[Arch]

I realize the case wall on a .357 magnum is thicker, so you would have to reduce the powder charge a little, but would there be any problems in making some durable .38spl brass out of .357Mag cases?

Actually, is this what the .38 +P cases are?

BTW: I am not actually thinking of doing this, it's just a point for discussion.

[JesseL]

While you could cut down 357 brass to 38spcl length, I can't think of any good reason to do so :confused: .

According to Starline, the only difference between their regular 38 special brass and their 38+P brass is the headstamp.

I've never gotten the impression that 38 special brass was in any way weak. I think that most 38 special guns will blow up the cylinder or forcing cone, or stretch the frame long before the brass becomes an issue.

If you wanted to make up some really hot rounds you could probably only shoot them safely in a .357, so you may as well use 357 brass to make sure it never gets into a gun too weak to handle them.

[EShell]

The case wall tapers toward the web and thickness increases as you trim the .357 back, I'd expect to encounter a little bulging at the bullet base when you seat the bullet.

I personally don't see the big advantage and am with Jesse on the safety considerations.

[griz]

You can do it safely and the only issue is the incorrect headstamp. I've cut back 357 cases with mouth splits, then asked myself why? I've spent a couple minutes to save about one cent.

Then again you can cut them back to 38 S&W length and save almost a nickel. Ahh, the pleasures of being cheap. :o

[Roadkill]

That's all I use in my 38 SW. Used a dremel tool and cut them down, look a little funny but work well.

[Clark]

I made 38 sp cases from cutting down 357 mag, so they could withstand greater pressure.

That was 7 years ago, and a gunsmith pointed out to me that 38 special brass is plenty strong. I knew right away he was right, but had no way to quanify it.

A couple years ago, someone showed me his calculating brass yeild threshold using Von Misses calculation. He predicts the max internal pressure for .223 cases at 3/4 hard cartrige brass of 86,000 psi. The 38 special brass, without an extractor groove, is much stronger.

From my experiments on a few different 38 specials, I find the brass giving up the primer to NOT be the limiting factor. The thin chamber walls are the limiting factor.



I can make these generalizations about brass:
1) small primer is stronger than large primer
2) rimmed is stronger than rimless
3) small internal diameters have less hoop stress for the same internal pressure, but not too small so the primer pocket is not well supported.


The weakest brass I know of is 10mm.
The strongest may be 357 mag or 32 S&W Long.
The 500 Jeffery is very strong despsite it's large internal diameter.

[The Bushmaster]

I have given this some thought before putting finger tips to key board...My thoughts...Why???? :banghead: .38 Special are sooo common and .357 are a little harder to get. I wouldn't waste my .357 mag cases just to get .38 special when I have over 10,000 cases on hand and only 6,000 .357 mag cases on hand.

[444]

I tried this once.
And it wasn't to try and save money.
I don't remember the details now, but at the time I was into classic revolver cartridges and handloading for them. A lot of cast bullet loads. I bought all the books by Keith, Skelton, Jordan, etc. I came across a .357 load that used a bullet that was too long to be seated in a .357 case; the resulting loaded round was too long to be chambered in a standard chambered revolver. . The load used a .38 Special case for a .357 load in a .357 gun. I figured it would be icing on the cake to trim down .357 cases to .38 Special length so that the case would be as strong as possible as well as having the correct headstamp.

[The Bushmaster]

444...And the outcome??? :banghead:

[mondocomputerman]

444........... :uhoh:

[Arch]

Thanks to all those who provided some constructive feedback.

So it would seem, it has been done before, and is still being practiced.

[444]

:confused:
The outcome was a short .357 case. Nothing spectacular or anything.

[Arch]

Yes, that's an outcome.