Why trim this case

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nswtex

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I'll let you know ;)
Ok I don't have a pic of it handy but I can grab one, not much to see really.

I am new to the whole 'roll your own' thing and I am stocking some components. I recently received an order from Graf and Sons of several items including some once fired brass. The order was for a semi-auto pistol caliber, however I found two .38 Special cases in the bag.

The question comes from the cases that are essentially useless to me. One of the two .38 Special cases had been, what appeared to be, trimmed down to a similar length as one that would be intended for a semi-auto.

Is there a reason to do this? Was this case being used in a 9mm or .40 s&w? Or what? I guess it doesn't apply to anything I am doing but little things get me to thinking and they won't go away until I know why. Help.
 
"Was this (.38 Sprcial) case being used in a 9mm or .40 s&w?"

No.

"... little things get me to thinking and they won't go away until I know why."

You may never sleep again.
 
Does the case say ".38 Special" or "38 SPCL", or does it say ".38 S&W"?

If it is indeed a shortened ".38 special/spcl" case, then it probably was cut to .38 S&W length...Not the 'correct' diameter, but I have seen people do it and get quite a few loadings out of the cases with .358 bullets and a couple of grains of Red Dot...

Is the case .775 inches or thereabouts?
 
^^^ pretty on the money. I would think that the automatic brass sorter used was going by case length and any odd stuff got put into the bin that was closest in length. You could drop them a note if the amount of brass made you short on the advertised total but I generally don't bother unless I get a really bad pile or there are 10%+ wrong size included and I have no use for the mistakes.
 
The order included 1000 .40 s&w once fired brass and the two mis-sorts was not something I hadn't expected from sorting devices.

The only reason I would seek damages from Graf and Sons is for my time lost sitting in my living room staring at this little anomaly lol.

I haven't been around long enough to be able to figure out these mysteries on my own.

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Seek damages? You are kidding, right?

When one buys fired brass, one always takes a chance that there will be the oddball case in the lot. He also risks (unless he buys from known sources) that some of the brass (if not all) has been fired many more times than advertised and may be nearing failure.

The handloader must always be diligent in using fired brass. Case prep is supposed to include inspection to weed out problem brass, and in your instance, it did. So, problem averted.
 
Just looking at the bottom pic, I would think the right one is a .38 S&W, and the left one is a .38 S&W Special, but both are clearly marked Spl, for .38 S&W Special.

Strange, but I doubt Graf & Sons is liable for you staring into the abyss. :)
 
I was 110% joking about it being an issue.

I sort and inspect absolutely everything and anything I had to 'order in' that I did not have a chance to fondle before purchasing.

I just was unfamiliar with this case.
 
I do that with my 38 SPL cases that have dinged/split mouths to get another use or two out of them in my 38 S&W revolvers. It does work OK but using the 357 Brass does not as the case walls are too thick that low down and IMHO it is not worth turning the things to the correct wall thickness at all.
 
I believe the CBC on that case stands for Companhia Brasileira de Cartuchos and it is made in Brazil. Imported/made by Magtech.
The C after 38SPL probably stands for some sort of special purpose case, but exactly what I’m not sure. But I don’t think it was trimmed down.
 
That is odd.

I was going to say it looks like what was supposed to be a .38 Special case and was a mistake at the factory. The link showing the 'short' rounds is interesting.

Several years ago I cut down fifteen or twenty .38 Spl cases for use in a 2" Chief Special revolver. I cut the cases short enough so the little short extractor rod would push them all the way out of the cylinder.

So, that of course changes the internal chamber volume, which changes the burning curve of the powder charge (any powder) so I had to start from a little load and work up... I finally developed some loads.

It was a pain in the neck. In the final analysis, not worth the effort.

Now I see I should have patented the idea. Well, to be honest, I borrowed the idea from another shooting buddy; he got the idea from shooting 9x19 ammunition from a Ruger Blackhawk with interchangeable cylinders, .357 Magnum and 9x19.

I guess there's very little original, huh?
 
Well I am certainly glad I wasn't the only one who found it to be different.

I think I shall keep it and name it. Perhaps I will take it out from time to time to hold it while I am pondering something.

Thanks for the links...
 
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