Reloading Dies for .38 S& W?

[Oyeboten]

I have a 'Dillon' Press, a 'Square Deal' Model I bought new in the 1980s.

Called them today, and they do not offer re-loading Dies for .38 S & W.


Any ideas on where I should look?


Should I just find a decent used 'RCBS' Press for this? Pretty sure 'RCBS' offers the right Dies...


If anyone is re-loading .38 S & W, what equipment do you use?


Probably there are old 'Lee' Hand Loading Die kits out there too, now that I think of it...


Phil
l v

 

[Husker_Fan]

I'll be interested in responses. Would it be possible to use .38 spl dies? You might not be able to flare or crimp well because the dies will be too long, but I wouldn't think a lack of crimp would be a huge problem with light loads.

Bullet seating might be tough without flaring the case, but there are hand tools that could work for that if you absolutly had to. It would be tedious.

 

[rcmodel]

Nope!
.38 S&W cases are .386" around.
.38 Special is .379".


I know little about Dillon dies or presses, but I believe any 7/8" - 14 die set could be used in a pinch.

The major difference would be the lack of the large "flare" on the bottom of the dies that line up the cases, and the decapper being in the wrong die?.

Still, I would think you could load a limited amount of .38 S&W with anybodies die set.
maybe just not as fast & smoothly?

But I'm just guessing?

rc

 

[Ol` Joe]

How many do you plan on loading at a time?
Midway offers dies from RCBS, Hornady, and Redding for the 38 S&W. A small single stage press would work fine for loading it if speed is not a factor.

 

[fourdollarbill]

I load about 500 38SW a year and I have been using the Lee $25 carbide die set and they work well. The Seater/Crimp die is really impressive.

 

[Walkalong]

I bought the Lee dies for .38 S&W, because everyone else was too proud of theirs. They work just fine. And yes, they have to be .38 S&W, not Spl.

I was thinking the square deal used proprietary dies, but I could be wrong. The Dillon folks will let us know.

 

[Oyeboten]

I'm a little confused or unfamiliar about who's Dies would work in who's Press.


But, I am brooding on how maybe I could modify a 'Dillon' Shell-Holder intended for .38 Special, for it to grip the wider base of .38 S & W...and, to see who's Dies proper, could be fitted to the 'Dillon' Press which I have.


I do not expect to be doing a huge amount of reloading of .38 S & W, but, if I had say, 500 rounds of Brass, I'd load 'em! And box them up neatly, and be shooting it more!


It'll be a few weeks before I dig the Press out...and then I can better study the configuration of the Dies I have, in order to try and figure out other-make Dies which maybe could be fitted.


Even an old Field type Hand-reloading kit would be fine with me...I would not mind it being 'slower'...

The biggest consideration probably, is being able to do a good Bullet-Seat-depth, and, a good crimp...the rest, can be improvised well enough...re-sizing is not likely to be a critical issue here...de-priming is easily done by hand...etc...I suppose I could make a Seating and and Crimping Die fitted to a Drill-Press, and set the depth...that way.


Brooding...



Phil
l v

 

[Landric]

The Square Deal uses its own dies that don't work with other presses, and other dies don't work with the Square Deal. You will need a new press of some kind.

Lee makes dies for .38 S&W, and they are fine (I have Lee dies for .32 S&W and they work very well). If the only task you are going to do on the new press is load .38S&W, then the Lee Reloader press would probably be fine. Its generally about $25 new, and Graf's has it in stock with Lee's Manual included for about $31, not a bad deal at all.

The Lee Classic Loader (Whack-A-Mole system) isn't currently offered in .38 S&W, though it may have been in the past. If so, that would be a fine (if slow) option.

 

[Oyeboten]

Done some internet looking...I like the Lee Single Stage Press having the Wood Ball Arm...if that Model can accept Lee's .38 S & W Dies, I'd go for the gusto.


Darn...I used to see these, and old Lee and RCBS Presses all the time, with whatever dies and other stuff, at Flea Markets, yard sales...usually very 'reasonable'...Lol...shoulda got one then!!


Phil
l v

 

[Landric]

Kempf's has both the Lee Reloader Press and the .38 S&W die set in stock, and they are great to deal with.

Lee Carbide Dies ($27.95):

https://kempfgunshop.com//index.php...facturer_id=0&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=41

Lee Reloader Press ($24.95):

https://kempfgunshop.com//index.php...facturer_id=0&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=41

If you don't have a hand primer or some other way to prime, you might also consider:

Lee Auto Prime ($14.95):

https://kempfgunshop.com//index.php...facturer_id=0&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=41

Auto Prime shell holder ($2.98):

https://kempfgunshop.com//index.php...facturer_id=0&option=com_virtuemart&Itemid=41

So, for a little over $70 you can get everything above and be set to load .38 S&W, provided you have components.

 

[Oyeboten]

Thank you Landric..!


Located all the new-unfired-unprimed Winchester Brass I could ever want...


So...so far...so good...


Phil
l v

 

[Japle]

You can use a carbide .38 Super die for sizing. Any .38 Special expander die will work and you can seat and taper crimp (I don't suppose you want to load hot enough to require a heavy roll crimp) with a 9mm seater.

 

[Johnny Guest]

Makeshift .38 S&W loading

Thirty or so years back, I loaded quite a bit of .38 S&W ammo in a "field expedient" fashion. I think I was using an old CH press at that time, but I continued later on an RCBS press. I sized with my old Lyman .38Spl/357 carbide die. I just screwed the .38 spl expander stem down a bit farther to flare case necks. I seated and crimped in two separate operations, seating with a .38 spl die suitably adjusted. I then applied a gentle taper crimp with the first quarter- to 3/8 inch of a 9mm Luger seating die. I was loading for a break top Enfield service revolver, so I was not interested in too hot a load.

I don’t have my notes from back then, but I used a mid-level charge of Unique powder under a home cast .38 LRN bullet from a Lyman 358311 mould. I cast from the softest alloy I had on hand at the time. The .358-diameter bullet obturated well enough to give decent accuracy, even in a later-acquired S&W Hand Ejector with 5-inch barrel.

It should be noted, the .38 Spl die sized the brass too much for the .38 S&W chambers, so case life was short - - probably three or four loadings before I started seeing case cracks. It still beat paying retail for factory ammo. I had the other dies on hand. If I’d been interested in loading ONLY .38 S&W and no prospect of getting a .38 Spl or .357 mag, it would have been better to buy new .38 S&W dies. I’ll note here that it is FAR easier to locate a used set of .38 Spl dies than the S&W cousin.

I later traded for a proper set of RCBS dies for the S&W cartridge. Compared to my makeshift loads, the end product was far nicer. One, I could apply a very good looking roll crimp. Two, sticking with the mid-level power loads, cases sized with the proper dies last almost indefinitely. My brother had a nice little .38 S&W snubby, and my Elder Son’s room mate had a very nice Webley .380/200 police revolver, and both showed excellent accuracy with my hand loads.

 

[Larry Burchfield]

38 s&w

I would suggest that you sell the SDB and buy a 550. The dies for the SDB are caliber specific but the 550 will take regular loading dies 7/8 x 14 and is a lot better loader.
Sometimes you can find used 550's on e-bay. Just type in dillon reloading and it should bring it up.
Larry Burchfield
SEABEES/RVN/67/68/69
DAV

 

[loadedround]

You can not load 38 S&W cases with 38 Special dies unless you want to cause some serious problem with your revolver and your cases. The diameter of the 38 S&W case is .386" and the 38 Special icase s 379". If you attempt to size these case down. they will expand and split in your 38 S&W chamber. I SPEAK FROM EXPERIENCE SINCE I DID THAT! A lot of us STILL remember the old S&W Victory revolvers imported by Hunter's Lodgethat were converted from 38 S&W to 38 Special and what disasters they were. If I were you I would just buy an inexpensive single station press and some Lee dies and be a happy camper.

 

[Walkalong]

A lot of us STILL remember the old S&W Victory revolvers imported by Hunter's Lodgethat were converted from 38 S&W to 38 Special

Mines not, or I would not have it.

loadedround is right, get the right dies....