.38 Spec & .38 Spec +P loads

[Jarlath]

OK. I just finished sorting through my loads of spent .38 Spec range brass.

So I now have piles of brass sorted by .38 Spec. vs. +P and by Manufacturer Headstamp.

For every 50 of the same (aka Federal .38 Spc +P). It gets it's own labeled box. When I have less than 50 of the same (as above) the remainder goes into "miscellaneous brass" labeled boxes.
So after tumbling, inspecting and sorting through a few thousand brass, I have nice large groups of brass for loading.

Now comes the hard part. Deciding if I want to develop loads specific to brass callouts (as above), and have generic plinking loads with the mixed brass, keeping +P and regular separate, or just load to regular levels for all of it....

Hmmmm...... I'll put it to a vote!

 

[woodchopper]

I tend to stick with one brand of brass, or at least sort by brand/headstamp.

+P should not be mixed with non +P

 

[RePete]

Why sort?

I just load nickle plated brass for everything except my PPC loads, then it's brass brass.

 

[sunray]

It's the same brass. Sorted or not.

 

[Jarlath]

Wow. So most people would rather just take all the brass they have (plated or not, +P or not) and load to a single moderate non +P load? Seems like a waste of +P brass in the way of performance. While I like to just blast away as much as everyone else, I also like to create semi accurate & warm loads.... (At least with my .40 anyways). I don't have to worry about Reg vs +P with that caliber... Hmmm....

 

[Garand]

As a retired Ammunition Technician, I like consistancy.

 

[Rudy H]

I do sort my brass. Nickel in one container and brass in the other.

I have less concern about different brands of brass compared to the number of time the case was used (and I don't anything about that).

 

[ElmerFudd]

The difference between 38 Special and +P is small and you can use either brass. For 357 Magnum loads that are getting hot (but not over) and when I am chronographing and testing a load I will keep the brands separate just to eliminate any small differences.


Fudd

 

[bigbull]

Everything is sorted, what kind of consistency would you expect if you dumped everything into one pot and loaded away. I don't get it!

 

[hs4570]

+P vs. regular 38 spl.

For those of you that feel that +P brass is different than regular brass could you provide your reasoning.... If you pull regular and + p the only appreciable difference is the higher powder charge.. and the reason for the different headstamp is to keep the +p out of the smaller framed /5 shot/ older 38 Specials for pressure reasons.

You can load any modern 38 spl. case with +p loads...just like you can use regular 38 spl brass to make midrange .357 Mag loads for your .357..Have been doing it for almost 30 years and learned it from accredited reloaders of the 1970's who wrote for "Guns and Ammo" and "Shooting times magazine"

 

[RePete]

The +P on the headstamp is only to identify the higher pressure ammo, else they look the same.

 

[joe-nwt]

The +P on the headstamp is only to identify the higher pressure ammo, else they look the same.

^^^^The +P was to designate a higher pressure load of the original factory loading. As others have stated, the brass is the same.

 

[Jarlath]

So the only difference between reloads in the two is the actual gun it gets shot in. Load it all to +P levels if you wanted as long as it is shot in +P rated firearms (no issues besides brass life reduction)? (+P or .357 Mag). So I COULD load all my brass to +P levels for my Ruger.... Hmmmm.....