38 special ammo for lever action

[the wiz]

I have shot all kinds of .38's thru my Henry.357 and have some FTF but not many. I follow the suggestion from the Henry board at the end of a shooting session of .38's to fire two or three rounds of .357 to clear any build up from the lighter rounds configuration. Seems to work. What Henry tells you is what they have to tell you to protect themselves from law suits. The real world is different. If you haven't gone to the Henry board yet, do so. There a few members who are fighting cancer and they are survivors also. The .com board not the .org board.

 

[Groo01]

Groo here
If you look at the specs for the length of a 38 and 357 , you will find them almost the same [ like the 44 spec and 44 mag]
the shells were designed to fit in the same length cylinder.
There are some 2 crimp groove cast bullets that you seat short in 357 cases ans long in 38 cases .

 

[agent00]

For some reason, I just can't see a 38 Special being used in a rifle.

I would use a 158 JSP 357 Magnum with a long barrel weapon to get the most out of it.

I completly agree. To get the best Performance out the Henry some nice 158 grain or even 180 grain loads are the best choice. But it is not about Performance it about the Price.

As I mentioned on my original post, I want to use my Henry more, I am totally into Lever Action rifle Shooting now it is great fun. But with Standard 357 mag rounds Extended Shooting Seasons are a very expensiv Hobby. For Training purposes 38 Special rounds are way more economical.

But it seems quite difficult for a non reloader to get some nice loads for the Henry.

For the sake of my personal safety I will Forget the idea using some non Standard bullet types in my Henry and I will stick to some non expensiv 38 Special fmj rounds from Sellier&Bellot.

for self defense purposes I will stick to my previous Training ammo, some 158 grain soft Points from Federal.

@all thanks a lot for the help.

 

[chief38]

Lead Semi Wad Cutters will work fine but I much prefer the RNFP (round nose flat point) "Cowboy" style bullets. I reload my own and I don't know if anyone sells commercially made RNFP style Factory. I find they don't lead quite as much and are still safe to use in Lever Rifles. If not available, any 158 grain LSWC should be just fine. Do NOT use RNL as the point stacks against the Primer.