.38 S&W loads, information and more -- Needed

Jericho

Jericho

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Guys

Got one of those S&W Victory ww2 revolvers on the way and am wondering some recipes for reloading .38S&W as well as what loads would work best in a revolver like that...

Sources for bullets and brass would be great(not a common caliber to find) as well as any particular moulds you guys find that work decent with this revolver. I don't want to actively shoot it, but being able to take it out once in a while and fire some light loads would be nice.
 
Fry said:
Guys

Got one of those S&W Victory ww2 revolvers on the way and am wondering some recipes for reloading .38S&W as well as what loads would work best in a revolver like that...

Sources for bullets and brass would be great(not a common caliber to find) as well as any particular moulds you guys find that work decent with this revolver. I don't want to actively shoot it, but being able to take it out once in a while and fire some light loads would be nice.
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I've been using jacketed .357" bullets, yes they are a little loose but work

But I recently bought a box of 500 hornady .38 cal cast bullets and when I miked them most were in the .358" - 359" range so I'm thinking those will work just fine
 
saskgunowner101 said:
I found out through an unrelated matter with another CGN'er, that Higginson has .38 S & W brass. I've heard Starline?? may have some too. When you get a line on the correct bullets, let me know.:D
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I am waiting to hear back from Higginson... if I can't find a line of bullets, I'll probably order amould and just cast. It's not a round I want to fire a whole lot of in the revolver, but just something to take once or twice a year to the range for a little fun.
 
I use 2.5 grs of hp 38 and a 140 grns hornady cowboy's they .358 they work pretty good! Higgnson usualy carry's bass.Though I already cast shot gun slug's and muzzleloader bullets,so I can see myself casting the proper bullet in the nere future.If memory serves me correct I believe there supost to be .361.
 
Campfireprophet said:
I use 2.5 grs of hp 38 and a 140 grns hornady cowboy's they .358 they work pretty good! Higgnson usualy carry's bass.Though I already cast shot gun slug's and muzzleloader bullets,so I can see myself casting the proper bullet in the nere future.If memory serves me correct I believe there supost to be .361.
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You are correct, the proper diameter is supposed to be .361 but people have reported mediocre success with .357/.358
 
Proper bt wt is 200 gr. Lyman 358430 casts a bullet of this wt with similar profile to service .380" MkI ctg.
 
We have current Winchester factory 38 S&W, nickel case, 145 gr. round nose in stock...$36.00/box of 50. Also I just received a large lot of once fired brass from the estate of an old police armourer and some may include .38 S&W. This has'nt been sorted yet but if I have a chance in the next couple of weeks I will post what I have and the prices. Phil.
 
P of PDent said:
We have current Winchester factory 38 S&W, nickel case, 145 gr. round nose in stock...$36.00/box of 50. Also I just received a large lot of once fired brass from the estate of an old police armourer and some may include .38 S&W. This has'nt been sorted yet but if I have a chance in the next couple of weeks I will post what I have and the prices. Phil.
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Hmmm I can always use another box of those nickel brass :D

thanks Phil
 
Here is the skinny on 38 S&W. The only available correct mold to use with the 38/200 (38 S&W) that is both the correct diameter and the correct bullet weight that will regulate your sights to point of impact is made by NEI 169a. It is a 200 grn .363 bullet.

You can use a .357 size bullet 158 grn and it will go bang when you pull the trigger, at 25 yards you will get a group that will stay on a 8.5 x 11" piece of paper, usually about 6" and be shooting 4-5 inches low. If the bullet is lead you will have a bad case of the leaded bore syndrome, if it is copper coated then not so bad.

You can buy 145 grn loaded bullets, they are a little better as most are sized to .360 but again they are to light and will shoot about 4-5 inches low at 25 yards. Mediocre accuracy.

Most barrels for S&W and Webley/Enfields are .361 and most throat diameters are at least .362 and more often then not are .363, hence the NEI mold.

Now the problem with trying to stuff .363 bullets into a .360 sized case (most die sets resize to .360) is it looks like a snake swallowing a mouse at best and at worst the bullet is squeezed down to about .360-.361 not bad but not great either (leading in the barrel is not your friend). So you buy 9mm Makarov dies to do the resizing (.363) and the bullet seating and then you use the 38 S&W dies to crimp(not really needed).

So realizing the dilemma I was in and wanting the most accuracy out of these fun little revolvers I special ordered from Lee a couple of 6 cavity molds. One I had made for the S&W version with the correct 200 grn and .363 size bullet with the round nose, and the other one I had made was for my Webley/Enfield revolvers at 200 grn .363 but with a flat nose so I could use the bullets in a lever action .357 mag rifle I own if I wanted. The S&W revolvers have a slightly longer cylinder and will allow a longer bullet. If I want the look of the round nose in the Enfield revolvers then I just seat the bullet a bit father into the case and just put a slight crimp above the crimp groove(really don't need to crimp for this light round). I get the best of both worlds.

The flat nose bullets in the Webley will hit on target at exactly where I am aiming and I can get 2" groups at 25 yards off the sandbags all day with no leading at all. People are totally amazed when they see this little revolver keep up with there new 686's.

I have a bunch of the 145 grain 38 S&W boxes that I got from a widow that I use for mainly the brass. If you want some I will let them go for 15 bucks a box plus shipping. I have hundreds of rounds of brass (they last forever) so I really don't need the loaded ammo.
 
I use a LEE 148 gr SWC. mold that drops the slugs at .361. I do not run them through a sizer and use that LEE liquid alox goo for lube. Flare case mouth add a dose of HP38 and all is well.
 
Muzzleflash,

How decent is the accuracy in that load? I called Higginson for the mould and they said the 148 lee SWC casted a .358 bullet... I'm looking for .360-.361
 
Higginson is correct. Lee states this mold will drop a bullet of .358. But with wheel weight or harder lead most mold's will often drop out slugs slightley larger usually no more than a couple of thou. This is one of the reasons there are sizing dies. Accuracy is very good with this victory model. I did find that light loads would print groups a couple of inches low (20 yards) on target. I started raising powder charge until I had groups centered in target while still being under max. recommended load for the powder/bullet combo. A friend is shooting a victory and a webley usuing a lyman rnd. nose bullet at .358 dia. and does quite well. We both tried a wadcutter bullet which was a complete failure. I find This is a easy cartridge to reload for. ENJOY!
 
Usually to raise point of impact you either have to increase the bullet weight or decrease the speed, but most of it is how you shoot and not anyone else. Victory models are good and the fatter the bullet the better. If you want to stay with a light bullet that is .358 or even .359 you can always "Beagle" the mold.

Buy some high temp silicone (800 deg F), put a dab on each side of the face of the mold going down so you have a strip of glue so to speak that is about 1/8" wide and goes from the top to the bottom of the mold. Next put a thin strip of aluminum foil the same width along both sides and close the mold on top of the aluminum foil and clamp it in a vise or use a C-clamp to squish the aluminum onto the face of the mold. Do this to both sides so that when you hold the mold up to the light and look thru the top of the empty bullet hole so you can just barely see light coming down thru the nose of the bullet(bottom). One layer of aluminum on each face on both sides of the mold so basically you are gluing two thicknesses of aluminum foil to the mold. So in a nut shell what you are doing is holding the mold slightly apart so that the diameter of the bullet will increase by 2 thou or so.

It kind of sounds more complicated than it is but if all you want to do is bump up the .359 to .361 (which it is supposed to be at min.) then this works great. When you pour the lead it will stay in the mold but once in a while you might have a small whisker on the side of the bullet that you can just remove with your finger nail. If all you want is a plinking load that you shoot once in a blue moon then this is a great alternative and actually you would be amazed at the accuracy you can get.
 
hunter64
Have you had the opportunity to use your new Lee .38/200 mold. Are you having the length problem happy7 speaks of?
 
muzzle flash said:
Higginson is correct. Lee states this mold will drop a bullet of .358. But with wheel weight or harder lead most mold's will often drop out slugs slightley larger usually no more than a couple of thou. This is one of the reasons there are sizing dies. Accuracy is very good with this victory model. I did find that light loads would print groups a couple of inches low (20 yards) on target. I started raising powder charge until I had groups centered in target while still being under max. recommended load for the powder/bullet combo. A friend is shooting a victory and a webley usuing a lyman rnd. nose bullet at .358 dia. and does quite well. We both tried a wadcutter bullet which was a complete failure. I find This is a easy cartridge to reload for. ENJOY!
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So I should go with a Lee mould? I don't be buying factory ammo at 36 bucks a box + shipping with canpar...

I just don't want to spend money on a mould that won't produce a bullet with optimum results. I could always get a mould custom made and would rather do that then buy a mould that won't work. I just want to be able to get decent groupings at 20 meters.
 
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