Reloading the .38 S&W

[sigp220.45]

I'm a rudimentary reloader compared to many (most) of you guys on this part of the forum. I use a Lyman 310 nutcracker, and have only recently gotten back into reloading, mostly for .38 Special.

I found a grail gun for me, a Smith Terrier. I already owned a few .38 S&Ws - a British Enfield, a Safety Hammerless, and an H&R. I shot them with expensive factory loads, but I was smart enough to keep the cases.

Once I got the Terrier, I decided to expand my reloading horizons. I had a set of .38 S&W dies, so I gave it a go. My first efforts were to reload 50 cases with 2.7 grains of Unique and a 125 grain .358 cast bullet.

These shot pretty well, in both the Terrier and the Enfield.

I went to the local Cabela's and bought some Hornady 148 grain hollow base wadcutters. I had read the hollow base would fill the possibly oversized bore of the Terrier and give better accuracy. They shot really well. This is at 50 feet, and is about the best my old eyes can do with the tiny sights.

I even put ten through the old H&R before I chickened out. It seemed to handle them just fine.

I settled on 2.7 grains because I use a Lee powder dipper and that is the smallest scoop. The next one up is 4.7 grains of Unique, which I think might be too stout.

I'm delighted at how easy the stubby .38 is to load. This week I found a very clean Smith .38 S&W pre-Victory British Service Revolver to test my loads in. Once I bail it out of layaway I'll use it to test out my future loads.

I'd like to try some 200 grain loads. I may need some different dippers, though.

 

[azpolock]

Good info! My first handgun, after my Army enlistment, was one of the Brit Victory models in .38 S&W that was converted to .38 special by Cogswell & Harrison (IIRC) in England pror to import back into the states. Bbl. was cut back to just in front of the bbl. lug, new "fast draw" front sight fitted and re-chambered to .38 special. It shot GI white box M41 ammo (130 grain) just fine, tho the cases did swell at the base!

 

[Ivan the Butcher]

Since you are using the dipper method, you may need to make some different dippers. Take a shell case, say 32 Long or 380 acp. Use a short piece of wire or coat hanger, and make a loop handle about 3 or 4 inches long. Make a few of each. Now find a friend with a decent scale, and weigh the amount an empty case averaged, and mark that dipper. The old way was to drip candle wax into the next dipper and weigh the result. right on down the line. Instead of candle wax I prefer epoxy. Then off to home you go. The Dixie Gun Works catalog used to have a table for standard cases and the amount of Black Powder they held.

Ivan

 

[ArchAngelCD]

You may already know...

The .38 S&W should use a .360/.361" bullet, not a .357/.358" bullet. I'm surprised you were able to achieve good neck tension. You don't want to chance bullet setback. It's an older cartridge with fairly mild pressures so you don't want to exceed the SAAMI limits of 14,500 PSI. The usual bullet loaded in factory ammo is 145/146gr over it's history.

The Missouri Bullet Company sells quality bullets for the .38 S&W. They sell them in both coated and uncoated styles. I don't bother with the coated bullets because I never get any leading.
Missouri Bullet Company
Missouri Bullet Company

I'm using W231/HP-38 but Unique is just fine as you have already found out. Red Dot works well too and I'm told so does Trail Boss but I have not used Trail Boss yet. With a 145gr bullet I would not exceed 3.1gr Unique with a starting charge of 2.8gr. Be very careful if you load those 148gr wadcutters, they seat very deep in the case and will most probably producing excessively high pressures unless you reduce the charge weight. The .38 S&W cases are not very deep to start with. I hope this helps you.

 

[DWalt]

.358 lead bullets work fine, and I usually use the 125 grain conical flat point. I have loaded .38 S&W for MANY years with them, no neck pull problems, etc., and they shoot well for me. The minimum SAAMI bullet diameter spec for .38 S&W is 0.355". I have always used .38 Super dies for reloading. 2.7 grains of Unique is a little light, but if it works, why not? I normally use 3.5 grains of Unique. I have tried 4 grains, but I was a little uncomfortable with that.

 

[TomkinsSP]

Matt (Mattsbullets.com) in Arkansas makes a 150 and two 200s for .38 S&W. Roundnosed Lead. I use his bullets in
38 special/.357 consistantly good product.

 

[M1A]

I have 2 top breaks.
Webley Mk III (1929) slugged at .357 and would not accurately shoot .360 or .361 bullets. I use Missouri Bullet .358 SWC and W231 or Titegroup.
Enfield No.2 Mk1 (1939) likes Matts 200gr .361 RN with same powders.
Powders are weighed not dumped.
Both revolvers like Remington, Privi Partisan, and Fiocchi, which are .357 or .358.
Though I reload a lot of Privi brass, their .38 S&W brass does not work for me.

 

[Qc Pistolero]

Congrats!You have the guts I haven't got.I once passed up an occasion for a good priced Terrier because I didn't want to get equiped for another caliber.But I shouldn't have passed it up since the .38S&W can,as you have shown,be loaded accurately.And if you look at some loading data,the 125gr can be loaded at a respectable velocity.Not a barnburner but still more than a flyswapper.Now maybe if I could just find another one like the one I passed up!!
Qc