Price check on .38 S&W ammo

[lihpster]

Could someone give me a ballpark figure on pre-panic pricing on .38 S&W. I see it online for like .85/rd. but I don't know how that stacks up to pricing during normal times. Just bought my first gun in that caliber. Kinda want to know how badly I'd be getting taken at that price. I won't pay 5 times the price for 9MM and I don't want to for this. TIA.

 

[sigp220.45]

Its was never really cheap. I think I paid 28 bucks a box for Fiocchi before this most recent Chicken Little panic.

 

[lihpster]

Its was never really cheap. I think I paid 28 bucks a box for Fiocchi before this most recent Chicken Little panic.

Good to know. Didn't expect it to be cheap as 9 but I thought I'd check.
Sounds like less than double. Might pick up a couple boxes just to function test the gun then.

 

[heeter3]

Check out SGA ammo they are starting to get some .38s back not as cheap as before but better than 85 cents a round.

 

[LoboGunLeather]

Like everything else, there are economies of scale. Sales of .38 S&W have been pretty low compared to .38 Special, 9mm Luger, and others, so production has been relatively limited. That results in prices higher than the more popular products (assuming a normal market cycle, not the current crisis-panic-stupidity).

You can probably plan on paying 25% to 50% more for .38 S&W ammo than you would pay for .38 Special, and you will have to shop for it because the major retailers probably will not stock it regularly.

For many years my personal interests have leaned heavily toward vintage and antique firearms. I shoot .218 Bee, .25-20, .32-20, .44-40, .45 Colt, .33 WCF, .45-90, and a few others that are seldom seen in retail stores and always carry higher prices than the more popular modern calibers. My response has included reloading dies and bullet molds.

About the only shooting I do with factory ammo is .22 rim-fire. Everything else is reloaded. My parents lived through the Great Depression and I have both Scot and Jewish heritage through prior generations, so economy is almost a genetic necessity for me. I also enjoy being self-sufficient, not having to rely upon market cycles.

Prior to the current stupid-cycle I remember seeing .44-40 factory loads on a dealer's shelf with a price tag of $59 for a box of 50. I roll my own with bullets cast from salvaged lead for about 6 cents per round ($3.00 per box of 50).

For .38 S&W, even using commercially made cast bullets, with your own fired brass, you should be able to shoot for about 12 cents per round. It won't take long to pay for the basic equipment needed to load your own.

 

[lihpster]

I can be a little ADD, so I don't reload. It's cheaper till my dumb *** double charges a case because a bee flew in the window. Man's got to know his limitations.

 

[J. R. WEEMS]

COSTS

Could someone give me a ballpark figure on pre-panic pricing on .38 S&W. I see it online for like .85/rd. but I don't know how that stacks up to pricing during normal times. Just bought my first gun in that caliber. Kinda want to know how badly I'd be getting taken at that price. I won't pay 5 times the price for 9MM and I don't want to for this. TIA.

I cant add much to what has already been said, but can provide a bit of recent, more or less experience.
A couple years ago when I started involving my self with this caliber, I picked up 3 boxes of Remingtion at a show for $23.00 with my good guy discount. 5 minutes later, I found a new set of Lee dies for 39.00. I got the dies and headed home. Found 1000 pcs of brass from Starline and secured those. Then the search began for bullets. Some advice from members here helped. Although people have used others, I believe .360 was the correct size. Even went and had Lee ream out a sizing die to that size. Bullets were secured and sized from, Missouri Bullets, Penn bullets, both 145 gn. Of recent, just yesterday in fact, I took delivery of 3000, .360, 125gn bullets from RIM ROCK BULLETS of Montana. Six to 8 weeks was the projected time frame. They came in in two weeks with sent time of two days.. Loaded up 4 boxes and took one to the range this morning with good results. All this being said, and probably more than you want to know, I am set for life. along the way, I acquired a couple more guns in this caliber and some of those first boxes have been reloaded 7 times. I did some figuring while having morning coffee and if I live long enough,, I will have saved some $2800.00 on this ammo. I also got some brass with a couple of the guns that came my way. In checking around I discovered, Winchesters were going at the time for North of $43.00 a box, but of course there was, and isnt any to be had. I did get hold of a set of RCBS 'cowboy' dies in 38 S&W and that is what I now use. Given the fact I have always kept a stock of primers etc. on hand, my cost is like $4.70 a box..
Rim Rock Bullets have become my go to for such things now and I am wanting to work with some of their 10mm stuff. Brass is on back order at Starline however. As luck would have it I have enough. Dont know what you are shooting but would encourage you to try and get all the reloading components together you can. I havent seen any ammo on the shelf at my LGS in over a year. Last checking saw some PPU and others at $33.00 a box and up. Good luck in your search.

 

[lihpster]

Ordered 2 boxes. Like I said, I don't reload for safety reasons and I don't plan on shooting this one much. My 686+, 586 and Mod.15s will do most of the heavy lifting. But I would like to function test it. I'll wait and see if prices come back down to earth before I buy more. Thanks for the info, guys. I appreciate it.

 

[jbtrucker]

Cheapest .38 spl FMJ I remember was $18

 

[DWalt]

Ordered 2 boxes. Like I said, I don't reload for safety reasons and I don't plan on shooting this one much.

With even minimal experience, most anyone having an IQ over room temperature can reload safely. What I have always done is to charge resized and re-primed cases as a separate operation, then visually inspect the charged cases in bright light or by using a flashlight to ensure that there are no double charges or empty cases prior to seating the bullets. That is a very simple, fast, and foolproof safety step, especially so for short small capacity cases such as the .38 S&W. A tip - I have found that .357 diameter lead bullets (for the .38 Special) will shoot just as well in .38 S&W as .360-.361 lead bullets. BTW, SAAMI specs for the .38 S&W bullet diameter specify a minimum diameter of .355. Some reloading manuals specify .357 lead bullets for the .38 S&W. Another tip - I use a .38 Super sizing die for .38 S&W cases, and always have. I neck expand and seat using 9mm dies. I have been reloading the .38 S&W since around 1970 and have never owned a set of .38 S&W dies.

 

[J. R. WEEMS]

SIZE--

Walt, I can't agree or disagree with the above- I;ve heard the same from time to time. However, my SHARPES reference states .360, so that is what I shoot for. Picked at random, one of my lend lease guns shows the slugged barrel right on at .360. As Red has said in my Brill holster post, just cause it fits doesn't mean it is correct. Just works for me, thats all.

 

[DWalt]

The S&W Specification sheets I have for guns produced during World War II and before (Victory and pre-Victory) list the bore (land) diameter for the .38 S&W and .38/200 cartridge as 0.350 - 0.3512 with a land width of 0.1059. The groove diameter (which I do not have specifications for), would probably be about .357-.360 considering that the groove depth would probably be in the .0035-.0045 range. In any event, a .357 bullet would clearly have more than adequate purchase on a WWII .38 S&W revolver barrel's rifling. And I suppose you also doubt the SAAMI .355 minimum bullet diameter specifications for the .38 S&W.

 

[TIMETRIPPER]

Haven't bought any S&W ammo since buying two boxes of Remington factory loads at BassPro about 12 years ago. And they were around $20 IIRC.
I use 158 RN as cast from my Lyman #358311. Lees #90318 150 gr RN works well too. Use them unsized and tumble lube with Liquid Alox.
All of the Colt and S&W hand ejector revolvers I've own were able to chamber modern Remington S&W factory ammo. Pulled bullets measured .358. The few older cartridges in my collection however were too tight to chamber, as were the modern Remington ammo after being reloaded with 38 S&W dies regardless of bullet used.

And as far as the concern for double charging when reloading...
charge the case and visually check to see if the powder is at the correct level then seat the bullet before returning the case to the tray. This not only helps to prevent a double charge but also reduces the number of times the case is handled, which is an important consideration for a fumble prone idiot as myself. When using a single stage press there really is no good reason to charge all your cases first and then seat bullets. Wrap it all up in one step.

John

 

[DWalt]

Another story about the .38 S&W bullet diameter. This goes back over 15 years ago, when I came into a baggie of several dozen rounds of antique .38 S&W cartridges cheap (maybe a dollar) at a gun show. The cases were so old they were blackened, and they had UMC headstamps. I attempted to fire them, and only a couple went off, and those were definitely black powder loads. The rest were duds. I decided to pull the bullets and re-prime and re-use the cases. Two interesting findings. First, the pulled bullets all measured to be 0.356-0.357" diameter, not 0.360". The second was that the primers (Boxer) were of a slightly smaller diameter than those used today, so the cases could not be reloaded with more modern SP primers as they would not fit. So it was pretty much a total loss of a dollar, except I did re-use those pulled bullets in .38 Special cases.

 

[GypsmJim]

I have three .38 S&W revolvers and have never bought a box of factory ammo. Not counting the bag of once fired brass and the 3-die set, I load them for about $0.05 per round. That also does not include whatever electricity it took to fire up the lead melting pot, nor the pizzas I bought over the years for the guys at the tire shop for many buckets of free lead.

I shoot 0.358" WCs or SWCs in all the guns and they work fine. Not tack drivers but with my eyesight they ain't too bad...

In over 50 years of reloading I made exactly ONE single squib. That was about the time I started with bifocals, so I have modified my visual inspections accordingly. Reloading is a very safe and rewarding hobby. My reloads may not be Olympic quality, but the are certainly better than any rimfire junk being sold today.

 

[DWalt]

The only factory .38 S&W ammo I ever bought was a nearly full box of Winchester which came with a gun purchase, and I have never fired it, it is still with me. But I did buy a bag of Winchester new .38 S&W brass once, long ago, at Sportsman's Warehouse (I miss that place). All the rest of the cases I have came from gun shows over many years, but I have found some fired brass at shooting ranges. I don't believe I have ever had a split case, and some of those cases have been loaded dozens of times and with heavy loads. I'd guess I have easily close to 1000 cases, but I have never counted them.

Incidentally, if you have a newer and stronger solid frame .38 S&W revolver such as a WWII S&W BSR, it is pretty simple to handload the .38 S&W to achieve .38 Special performance - and I do. But definitely don't ever use them in any top break revolver.