.38 s&w

[nelson133]

My girlfriend just picked up an S&W M&P in .38 S&W. Loaded ammo is scarce and expensive and she wants to shoot it. It looks like Starline has nice expensive brass, but I can't seem to find a bullet mold in the proper diameter (.361) . Any suggestions would be appreciated.

[Piedmont]

Quite a few .357 moulds will cast that large. Unfortunately that doesn't help you because you don't know ahead of time. Find out what your throats measure (not what they are supposed to measure). When you know exactly what you need you can shop for custom moulds. For example, BRP has a .357 that drops at .360, but you need to be sure .360 will be fine for your gun.

Also, try to figure out what weight that revolver is regulated for. The commercial ones were probably sighted for 146 grains. The WWII were likely regulate for 178 gr. and who knows, maybe some were set up for that 200 gr. load.

Mountainmolds will cut you something really close to what you want, but you need to know what you want first.

Do some searches on here for .38 S&W. There were many discussions on it and group buys were done too. If you find a group buy you particularly like, put a request in Want To Buy. Someone might turn loose of one.

[Guesser]

I recently acquired a S&W Regulation Police in 38 S&W. I had an Ideal 358246 that drops @ .361+/-. I did some work up and found that sized & lubed @ .360 works very well in the little "I" frame. It was shipped in 1935/36. I'm going to try some 360271 SWC's that drop the same weight and size as the RN. Good gun and very accurate.

[Charlie Sometimes]

My Lyman 358212 (145 gr. RN) shoots very good in my 38 S&W break-top. It has a 358 bore. Check your throats and the bore, you might get by with smaller boolits like I did. A lot of the newer die sets are set up to size the case properly and use 358 boolits as well. Mine are LEE and work very well forthis revolver/cartridge combination. :grin:

[HeavyMetal]

Check some of the cowboy action shooting hang outs, 38 S&W is real popular at these events .

Bought some loaded ammo from a vendor here in LA and paid 12 bucks or so for 50 rounds and the stuff was loaded down for top breaks.

As for a mold I got lucky on E bay 2 years ago and found a single cavity Lyman 35864 in perfect condition for 25 shipped! This has been my go to mold for the little H&R top break I came into a bunch of years ago.

[Dframe]

I've used 357 bullets before. NOT ideal but at short ranges they will go bang and hit what you''re aiming at. Just watch for leading.

[Buckshot]

..............My S&W Victory model in 38 S&W has .362" chamber mouths. If your's is similar there is only one readily available (and inexpensive )mould which will cast that large for sure. It's the Lee 2 cav designed for the 9x18 cartidge. It drops a 93 gr slug at a nominal .363" however both weight and OD is dependant upon alloy.

If you can find a Lyman 150gr WC mould numbered 35863, it should deliver it's slugs at about .363" I have a 4 banger what does, and every mention of that design from folks has mentioned similar dimensions. Naturally it's been out of print at Lyman for some time.

Another option is to get some of the swaged pure lead HBWC's offered by a couple bullet manufacturers. Since the pistol was originally built for 38 Special it will handle 38 Special loads/pressures, but you simply cannot load the 38 S&W case with the 38 Special load. If you can match the 38 Special OAL in the 38 S&W to give the same case volumn you're good to go with the 38 Special load.

The Lyman Cast Boolit manual shows a couple. One is the 35863 loaded to an OAL of 1.115", and you can do that in the 38 S&W by seating only to and crimping into, the bottom lube groove. I really enjoy fooling with the 38 S&W for some reason. It's an interesting and very old cartridge. In a pistol designed for the 38 Special (like the Victory model) with it's longish cylinder and it's ability to digest loads using the 200 gr slug, with that boolit seated out you can have more boolit exposed then the case is long :-)

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

[Leftoverdj]

As usual, Buckshot nailed it. HBWCs are the easy cheat. The skirts will flare to give a seal in the slightly larger diameter barrel. That'll get her shooting and give you an idea what weight you need to get it to shoot to POA.

I'm unabashedly cheap and I'd lap a suitable .38 Special mould before I'd even consider having a custom mould made.

[Dutchman]

I have a Lee 358-158-RF mold that drops a perfect .361" bullet with 50:50 lino-ww. I got it new off fleabay for $10 plus postage late one night when somebody put up 6 in a group with buy-it-now of $60 shipped. I don't really need a .361 mold for .38 Special. If you want it for $10 + $3 postage drop me an email and it's yours. I've only cast about 50 slugs with it.

Dutch

[MtGun44]

Jump on Dutchman's offer. This is a "known good" design, and a fantastic price.
He also provides the rare luxury of knowing what diam you will get in advance.

Bill

[nelson133]

Thanks for all of the help, I appreciate it. I sent Dutchman an email about the mold, thanks to him too. If anybody has any 38 S&W brass to sell please let me know, as all the brass vendors seem to be out, I even checked with Starline.
The chamber throats seem to be .359 to .360, the barrel throat is just a bit larger.
This is a very interesting gun. It is in excellent shape with what looks like factory bluing with minor wear at the muzzle and front of the cylinder. It has the post war S&W grips. The serial number starts with a V which should make it a Victory model, which should be a parkerized finish, but if it has been reblued, it is a pro job. The markings are all clear and distinct. There is a caliber marking on the right side of the barrel 38/200, which was the British military caliber, which was added later as it is at a slant and less deeply stamped. The front sight is the earlier half moon one.
If somebody could give me more info on it I'd also appreciate that.

[Dutchman]

According to History of S&W by Roy Jinks:

The British K-200 model mfg 1940-45
s/n 700,000 to 1,000,000 and V-1 to VS825,000
finish: bright blue was used from introduction to December 1941. Brush polish blue was used from Dec. 41 to April 10, 1942. Sandblast blue and sandblast parkerizing were used from April 10, 1942 until end of production in 1945.

You should show us a photo and show the grips. There are enough variations in grips that you could get confused very easily. If yours has a bright blue finish the grips could be earlier commercial grips and not post-war.

38/200 is a model as well as a caliber. In this book it's shown as 38/200 British Service Revolver
also S&W Pistol No.2 and model K-200.

The American commercial designation is Military & Police Model 1905 Hand Ejector 4th Change. The 4th change began in 1915.

You didn't mention barrel length but they came in 4-5-6".

Jinks says: At about s/n V-40,000 the Victory Model was introduced and numbered in the same series with the 38/200. At s/n V-800,000 in Dec. 1944 a new type hammer block was installed and the /sn prefix was changed from V to VS. (So all V-prefix are NOT Victory Model).

There is a non-small arms application that uses .38 S&W primed brass to ignite a charge. I don't recall if it was a flare gun or what. Non-headstamped .38 S&W are not uncommon and if you find any this is what they were for. Perfectly fine for firearm use.

When making S&W queries you really need to let us know the serial number as it sometimes makes a lot of difference and makes it much easier to track what model it is, or sub-model.

Does yours have the Brit proof marks? crown/BNP .38" .767" (case length). It should have some other crown/letter stamps here and there. United States Property markings?

Be aware some Brit .38 S&W were rechambered to .38 Special for commercial sale. It pretty much ruins the cylinder.

Dutch

[nelson133]

This gun is a 5 inch barrel, there some rather indistinct markings on the butt in front of the serial number, which is v211xxx. The 38/200 markings on the barrel look like they were added after manufacture as they are shallower and on a slant. These markings are very close to the frame.
I will try to get some pictures up this weekend.

[cajun shooter]

Why not sell or put up if a family gun and move up to a 38 spl for her. Your ammo choice is 100 times better. THe 38 S&W is a very borderline bullet. I received my grandfathers in the 70's and just put it away. As far as heavy Metal saying that the 38 S&W is popular with the SASS crowd I will disagree. I have shot matches for the last 3 years and have yet to see one 38S&W. What they might have had the ammo for is the pocket pistol side matches that are held at large shoots. The side match guns have to be before 1900 and not have a removeable cylinder. Some of the early Smith's fall into this group. But to say the caliber is very popular well have fun looking.

[Hank10]

I'm sure HM meant for Cowboy side matches not main matches. Probably 99 % of the guns used in Cowboy side matches are .38 S&W break top revolvers. Most of the shooters size their .38 S&W cases in a .38 Special die and load with whatever weigh bullet they want in sizes from .356 to .358. I use the 122 gr TC 9mm .356 in mine. Plenty accurate for these shoots, for plinking or for self defence.
H10

[nelson133]

She bought the gun on her own, and she likes it, but it will be mostly a fun gun because she carries a Ruger SP101 with 125 Grain .357s in it. Her backup is a Sig P238.
Since I introduced her to shooting a few years ago she has become a fanatic. We go to the range about every other week and she shoots about 300 rounds a session, which is why I reload. Revolvers are her favorite, in addition to the SP101, she has a vaquero in 45 Colt, and my 45 Colt Blackhawk, Model 14 Smith, Gp100, Dan Wesson model 15, and various other revolvers in rotation. She does like the 1911s and the Beretta 96.