38 S&W bullet diameter

[fourdollarbill]

I am reloading for an old model 10 38 S&W with lead bullets. I did not buy anything yet as I'm confused. A while back my dad had the gun inspected by a gun smith to assure what type of bullet to use. He advised the 38 S&W 146gr from Remington will work well and they do. At $35.00 for a box of 50 I bought a die set and turret plate to load my own. Does anybody know what lead bullet diameter to use? Also can I use a Rainier 125 gr flat nose .357" copper coated bullet? I'm pretty certain it is an early model 10 but not too early as it has the ejector rod guard mounted to the bottom of the barrel.

 

[Walkalong]

I have used .357 jacketed and plated bullets in .38 S&W and they work well. Lead of course will have to be sized appropriately for the caliber, and off hand I forget the nominal bore diameter. .364 or something like that.

Someone will post a link to some lead bullets sized appropriately. Not everyone has them.

 

[Galil5.56]

Around .360" would be the nominal diameter, but I would slug my barrel, mic chambers/forcing cones to see what might work. If you do find that .360" is the magic number, you might ask some commercial casters to see if they can help you by selling you as cast ".38 bullets", or cast your own with a custom mold say from Lee.

A lot of commercial casters use Magma Engineering molds, and they list a lot of their .38 molds as dropping bullets at .359-.360".

 

[grsjax]

You could use the LEE Makarov mold and get a .360 sizer. Should work.

9mm MAKAROV
Ballistic Coeff. .093
Mold Code 365-95-1R
Double 90466 Serv.Parts

 

[rondog]

Hey fodallahbill, I have a couple dozen or so .38 S&W cases that I found at the range, look like they're new once-fireds, nickel plated. Somebody fired them and ejected them out on the ground.

I have no need for 'em, but can't stand to see good brass go to waste. Not sure how many there really are, but they're yours for free if you want 'em. Send me a PM with your address and I'll mail 'em to ya.

 

[fourdollarbill]

Not to interested in molding (yet).
Walkalong, you said you used .357 plated before. That sounds great as i'm a big Rainier fan for reloads. Do you guys know if there is a bore limit? ie: if my bore measured .xxx don't use a plated bullet. Sorry for the crazy questions, my revolver experience is only about 9 months old -vs- 10 years of automatics. I would love to use my supply of .357" plated as I buy about 500 every few months.

A side note: I bought my wife a 642 38+P to use as her CCW because she hates to practice shoot with automatics and jam up scenarios. I started shooting it for fun and the rest is history. S&W revolvers are fascinating works of art. So I bought another and oh why not get the hammered 637 too. Now my .40 compact and the 380 are park and collecting dust.

 

[fourdollarbill]

Thanks Rondog, I'll send the PM.

 

[Walkalong]

Whoops wrong thread. duh....

 

[barnetmill]

Would .356 caliber hollow base wad cutters work? With a moderate load sthey should expand to the .360-.364" groove diameter.

Only word of caution is not to seat the wadcutters flush with the case as you do with the longer .38spl case. If you do that you will end up with increased pressure from shortening the overall case length.

 

[ReloaderFred]

The .38 S&W was a heel based bullet, and outside lubricated. The nominal bore diameter is .360". A soft lead bullet will work.

The original loadings were for 180 grain bullets, moving just past jogging velocity. I've cast bullets for them for the commercial reloader that I occasionally make bullets for. I just left them unsized, but lubed.

Unfortunately, the only heeled bullet mold I have is for the .44 American, which is also outside lubricated.

Hope this helps.

Fred

 

[fourdollarbill]

thanks reloader fred. it all helps.

 

[dardascastbullets]

Hi Four,

The best way to determine the proper diameter for your bullets is to push a round ball through the barrel and mike the diameter. A thousandths over the miked diameter would be the proper fit.

I trust that this will help you.

 

[fourdollarbill]

Thank you dardasca. This may sound dumb but can I push it through from the muzzle to frame? It looks tough to do it the other.

 

[Old Fuff]

Actually, if you have a K-frame revolver chambered in .38 S&W it probably is a World War Two era Victory model. Look at the butt carefully and see if the letter "V" or "VS" is stamped there along with the serial number. There should also be a hole for a lanyard ring, although it may have been plugged. I would expect a 5" barrel, but a 4 or 6 inch length is possible.

The standard bullet diameter is .360" and you can purchase lead bullets in that size. That said, you should get some soft lead balls and slug the chamber throats and barrel - as we discussed on another thread. I have found .38 S&W barrels that were as tight as .356", and as large as .362".

Incidentally the .38 S&W was never loaded with a healed bullet. That would be the .38 Short and Long Colt cartridges, which are altogether different.

Obviously you will have to push the lead ball from muzzle to breach when you slug the barrel for size.

 

[fourdollarbill]

Nice info Old Fluff. The lanyard is still on it. Not here to see the numbers. It is fun to shoot. He takes it out about once a year and cleans the barrel with 2 boxes or so. The bore is very clean and smooth.

 

[Old Fuff]

It is known as the .38-200 Model, and was originally made for the British who used as a service revolver. The "200" refers to a 200-grain bullet which it originally used. Use the forum's search feature, and the key words "38-200", "Victory" and "38S&W" and you should find a lot of past threads on both the cartridge (and reloading it) as well as the revolver. It has a very interesting background and history.

 

[RON in PA]

One bullet to try is the 148 grain hollow base wadcutter that expands to bore diameter. Soft, swaged lead bullets made for the 38 special, even if a bit undersized, seem to work ok. They work well in my British Enfield.

The 38 S&W section in the Speer reloading manual has lots of good data for the 38 S&W.