go with the Gad bullets. Good stuff from Gad, they are too.

The 148 grain hollow base wadcutter gives really nice accuracy with the unique bore size of the .38 Long Colt revolver because the bullet skirt fills the bore. Seems to me that Bulls-Eye accomplishes this best of all and at the kinds of pressures you want to hold to.

The .38 Long Colt is a bit shorter than the .38 Special. For crimping, simply use handy 9mm expander and seating dies adjusted in the press to flare, seat and crimp the .38 Long Colt case. There is more than adequate adjustment in the 9mm seating die to achieve a good crimp. Of course the regular .38 Special/.357 Magnum sizing die may be used to size .38 Long Colt brass.

I have pressed regular ol' .38 Special cases into duty for use in my .38 Colt. They will work perfectly, only watch overall cartridge length. The target wadcutter load of 2.8 grains of Bulls-Eye works well and safely with the 148 grain HBWC in the .38 Long Colt case. Since I have adequate supplies of original .38 Long Colt cases I really prefer to use them. .38 Special cases will work in a pinch provided one utilizes .38 Long Colt loading data in preparing his loads.

Muzzle velocity of the 148 grain HBWC bullet with 2.8 grains of Bulls-Eye is 753 fps from the 6-inch barrel of my Colt Model 1901.

I have used 4.0 grains of Unique with 148 grain HBWCs in the .38 Long Colt but didn't find it as satisfactory. It burns really dirty at the low pressures generated. Accuracy wasn't as good and the load was just generally unsatisfying.

Muzzle velocity of the load using the 148 grain HBWC and 4.0 grains of Unique is 752 fps, only one foot per second slower than the Bulls-Eye load.

Some may caution you to use only black powder which is fine but I don't like to mess with it except for when in the mood for getting a "feel" of the original performance of the cartridge. The gun is messier to clean up and black powder is corrosive. Don't forget to immediately and thoroughly clean the cartridge cases used as well.

Of course one should always keep any factory loaded .38 Special ammunition out of a .38 Long Colt revolver and this applies to .38 Special handloads unless they are especially prepared for use in the .38 Long Colt. To play it safe I just keep the .38 Special cases away from my .38 Colt.

Additional factory loads tested over the chronograph

Western 150 grain Luballoy: MV 743 fps ME 183 ft./lbs. ES 64
Winchester 150 grain round nose lead: MV 638 fps ME 135 ft./lbs. ES 53
Frankfort Arsenal 4-11 Factory Load: MV 671 fps ME 150 ft/lbs. (fired single example)

Here's a shorter WRA .38 Long Colt factory load and a Winchester +P 158 grain lead SWC-HP factory load.


The Colt Model 1901 .38 revolver

Beartooth Bullets gives you the option of different diameter sizing when you order bullets. Many of their bullets can be ordered in .360" or some even in .361" I think. That might help your loading...

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SWCA #3437

very useful information above. this is what i'd like to do to shoot my colt 1877 lightning (black powder) ,colt model 1889 navy (black powder)and colt 1892 new army(black powder). i will use a very basic lee handloader 38 special and 38 special brass and use the wad cutters as mentioned above. i know i need small pistol primers too. big question is, i just want to plink using black powder. can anyone give me a common brand of black powder to use and the load that will be safe? thanks!

I have Goex in several granulation sizes around here. About 17 grains of FFg would duplicate the black powder loading in the .38 Long Colt and be a case full. Don't know just how closely it would duplicate ballistics though.

Be sure and hand weigh each charge and not run the powder through a measure.

Be sure and properly clean the gun immediately after use with black powder.

I have Goex in several granulation sizes around here. About 17 grains of FFg would duplicate the black powder loading in the .38 Long Colt and be a case full. Don't know just how closely it would duplicate ballistics though.

Be sure and hand weigh each charge and not run the powder through a measure.

Be sure and properly clean the gun immediately after use with black powder.

Black powder is grand fun to shoot in old cartridge arms. Just messy.

IMO you would do better if you would start your own thread instead of bringing back a 3 year old thread from the dead.

Real Black Powder is getting hard to find where I live and it can be dangerous. Black Powder substitutes like Pyrodex and Triple 7 are good choices too. Pyrodex P is a dedicated pistol powder and it works very well in the .38 Special, .38 S&W and .45 Colt. Triple 7 comes in a FFFG grade which is for pistols too. (I have not used it yet)

According to Alliant Black MZ can be used for loading cartridges but I have no experience at all with it. American Pioneer makes Jim Shockey Gold FFFG BP replacement powder that seems to be very clean. Don't leave out Accurate, they have Blackhorn 209 but I have not tried that one either.

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SWCA #3437

thanks fellows for your help in this matter. BMC, so you think it'll be ok to shoot wadcutters with this load? a guy on the colt forum said it would never work. i like what you and ARCHANGEL have to say.

Be careful when using Triple 7, read all the warnings and instructions when using it.

I'm trying to use Trail Boss, but no results yet, still in the assembling stage.

rayb

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will do rayb, you think it's ok to use 148 grain hbwc with the fffg?

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SWCA #3437