.357 Loads in .38 casings

One of the biggest problems in the entire world is that cant is all to often mistaken for shouldn't

Nobody wants to hear me say that you can't run your car for 15,000 miles between service, because obviously, you can, but they may accept that you shouldn't. even then, they would prefer to hear the term "i would not advise that you go so long between checking your oil". "don't" and "can't" are very unpopular words.
 
I have Lyman mould # 358156 , as soon as it stops snowing ( a rare occurrence in Baton Rouge, La. ) I'm going to cast a few, seat them in the lower crimp groove, in 38 special cases and see if they will chamber in a 38 special. All the years I loaded and shot rounds like this out of a Ruger Blackhawk 357 , I didn't have a 38 special revolver to check and see if they would chamber. Now I have two 38 specials a K frame model 64 and a J frame .
There may be a chance loading this bullet in 38 special cases in the lower crimp groove may keep them from chambering in 38 special guns.....will check and report back.

The electricity went off at 5 a.m. came back on at noon... the heater has it up to almost 64 degrees now....tomorrow may be less cold...I hope !

Gary
 
Update :
Lyman #358156 when seated in the lower crimp groove in a 38 special case , which gives a similar powder capacity as the 357 magnum, and allows for heavier 38 special/light 357 magnum loads to be loaded in 38 special cases....some loads would not be prudent to be fired in J frames...
When this bullet is so loaded the round will in fact chamber in a 38 special , I tried both my J and K framed S&W's . It also chambered in a 1908 Colt Police Positive Special with ease.
I was hoping the rounds would not chamber but there is no safety net here.
I started using this bullet back in 1967 , I picked up buckets of 38 special brass back then. Few reloaded , but picked up hardly any 357 magnum brass, few shot it. The rounds are visually different and noticeable if you know what to look for...If you don't , you have no idea what this bullet and load is about.
I had a Ruger Blackhawk 357 (my only revolver) and used this bullet , so seated in 38 special cases , over 6.5 grains of Unique for my everyday , general purpose , do all load . Read about this in Guns and Ammo , Skeeter Skelton article.

As this load is above +P 38 special, I would not want it to get into a 38 special revolver.
If you do this, be careful....now that new brass is so readily available it might be smart to just use 357 brass.

My Blackhawk was stolen in 1995 and recovered at a pawn shop in Arizona in 2015 and returned to me...after 20 years ! I now have three 38 special revolvers and one 357 magnum revolver .
The very first thing I did was buy 100 brand new Starline 357 magnum cases (the first new brass I ever bought). I load in those now but I sure do miss how easy the 38 special cases eject...
The longer 357's don't like to come clear easily...if you don't give the ejector a full length stroke .
Oh Well , that's life !
Gary
 
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RCBS dies will not crimp a .38 casing in spite of the claim that they can. The casings are simply too short to reach the crimp groove no matter what adjustments I make.
Click to expand...

RCBS made 4 different die sets for the 38 Special and 357 Magnum, the first set was the 38 Special die set. A few reloaders in the old days adjusted their dies because the die and press had threads, when the 357 Magnum was invented RCBS made another set of dies for the 357 Magnum for reloaders that die not adjust their dies, 'WHAT DOES THAT MEAN?' It was never necessary to purchases a separate set of dies for the 357 Magnum; the 38 Special die set could load both.

And then: RCBS added a shim for the seating die for crimping and to avoid aggravating the reloaders, so what was the difference between the old 'first' set and the last? The shim.

I have always loaded with feeler gages, it was not until the Internet I became aware reloaders had so many problems with dies. And then there was the other mistake, they did not place threads in the top of the sizing die meaning it was not possible to screw a primer punch into the sizing die and it was not possible to place the expander die in the second position because RCBS had a primer punch on the bottom of the case expander. If you find an aluminum expander die without a primer punch you found an attempt RCBS by RCBS to correct the problem.

F, Guffey
 
The Government had contractors that loaded 38 Special ammo, and then one day they had a big recall. Seems they loaded the 38 Special to higher pressures than some though a few old pistols could stand. I still have a few unfired rounds, I shot a lot of it and never though it was near Magnum. that was before +P.

F. Guffey
 
When buying dies for my 357 magnum Blackhawk , I grabbed a set of RCBS marked 357 magnum....the gunshop owner told me to put them back and get the dies marked 38 special , then explained and showed me how to adjust them to load both 38 special and 357 magnum....I'm still using them to load both rounds after 50 years.
I did go a hardware store and find some washers of the correct thickness to use as my home made shims. This was long before the factory sold them...Bubba strikes again!
Gary
 
TheLastGoodFight,
The load you are recreating is called the .38-44HV. Data is available on this ancestor to the .357 Magnum. Beartooth makes a bullet, the 180gr WLN+P-GC, specifically for use with .38 Special cases. It's short seating depth allows you to use Magnum charges.
 
Stuff em with powder and shoot em. If youre saving yhem for a rainy day just put a piece of tape on the box and write the load on it. I shoot .38 spcl reloads out of my blackhawk and they shoot just as well as .357 with same head but slightly more powder
 
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