Hey guys, been a lurker here for awhile. I have a question on this forum of all forums. My fiancé inherited a 38s&w that has been butchered to take 38 special. Her dad has run probably 1000's of 38 special rounds through it. I have checked the barrel and I see no cracks or anything out of the ordinary. Is it safe to fire 38 special in it or should I go back to 38s&w? A local gunsmith hinted that I should probably stick to the 38 special, but I don't want it blowing up in her hand... any comments would be appreciated!
(The gun will not be used often, we have semi auto's that we use at the range more often. Its basically a 'in case sh#t' gun...)

Many, many thousands of these British .38/200 Victories were converted for sale on the US market that way in the 1950s and 1960s. I have never heard of one blowing up. About the most serious consequence is that the fired .38 Special cases will bulge due to the slightly oversized chamber. Even were a case to split, it would cause no damage. I would not shoot anything other than standard velocity lead bullet loads in it. You can also fire .38 S&W ammo in them, but .38 S&W is somewhat difficult to find.

I agree, .38 S&W is not found in abundance, and the stuff I use in my Model 32 comes from Buffalo Bore - I wouldn't recommend it in your gun, just in case.

***GRJ***

Either round should be fine. Shoot whatever is most accurate, cheapest, or available depending on your priorities. if you want 38 S&W you will probably have to buy online or at a gun show. The only 38 S&W I've seen at a store was Winchester and it was priced $30+ at Scheels. You can occasionally find imported 38 S&W (PPV or Magtech) at some of the larger online outfits, but they were all sold out last I checked. I picked up 4 boxes earlier in the year for under $20 a piece.

Welcome to the FORUM! It's basically a in case gun. I would like know that a gun for that purpose was totally safe and reliable. Just my .02 worth! Bob

I am in The Communist Republic of South Africa so 38s&w is VERY expensive but I can reload for 38 special. I was thinking along the line of maybe just figuring out a 'soft' load for it.

If you want a "Soft" load, the old standby .38 Special target load is a 148 grain wadcutter bullet and 2.8 to 3.2 grains of Bullseye (or whatever equivalent powder is available in South Africa) would work well. Hollow-base wadcutters are best as they will allow the bullet to expand under pressure inside the slightly oversize .38 S&W bore.

If you use .38 Special brass, resize only about enough of the forward end of the fired case as is required to hold the bullet. That will not work the brass as much as full-length resizing and your cases should last longer.

I agree, but I would suggest staying away from Bullseye or equally fast burning powders. The majority of 38 Spl reload mishaps involved using Bullseye...it's such a small amount of powder, that it's too easy to double charge a case and not notice. I'm not saying it will happen, but if it does it will destroy the gun.

Build in a little extra margin of safety and use a slower burning powder or bulkier powder like Trail Boss which is specifically designed for light loads.

__________________
Jim
S&WCA #819

Thanks for the replies! I'll work on a good reliable load for it and I think I will be able to fire the gun with confidence!

Having used Bullseye for a great many years in about every handgun cartridge I reload for, I have developed the habit of charging each case individually and visually inspecting every charged case using a flashlight to reveal any double charged or uncharged cases prior to bullet seating. So far, I don't remember ever discovering any with double charges but I have encountered a few which were uncharged. And I follow exactly the same procedure if i am using any other powder.