38 S&w

[gtwood777]

Is there a mold for the 38 S&W? The data books show a .361 size.
Thanks,
Greg

Information

Warning: This is a relatively older thread This discussion is older than 360 days. Some information contained in it may no longer be current.

[jimb16]

Yup. There are molds available plus you can get a lighter bullet for the Makarov and size it down a couple thousandths. (.364)

[45B20]

Greg
For what it is worth. Many years ago (mid 60s and early 70s) I worked on a lot on the Smith & Wesson .38/200 British (.38 S&W) Revolvers. I slugged a number of 38 S&W marked barrels, and found no real difference between those and the Victory 38 S&W Special marked barrels, all most all measured .357/.358” diameter. I would certainly slug that barrel (and the cylinder throats) before I bought any mould.

45B20

[Jim K]

I agree; in spite of the loading manuals and hundreds of articles, I think the gun makers have been putting one over on us for years and using the same barrel dimensions for both calibers. I slugged a Webley Mk IV and an Enfield No.2 (Albion) and also found .356-.358 groove diameter.

The .38 S&W was originally a heel type bullet, so the bullet diameter was the diameter of the outside of the case. (A heel-type bullet is like the .22 LR; a small "heel" is inside the case, but the part of the bullet outside the case is the same diameter as the case.) The .38 Special has its bullet bearing surface inside the case, so its diameter is that of the inside of the case.

But, for practical purposes, the .38 S&W is loaded with soft lead bullets which will swage down to whatever diameter the barrel is, within reason, and the pressure is low. In effect, there does not need to be any barrel difference. If .38 S&W were to be used for pure target shooting, maybe the compromise would make a difference, but I doubt I will notice any problem in my Baby Russian.

Jim

[RCS]

38 S&W and 38 Colt with heel type bullets, these cartridges will not chamber in modern revolvers

[RicinYakima]

RCS, I believe if you check the history books, you will find that the 38 S&W was the first commerial inside lubed revolver cartridge. It was released about 6 months after the 44 Russian, the first ever inside lubed revolver bullet, circa 1871. Colt, on the other hand, made about 6 "38" designed cartridges. The one usually refered to with the 38 S&W, is the 38 Colt New Police, that is the same as the S&W except for a small flat point on the tip of the bullet. HTH, Ric

[RCS]

You are correct, I had a cartridge in the photo that was not a 38 S&W it was a WRA CO .38 S with the heel bullet, which will not chamber all the way in my 38 S&W cylinder.

[WHG2]

I just cast my regular 1458gr 38 special LSWC bullets and then don't size them. They fit very well in my 38 S&W cases, and accuracy in my webley revolvers has been very good.

[Mk VII]

The OP doesn't tell us which revolver he's contemplating doing it for. Helluva lot of guns out there for this cartridge, some of them pretty old designs.

[jimb16]

I tried some 158 grain RNs sized .359 in my Webley yesterday. It was a fairly good load power-wise. They keyholed at 25 yards. Guess they were undersized for that bore.