Making do with what you have.

[manyguns]

With reloading supplies being scarce & expensive I decided to see if I could make use of a few thousand Berrys 135 gr. plated round nose in my .38 Special. The bullets were for a 38 Super and measured .356. I used my 9mm./.38 Super Dillon sizing die & powder dispensing/flaring tube to keep the inside dimension of the case small enough to provide neck tension & keep the bullet from falling into the case. I used my Redding .357 profile crimp to provide a stiff crimp that undoubtedly pressed into the bullet a bit. I tried a slow load. 3.8 grains of Titegroup and a +P load from the Hodgden #26 book of 9.2 grains of HS-7. A powder I bought in a buyout of a local hardware/sporting goods store. It turns out the bullet liked to go fast better than slow. I assume the bullet "slugged up" better with the higher pressure. Got 3"-4" groups @ 25yds. with 3 Smiths of 4" or longer. That will keep me running in the Action pistol matches for quite a while. You won't know what you can do until you try!

 

[TAROMAN]

Great job, more of us will be doing the same.
I'm finding lots of uses for Red and Green Dot now.

 

[NotObvious]

Red dot and other shots shell powders work pretty good for 38s and 45acp.

For magnums, I have had good luck with blue dot, but it's loud as he'll and just as much flames as being there in person!

Sent from my SAMSUNG-SGH-I747 using Tapatalk 2

 

[PeterK]

Hmmm gets me thinking, cause Berry's has some 38 super bullets in stock..... thanks for the tip!

Peter

 

[rwsmith]

9mm on .38 case

Way back in another day and time a friend gave me some .38 cartridges with a 9mm round nose on top and a very light powder load. Great for plinking!

 

[manyguns]

I could go back & try my 9mm bullets. They are .001 smaller than the .38 Super bullets. Soft lead under the plating is the key. Sort of like the hollow base wadcutters or civil war Minnie bullets.

 

[J. R. WEEMS]

Great job, more of us will be doing the same.
I'm finding lots of uses for Red and Green Dot now.

Using a lot of RD in some 9MM's but the 38 Super bullets will not chamber in my 469--

 

[Calliope]

4 years ago during the last shortage I ended up using a lot of plated 9mm and .38 Super bullets in my .357 revolvers. For the most part they shot great.
Instead of using an expander die after sizing, I just flare the case mouth slightly with a universal flaring tool so the case will have a good grip on the bullet. A light profile crimp is all that's needed.
I think they do expand in the bore and fill up the rifling if you use enough powder.

 

[ACP230]

The first reloads I made were lead 125 grain truncated cone bullets meant for the 9mm in .38 Special cases. My Ruger Blackhawk shot them very well. Only switched to 158 grain LSWCs when the LGS
ran out of the 9mm TC bullets.

A friend told me the rounds I made were, "the weirdest thing he'd ever seen."
I figured they shot well so who cares?

 

[mikld]

That's thinkin' on yer feet! Plated soft lead may bump up to fill the barrel and seems ok for your use. Did you see any abnormal copper fouling?

 

[Calliope]

I've never seen any copper fouling or any other problem with 9mm bullets in .357.
The only issue I had was that my Freedom Arms model 97 has a very short cylinder. I had a hard time finding a COL with the long .38 Super bullets that would fit in the cylinder and still be able to crimp on the bearing surface. I ended up crimping on the ogive with those bullets.
No problems with Smiths or a GP100.
I use Trail Boss with 9mm plated bullets in the .357 to fill the empty space.

 

[Coaltminer]

I've used 9mm bullets in my 38's several times, just because I had a lot more in stock than 38's. I read a test report in one of the gun rags years back, it was a Blackhawk, 6 1/2" barrel, product code BN36X, the one with a fitted 9mm cylinder. It turned out to be the hands down winner in the accuracy department with the 9mm cylinder. Go figure.

 

[JonF]

Yup

I just got back into reloading . When you are retired (at least in this time period) money gets a bit less available.
I bought 1000 Hornady discontinued 148gr. cast BBWC in .358 diameter. On top of 2.8 grs of Bullseye, they work just fine.

I use them to keep my wife and I reasonably sharp at the range. It is the time honored concept of use-it-or-lose-it. I still keep my Mod 67, her 242, my 642 loaded in the house with critical defense loads from Hornady.

I forgot how much enjoyment a person can get from the overall reloading experience

JonF

 

[rwsmith]

9mm on .38 case

A friend made a batch of very light loads of 9mm bullets on a .38 case. They were a blast to shoot. Not something I would normally do, but in these tough times we have to be creative, as long as we are safe.