38 S&W

[fyimo]

I bought a Victory Model and a 1905 M&P made in 1918 and both are 38 S&W and before I spend the money for reloading dies and brass is this a fun round to shoot. I mean what would justify the expenditure over say shooting 38 special rounds in my many guns that I have that will fire them. Or instead of just buying this equipment should I just buy a couple 100 rounds and go shooting the guns and then just retire them.

 

[fyimo]

I bought a Victory Model and a 1905 M&P made in 1918 and both are 38 S&W and before I spend the money for reloading dies and brass is this a fun round to shoot. I mean what would justify the expenditure over say shooting 38 special rounds in my many guns that I have that will fire them. Or instead of just buying this equipment should I just buy a couple 100 rounds and go shooting the guns and then just retire them.

 

[GatorFarmer]

That's a truly difficult question to answer. If you enjoy those particular guns, and like them, then shooting them would probably have its own intrinsic enjoyment beyond anything special about the chambering being fired.

.38 S&W (not special) is most commonly encountered with a 146gr LRN bullet. It is offered in this loading from both Winchester and Remington. I like the Winchester version somewhat simply because it still comes in nickel cases. Ten-X and Old West Scrounger also offer it in variant loadings, and I think Magtech might make it as well. Factory ammo isn't cheap and the brass is, for some reason, hard to get as late, or so I'm told. A forum friend was helping me scrounge some for my topbreak. Used to be that folks that loaded a lot of .38 Special would sometimes just give you .38SW brass that got mixed in or toss it, those days seem to be over.

It'll basically be a light recoiling offering. From a K frame, I'd think that it would kick about like wadcutters since velocity is mild. Handloads for a relatively modern K frame like a Victory model could probably be made a bit more potent than current factory offerings. I've only shot it from topbreaks so I'm extrapolating about the K frame experience.

There won't really be anything novel from a K frame so chambered - in other words it isn't going to do anything that a similar revolver in .38 special wouldn't.

 

[bmcgilvray]

I have a couple of revolvers that shoot the .38 S&W round and I like it really well. I have good luck shooting .358 diameter 158 grain SWCs in a Colt Banker's Special and a Webley Mark IV. It's just a matter of time until I turn up a good S&W M&P in .38 S&W.

 

[walnutred]

You may not be satisfied with the performance of your 38 S&W until you reload. American ammo does not always shoot to point of aim in firearms regulated for the British military round. Load data can be found that is somewhat stiffer for large frame revolvers than for small breaktops.

 

[Andy Taylor]

My advice-Buy two boxes of factory ammo. Shoot one box. clean and put guns away with the other box. Do future shooting with similar .38 Special revolvers.
My advice is worth exactly what you paid for it.

 

[GatorFarmer]

Originally posted by walnutred:
You may not be satisfied with the performance of your 38 S&W until you reload. American ammo does not always shoot to point of aim in firearms regulated for the British military round. Load data can be found that is somewhat stiffer for large frame revolvers than for small breaktops.

Old West Scrounger does offer .38/200 ammo these days if I recall correctly. I have tried it. That might be an option for someone with a Victory, Webley or Enfield.

 

[fyimo]

Thanks for the information and I was wrong on the M&P 1905 forth model as that is a 38 S&W special or 38 special while the Victory model is a 38 S&W .38/200 round.
I reload the 38 special so that's not a problem and I will buy a couple of boxes of 38 S&W and shoot one and keep one as recommended above.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

I came into a old Enfield No.2 that shoots the 38 S&W. I bought 2 boxes of ammo and shot it. I liked the gun so much I bought additional brass, the dies and some 160gr & 200gr bullets and loaded up some ammo. Liker said above, if you like the guns set up to reload for them. It's a small price to pay compared to buying the ammo.

 

[robertrwalsh]

Theoretically these weapons are designed for a .361 diameter bullet. Some of them shoot .358 diameter just fine, some don't. I have had good luck with .158 grain .38 special .358 diameter bullets with a slightly concave base, they seal the bore just fine especially at the velocities used. I have also had very good luck with .148 grain HBWC loads. I suspect that many of the later S&W pistols in this caliber actually use .357 diameter barrels.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

robertrwalsh,
You're right about the bullet diameter. The 160gr bullets I'm loading are .360" and work very well.

 

[mississippi revolverman]

Lucky Derby- Looks like I took you advise in advane and didn't know. I came across and old Webley in 38 S & W. Found two box of ammo at a gun show. Enjoyed one box then cleaned and retired to weapon with the other box of ammo.

Good advice