38 short?

[Nora]

I've got the same revolver. It it an Enfield No2 Mk1. The British service load was called the 380/200. A standard 38 S&W with a 200 gr boolit. In the US this was refereed to as the .38 S&W Super Police. They called the standard 38 S&W load a .380 Rim. Star seems to be the only one offering brass for it. http://www.gunaccessories.com/StarLine/index.asp http://www.grafs.com/metallic/521 I'm holding out for Graf's to get some more in.

Nora

[9.3X62AL]

Kyle, I use Starline brass in 38 S&W caliber in my Webley-Enfield DAO revolver and in a S&W M&P revolver chambered for the same cartridge. A 9mm Makarov sizer does a great job of resizing, and the Mak expander die works well too. Both the W/E and the S&W have .362"-.363" throats, and I size boolits to that diameter for them. Lyman has that sizer die as a regular-stock item. The boolit mould is from NEI, a 200 grain roundnose with long nose and short drive band section to fit the short case. Fact is, the cases are .775" long, and the boolits are .810" long. They shoot rather well, and jack up jackrabbits in smart fashion. Fun guns in a funky but entirely serviceable caliber, once the dimensional poetry gets figured out.

[kyle623]

should i use stick ww's or clipons to cast? I've seem that some guys say pure lead for this round. are clipons too hard?

[NickSS]

The enfiled revolver is a fine pistol that the Brits used as a service pistol through WWII and KOREA. The cartridge it shoots is basically the 38S&W round loaded with a 200 gr bullet. I have one and use it frequently mostly shooting 158gr RNF cast bullets. My loads clock in at 725 fps and are reasonably accurate. I size my bullets to .360 when I load for that cartridge.

[kyle623]

now i just need brass, and dies.

[miltfarrow]

Have bought a very tight lockup Iver Johnson .38S&W top break revolver. Can I shoot it with weak smokeless loads? I've read 'yes' and I've read 'no' so far. thanks.

[Mk42gunner]

Milt,

It really depends on when the gun was made. Is it an antique that was meant for BP only? Or is it one of the ones that were made for smokless?

If you do a search on "top break revolver" some interresting threads with links to identify your gun should come up.

Robert

[miltfarrow]

thanks Robert. Will check further. I'm willing to shoot it, occasionally, with BP if necessary, but smokeless is a lot easier party to clean up after.