Has anyone cut 38 special brass to accept bullets that would have the same OAL as a wadcutter?

What would be the purpose?What style of bullet?

The purpose would be plinking ammo in 52s. Same basic weight ang load.
RN or SWC style bullets.

I have heard that some 38 Super brass can be made to work without excessive modification.

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H Richard
SWCA1967 SWHF244

Reverse the bullet head and make it a wadcutter.
Work up loads appropriately.
Works great for me,
I started with the 148grain powder loads on 125 gr projectiles when I couldnt find any wadcutters this year.

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Romans5:8

Yes.
Old line gun writer Maj. Geo. C. Nonte once recommended that as a home defense option for someone in a repressive jurisdiction who could only license a "target pistol." The other option was the "Service Wadcutter" at 850 fps instead of the midrange wadcutter at 750 fps.

Plinking?
Wadcutters plink very well.
If you just must use ogival bullets, try seating some submerged in Special cases, like the old old .38-44 Target.
CAUTION: That is a spur of the moment brainstorm, I have not tried it. But I might.

Not a stupid question at all. Yes, I have just recently done this. What I did was cut the .38 Special case to a length of .900", same as the .38 Super. The bullet used is the 133gr SWC cast from the discontinued Lyman 358480 mould. Seated to the bullet's shoulder, the cartridge now fits the magazine and feeds properly. This is a new project for my Model 52, so I don't have a lot of test details.

Don

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NRA Cert. Reloading Instructor

I once encountered an older gentleman at the range shooting a Model 52. He showed me he was shooting 38 Super ammo. Apparently the 38 Super OAL fits in the Model 52 magazines just fine, and there's enough of a semi-rim on the 38 Super cartridge to headspace the Super. I didn't see any malfunctions. I don't know if he was shooting factory or reloaded ammo. I would think a 38 Spcl. case trimmed to .900", using normal .38/357 type bullets, would work at least as well.

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NRA Life, COTEP 640

This is exact thing , same bullet I was thinking of trying. Got several hundreds of that bullet.

Great minds think alike.

Don

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NRA Cert. Reloading Instructor

I know the M52 is a good stout gun, but the idea of routinely shooting Supers at 3 times wadcutter chamber pressure strikes me as Pistol Abuse.

If the .38 Super fits and works through the magazine, I would suggest using .38 ACP. Same case as the Super, but loaded way down for the old Colt .38 semiautos. The sem-rim should headspace OK - I've fired both .38 Super and .38 ACP in revolvers chambered for the .357 Magnum; the .38 ACP should also work in .38 special revolvers and not over-stress them.

Here's a pic of a .38 ACP cartridge doing just fine in a .357.

John

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- Cogito, ergo armatus sum -

At the risk of being vilified again by some Forum members, the modern .38 Short Colt, which is loaded with a 125 or 130gr. .358 bullet, fires and functions through a Model 52 as packaged; one could also load a .38 Long Colt with an appropriately shorter bullet to function through the magazine. Starline makes both cases, but they are currently back-ordered. If you can find the current or recent manufacture .38 Short colt, it will work. Depending on your particular gun, you might have to go to a lighter spring.


Personally, I have plenty of wadcutter, so it's not an issue for me, but I have actually tried it. Make sure to clean the chamber well afterwards.

Just to confirm something, a very well known individual in the shooting world told me he uses .38 Colt Short cases in his M52. He runs Berry's Plated 158 gr RN bullets and has great success with this setup. It eliminates almost all leading issues which is why we got on the subject. I have yet to try it as cases are hard to get, but it would be interesting to see if it works for sure. He only runs this as a plinking/fun load and shoots normal .38 wadcutters for serious work.

Rick H.