38 S&W Bullet Making

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38 S&W Bullet Making

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Thanks for your interest in the 38 S&W. Please refer to these notes.Why hand load for the 38 S&W? The cost of the ammunition is a starting point, but also the lack of components like bullets and cases. They are not usually on the market or to be found at reasonable prices. Sometimes bullet molds can be had, but that leaves the challenge of sizing which requires significant equipment, some of which is no longer available. Bullet swaging equipment is very high cost generally speaking, too much so for one seldom used caliber.
NOTE: Do not use 38 S&W in any other firearm. It's not a modern 38 round. Avoid completely any factory loaded ammunition as it is way too hot for black powder era revolvers.
The correct bullet diameter for 38 S&W is .361 making it unusable for any other caliber. 38 Special and the rest of the modern 38 family is .356 or .357 diameter depending upon the supplier. 38 S&W trim length is .77 while maximum length is .775, compared to 9mm Lugar with a trim length of .75 and max length of.754. Don't confuse the two. It's simply a comparison. At times in this video these numbers were informally referred to and are corrected here.
9mm Lugar trim dies will work well enough for case preparation if limiting washers are used. It's necessary to have the correct dies for 38 S&W though it may be possible to use 9mm Lugar. However, 9mm Lugar dies were not used for sizing cases or seating the sample bullets shown in the video. Furthermore, the expander die shown was deficient in the pilot's size. A work-around was done to get past that problem for the video. The pilot should be at least one-thousandth (.001") of an inch larger than the bullet to be seated. Special tools were developed for this video including a collar for the .361 neck bushing along with a special punch. Sizing works better when the bullet is forced all the way through the die after swaging. At least two passes are required for uniformity. Not much pressure will be needed. As demonstrated, only a few blows from a standard hammer were required. Heavy bullets are not recommended or those cast from other than pure lead.
A platform was made to take the place of a shell holder as a matter of convenience during final trimming. The dimensions are not critical and the steel was not flame hardened. It did work harden somewhat, however. The tool is optional. Please follow all safety precautions regarding reloading and consult the commercially sold reloading manuals for charge data. Especially note that the 38 S&W caliber is not in use any longer and that numerous guns in that caliber were intended for black powder only. Smokeless powder should not be used therefore in the vast majority of those guns with a few exceptions. Know those exceptions. All lead bullets should be lubricated with the correct lube before seating. Be sure to wear eye protection in the shop at all times.
As an additional safety note, many old guns run the risk of being way out of tolerance in the critical gaps between the cylinder. Thus, it is quite possible these revolvers are not serviceable. It's better not to shoot them at all if anything is amiss. Please do ample research on old guns before proceeding.
Here's a very good reference. 38 S&W- Still Useful? | Tinker Talks Gunstinkertalksgun...

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@xmetguy1 3 ай бұрын

The 38 special is a smaller size than a 38 S& W case. 38 Special will swell and sometimes will split when firing in a 38 S & W chamber. Be careful!

@michaelbradford2816 3 ай бұрын

Thanks.

@leewilkinson6372 Ай бұрын

After doing this, i get a bulge where the case head starts. No obviois separation, there is no jag inside the case... But i wonder if there's any danger in this. Half the case expands to meet the chamber wall....

@michaelbradford2816 Ай бұрын

One thing I did present was the fact that I only used a 90g bullet that I made by hand. Since there's a risk that your item was a black powder only one, the fact also to consider is that NO amount of smokeless powder is safe. That's because the pressure rises too quickly with smokeless. Another thing is wear of the cylinder. It could have been stretched. If any shell fits loosely, it's not for use. You did allude the head space by the way by your description. That could mean either the case is too short or the actual diameter of the chamber is already beyond max. Probably though there is excess clearance between the case head and the frame. I would suspect this. You'd need a set of feeler gauges to be sure. It seems the tolerance should be about .002 there and the gap in front. You'd need to do some research to be sure. Based on your report it seems better to forget loading for that item completely. Most smiths won't touch a revolver like that leaving on your own. Never fire any regular ammo in that for the sake of safety. Thank you for your report today.

@leewilkinson6372 Ай бұрын

@michaelbradford2816 I did forget to mention I dated the item via serial number to the 1950s, so no danger of it being black powder. I appreciate the remaining information. I am also using cut down 38 special cases.... and now I'm rethinking this idea, frankly. If I have a pistol with slightly oversized chambers in addition to already slightly undersized brass.....it could end poorly. I did load VERY conservatively with a milder powder( tite group was recomended on 3 forums for this pistol, and i found published load data from lyman, hornady, etc) to Acceptable effect. I appreciate the added feedback!

@michaelbradford2816 Ай бұрын

Great! You're proceeding in a safe manner. The fun of a gun includes saving an old one if possible, but of course it's not always possible. Have fun.

@leewilkinson6372 Ай бұрын

@michaelbradford2816 safe ish. I'm still taking a bit of you advice, to be safer! Thanks for the input, and I agree.... making the old guns run is just satisfying for some reason!