Okay, I'm going to jump in on this and enjoy some 6-month-old necrothreadia. Would it be possible to explore these options in a .38 colt conversion:
1. Find a 100-150 grain .375 lead bullet and load it in a .38 colt case? Would the chambers even be wide enough to do this?
2. Use bullets for the 9x18 makarov (Midway sells cast .365 93 grain bullets)
3. Load a .375 round ball in a .38 colt case (again, same possible issue as in #1)
4. Would it be possible to load a smaller bullet in some kind of sabot that would work in this barrel?
I'd love to have answers on those possibilities, and/or stories from people who have attempted these options (or who know better than I do about why NOT to do them).
Thanks!
CJB,
- Nope, chamber is somewhere around Ø.375. Any bullet would have to be reduced in diameter to fit in the case. The case thickness is basically .011" thick which means a Ø.358 fits (hmmmm, sounds familiar).
- See #1
- See #1
- A hollow base Wad Cutter will work. The skirt obturates to fill the bore.
You either need to use a heel base bullet like the originals. Think .22 rimfire ammo here, where the bullet is basically diameter as the case and the "heeled" portion of the bullet is reduced in diameter and fits in the case. Pull a .22LR bullet from a case and look at it. That is how the original .38 loads for the converted percussion pistols were (.44s too).
Bernie makes both Heel base and Hollow base molds.
http://www.oldwestbulletmoulds.com/
You can also get the crimp dies you need to crimp a Heel base bullet. He modifies the Lee Rifle style Factory Crimp die.
See this thread on CAS city that explains the Heel base bullet crimping. This one explains a heel base bullet and it has good illustrations:
http://www.cascity.com/forumhall/index.php/topic,35765.msg462998#msg462998
This one explains the crimp dies necessary to reach over the "driving band" of the bullet an crimp the case neck, this link starts out talking about lubricating the Heel Base bullets after loading it is easier to lubricate them after loading, and then OldElm shows some shots of the modified crimping die:
http://www.cascity.com/forumhall/index.php/topic,24196.msg315030.html#msg315030
These are .44s, but the .38s are the same. I will tell you more people just use .38 Hollow Base Wad Cutters with the .38 Colt than anything else, because the bullets are readily available. Based on those I know who have them, and what I have read the next largest group are those that have relined their barrels to Ø.357 and live with the bullet gap in the chamber. The last group are those that shoot heel base bullets, the majority of those cast their own.
Currently I don't lubrisize Heel Base bullets, Instead I have a tight fitting (the cartridge barely slips in) wooden block for 50 rounds and I turn the loaded cartridges upside down and pan lubricate them by suspending them (just the bullets) in a pan of molten lube. After it hardens I slide the block down to the hardened cake and pull the cartridges up through the block one-by-one. It works pretty well.
~Mako