New to Forum .38/200 question(s)

[9.3X62AL]

Dittoes on the 9mm Makarov dies working well for the 38/200. And to hitting up a local sports store for the powder and primers.

I've used either Winchester or CCI small pistol primers for all of my 38/200 loading. No need for magnum primers here. Winchester primers are designated as "WSP" on their packaging, CCI primers as "CCI 500".

I concur on the Lee C-press as being a much better application of cash to your reloading set-up. Lyman 310 dies require dies that are specific to that tool, while any maker's 7/8" x 14 die sets will work well in the C-press.

[Quiet.and.simple]

Looks like I'm set. Now to begin acquiring the various pieces and parts. If anyone is interested, I'll post pics of the Enfield after I pick it up tomorrow. Not only do I need to load ammo for it, but I also have to replace the hammer nose on it. Luckily I was able to find one that I can pull off of a complete hammer assembly. If anyone needs a hammer nose, check out Apex gun parts. They have the only hammer noses that I've been able to find.

I will definitely also buy the powder and primers from a big sporting goods store. At this moment the only one close to me is a Bass Pro Shops, but strangely enough I'm about to relocate to Vancouver, WA on Aug. 1st. The wife and I are going to drive from northern FL to Vancouver, WA, all this next week. If anyone is up in that neck of the woods we'll have to go shooting, sometime.

[jrayborn]

"If anyone is interested, I'll post pics of the Enfield after I pick it up tomorrow"

Pics are never an option, they are a requirement

I'm in much the same position, done a bit more casting/loading than it seems you have, but I'm waiting on boolits too. And from what I have experianced so far, the wait should be more than worth it!

Can't wait to shoot my Webley!

[Quiet.and.simple]

Webleys are nice guns. I've always wanted one of the Welbey Mk VI's. I'm still waiting for my dad to bring it over, so no pics yet. He told me that there's a possibility that one of my younger siblings might have "liberated" it.

I hadn't thought about the old gun in years until I began gathering up my guns from various relatives (big family, lots of hunters). I'll get it back, but if he can't get it today or tomorrow I'll have to pay an FFL to receive my own gun, once I'm out there. Kinda burns my rear, but what can you do?

I have a couple of old guns in obsolete calibres. .38/200 (when it shows up), 7.62 Nagant, .375 Winchester, so I really needed to get into reloading, anyway.

The thing that I would hate the most is wasting the time of all of these people who were kind enough to dig up information and answer my questions.

Of course, now I can start pestering people about the best "hottest" defensive load for a Nagant 1895 revolver.

[LouisianaMan]

Q&S,
Welcome to the forum, and to the world of the .38-200 aka .38 S&W and aka a few other names

Once you're settled in after the move, give me a holler at danamangham@hotmail.com and I'll dig up some threads & links for you on loads I've used in this caliber, in a military surplus Enfield; modern S&W solid-frame revolvers (32-1, 33, and 33-1); a WWII Victory Model S&W; and a Colt Royal Hong Kong Police revolver.

I've had success using the Lee .38 S&W dies, but readily admit that my definition of "success" may be different than the others who have posted here, all of whom probably shoot better than I do. I can't hold very tight groups anyway, so I can't begin to tell where my shaky hand & 20/30 vision (on a good day) leave off, and where loads & bullet sizes pick up. I've slugged several of my revolvers, but have never pulled a bullet and miked it after I loaded it. Perhaps my dies swaged it down, but I get very functional self-defense type accuracy and reliability, even if the 25-or 50-yard groups might prove disappointing to some.

Since my modern S&W's mike at .359 groove diameter and the Colt was about .355-.356, I found that .360-.362 bullets worked great in everything but the Colts, which wouldn't chamber the cartridges at all. For them, I sized the bullets to .358 and everything worked fine in them and my S&W's. The .360+ bullets are the bullet of choice in my Enfield and I was surprised how accurately I could shoot with its double-action only mechanism. It gobbles up 200g bullets at 600-650 fps, as that's what it was designed for!

I'm a lifetime shooter, but have reloaded only about 10 years. My Lyman manual did a great job laying out what I needed to know, and Lee 2nd Edition and Speer 13 have come in very handy, too. I've only been casting a couple of years, and much of my casting effort has been for the .38-200. It's addictive, and we will try to get you addicted to casting after we hook you on reloading

[Quiet.and.simple]

ENFIELD IN HAND! I'm posting pics below:

[Quiet.and.simple]

Finish is rough, but smooth. The finish is GONE, but the bore is good. The rifling is sharp.

[Shooter6br]

Try site Cast Pics looked under articles 38 Special data listed

[Multigunner]

Finish is rough, but smooth. The finish is GONE, but the bore is good. The rifling is sharp.

Just the way I like 'em, pre disastered. No worry about gettng a scratch on it.

So long as the pistol is in good mechanical condition I don't care that much about appearances. Best .38 snubbie I ever had was a Model 37 airweight that had spent decades on the bottom of a lake buried in mud. Long enough that the nickel finish formed a crust that could be scraped away with a fingernail.
The grips rotted away and mainspring and guide rusted away as well.
The alloy parts, including early alloy cylinder were still okay , the steel barrel had been heavily chromed rather than nickeled and other than one patch at the muzzle that plating was intact.
Turned out to be a good shooter after a bit of work.

[Greg B.]

Q & S,

I have one of those only the grips are plastic and it came with a little stamped slip on sheet metal rear sight that slid over the top of the frame at the rear of the cylinder which I believe allowed you to use .38 S&W ammo. In 1975 I paid $25.00 for it. The shop that was selling them had two wood barrels full and I picked one with the plastic grips because there wasn't as many as the ones with wood grips.

If by chance you come accross some old military ammo keep in mind that at least some of it was Berdan primed and does not have a central flash hole for the primer. If you use reloading dies designed for Boxer primers you will bend your decaping pin. By using new brass with the centre flash hole Boxer primers there is no problem. Also some of those WW2 vintage cartridges might have corossive primers which can rust your barrel if you don't clean it properly. I think you want to put hot water through the barrel, dry it and then clean it normally. The hot water gets rid of the salts which attract moisture.

I prefer Lyman dies for cast boolits because their neck expander plug [Lyman Neck Expanding M die] opens up and bells the case mouth a bit more which helps avoid shaved lead alloy boolits. This assumes that they are properly adjusted. Last I don't think anybody mentioned the Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook. An excelent loading manual for cast boolits. Unfortunately it only includes data for their molds and boolits.

Good luck with your project.
Greg B.

[Quiet.and.simple]

Just ordered a complete hammer assembly from Apex gun parts. I'll have to tap the pin out of the hammer nose, and install either a new pin, or the original one if it's salvageable. If anyone has already done this, I'd appreciate the advice. Also, if anyone has a use for the DA only hammer that I'll be taking the hammer nose out of, let me know.

[jrayborn]

Old Enfields are a lot like old Colts. Sure wish they could speak.

[Outpost75]

Another resurrected Zombie thread.

Never cared for the DAO Enfields, but love the 5-inch S&W Victory Models in .38 S&W, perfect proportions and they shoot well with either Accurate 36-187H or 36-190T and 2.5 grains of Bullseye for 640 fps.