RELOADING FOR THE 38SW CARTRIDGE?

[gunneyrabbit]

Just picked up a Smith&Wesson Safty Hasmmerless in 38SW at Auction Arms, any one out there reload for the 38SW cartridge? There are lots of formulas out there but I would prefer to load something offered by some one here at the forum. This is a much much older revolver regardless of the shape it is in, I purchased it as a shooter and don't want to destroy it the first time out, any help would be appreciated.
GR

[juniustaylor]

I reload .38 S&W Ctg. I am using 145 grain MO Bullets and 3 grains of Unique. They are going around 730 fps or so. I shoot mine in a S&W Model 11. The brass I bought on Gunbroker. Olin kind, no headstamp. My reloads are very accurate at 10 yards and I could probably bump them up a bit hotter, but I don't bother with it. They're accurate, what more could you want?

Bullets (@ MO Bullet) - http://www.missouribullet.com/details.p ... &keywords=

Comparison of the .38 S&W Ctg. with the .38 S&W Special


My S&W Model 11


50 reloaded

[juniustaylor]

This was the website I went by. It does show I could use 3.1 grains of Unique. For your gun, it would recommend 2.8 as it's a break-top. You probably could get away with 3, but that's up to you. They are rather mild loads as it is.

http://www.reloadammo.com/38sw.htm

[anjdrifter]

Just picked up a Smith&Wesson Safty Hasmmerless in 38SW at Auction Arms, any one out there reload for the 38SW cartridge? There are lots of formulas out there but I would prefer to load something offered by some one here at the forum. This is a much much older revolver regardless of the shape it is in, I purchased it as a shooter and don't want to destroy it the first time out, any help would be appreciated.
GR

I have a SandW lemon squezzer in good shape and want to keep it that way so I use a real light load.I use self cast bullets with wheel weight base. I also use the reloads in my enfield ..there are a load of different loads out there. I use either unique or win 231 . what I have done to figure grains is look at all the powder recommendations and bullet weights and guessamate the load. but mostly will go by the minimum ones... NOTE have done research and most dont want you to use any jacketed bullets in either of my guns...
try this one you might have to change for bullet and also use at own risk..my cast bullets are a little lighter so I adjust accordingly..
145 GR. LEAD Winchester 231 .358" 1.180" 2.6 675 11,500 CUP
here is one for hp38
145 GR. CAST Hodgdon HP-38 .359" 1.200" 2.2 595 2.5 630

[gunneyrabbit]

Thanks for the info. guys and that goes for any one else who replys. I plan on using lighter 125 gr. molly coated lead bullets, I've found several loads on the internet that post speeds similar to what your suggesting. Can't wait to give this one a try, I'll post a report or two after I pick it up and take it to the range.
Thanks again.
GR

[gunneyrabbit]

Are the 38sp. and 38SW cartridge the same diameter?
GR

[juniustaylor]

Are the 38sp. and 38SW cartridge the same diameter?
GR

Short answer, No. .38 S&W is .361" and .38 Spl is .357". The bullets from MO Bullet Co. are .361" and they shoot good. Slug your barrel and add .001" to get a good fitting bullet.

Long answer, here are the dimensions.

.38 Special
Bullet diameter .357 in (9.1 mm)
Neck diameter .379 in (9.6 mm)
Base diameter .379 in (9.6 mm)
Rim diameter .44 in (11 mm)
Rim thickness .058 in (1.5 mm)
Case length 1.155 in (29.3 mm)
Overall length 1.55 in (39 mm)

.38 S&W
Bullet diameter .361 in (9.2 mm)
Neck diameter .3855 in (9.79 mm)
Base diameter .3865 in (9.82 mm)
Rim diameter .440 in (11.2 mm)
Rim thickness .055 in (1.4 mm)
Case length .775 in (19.7 mm)
Overall length 1.240 in (31.5 mm)

[juniustaylor]

[gunneyrabbit]

Thanks for the information Junious, looks like MidwayUSA has what I need. I checked the usual auction sites with no results though I did find a set of reproduction grips on the net and my gun smith friend in Donald Oregon will make the high polish reblue look like new. If this turns out to be as much fun as I think it will, I may just become an antiuqe handgun shooter, I sure do like revolvers.
GR

[juniustaylor]

I use the Lee die set and there are some loads on it as well. Pretty much the exact same cartridge as the Colt New Police. I was looking on Wikipedia at the information on the .38 S&W. At the bottom it shows some different loads available or that were used at one time. The lighter the bullet, the faster it goes, and the more energy it has. So, I'm not quite sure why the Brit's would have wanted to use a 200 grain bullet instead of something like a 145 or 158 grain? Whatever.

For several years my S&W Model 11 had a modified cylinder in it. Some putz reamed the chambers so it would accept .38 Special. It would shoot them just fine, however, the cases would be bulged at the least, and ruptured at the worst. Accuracy was horrible. Read it was common practice when they came back from being overseas. Supposedly some cylinders did burst but I'm not quite sure as the max on these is around 14,500 psi, and .38 Spl is 17,000 psi. I bought a replacement cylinder from Numrich but after a quick inspection saw it was the same deal, reamed cylinder. I sent the cylinder back with a letter explaining what to look for before sending me another and I got a good one back. Dropped in, perfect fit and timing was correct. Short history on mine.

At first I wanted to just find a .38 Special cylinder that would fit, of course, the bore would not be good as the diameter is larger for the fatter bullet. My old pal fknipfer1 convinced me to find a .38 S&W cylinder instead. I'm glad he did and that I listened. For a small cartridge, it is fun and not a loud annoying cartridge.

Lee Die Set (Midway) - http://www.midwayusa.com/viewproduct/?p ... ber=209266

[juniustaylor]

Interesting story on the .38 S&W:
http://www.chuckhawks.com/forgotten_38SW.htm

[anjdrifter]

Here are the 3 I reload for.. they are addictive also. I have a few more in 32 and reload them sometimes

[gunneyrabbit]

This formula came from the M.D. Smiths Reloading pages for the 38SW cartridge, I altered the formula to fit what I had on hand, the formula was not specific about primers, casings or type of LSWC.

Casing-Starline 38SW.
Bullet- OregonTrails, Laser-Cast 158 gr. LSWC.
Powder- 2.2 gr. of Winchester 231 powder.
Primer- Wolf small pistol primer.

The speed of this load is reported to be a blistering 580fps and is acceptable for use in topbreak revolvers with excellent accuracy from weapons of good repair. I loaded 100 of these and will give a range report on Friday.
I can't wait to play with my new toy!
GR

[gunneyrabbit]

Shot fifty rounds at the range, sights so small I had a problem seeing the front and rear sights together as well as the target at 55 feet. I grabed a chair and a couple of bag rests and sat directly under an over head light and took my time aiming. Shots hit about three inches high and all in an eight inch ragged circle. Recoil felt more like a .22 than a .38. This would be a perfect pistol to start a young shooter with youthfull eyes or any one who is recoil sensitive. I loaded several of the cartridges into my 340 PD and was surprised to find that it shot roughly to the same area. Recoil was more noticable in the 340 which surprised me until I remembered 10.5 ounce weight of the scandium revolver compared to the steel construction of the top break SW38 revolver. One thing is quite obvious to me, S&W understood quality even a hundrad years ago.
GR

[anjdrifter]

great report