salvaging ammo- turning 9mm into 38 spec?

[Blade&Bullet94]

i had a curiosity. since 9mm and 38 spec are the same caliber, would it possible to take a 9mm, use a bullet puller to pull out the bullet, empty the powder into a dish, and deprime the live primer, and use the materials to reload a 38 spec? as i said im mostly just curious, since this probley isnt a practical source of ammunition, butto a prepper or survivalist it might be useful.

 

[JLDickmon]

that's just it.. they're not the same.
nothing interchanges between the two but the primer size

bullet diameters are
.355 for the 9MM
.357 for the .38

 

[imaybail]

9mm vs .38 Spl.

9mm bullets are .355 vs. 38 special bullets which are .357 or .358.

 

[beatledog7]

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.

 

[PapaG]

But it could work...which is what the OP asked. Supervel used slightly undersized, ultralight bullets in their high velocity ammo...and I just miked a 38 spec from some old stock and it was .356, only .001 different.
might not be accurate but it might be a lifesaver.

Here again, I got drawn into a not likely scenario.

 

[JLDickmon]

he asked specifically about a prep or survival situation..
in which case the smart feller would have cubbyholed a nice cache of them years previous...

 

[Tomcat47]

De-priming live primers.....

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

 

[beatledog7]

De-priming live primers

All the time. You just have to be slow and smooth.

 

[GLOOB]

Yeah, sure. There have been a number of revolvers made that can shoot both 9mm and 38 special. Even one that didn't require a cylinder swap. Accuracy generally suffers, though. Lots of reloader have shot 38 bullets through a 9mm, as well, with proper adjustment of charge.

Practical? No. But I expect some dude has loaded a 12 gauge with gravel, before, just for the heck of it.

 

[Blade&Bullet94]

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?

 

[beatledog7]

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?

Whether they work depends on where in the manufacturer's organization you sit. If you're in marketing or accounting, they work great. If you're in engineering, not so much.

 

[rcmodel]

Nothing at all wrong with de-priming live primers.
Unless the cheap 9mm is Berdan primed, which you can't de-prime.

Otherwise it is perfectly safe, and done all the time by experienced reloaders.

I agree it would be possible to make .38 Spl loads out of pulled 9mm, if you just had too.

But the result would not be ideal in a .38 Spl.
The recycled primer would work just fine.
As would most 9mm powder charges dumped straight into a .38 Spl case with the same 9mm bullet weight & size used in it.

But why not just keep a 9mm pistol around if you have all that extra 9mm ammo to fool around with?

If you're in engineering, not so much.

9mm/.357 convertables work just fine.
As do .45 Colt. .45 ACP convertables.

A 9mm fired in a 9mm chambered cylinder runs 35,000 PSI pressure.
Kicking a .002" undersize bullet in the butt with that much pressure upsets or swells it to fit the .357 bore.

A .38 Spl. however, is running less then half that much pressure, and hitting a Jacketed 9mm bullet in the butt with half a kick won't make it much bigger, if any.

.45 Colt, and .45 ACP use the same .452" size bullets to start with.

rc

 

[beatledog7]

rc is right as usual.

Thing is, in a real, no kidding survival situation it'd probably be easier to find a 9mm platform lying around than a .38SPL platform.

 

[Blade&Bullet94]

as i said, this is mostly a curiosity, in current times there isnt much point to it i know. i just thought i might ask about it befor i tried it, for the sake of satisfying my curiosity. im asking about the validity of turning 9mm to 38, not why i would have to.

 

[rcmodel]

Zactly.
Cops, solders, and 3/4'ths of the worlds new handgun owners are gonna be dropping 9mm pistol's like flys in the situation you worry about.

.38 Spls?
Not so many laying around in the aftermath, I betcha.

And usable 9mm ammo would be better trading stock in a survival situation then cobbled together .38's, I betcha that too!

You are gonna need water, food, heat, and toilet paper much worse then .38 Spl ammo!
I betcha that three!

rc

 

[oldgold]

Once upon a time, I had several thousand 9mm FMJ bullets and wanted to load .38s.

Out of a GP-100 accuracy was lousy. The Python I had shot good groups.
I suspect the Python barrel is a little tighter.

As far as decapping live primers, in fifty years of reloading I've decapped more live primers than most guys on here have loaded. Never had one go off.

 

[highlander 5]

I wouldn't use a powder I can't identify that came from breaking down ammo. The charge would be too light,it might launch the bullet out the barrel. Then again a stuck bullet in the barrel is the most likely scenario. Re use the primer and the bullet throw the powder on your plants or lawn,it makes great fertilizer.

 

[rcmodel]

I never thought about it before?

But I would argue that a typical 9mm powder charge, dumped straight into a .38 Spl case, and capped with a typical 9mm bullet, would be very close to a typical .38 Special standard pressure load.

At most, a low end .38 +P.
But certainly not a squib, stuck bullet, or over-pressure event.

rc

 

[Blade&Bullet94]

one problem with that highlander, i live in a household of smokers.... i would rather not burn the block down. XD

 

[Blade&Bullet94]

well i guess the only way to put this to bed is to try it out.i need to get a bullet puller anyway, and im going to see if my boss (i work at the local gunshop) can tell me the bore of my revolver, iv heard several peopel say Llama commanche 2s are pretty accurate, so maybe its got a tighter barrel and itll work. when get everything ready, ill head to the range and record it, and post a link to my video on this thread.

 

[rcmodel]

Put it to bed?
I didn't even know it woke up yet!!

Your boss will probably tell you your Llama .38 Special should have a .357" bore, unless it is oversize and .358 or .359".

At any rate, it will not be .355", 9mm.

i would rather not burn the block down.

There would be at most about 1/8 pound of powder in 250 rounds of 9mm surplus.

That, strewn across the yard, would not burn your granny's panties off if she lit a giant Cheech & Chong joint and dropped it in the grass by accident.

rc

 

[kingmt]

My last 125gn 9mm bullets are .3565" & they shoot great. My last box of 158gn 38 cal are .3560" & they shoot great.

If you found a stash that was 147gn I bet they would shoot great in your 38.

More then likely what you will find is 115gn & they don't even shoot good in most 9mm. In the end a cartridge in your gun is better then a empty gun & if your quicker then the guy holding the 9mm then the problem is fixed.

 

[kingmt]

I never thought about it before?

But I would argue that a typical 9mm powder charge, dumped straight into a .38 Spl case, and capped with a typical 9mm bullet, would be very close to a typical .38 Special standard pressure load.

At most, a low end .38 +P.
But certainly not a squib, stuck bullet, or over-pressure event.

rc

I just checked the data & it is +P.

 

[Blade&Bullet94]

well, i dont know if the commanche 2 is +P rated or nto... its pretty hefty and solid, but still, im not positive, havent been able to find any info. also, the similer side to this would be 45lc and 45 acp.

*EDIT* alright i just found something saying that the comanche 2 had rubber grips and the martial had wood, mine has wood but when i search comanche 2 i see ones with would grips x.x

 

[rcmodel]

But, if you are making .38 ammo out of 9mm ammo in a SHTF situation anyway?

Who gives a damn if it is standard pressure, +P pressure, +P+ pressure, or low end .357 pressure?

As long as it makes a loud noise and hurts the other guy worse then it hurts you, who cares??

Maybe the other guy has a SIG 226 or Glock 19 and you can get clear away from this crappy .38 ammo you are trying to make?

I must have missed this Train (of thought) or Line of (reasoning) back there somewhere?

rc