.38 SPL Cartridge length - variance

BritGirl

Inactive
First, TFL is my favorite handgun forum. I've been lurking and learning for a few weeks - and I'm very impressed with the quality of information, and patience with neophytes like myself :)

Anyway, even after reading dozens/hundreds of threads, I have some additional questions. I was going to batch them, but evidently the protocol/etiquette is to post each thread separately.

Here is the first - THANKS IN ADVANCE
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I recently purchased my first ever handgun, Taurus 2" 850 CIA stainless steel, .38 SPL. I bought a variety of ammo to practice with at the range. Some from my local gun store, some from a reputable internet site.

I was surprised that the length of the cartridge varies - by more than a few mm. I was assuming these were produced to precision so that there is little or no variance.

Remington 130 gr FMJ
Independence 130 gr FJM-Flat -- bit shorter than Remington
MagTech 125 SJHP -- mailed back, damaged (more on this in a mo')
Federal Hydra-Shock 110 gr JHP -- bit shorter than Remington

I understand .357 rounds are purposely made longer than .38 SPL so they cannot be loaded inadvertently in a .38 SPL. However, given the variance I'm seeing just within the .38 SPL family, I'm wondering if this is ever a possibility?

Few more ammo questions
1. My Magtech 125 SJHPs arrived with a lot of debris (lead? hard residue) in the hollow points. They looked in really bad shape, and there was a slight condensation inside the box. I called the internet shipper and they immediately offered to replace. My question is, should cartridges always look pristine, or is dirty sometimes OK? I'd never seen a cartridge up close until about a month ago, so I'm unfamiliar with acceptable vs. non-acceptable appearance.

2. Right now my goal is to go to the range about once a week and practice...practice...practice. Which type of rounds would be easiest on my revolver in terms of cleaning -- yeah, I'm female and much as I think this is going to be a great hobby, I don't want to spend hours each week cleaning it :)
 
First, the length increase that keeps .357 Magnum out of .38 Special chambers is in the cartridge case length, not the overall length (OAL) of the loaded round.

OAL of the same calibre will vary from brand to brand and from loading to loading within brands according to the weight and construction of the bullet. Of course, OAL should be very close and consistent for a given brand and loading. If you see differences in the same box, it is not a quality product.

Factory fresh ammunition should be clean and bright. Magtech is a second tier brand, made in Brazil, but even it should have been in better condition than you describe.

I trust you have been informed that for self defense you should use one or another hollowpoint bullet. The Federal Hydra-Shok is fine.

For practice, the less expensive FMJ bullets are satisfactory. Win-Clean ammunition from Winchester will leave your gun amazingly clean. Other brands like the Remington-UMC and Independence (Made by Magtech, imported by Alliant, distributed by Federal and Speer.) will do fairly well. So will Winchester Value Pack and Federal American Eagle. These are all economy grade loadings from the various companies, intended for inexpensive practice, not combat. The same companies sell standard and premium loadings for duty and defense; like the Federal Hydra-Shok you have.

No ammunition will leave your gun perfectly clean, but you need not spend hours at the job. Half an hour per excursion is enough. I use the M-Pro 7 cleaning solvent. It is a detergent formulation, not the traditional kerosine (paraffin?) based solvent; and has little odor and is non flammable. It will dry the skin, rubber gloves are indicated. They also sell lubricating oil which I suppose is as good as any.
 
When you talk about variations in length, I assume you mean the overall length of the cartridge. The difference between 38 Special and 357 magnum is the length of the cartridge case (the shiny metal part that holds the bullet in one end, the primer in the other end, and the powder inside). It is easy to see the difference if you will put a fired 357 case in your 38. It won't go in all the way and the cylinder can't be closed. If you stand various 38s up next to each other, the length of the cartidge cases should be fairly uniform. This is easy to see after they have been fired. The overall length of the loaded cartridge will vary with the bullet weight and how deep the bullet is seated in the case. The limiting factor in the overall cartridge length is that they can't be so long that the bullet sticks out of the front of the cylinder and it can't be closed.

I personally have always found magtech ammo to be very well made, accurate and usually a little more powerful than other makes. Without seeing what the ammo looked like, I don't know if there was anything wrong with yours. You did exactly the right thing by contacting the shipper. If you don't think the ammo looks right, by all means don't use it. Ask someone you can trust to examine it or send it back. Condensation usually won't hurt ammunition but the shipper should not have subjected the ammo to conditions that caused moisture to form inside the boxes. Always better safe than sorry when it comes to ammo.
 
Thanks Jim & TexMex for the excellent feedback. I just re-examined my ammo, and you're correct, the cartridge length is very similar, but the OAL varies a bit based on bullet-type.

Yup, I've been made aware about hollow-points for PD. I also have some +P ammo but haven't practiced with those yet. I'm taking baby steps - just the regular .38 SPL first!

"Win-Clean ammunition from Winchester will leave your gun amazingly clean."
I'm definitely going to try this brand, thx.
 
Win Clean Ammo

I have used win clean ammo in my .45, and it shot, just like regular winchester .45. I cant tell you if it was any cleaner, except that it did a better job of cleaning my wallet. In my opinion, gun cleaning is part of shooting, and not necessarily boaring. In my opinion, its just another excuse to handle it and get acquainted with it, and the extra $ you save could buy you more bullets. Guns get dirty, who cares about the degree per session (exception, very dirty powders).
 
Why make an exception for very dirty powders?
Unless it is so bad as to gum the gun up past shooting in one session, it does not matter; I will clean the gun anyhow.

I am now shooting BPCR which has affected my perceptions some. You clean those on the range.

If a powder IS so dirty as to gum the gun up past shooting in one session, it was probably not chosen well for the application. Not common in factory ammo, but often seen in handloads with too slow a powder for the situation.
 
Seen that

Was qualifying for my FL "g" license, and the instructor had reloaded .38 spl carts. My hands were dirty from the powder after only 50 rounds. Felt like I was shootin a black powder pistol;)
 
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