Another weird idea...

[Michael Tinker Pearce]

...and further proof that I should not be left unsupervised.

So, wadcutters are often a recommended choice for a low-recoil defensive load in .38 Special snub-nosed revolvers. These loads are identical payload, velocity and pressure to a .38 S&W cartridge. In fact I plan to load 148g. HBWCs in .38 S&W. Today it occurred to me that I have some lovely .357 rifled-barrel liner. I could reline the barrel of a quality .38 S&W, bore the chambers for .38 Special and make the gun into a .38 Special Wadcutter Only gun. Why bother? I'm almost sure I could think of a good reason if I try hard enough...

The chambers are slightly larger in diameter (about .003") than .38 Special but that doesn't worry me; a lot of new .38 S&W ammo is factory-loaded in shortened .38 Special brass and it works just fine. And of course any .38 Special other than wadcutters will protrude from the front of the chamber, so there's little danger of over-loading it.

There's no good reason to do this except that I could buy cheap factory ammo... but I'm very shortly going to be set up to load .38 S&W anyway. Still, the idea keeps niggling at me...

 

[Dog Soldier]

Just seat a Hollow Base wad cutter backwards in the case. Run it at 800 fps. It will provide a low recoil but deadly load.

 

[entropy]

HBWC's might be too long, you might be better off sticking to DEWC's. The brass will not last as long, they will eventually split at the base. Instead of rechambering a .38 S&W cylinder, you could get a gun that was made in both .38 S&W and .38 Spl., and install a .38 Spl. cylinder. It'd be much easier to do than rechambering a 38 S&W cylinder.

Read Massad Ayoob's works on using handloaded ammo for defensive rounds. It may save you a bunch of time better spent on, for instance. a nice bardiche.......

And yes, perhaps you should not be left alone with your thoughts.....

 

[Michael Tinker Pearce]

I'm really just kicking around an idea because I have gotten into hobby-gunsmithing. What I was really wondering was if someone might come up with a legitimate reason why this should not be done.

I'm familiar with Massad Ayoob's writing on using hand loaded ammunition for self-defense. On the other hand we are talking about the ability to use factory-loaded target ammunition, not hand-loads. If the goal was a .38 Snubby to use wadcutters any .38 would do. In this case however the goal might be to convert a .38 S&W revolver that my wife already has and loves to use readily available factory ammunition that is possibly more effective than .38 S&W RNL. Yes, I could reload 148 HBWC in .38 S&W, and it will work just fine... but that would be using a hand-load for self-defense.

She is enamored of the .38 S&W partly because she is recoil-sensitive due to an old wrist injury, Since the gun we're talking about is a S&W Top-break the power of the ammunition used is pretty limited; we're probably looking at about 148 gr. bullet at 575-650fps so expanding ammunition really isn't an option; at that speed any bullet that expands won't penetrate deeply enough for reliable stopping.

As to my time being better spent making blades, I think that after spending most of my adult life working my butt off I'm entitled to spend my off-hours on a hobby if I want to.

 

[entropy]

Ah, this make more sense with an intended purpose in mind. I shouldn't be surprised you've read Ayoob, I guess my remark there kind of bounced off DS's post. It would be a lot of work to build this, but it would be a labor of love.
As for the comment about the bardiche-hey man, what can I say: I like your blades! Of course you can spend some time on your hobby; I highly encourage you to do so. Be sure to post the results on THR!