salvaging ammo- turning 9mm into 38 spec?

[JRH6856]

FWIW, According to QuickLoad, a 124gn .355 FMJ over 5.2gr of Unique produces 30,600psi in 9mm. Same components in a .38 Spcl produces 12,700 psi.

 

[Hondo 60]

but i dont understand, ive seen revolvers that come with interchangable cylinders for 9mm and 357-38, or 45 colt/45acp. how do those work if the bullets arnt the same size?

While it will fire, just don't expect super accuracy.
Modern 45 Colt & 45 ACP are the exact same size, not so with 9mm & 38/357
(there are some older 45 Colt revolvers that slug to .454, whereas the modern ones are .451/.452)

There are also 22lr conversions for the AR-15.
Yes, it'll fit, but the accuracy suffers, sometimes greatly.

 

[Blade&Bullet94]

i dont have much of a train of thought or reason with these things. i mostly ask questions like this to learn from people who know more and to fill my own stockpile of knowledge. if looking at it from a SHTF scenario, im not saying this would be something to do alot, im more talking about a one time scrape some ammo together till you get something decent.

 

[helotaxi]

I just checked the data & it is +P.

Is that accounting for the lower pressure from the undersized bullet?

 

[kingmt]

I didn't think to look to see if the size of the bullet was listed. I assume that if the data was listed for a 115gn bullet it was a .355 or .356"

 

[RustyFN]

I could be wrong but I would be more afraid of bullet set back or bullet jump with the lack of case tension on the bullet. I'm not much of a revolver shooter. What do you all think?

 

[Blade&Bullet94]

can always crimp the case a little on the bullet.

 

[LightningMan]

I've used bullets that were intended for 44-40 (.427 dia ) caliber in .44 special ( .429 ) ammunition, and at 10 yards couldn't tell the difference in accuracy. Maybe further out you would , but not for what I was using them for. LM

 

[Fishslayer]

De-priming live primers.....

You go first!.....wait need anything from the store?....

No problem. Do it all the time. I do need a jar of sourkraut tho...

 

[chrisf8657]

Also remember that the case is much shorter than a real 38 SPL.
Who knows what kind of issues that could cause...

 

[918v]

A jacketed 9mm bullet is .355" but a .38SPL is .357"

A 9mm bullet might fire in a .38SPL case, but it would be lose in the .38SPL brass and would not be accurate as it would not be spun properly by the larger bore.

Many 9mm pistols have .357-8" bores: Beretta, Sig, etc. Some manufacturers use .357" barrels because the have proven to be more accurate for some unknown voodoo reason.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

I could be wrong but I would be more afraid of bullet set back or bullet jump with the lack of case tension on the bullet. I'm not much of a revolver shooter. What do you all think?

In this case a Lee Factory Crimp Die will be very useful. It will create it's own cannelure on a jacketed bullet and prevent bullet jump.

 

[918v]

That cannelure will not prevent bullet jump. A loose 9mm bullet in a 38 case will jump under recoil no matter how much you molest the case mouth.

One way to incerese case tension is to skip the case mouth expanding step.

 

[Blade&Bullet94]

or a little locktight, roflmao. the other thing iv seen occasionally, is there will be a crimp further down the cases, at the base edge of the bullet (got some norma 45 acps that have a nearly hourglass figure lol)

 

[ArchAngelCD]

That cannelure will not prevent bullet jump. A loose 9mm bullet in a 38 case will jump under recoil no matter how much you molest the case mouth.

One way to incerese case tension is to skip the case mouth expanding step.

A LEE FCD will help, I'm sure of it...

Of course if your brass isn't sized correctly or the bullets are even smaller than .355" not much will help you then but under more "normal" circumstances the FCD will do just fine.

 

[918v]

Don't laugh... locktite or shellac will increase bullet pull.

 

[918v]

A LEE FCD will help, I'm sure of it...

It will not.

I've done tests.

Crimp does nothing for bullet pull if you don't have any to begin with.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

Whatever...

 

[918v]

At least you didn't call me a racist. Thanks.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

At least you didn't call me a racist. Thanks.

 

[Blade&Bullet94]

Busted

alright, im abandoning this project. i got a bullet puller today, pulled the bullet from a 9mm, dumped the powder, deprimed it, primed a 38 case, pours in the powder, seated the bullet and used the lee crimp die. rolled the crimp in till it cut into the bullet, and i could STILL twist the bullet around. i took out the seating rod, pushed the round further into the crimp bit, and it just did NOT look safe, so i pulled it and tossed the slug into my scrap box. what i am considering however, is if i use a normal 38 JHP (at a later date ill get a mold for cast bullets), can the powder and primer be used SAFELY to reload the 38?since 38 opperates at about half the pressure as a 9mm, should the same powder charge be ok for the 38?

 

[adobewalls]

Many moons ago when I tried a bunch of 9mm to find out what the Browning liked, I was left with a bunch of 9mm Speer 125 gr. JSP that just would not feed.

I loaded them using W231 into .357 cases and shot them out of a S&W and got great accuracy.

Now my .357 sizing die reduces the case diameter a bit, and I used the 9mm expander to open up the cases, so I had no problems seating the bullets and the bullets staying put.

 

[beatledog7]

I was gonna propose "sizing" the .38SPL case with a 9mm die, not all the way but enough to compress the neck.

 

[FROGO207]

I once had a batch of 357 SIG rounds that were water damaged given to me. I put those pulled bullets into 9MM cases and they all worked great FYI. Scrapped the cases/primer/propellant however.

 

[kingmt]

You need to resize the case before seating the bullet. The bullets for a 38 are usally the same size as 9mm in the brands that I buy. Last box of 158gn XTP measure .3545 my last bag of FMJ 9mm 125gn measure .3565.