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Thread: 38 Special

  1. #1
    Boolit Buddy

    Ron in PA's Avatar
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    38 Special

    Model 10 S&W 38, 20 Ft.Click image for larger version. 

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    Last edited by Ron in PA; 07-16-2014 at 10:42 PM. Reason: moved to July Castpic of the month.

  2. #2
    Boolit Man
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    My S&W model 10 is just as accurate....come on BAD GUYS break into my home...........

  3. #3
    Boolit Grand Master

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    The 38 special is one of the more versatile handgun rounds available from target to police use to self defense and even some hunting it is an all around cartridge. Many revolvers rifles and even a few semi auto have been available for it. I have a 1911 built up for 38 wadcutters ( all that will fit in the mag) same as the older AMU guns. Its a lock up gun and is very very accurate with hollow base wadcutters and 2.7 grns of bullseye.

  4. #4
    Boolit Master
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    I wouldn't feel undergunned at all with a 38 loaded with +p's
    Boolits !!!!! Does that mean what I think it do? It do!

  5. #5
    Boolit Grand Master
    9.3X62AL's Avatar
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    What Slide said. That old "FBI Load" of +P 158 grain lead SWC HP is a fine street load.
    I don't paint bullets. I like Black Rifle Coffee. Sacred cows are always fair game. California is to the United States what Syria is to Russia and North Korea is to China/South Korea/Japan--a Hermit Kingdom detached from the real world and led by delusional maniacs, an economic and social basket case sustained by "foreign" aid so as to not lose military bases.

  6. #6
    Boolit Master


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    My favorite handgun cartridge.
    First reload: .22 Hornet. 1956.
    More at: http://reloadingtips.com/

    "Any man who thinks he can be happy and prosperous by letting the
    government take care of him better take a closer look at the American Indian."
    - Henry Ford

  7. #7
    Boolit Master



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    I left revolver shooting years ago for autos but have rekindled those 38 feelings all over again! Easy to cast for, easy to reload and easy to shoot, what's not to love!
    "Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn't pass it to our children in the bloodstream. It must be fought for, protected, and handed on for them to do the same......." - Ronald Reagan

    "It is foolish and wrong to mourn the men who died. Rather, we should thank God that such men lived." - George Patton

    The second amendment is a nail on which hangs a picture of freedom - member Alex 4x4 Tver, Russia

  8. #8
    Boolit Master
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    38Spl was the first cartridge i ever reloaded. easy to load and accurate and makes a fine varmint popper and my 16 yo daughter likes it too.

  9. #9
    Boolit Buddy bart55's Avatar
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    Also my favorite ,I have more handguns in 38 /357 than any other .I cast and shoot over ten thousand a year

  10. #10
    Boolit Mold BBGun's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by jebb45 View Post
    My S&W model 10 is just as accurate....come on BAD GUYS break into my home...........

    I love those model 10s. Have one myself.

  11. #11
    Boolit Master
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    The 38 Special does all I need from a handgun in 36 caliber. I still have several 5 gallon pails of brass that I used to load for PPC. What I don't have is a Model 14. M&P, Model 15, Model 36, Model 10, but no Model 14!
    Knowledge I take to my grave is wasted.

    I prefer to use cartridges born before I was.

    Success doesn't make me happy, being happy is what allows me to be successful.

  12. #12
    Boolit Grand Master
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    I like the 38 Special. I have about 9 different revolvers / rifles that I shoot the 38 Special out of. A great cartridge :

    I took my Marlin 1894, CBC, 38 Spec. ( not a 357 mag. ) to the range. Fired 7 rounds at 50 yards into roughly a 3/4 " group ( + or - ) with the Lee 125 gr. RF bullet, sized .3575 ", using Wolf small pistol primers and a mild crimp. Powder charge was 5.5 grs. of Russian Unique ( Salute ).


    I think this bullet is going to get a lot of use at my loading bench now !





    Last edited by Ben; 07-27-2014 at 10:19 AM.

  13. #13
    Boolit Master
    slide's Avatar
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    That is one sweet rifle!!!
    Boolits !!!!! Does that mean what I think it do? It do!

  14. #14
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    The 38 Special is my all time favorite handgun cartridge! And I'll second 9.3x62AL - The "FBI" load, AKA "Treasury Load" , AKA "Chicago Load" or whatever you want to call the 158gr Lead Semi-wadcutter hollow point +P 38 Special, is a very respectable self defense cartridge. It is old school and very low tech but it has a very good track record. Don't let that bare soft lead, low tech bullet fool you, it will get the job done more often than not.

    Speaking about sleepers, that model 10 is one of the most understated workhorses out there.

  15. #15
    Boolit Grand Master
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    slide

    I had a Lee , 2 cav. 105 SWC mold on hand and cast about 200 bullets that I tried in the rifle. The rifle shot the Lee 105 SWC so well that I decided that I needed to get the Lee 6 cavity mold in the 105 SWC.

    This is about my 8th or 9th Lee 6 cav.mold. Every one of them are a joy to use.

    I cast these bullets today ( in about 35 - 40 minutes ) after the mold was 101% clean and up to temp and HOT !



    You can see that my rifle really likes the 105 SWC, sized to .3585 ". This is a group fired with Russian Unique at 50 yards with my Marlin 1894 CBC , my particular rifle has Ballard style rifling, not micro- groove rifling :



    A very nice mold :







    Last edited by Ben; 07-27-2014 at 02:50 PM.

  16. #16
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    It's just hard NOT to like the 38 Special ! What a versatile cartridge.

  17. #17
    Boolit Grand Master
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    Petrol & Powder

    You bet.

    In this day of " magnum mania ", the 38 Special is thought of as a little puny round.

    In the 20's, 30's, 40's & 50's, it was THE law enforcement round of choice. It has put a lot of people in a grave....and can still do it.

    Don't be mislead, with the right loads , it is still very respectable.

    Ben

  18. #18
    Boolit Grand Master
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    I was obliged to do some work with the 38 Special while on duty in 1981. Yes, it did very well. The 38 Special and the 357 Magnum remain my most-fired centerfire calibers, even with all of those bottom-feeder stutter-guns I have in service and clogging up the safe. The 2 calibers do so darn much so darn well.
    I don't paint bullets. I like Black Rifle Coffee. Sacred cows are always fair game. California is to the United States what Syria is to Russia and North Korea is to China/South Korea/Japan--a Hermit Kingdom detached from the real world and led by delusional maniacs, an economic and social basket case sustained by "foreign" aid so as to not lose military bases.

  19. #19
    Boolit Master Forrest r's Avatar
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    The 38spl is one of those timeless quality cartridges, A 10" contender bbl chambered in 38spl that will flat out shoot bugholes in targets.

    [IMG][/IMG]

    Another model 10

    [IMG][/IMG]

    They've made so many great molds for this caliber over the years a caster could spend 1/2 their life reading/finding/testing all the great molds. I currently own 7 different firearms that shoot the 38spls along with 14 different molds for them of which 4 of them are hb molds and 6 of them are hp molds.

  20. #20
    Boolit Grand Master FergusonTO35's Avatar
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    My ex-Lexington PD 1967 10-5 has a butter smooth trigger pull and is dead on with any 158 grain load. It stands guard in my bedroom with 5.8 grains Accurate #5/Lee 358-158-RF for a measured 875 fps. I once talked to a retired cop whose career spanned from the 60's to the 90's. He said that the old +P lead hollow point was the most effective handgun round he ever saw bar none. He had seen the results in autopsy and was impressed, "one per customer is all you need" he quipped.
    Currently casting and loading: .32 Auto, .380 Auto, .38 Special, 9X19, .357 Magnum, .257 Roberts, 6.5 Creedmoor, .30 WCF, .308 WCF, .45-70.

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Abbreviations used in Reloading

BP Bronze Point IMR Improved Military Rifle PTD Pointed
BR Bench Rest M Magnum RN Round Nose
BT Boat Tail PL Power-Lokt SP Soft Point
C Compressed Charge PR Primer SPCL Soft Point "Core-Lokt"
HP Hollow Point PSPCL Pointed Soft Point "Core Lokt" C.O.L. Cartridge Overall Length
PSP Pointed Soft Point Spz Spitzer Point SBT Spitzer Boat Tail
LRN Lead Round Nose LWC Lead Wad Cutter LSWC Lead Semi Wad Cutter
GC Gas Check