Cut .357 to Short Colt length?

[t0066jh]

I can't seem to find enough Remington 38 short colt brass. Starline is pricey and I'd need new moon clips. I'd sure like to find a way to trim .357s down to Short Cot length. LE Wilson has a case trimmer that people rave about. Is that the way to go or is there a better alternative.

Thanks

Joe

 

[Old Fuff]

Take a case, measure the correct length, and cut it off with a tubing cutter.

Deburr the inside and measure the inside diameter. I think you will find that at the shorter length the wall thickness is too thick, and seating a bullet would bulge it. You could inside neck ream, but now this project would be getting into a lot of work. Check it out before you invest in any tooling.

 

[loadedround]

Just a thought, wouldn't it be easier and cheaper with 38 Special cases than 357 Mag cases?. The case web may not be as thick, just thinking out loud, never attempted to measure either.

 

[t0066jh]

38's or 357's

I was asking about 357 since a, I've got a lot and b. I saw a thread in the Brian Enos forum where a guy used .357. Can't get a reply from him.

I'm willing to experiment but was wondering of the LE Wilson trimmer was a good tool to use. It's a trimmer.......on sale at Midway with a lot of positive feedback on quality etc. Are trimmer's just intended to remove a minimal amount or can they be used for trimming a lot more?

Thanks
Joe

 

[Old Fuff]

I should have been more clear about the tubing cutter.

The purpose here was to make a sample to check case wall thickness. If you do it on a production basis it will work, but be slow, and after they are rough-cut with the cutter they need to be brought to the correct length using a regular case trimmer. As I mentioned before you can neck ream, and would probably have to. While all of this would involve extensive work, the cases themselves would likely last forever - or nearly so.

 

[Walkalong]

This pic may or may not help.

 

[rcmodel]

Making .38 Short Colt out of .357 Mag?
There is big differance.
.754" vis 1.290"

That will take an awful lot of cranking with a L.E. Wilson, or any other manually operated case trimmer.

An RCBS trim die would speed things up, but they ain't cheap!

rc

 

[Randy1911]

Walkalong

In your picture it looks like a chrono chart you are using. Where did you get those? That looks like the type of chart I have been looking for.

 

[Walkalong]

It's nothing special. I did it in Excel. They are very handy at the range to log data and notes. I attached one in a zip file. Windows can unzip it for you. I cut the page in half, trim one edge, and use a small clip board to hold them. I just throw that in my range bag.

 

[dirtman]

Walkalong... thats a nice Excel file... I am sure lots of guys will copy it..
good work....

 

[t0066jh]

With all due respect, is this what is called "Hijacking a thread"

just curious.

 

[t0066jh]

"Making .38 Short Colt out of .357 Mag?
There is big differance.
.754" vis 1.290"

That will take an awful lot of cranking with a L.E. Wilson, or any other manually operated case trimmer.

An RCBS trim die would speed things up, but they ain't cheap!"


It looks like this would become a nightmare of a project. Looks like Starline and new moon clips although expensive is the best alternative....Unless someone else has a magic formula.

 

[Walkalong]

With all due respect, is this what is called "Hijacking a thread"

just curious.

Nah, More like a thread veer.

Hacksaw and a trimmer is my vote. Better?

 

[Walkalong]

Actually

I think I would cut it off close with a small tubing cutter such as this Imperial "IMP", then trim it to length, then ream if needed. Try one to see if it will require reaming, then go from there.

 

[bullseye308]

This may or may not help, but if you are gonna cut down a bunch of cases, I would like to trade you 38's for your 357's to save you some work. If I had a power trimmer attachment for mine, I would even trim them for you.

 

[z28orshoot]

have a lathe?

 

[bullseye308]

Would 38S&W blank brass work? Fellas are using it to power 37mm launchers and they have it. http://www.okiebigbores.com/ click on the 37mm link on the left side.

 

[t0066jh]

38 s&w

That sounds logical but here's what I found on an earlier thread.

4v50 Gary
September 15th, 2003, 06:05 PM
You know, that shorty bullet that you can cut down a 38 Special to fit into. Was told at a gunshop today that it was all the rage back in the early days before the 38 Special came out. Hmmmm?

Anyway, I bought about 6 boxes of 38 Special (reloads @ $5.95 a box of 50) that was marketed by a gunstore that closed over 15 years ago. Ammo is in excellent condition and I plan to shoot it from my Diamondback.

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Old Fuff
September 15th, 2003, 06:52 PM
I trust you’re not serious …..

The .38 S&W is both shorter then a .38 Special and slightly larger in diameter. You could cut down .38 Special cases but they’d likely split if you shot them in a .38 S&W chamber. Thirty-eight S&W bores are .360 as opposed to the Special’s at .356-.358.

You can shoot .38 Short Colt and .38 Long Colt in a .38 Special, but the .38 S&W only interchanges with the .38 Colt New Police, which no one has manufactured in decades.

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[Remo-99]

You could cut down .38 Special cases but they’d likely split if you shot them in a .38 S&W chamber.

Also the 38spl/357mag may have thicker case walls near the base, which would result in less case volume than a 38s&w case, it would not take much difference to influence pressures in such a small capacity case and most loading data for 38s&w would be over max pressures for it.
Light loadings maybe Ok though.

And 38spl/357mag's appear to have a slightly thicker rim, which may or may not cause an issue.

 

[t0066jh]

Thanks for all of the reply

Thanks for all the efforts to try and find a solution. I figured that unless I wanted to buy a high end cutter, trimmer, etc. I'd be better to suck it up and order the Starline brass.......will try them out in the moons I've got or suck it up and order the Hearthco cut for Starline.

Thanks again

Joe