38 SW and 38 Special

No, the base of the 38 S&W, just above the rim, is wider the the base of the 38 special. You will be risking a case ruputure!
 
realtively easy. The ammo is available commecially, so I guess in a pinch you could buy some and shoot it to get the empty cases. What a waste of time just to get some shell casings!
 
The brass is relatively easy to come by; it's the bullets that are a pain to find. I have a short list of those that will cast .360, but none that will sell to Canada. When I ask for the prooper sized bullet, I usually get, "just use .358". If you find a source, please let me know.

For brass check OMA Products http://www.members.shaw.ca/omaproducts/new.htm

or DJ Friesen http://www.bcredneck.com/

I recently bought 100 rounds of WW2 surplus: Check your local gunshows.
 
McVillan said:
The brass is relatively easy to come by; it's the bullets that are a pain to find. I have a short list of those that will cast .360, but none that will sell to Canada. When I ask for the prooper sized bullet, I usually get, "just use .358". If you find a source, please let me know.

For brass check OMA Products http://www.members.shaw.ca/omaproducts/new.htm

or DJ Friesen http://www.bcredneck.com/

I recently bought 100 rounds of WW2 surplus: Check your local gunshows.
If you want some .360 cast, my friend can supply them as he casts them for me and they work like a damn. Alex.
 
ollie said:
realtively easy. The ammo is available commecially, so I guess in a pinch you could buy some and shoot it to get the empty cases. What a waste of time just to get some shell casings!

Yup! I shooting Remington's and saving all the basses.

Checked the catalogues there are .38 SW from Winchester and Remington, but I never found Win's in stock...

fremen, are you getting the 300 bucks 3 revolvers deal in EE?;)
 
OnnO said:
Yup! I shooting Remington's and saving all the basses.

Checked the catalogues there are .38 SW from Winchester and Remington, but I never found Win's in stock...

fremen, are you getting the 300 bucks 3 revolvers deal in EE?;)

Tried to but some one beat me to it.
 
I bought some Starline brass from DJ Friesen. Does anyone make 200 grain bullets for this? The heaviest I can find is around 158.
 
HPL said:
I bought some Starline brass from DJ Friesen. Does anyone make 200 grain bullets for this? The heaviest I can find is around 158.

really want to be able to see those bullets, eh? At 675 FPS, a 200 grainer would look like a zepplin going downrange...
 
ollie said:
really want to be able to see those bullets, eh? At 675 FPS, a 200 grainer would look like a zepplin going downrange...
200 grains is the original military load. I'm shooting an Enfield revolver, might as well do it right if I can.
 
Lee .38 Super dies are the ones you want resizing .38 S&W brass. I'm still in search for the perfect .38 S&W load, but then I only started 3 months ago.
 
I did'nt know that they milspec loads were 200 gr. Thanks, I'll keep that in mind when I start loading some up for my Enfield. Come to think of it, I've never looked at the load data except for once on the internet that quoted the 675 FPS figure. Just assumed it would be 150 gr-ish or smaller, like typical 9mm. Still, I maintain that it is a gas to watch those chunks of lead soar downrange and into the ground at 75 yards, so slowly you could catch em with a baseball glove...
 
158 gr Lyman SWC sized .358 loaded ahead of 2 gr. Bullseye gave me 531 fps and a power factor of....84. Got a ways to go to make IPSC. :D That is out of my 5" Webley.

Take Care
 
Last edited:
HPL said:
200 grains is the original military load. I'm shooting an Enfield revolver, might as well do it right if I can.

That is the original load. But the Mk 2 round was a 178grain FMJ. This stuff is still manufactured by the Ordinace Board of India. I pulled a bullet from a 1942 box of surplus and it measures .360 at the base. My 1932 no2 mk1 is sighted for this (ie it shoots to POA). Beartooth bullets make a 200gr, but won't ship to Canada. I've talked to Lois at the Bullet Barn and she can't make anything larger than .3585. I contacted OMA and although he can't cast it, he thinks he has a source for .360, unsized bullets. I don't know of anyone that makes a .360 FMJ. I'd call them both anyway and let them know that there is a demand for this bullet. Lois at bulletbarn was very helpful and was willing to cast the bullets if I supplied a mould. I'd consider splitting the cost of a custom mould for a 200gr LRN with someone if someone were so inclined.

As for a load, I got three hundred 148gr wadcutters with the gun and from my notes:
with 2.8gr Unique, remington and Dominion military cases - hard to open, primers slightly flattened, shoots 4" low at 15m; winchester nickel cases - very hard to open, primers flattened, shoots 4" low.
 
McVillan

The load of 2 gr of Bullseye is out of Lyman's 45 Edition reloading manual. They list the 158 gr RN bullet #358311
Starting Load Bullseye 1.8 gr - 2.5 gr Max
Unique 3.0 gr - 4 gr Max

Groove diameters vary significnatly in these old guns. My 158 gr cast LSWC are accurate enough sized at .358.

Mine is an old Edmonton City Poilce gun I bought back in 1968 when the police department moved over to .38 spl. Gun is mint and soon to be listed for sale as I never shoot the old gun and it might as well go to someone who will use it.

Take Care
 
Back
Top Bottom