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Old 12-20-2009, 07:20 PM
4006 4006 is offline
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reloading 38 special  
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Default reloading 38 special

I have not reload in over 10 years now Iam starting to reload
38 spl the bullet i will be usein is 9mm 124 gr rnd copper wash the dai is 356 is 9mm a 357 is 38 spl will a need a roll crimp or a tapper crip I can not remumber how to do it a litte help wood nice
Thanks Joe
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Old 12-20-2009, 07:50 PM
john traveler john traveler is offline
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I strongly advise NOT to use 9mm bullets in reloading for the .38 Special.

Nominal .38 special bullet diameter is .357" to .358" for cast lead bullets.

Nominal 9mm bullet diameter is .355" to .356" for cast lead bullets.

The undersized 9mm bullet may or may not give satisfactory accuracy in the .38 Special cartridge. The biggest reason for not using them is you will not get tight enough bullet-to-case assembly, with the attendant risks of bullet jump and a squib load resulting in a bore obstruction.
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Old 12-20-2009, 08:48 PM
4006 4006 is offline
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well with sum help diggin up some old papers that I fond the ricp for my 38spl was with 9mm but ware my came for the guy mold them over size an resize to 358 I do not no ho is having more fun me or the cat

thanks John Traveler
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Old 12-21-2009, 03:43 PM
ke4sky ke4sky is offline
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ALWAYS size revolver cast bullets to fit the diameter of the cylinder ball-end. When bullets are sized correctly you should feel resistance in pushing a bullet when inserted from the rear of the chamber and pushing it out the front, but you should be able to do so using hand pressure only.

If bullets cannot be readily pushed through by hand pressure alone, this raises chamber pressure and causes leading of the cylinder. If bullets readily fall through and emerge out the front of the cylinder of their own weight, the are undersized which will cause forcing cone leading and poor accuracy due to asymmetrical bullet deformation.

If one chamber is tight, and the others are large, the best solution is to professionally lap or ream the tight chamber to match the others. If you do not want to modify a collectible gun, then discreetly mark the tight chamber and don't use it for serious target work.

If bullets are sized to fit the one tight chamber, they will fit too loosely in all the others and produce loose groups. Bullets which fit properly in five chambers and which fit too tightly in the one tight give you otherwise "good groups" with a flier.

I use the Saeco #348 double-end, bevel-base wadcutter cast 10 BHN using indoor range backstop scrap. As-cast bullet diameter is .360", which is the same as factory Remington 148-grain HBWCs. I load these as-cast and unsized, lubricating with either Rooster jacket used full strength in a proportion of 1/3 cup to 1000 bullets, or alternately using a diluted solution of Lee Liquid Alox cut 50-50 with mineral spirits in the same ratio. Both lubes work equally well for target loads, but if you change lubes you must thoroughly clean and dry the barrel and chambers of the cylinder and recondition the bore by wiping with a patch lightly wet with lube, letting it dry, and then wiping with two dry patches.

Double-end wadcutters require heavier charges to shoot well than soft-swaged hollow base types. I load 3.5 grains of Alliant Bullseye with Remington primers for double-end wad-cutters, 2.8 grains with Precision-Delta, Hornady or Speer HBWC bullets and 3.0-3.2grains with factory Remington HBWC bullets.

For revolver use I seat the Saeco #348 with the sprue-cut forward and the beveled base band exposed. I taper crimp using the Lee Factory Crimp Die, applying no more crimp than necessary to completely remove all mouth flare. Excessive crimp damages bullets and enlarges groups.

For serious target work use cases which were originally used for loading factory wadcutter ammunition. Wad-cutter brass has thinner walls with a long cylindrical mouth section extending all the way to the seated base of the wadcutter bullet, whereas +P and other cases made for JHP service loads are thicker walled and have a faster internal taper. This is needed to increase bullet pull to improve ballistic uniformity with the slower powders used for factory loading jacketed +P service loads.

If your target revolver has tight chambers, so that fired cases expand very little, .360 diameter bullets will seat and hold friction tight in fired brass until the shell head on your loading machine rotates to the final station in which rounds should be full-length profiled and taper-crimped.

With such a close chambered target revolver or target autopistol it is unnecessary to resize fired brass. By loading as-cast bullets in unsized brass, and profile taper-crimping in this manner, case life is improved, bullet deformation is reduced and bullet pull is more uniform, because the brass work hardens and springs back much less when it is worked only once in profile crimping, versus when being cold worked three times in the usual method of full length resizing, expanding, seating and crimping.

Most currently produced .38 Special loading dies work brass excessively because their dimensions are intended to resize cases tightly enough to provide a tight bullet fit with jacketed bullets. If you must assemble ammunition using sized brass use a .38 S&W Cowboy Expander plug of .358" to reduce bullet base deformation during seating.

My loading method is to separately de-cap brass, tumble clean, uniform primer pockets, deburr flash holes and hand prime brass so primers are always seated carefully by feel in a clean pocket. I then use the Dillon RL550B for final load assembly to flare case mouths, measure powder, seat bullets and crimp.

Using the Lee Factory Crimp die sizes the bullet only if needed to ensure that rounds do not exceed SAAMI Maximum cartridge dimensions. It does so by gentle compression f the bullet inside the case instead of reducing it by radically shear in a die. The un-sized, exposed bevel band ahead of the case mouth enables a positive gas seal in revolver cylinder throats.

My .38 Special wadcutter reloads average sub 2-inch 5-shot groups at 50 yards in long series of targets. It takes a good lot of factory wad-cutters to beat this.
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38spl, bullseye, cartridge, chamber pressure, crimp, hornady, remington, wadcutter

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