38 S&W Webley Bullets

[DonMountain]

I am considering purchasing a boolit mold and sizer dies to shoot cast boolits in my old 38 S&W caliber Webley break action six round wheel guns that probably where built for the 1917 war. I don't even know what diameter boolits they need to be sized to. Who makes a good mold and how much should the boolits weigh? Does Lyman or RCBS make a good mold for this gun?

[mroliver77]

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=90497

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=125656

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=39460

http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=102075

[Buckshot]

I am considering purchasing a boolit mold and sizer dies to shoot cast boolits in my old 38 S&W caliber Webley break action six round wheel guns that probably where built for the 1917 war. I don't even know what diameter boolits they need to be sized to. Who makes a good mold and how much should the boolits weigh? Does Lyman or RCBS make a good mold for this gun?

..............The 38 S&W cartridge takes a larger OD boolit then the 38 Special. Most 38 S&W revolvers do well with a .361" boolit. As with any revolver it's always a good idea to slug your barrel and chamber throats. The British DID use the 38 S&W case and used at first a 200gr slug. That was subsequently changed to a 178 jacketed bullet and was used during WW2.

To my knowledge there are NO moulds dropping TRUE 38 S&W sized boolits from any of the major makers. Some producers will note "38 S&W" over a design, but it's simply a weight thing and NOT a correct size. I currently have 3 revolvers in that chambering.

http://www.fototime.com/86C54337F979FDD/standard.jpghttp://www.fototime.com/20E262CE102F9D8/standard.jpg

LEFT: An Iver Johnson, in quite nice condition. RIGHT: A blued 'V' prefixed serial numbered M&P, sans property marks. However it DOES have a plugged hole at the bottom of the gripframe for a lanyard ring.

http://www.fototime.com/8EB1F9344794021/standard.jpg

A phosphated Victory model, US Property marked and also carrying British proofs. Other then a spot in the phosphate finish on the cylinder crane and a couple dings on the grips the pistol is pretty much like new.

Lyman does make a 200gr RN PB design which mimicks the original boolit to a degree. They fall from my mould rigth at .360", which is BARELY useable but due to it's long bearing surface it doesn't fare too badly in both the S&W revolvers. I do not shoot it in the Iver Johnson. Sometime back I was lucky to have been able to buy a 4 cavity Lyman 35863 set of blocks from a member here which produces a 150gr WC. They drop from the mould at .363", and are nicely accurate. Also a couple years back another member hioncho'd a group buy done by Lee in a set of 6 cavity blocks. It was a copy of the original S&W 146gr RNPB boolit as they historicaly and currently load the cartridge.

http://www.fototime.com/3B773CE97D573A2/standard.jpg

From the left: Loaded 200gr Lyman 358430, Loaded 150gr Lyman 35863 WC, 2 Lee 105gr DEWC, 146gr Lee Group Buy RNPB, Loaded Lee RNPB, Loaded Colt New Police which is simply the 38 S&W loaded with a FN boolit, and a 38 Special case for comparison. I normally cast the slugs for this cartridge from pure lead and simply lube with Lee TL. The 38 S&W holds a distinction I believe as so far as I know, with the 200gr Lyman it's the only round I know of that shoots a boolit that's longer then the case :-)

....................Buckshot

[9.3X62AL]

Buckshot covered the subject pretty well. Specific to the Webley Enfield, mine is a DAO variant and its throats run .362"-.363" into grooves of .361"-.362". I use a Lyman .363" sizer die in my 450 sizer--these are/were regular-stock sizers, I got mine at MidwayUSA IIRC.

My boolit is NEI #169A, a 202 grain round nose that duplicates the lead British service bullet Buckshot mentioned. These shoot pretty well from both my Webley and my S&W M&P/Lend-Lease example, keeping the metal plates ringing at the 35 yard line at Angeles Shooting Ranges. Though only starting at 700-725 FPS, they hit the metal with authority. Also, these loads are far more effective on jackrabbits than are the FBI-pimped 9mm 147 grain sub-sonic JHPs. For sure, I wouldn't stand downrange and try fielding these big slow-movers with a catcher's mitt.

Curiously, the boolit is longer than the case that holds it--.810" vs. .775".

[runfiverun]

the 9mm makarov molds usually drop thier boolits at 365 or so, only problem here is they weigh around 90-100 grs.

[9.3X62AL]

the 9mm makarov molds usually drop thier boolits at 365 or so, only problem here is they weigh around 90-100 grs.

Been there/done that/got the T-shirt. These shoot quite low, 7-8 inches at 25 yards. On a B-27 target, use a "neck hold" (like Old School PPC revolver folks), and the boolits hit close to the X-ring. They shoot pretty well, actually--if you don't mind having your barrel/sights hide what yer tryin' to hit! :) Unfortunately, jackrabbits don't carry sighter bulls on their backs. They tend be largely uncooperative in most respects, much like their distant relatives the ground squirrel and prarie dog.