.38 S&W vs. .38Spl

Nope. .38 S&W bullet diameter is .361" at most. A cast .358-.359" will work well enough for most purposes.

Speedo66 said:
Can loading dies for .38Spl be used to load .38 S&W cases?

Also, can .38Spl bullets be used to reload .38 S&W?

I believe 38 S&W can be fired in a .38Spl revolver, correct?
Click to expand...

The sizing die will overwork the brass, the expander plug and seating stem might not reach the case mouth.

Yes. Not a perfect match, but I don't know anybody shooting 50 yard slow fire with a .38 S&W.

Sometimes; a .38 S&W cartridge on the small side of the tolerance range can be shot in a .38 Special chamber on the large side of tolerances. I have seen them both ways.

But WHY?
 
Jim Watson said:
Sometimes; a .38 S&W cartridge on the small side of the tolerance range can be shot in a .38 Special chamber on the large side of tolerances. I have seen them both ways.

But WHY?
Click to expand...
I have a bid in on an old break top in .38 S&W, so it’s just curiosity, not need.

Thanks for knowledgeably answering all my questions!
 
I use my own cast, unsized, powder coated .38 Special bullets for .38 S&W. Those usually come out around .360/.361. Speer 148 Grain HBWC bullets usually measure around .360 so those also work well in .38 S&W.

.38 Special dies will not be ideal and probably won't work. the sizing die might work, but will size the case more than needed. The expander probably won't go down far enough and isn't the right diameter. The seating die might not reach down far enough to seat the bullet correctly.
 
No, no and no to your questions.
The 38 S&W brass is wider than .38 Special brass so the dies are incorrect as are the bullets.
38 S&W ammo should not be shot in a .38 Special even if you could get them to fit into the cylinder.

You can however fire the 38 Short Colt and 38 Long Colt ammo in a .38 Special.
 
You'll need separate dies, but a lot of folks shoot coated, plated, or jacketed .357/358 ".38 Spl/.357 Mag" bullets in .38 S&W.

Good luck, hope you win it, it's a fun little caliber.
 
Walkalong said:
You'll need separate dies, but a lot of folks shoot coated, plated, or jacketed .357/358 ".38 Spl/.357 Mag" bullets in .38 S&W.

Good luck, hope you win it, it's a fun little caliber.
Click to expand...
My experience with using undersized bullets has been kinda “meh.” They always seem to shoot low and in the Colt’s I get keyholing even at moderate speeds. The MBC flat nosed 158’s work great if I paper patch them and load them with (FFFg) BP in the old U. S. Revolver Company (made by Iver Johnson Arms and Cycle Works) top break. I know a lot of people who don’t have that problem but it seems to follow me around, waiting.

MBC makes a really good lead round nose 145gr sized at .362” just for the old .38S&W. Highly recommended.
 
If you can't find 38 S&W dies you can use the following with good result in my experience. I reload 38 S&W using a 38 ACP (38 Super) sizing die (its undersize by .001 compared to a proper 38 S&W sizing dies) and 9mm powder drop, seating, and crimp dies. For a shell plate on my XL650 I bought a spare 38 Special plate and opened up the slots slightly with a Dremel, just on the part that goes around the body of the case.

Matt's Bullets also offers several properly sized 38 S&W bullets.
 
Last edited:
mcb said:
Matt's Bullets offers several properly sized 38 S&W bullets.
Click to expand...
Yes! His 200gr Mk.1 bullet for the No. 2 Enfield/Mk.VI Webley top breaks and 2.5 grs. of Bullseye, 2.8 of W231, or 3.5 grs. of Unique is pretty close to the Imperial standard. I wouldn't go over 2 grs. of Red Dot or 700-X without checking velocity. If you don't go over 650fps with the Mk.1 bullet you are OK.
 
Sounds like a RANGE report of .358 bullet vs. .361 bullet!

I’m our of town right now, but i’m going to load both size bullet with fresh Starline brass, and Lee 38 S&W die. Lets see if there is a difference!
 
GeoDudeFlorida said:
Yes! His 200gr Mk.1 bullet for the No. 2 Enfield/Mk.VI Webley top breaks and 2.5 grs. of Bullseye, 2.8 of W231, or 3.5 grs. of Unique is pretty close to the Imperial standard. I wouldn't go over 2 grs. of Red Dot or 700-X without checking velocity. If you don't go over 650fps with the Mk.1 bullet you are OK.
Click to expand...
I push the 200 gr MkI bullet with 2.5 grains of Herco and get a blistering 600 fps from my Webley Mark IV.
 
Walkalong said:
You'll need separate dies, but a lot of folks shoot coated, plated, or jacketed .357/358 ".38 Spl/.357 Mag" bullets in .38 S&W.

Good luck, hope you win it, it's a fun little caliber.
Click to expand...
I did win, thanks!

Now I have to wait for it to arrive, and determine if its condition warrants buying reloading gear.
 
Last edited:
My limited experience with 38 S&W, aided by a Venturino article, has shown me that 38 ACP dies work and some are identified as such. The hbwc for 38 special is a pretty good bullet that will expand into the .361 groove dia.
Biggest problem I've had is that several of the guns ie loaded for have a more restrictive than normal shoulder to the chamber and the wad cutters don't chamber all the way.
Also, you can't get much black powder in that little case.
I wish I'd kept my Smith "Terrier".
 
Mark_Mark said:
Sounds like a RANGE report of .358 bullet vs. .361 bullet!
Click to expand...
I like to set up my 12” steel plate at 35 yards in front of the 40 yard berm at the gun club and shoot it with pistols. Using .38 caliber (.357/.358) plated or coated 158 SWCs I can easily keep them on the plate with my S&W Victory Model (sweet shooter), and my Colt Official Police in .38-200 (aka.38 S&W)

So I don’t worry about it. Thats fun, and whatever accuracy I’m getting is good enough for that application and me.

YMMV
 
I do have pistols and revolvers I shoot at smaller targets and farther out, but that’s a different application where I expect better results.
 
Speedo66 said:
I did win, thanks!

Now I have to wait for it to arrive, and determine if its condition warrants buying reloading gear.
Click to expand...
Remington still loads 38 S&W commercially. A few other companies do also but from my testing the Remington is the best of the current ammo. Its a great place to start since it a very mild load to test out your new gun and would give you a nice supply of good brass to reload if you decide to go down that path. I bought a whole case of it a few years ago on sale to feed my Iver Johnson and Webley MkIV.
 
Walkalong said:
I like to set up my 12” steel plate at 35 yards in front of the 40 yard berm at the gun club and shoot it with pistols. Using .38 caliber (.357/.358) plated or coated 158 SWCs I can easily keep them on the plate with my S&W Victory Model (sweet shooter), and my Colt Official Police in .38-200 (aka.38 S&W)

So I don’t worry about it. Thats fun, and whatever accuracy I’m getting is good enough for that application and me.

YMMV
Click to expand...
Question? why plated or coated? for leading?
 
Jim Watson said:
When I was setting up for .38 Super I noticed that the Lyman carbide sizing die was listed for both .38 S&W and .38 Super.

If you load wadcutters in .38 S&W, don't try to seat them flush, Speer shows them seated to the middle lube groove.
Click to expand...
Yes, I seated them around halfway in.
 
You must log in or register to reply here.

Similar threads

stonebuster
  • Locked
Speer 38spl 158 grain JSP data
2
Replies
29
Views
1K
joneb
joneb
A
  • Locked
.357 and 38spl..crimps
Replies
1
Views
432
ADAMH
A
MoreIsLess
  • Locked
.38 spl Wadcutters
Replies
12
Views
2K
918v
9
chhodge69
  • Locked
looking for 38 special +P load data
Replies
4
Views
576
Hondo 60
Hondo 60
Dudemeister
  • Locked
.32 S&W (short) & .38 S&W (Short)
Replies
15
Views
2K
LAGS
L
Back
Top