9mm boolits in a .38 Special?

[Shuz]

I just bought my wife a Ruger LCR in .38 Special. The only moulds I have in .38 cal are either for 9mm's or .35 Whelen's!
The question is: Can a Lee 356-102 or a Lee 356-120TC be loaded in the .38 Special and function properly? Both of my moulds happen to drop at .357 to .358, so diameter should not be a problem.

[bob208]

when I was shooting ppc with my security six. I used the rcbs tc bullet with 3.5gr. red dot. the tc made loading with a speed loader faster.

[JBinMN]

Short answer... Yes.

[Petrol & Powder]

I agree with JBinMN - the short answer is yes !

However, the complete answer is a bit more involved.
IF that bullet is large enough in diameter to work in your Ruger LCR barrel, what you will end up with is a 120 grain bullet in a 38 Special case. There are plenty of 38 Special bullets in that weight range and that is certainly a workable combination in 38 Special. The problem, if there is a problem, will be the diameter of the bullet.
The loaded bullet will need to be at least .357" in diameter and it would be preferable if it was .358". If the bullets drop from the mold at .358", you could lube them and load them "as cast" without much difficulty. If they are dropping out of the mold at .357", there's not much you can do to make them bigger.

It is not inherently dangerous but you may have a lot of leading and poor accuracy if the bullets are too small in diameter.

[Thumbcocker]

The flip side would be to get the Lee 125 rnfp and shoot it in both.

[gpidaho]

Of course there is something you can do if the bullets drop undersized from the mould. there is always the old fashion bumping or beagling. The easiest remedy is to powder coat an undersize bullet. One coat will add 1 to 2 thousandths. And yes bullets from 9mm moulds work great in 38spl. Gp

[Groo]

Groo here
Back when jacketed soft point bullets were a new thing the first light weight bullets were for 9mm.
Colt python barrels were tapered starting around .356 or 7 down to .355 or 4.
Smart loaders used the lighter 9mm bullets in there colts and mad screemers!!!!!!!!!!!
Slug your barrel first.

[smkummer]

It should work fine. Some of use load a 125 grain bullet in 38 for cowboy action and light recoil 38 special loads.

[lar45]

If they are dropping out of the mold at .357", there's not much you can do to make them bigger.

You could always Beagle the mold open a bit.
Get some Aluminum Ducting Tape, cut off some thin strips and tape them on the inside of the mold blocks near the alignment pins. Heat the mold up, cast and measure a few. You can easily get an extra .001".

[Big Boomer]

My Lee 6-cavity 125 gr. rn boolit does double duty in my 9mms and my brother's light alloy-framed S&W .38 Spl. (M442 perhaps?). Reamed a Star .357 sizer die out to .3585 and it works well in both my 9s & the .38 Spl., plus also use the same boolit in a nephew's Sig full-size 9mm pistol. Boolit actually drops from the mould at a little shy of 130 grs. of my ww alloy. Good shooter. Nephew says they are more accurate than factory jacketed stuff. Big Boomer

[1Papalote]

Lee 120 gr shoots great in my j frames.

1Papalote

[fecmech]

The Lee 120TC is the bullet I use in my K38 for Hunters pistol silhouette out to 75 yds because of it's excellent accuracy. The only reason I don't use it at 100yds on the ram target is it will not reliably knock the ram over.

[Greg S]

I run a Mihec 9mm 125 HP in 38 Spec and load as usual but use a taper crimp die versus a roll crimp die.

[vzerone]

One thing over looked is although the barrel may have a tight groove diameter the cylinder throats don't. You get better accuracy when the cast bullets fits the throat. You may also have to change the expander plug to a smaller size to insure better case neck tension on the undersized bullets.