38 S&W loads?

[Baal]

Does anyone have any reloading data for 38 S&W using 200 grain .361" cast bullets? For an Enfield No 2 Mk 1 revolver. The powders I have on hand right now are Unique and Trail Boss, so it would be nice to start there.

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[browningautorifle]

Here's the only toe hold I can offer... Nothing like looking in a reliable book though. 38 S&W Load Data - Handloads.Com

Pressure will be lower without a gas check.

[25-5]

Have you slugged your barrel?
Have you tried factory? Fiocchi, Remington, Privi Partisan are .357 or .358.
I reload .358 from Missouri Bullet with great success. .361 did not work well at all in my Webley Mark III (1927) or Enfield No.2 Mk1 (1939).
I use W231 and Titegroup.

[Baal]

Thanks BAR. Between here and CGN it's the first actual attempt to answer the question.

25-5, yes I've slugged the barrel. Yes I've tried factory ammo. And then I bought 200 grain cast bullets since that's what this revolver was designed to use.

[Sentryduty]

And then I bought 200 grain cast bullets since that's what this revolver was designed to use.

Now this piques my interest, where did you find these?

I suspect a good route is starting the base load data in the books and working up with a chrony until you can duplicate the old .38/200 performance velocities.

Based on the dismal results with Remington 147 grain .38 S&W out of my WAR FINISH Mark 4, the above is where my thinking is at.

Keep us posted with your results, your path might save me a few false starts.

[Baal]

Jethunter, on Canadiangunnutz casts and sells the 200 grain bullets. Will size them to suit. If you're in the USA I think I saw some place called Mark's Bullets mentioned on this site. Jethunter also casts hollow base Webley bullets and other hard to find calibers.

Unfortunately none of my reloading manuals has data for 200 grain S&W. They focus on lighter bullets and loads for weaker US built break tops. So not tons of help there.

Some guy on cgn says he uses 9mm loading data, but I'm not partial to having guns blow up in my hand.

[browningautorifle]

The one in the link above makes sense to me and I've done that sort of thing before. The load is light and should be decent. At least it's for the 200 gr...

[jmoore]

Here's an example of some 200gr bullets I've used out of Enfield revolvers with some success:



There's an old thread somewhere in which I did testing of a load but can't find it, sorry! Forget the manual used at the moment as well. Load data should be in my records, but they're not at hand currently.

A recovered bullet:

[25-5]

Baal
I must apologize. I had intended to post 2.8gr of W231 for the 200gr RN, however, I got caught up in my interest of your results. I got the load off another forum and one response was it might be a little hot, but the OP stuck to it. That and the info of BAR is all I've found so far. I use 2.4gr W231 and 2gr Titegroup for a 158gr .358 SWC in my Webley Mark III with good result. As I mentioned I had bad luck with .361 in that revolver.
On the day of your post I had just picked up an Enfield No.2 Mk1 and was much interested in your comments.
I have ordered 200 Grain Long Round Nose Webley MK I (.361) [361-200-MK I] - $17.00 : Matts Bullets from Matt's bullets. I plan to start at my 158gr loadings and work up.
I did shoot the Enfield yesterday with different factory and my reloads. All grouped very well at 15yds, centered but 2" low.

[jmoore]

I used the current Lyman manual(s), but my load is currently utilizing True Blue powder. Nothing for Trail Boss, but the Unique load maxes out a tad under 2 grains with the 358430 bullet.

Nine different powders listed.

I once tried 231, but found True Blue rather less "twitchy"! (Max weight for 231 is also under 2 grains.)

General rule of thumb for Trail Boss maximum loads is to fill the case to the base of the bullet (after seating) without compression, but that's with the usual longish cases like .38 and .44 Spl, etc. As short as the .38 S&W case is, it probably will underperform, which is saying something when max velocity barely makes 600 fps with the recommended powders!