What is 38 Special Mid Range?

[Cal44]

I saw an old S&W ad for the M36 and M37 that said the ammunition for use in the guns was 38 Special and 38 Special "Mid Range"?

The guns in the ad had the old diamond stocks so it was probably from the late 50's or early 60's.

What does the "Mid Range" mean? Is this an old term for +p?

 

[daddy bear]

My only recollection is of target ammo. 148 grain wad cutters were, and may still be, marked as .38 Special Mid-Range Wadcutter. I shot a lot of it in the '60s and '70s in PPC competition.

Jack

 

[FPrice]

Jack is spot on. .38 Special mid range is not a separate cartridge, it is (was?) a specific loading, a 148 grain wad-cutter bullet loaded to around the mid 700's fps velocity, made primarily for target shooting. The combination of bullet weight and velocity gives low recoil and the sharp shouldered wad cutter bullet made nice clean holes in paper targets which are easier to score.

 

[824tsv]

Factory midrange ammunition is still available. You just have to look for it.

 

[44wheelman]

Usually a flush seated double ended wadcutter in a .38 case at mid level velocities. The ammo used by the model 52 semi auto; and is how it's barrel is marked.

 

[jimmyj]

In that era .38 Special was 158 grain LRN standard velocity service round and "Mid Range" was 148 grain wad cutter target load."

 

[digi-shots]

I've wondered the same thing and figured it was target ammo.

 

[Alk8944]

NRA and USRA revolver matches were/are shot at 50 yards and 25 yards (mid range). At one time full-power .38 Spl. wad-cutter ammunition was loaded with 158 gr. wad-cutter bullets at standard velocity of ca. 850 FPS. this cartridge was used for shooting the 50 yard stages. For the 25 yard stages a second load, a 148 gr. wad-cutter at a reduced velocity of 770 FPS was developed. The purpose was that the two cartridges would be used at the respective distances and would have the same point-of-impact at their range. Naturally the 148 gr. load was designated as "Mid-Range" since that was the distance it was intended for, just as simple as that. The Mid-Range load was found to be the more accurate and shooters simply used it at both distances and adjusted their sights accordingly, or had 2 guns sighted for each distance.

I believe the full-charge 158 gr, wad-cutter fell out of use and was discontinued sometime in the 1920s. The "Mid-Range" designation for the 148 gr. load has continued to be used to this day in spite of the fact that virtually no one knows the reason for the term anymore!

 

[GyMac]

NRA and USRA revolver matches were/are shot at 50 yards and 25 yards (mid range). At one time full-power .38 Spl. wad-cutter ammunition was loaded with 158 gr. wad-cutter bullets at standard velocity of ca. 850 FPS. this cartridge was used for shooting the 50 yard stages. For the 25 yard stages a second load, a 148 gr. wad-cutter at a reduced velocity of 770 FPS was developed. The purpose was that the two cartridges would be used at the respective distances and would have the same point-of-impact at their range. Naturally the 148 gr. load was designated as "Mid-Range" since that was the distance it was intended for, just as simple as that. The Mid-Range load was found to be the more accurate and shooters simply used it at both distances and adjusted their sights accordingly, or had 2 guns sighted for each distance.

I believe the full-charge 158 gr, wad-cutter fell out of use and was discontinued sometime in the 1920s. The "Mid-Range" designation for the 148 gr. load has continued to be used to this day in spite of the fact that virtually no one knows the reason for the term anymore!

Very interesting post! Never heard of this. I wonder, was the 158 grain WC a hollow base?

 

[bananaman]

A couple more pics for you. I like shooting them! Accurate, and very little recoil. I've hand loaded them also. The 2 rounds in the pic are oldies. Bob

 

[Alk8944]

Very interesting post! Never heard of this. I wonder, was the 158 grain WC a hollow base?

GyMac,

Good question. It has been many years and I don't really recall where I read this. Maybe in Phil Sharpe's book or possibly in Kieth's earlier writings. Since many factory Lead bullets were either hollow-base, or, at least, had a cupped base, it would not surprise me if they were hollow-base to some degree. Even Suydam doesn't mention the full charge load in his book.

 

[garbler]

Back when mid-range wadcutters ruled the line and you shot for an Army team you most likely shot this stuff. My last case



Wondering why my attached image will not enlarge when selected. It did on preview but now ?

 

[jtcarm]

Mid range also refers to the limit of the full wadcutter. It loses stability fast beyond 50 yards.

Describing his conversions of 1911s to .38 Special using .38 Super barrels, the great Jimmy Clark wrote that the twist rate of the Super barrels would just barely keep a wadcutter spinning to 50 yards.

 

[shawn mccarver]

I saw an old S&W ad for the M36 and M37 that said the ammunition for use in the guns was 38 Special and 38 Special "Mid Range"?

The guns in the ad had the old diamond stocks so it was probably from the late 50's or early 60's.

What does the "Mid Range" mean? Is this an old term for +p?

Mid-Range means the standard target load for bullseye matches - the 148 grain hollow base wadcutter.

 

[Nightowl]

NRA and USRA revolver matches were/are shot at 50 yards and 25 yards (mid range). At one time full-power .38 Spl. wad-cutter ammunition was loaded with 158 gr. wad-cutter bullets at standard velocity of ca. 850 FPS. this cartridge was used for shooting the 50 yard stages. For the 25 yard stages a second load, a 148 gr. wad-cutter at a reduced velocity of 770 FPS was developed. The purpose was that the two cartridges would be used at the respective distances and would have the same point-of-impact at their range. Naturally the 148 gr. load was designated as "Mid-Range" since that was the distance it was intended for, just as simple as that. The Mid-Range load was found to be the more accurate and shooters simply used it at both distances and adjusted their sights accordingly, or had 2 guns sighted for each distance.

I believe the full-charge 158 gr, wad-cutter fell out of use and was discontinued sometime in the 1920s. The "Mid-Range" designation for the 148 gr. load has continued to be used to this day in spite of the fact that virtually no one knows the reason for the term anymore!

I've been shooting them for 48 years and did not know about the 158 grain wadcutter. Thanks for the info.

 

[CajunBass]

When I first started reloading, I put up many a round of mid range wadcutter using a "Wack-A-Mole" Lee-Loader.

 

[Smithboomer]

I ran a box of Mid range handloads through my Mod. 52-2 last weekend. 3.2 grains of WW 231 with Berry's plated hollow base wadcutters. A great target load.