.38 Long Colt

[mran1126]

I got a loaded box of .38 Long Colt cartridges from a friend who's father died and had them. I don't know much about them......just shorter than the .38 specials I guess. My question is.........can the be shot in my .357 Blackhawk.....and can the be reloaded with my .38/.357 reloading dyes? Thanks for any information on them.

[lylejb]

According to wikipedia, the 38 Long colt does use the .357 dia bullet, unlike the 38 short Colt, that uses a .375 bullet.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/.38_Long_Colt

As far as reloading, I'm sure you could resize, and seat with 38 special dies, but I don't know if the SPL dies could adjust short enough to crimp.

Balistically, the 38 long colt is no better than the 38 special. I think the 38 LC was originally a blackpowder round, so your cartridges may or may not be blackpowder. Does the box say?

A better Question would be why not keep them as a collector's item. These may be old / uncommon enough to have value to a collector.

I think I would save them, and shoot the 38 special / 357's in the blackhawk.

[Daddyfixit]

Looks like they might work but I agree with LB
Here's a link to SAAMI for the specs
http://www.saami.org/Publications/205.pdf

[beagle]

I know many .38 Long Colt cartridges have been shot in the .38 Special but I'm not telling you to do it.

Be sure to check the cases after firing as I would suspect them to be of the balloon head persuasion and may not be suitable for reloading with smokeless with modern loads.

You'd probably be better trading them off to someone with a .38 Long Colt as they're getting pretty hard to find now./beagle

[mran1126]

Thanks for the replies. The box does say ....smokeless powder......It's a Western box.

[TAWILDCATT]

38 short and long are same diamiter.the colt new police is 365?same as 38 S&W.
I dont know what is .375.I have a good collection of cartridges.

[Harry O]

Are the bullets heel-based with exterior lube grooves? If so, the diameter is much larger than a .38 Special groove diameter. With soft lead, it might not damage the gun, but it won't do it any good and certainly won't be accurate. These would be VERY old bullets (probably pre-WW1).

Are the bullets entirely in the case with a hollow-base and interior lube? These would probably be from between WW1 to WW2 (unless it is one of the recent CAS loads). If so, the diameter is the same as the .38 Special and can be safely used in that gun.

It would be wise to dismantle one of the cartridges to confirm the bullet used. I have fired .38 Special low-velocity, hollow-base wadcutters in a .38 Long Colt gun with no problems and reasonable accuracy. The reverse (with the right bullets) should not be a problem either.