Making .38S&W from scratch...

[RevolvingGarbage]

So, since I got an 1890's Iver Johnson breaktop in .38S&W, ive been on a quest to make proper loads for it. My problem has been that I don't have much money to buy all the proper components to load "correct" .38S&W ammo. What I do have is the correct brass, .356 115gr RNL bullets, and 9x19mm dies.

After a lot of reading, I assembled a few loads using those components, and a case full of Pyrodex FFG, compressed 1/16th inch or so. My final loaded dimensions show the round is just .010" smaller in the case diameter than the .38S&W nominal dimensions in my manual.

Using an undersize bullet, im guessing my accuracy will not be great, and my velocity might be lower than normal. Also with no lubed wad, I expect to have a decent amount of cleanup. Is there any other problems I may encounter?

 

[zimmerstutzen]

Use soft lead bullets. Look for an old Ideal reloading tool on one of the auction sites. They come up frequently, often include a mould as part of the tool and work great. My daughter uses one in 38 S&W to load 38 Spl's. I believe I saw one last week go for about $27 plus shipping on fleabay.

 

[mainmech48]

My first personally-owned CF revolver was an old Webley in .380/200 (basically, a .38 S&W with a much heavier slug). I used a Lyman 310 "nutcracker" tool to make my reloads until I could afford a better set-up.

Until I started casting, about the only readily available cast/swaged lead bullets that I could get groups (rather than patterns) with were the HBWCs intended for .38 Spl. bullseye loads. When seated-out to get the proper OAL for .38 S&W they looked kinda weird, but at least they'd hit somewhere close to where you were aiming consistently.

You might want to check on the Cowboy Costume Show sites for leads on sources for the proper 0.364" (nom.) cast bullets. I understand that the cartridge enjoys some limited popularity in their game at the moment. Since it requires a good deal of investment to start casting your own, it could be worth your while to see what a couple of hundred of those would run. Dies shouldn't be much of a problem, nor overly costly if you shop brands and sources.

Hope this is of some help.

 

[RevolvingGarbage]

doublepost!

 

[RevolvingGarbage]

Well I fired my out-of-spec rounds today, and to my surprise they were not only quite consistant as far as POI, but had a nice thump to them as well! The range wasnt great, maybe 15 feet, but between me and my grandfather, we managed to put 3 out of 5 rounds fired in the same ragged hole!

I think next I want to try a MBC .361 146gr LRN with a full charge of pyro to try and make some semblance of a decent SD load for the gun.

 

[BCRider]

Something I've thought of doing to adapt .357 bullets to better suit a .38S&W is to make up a press die that lets me squish a regular .357 bullet down slightly in length and let it swage out to fit a .361 outer form. And it's not 10 thou, it's only 4 thou. So the idea of swaging out a cast lead .357 is very doable since lead is so maliable.

You'd want to do this with either 158 gn or 180 gn bullets since those are the two weights which are common to .357 and .38S&W.

Of course this sort of tooling would need to be custom made to suit some sort of arbor press. But with a bit of checking around you should be able to find a home shop machinist who would like such a challenge and would charge an agreeable price. Or perhaps they'd trade the making of the die and ram for a day or two at the range with you.

 

[rondog]

You'd want to do this with either 158 gn or 180 gn bullets since those are the two weights which are common to .357 and .38S&W.

You're not thinking of .38 Special are you? .38S&W is a little bitty thing, IIRC. They don't use bullets that heavy, do they?

 

[Jaymo]

9mm Makarov bullets are between .363 and .365 diameter. You can get a round nosed mold from Lee. It's a 2 cavity mold. The round nose is nice and wide/blunt.

 

[56hawk]

You're not thinking of .38 Special are you? .38S&W is a little bitty thing, IIRC. They don't use bullets that heavy, do they?

Actually the standard British load for the 38 S&W was 200 grains.

 

[BCRider]

Exactly. The 158's out of the non Special S&W is considered a light bullet. The idea was to go heavy and slow I guess. And they certainly got the "slow" part down pat...

Excellent info about the Mak bullets. Cast those up then run 'em through a lubrisizer to pinch then down to the .361 and they'd be gold!

I still like the idea of "squashing" .357 cast lead bullets to a shorter and fatter size to suit since they are available to those that don't want to get into casting. Of course either way one still needs some extra tools.

 

[Jaymo]

I bought a couple of swaging dies from Hawk Bullets off Ebay a few years ago. They are designed to be used in a reloading press, instead of a special swaging press. I got one in .430 and one in .452. Now, I wish I'd bought one in .457.

 

[RevolvingGarbage]

And it's not 10 thou, it's only 4 thou.

If you look, I actually said my case diameter was .010 more than nominal (according to my lyman manual), not bullet diameter.