Bulged .38 Spl cases

[hanover67]

The other day I bought some fired .38 Special cases at a nearby gun store. I bought them because they are old Winchester wadcutter cases with two cannelures that I had been looking for for a long time. When I got home and examined them, they had noticeable bulges (expansion rings) just above the web area of each case. And, about half were partly coated with a black substance that looks like tar and is very difficult to remove. The hulls had a different color (silver) primer, so I think they were reloads and not "once fired."

I ran the cases through my RCBS Carbide resizing die and it ironed out enough of the bulges that they will chamber in my Colt Officers Model .30 without any resistance. I plan to use low (3gr) charges of Bullseye with 148gr wadcutter boolits, so I'm not too worried about casehead separation or other rupture.

Has anyone else seen this kind of bulging, and what might be the cause? One thought I had is that they were fired in a .38 Special automatic like the S $ W 52.

[GP100man]

Too much pressure is the first thing that comes to mind, but could`ve been fired in a large chambered gun. Measure under the bulge & compare it to other cases , hi pressure will increase the case head web area also.

In these days of scrounging, buying used brass has become a gamble!

[ReloaderFred]

First of all, all the older Winchester primers were nickel plated, so the color of the primer doesn't give you any indication as to whether or not they've been reloaded, or not. Every Winchester HBWC load I ever fired had a nickel plated primer in it.

With those HBWC cases, bulging is normal, but the amount depends on the chambers they were fired in. When I was shooting PPC matches on the department pistol team, I went through many thousands of those cases. They're thinner all the way down than your run of the mill .38 cases, since they're designed for the long bearing surface of the HBWC bullet.

For most bullseye work, your intended load is about 3/10's of a grain too high. Just be sure to not double, or triple charge any of them. Even a double charge will grenade a S&W Model 19, since I saw it happen on the firing line, right next to me in a big match.

As to the black tar, I don't have a clue. That's usually used to waterproof military ammunition, and is used on the inside of the neck.

Hope this helps.

Fred

[DLCTEX]

I traded for a piece of junk, foreign made 38 Special Colt SSA wannabe revolver back in my younger days that the chambers were so loose I almost fired a 357 mag. by mistake. It chambered easily and as I was closing the loading gate the last rounds headstamp caught my eye. Fortunately the young fellow that had traded it to me came back a few days later and had to have it back urgently, probably stole it from a relative, so I graciously let him have it back at a nice profit to me rather than throw it down a well. Those cases were really swelled.

[scattershot]

I'd guess overpressure and/or a sloppy chamber. Should be fine.with light loads, but keep an .eye on'em.

[Treeman]

Overpressure is possible but my first thought is that they were fired in a rechambered S&W Victory model. Running a 38 special reamer into those 380 rimmed(38/200 or 38 S&W) chambers left them over sized in back.

[Char-Gar]

Some visible case expansion above the web on wadcutter brass is normal. Without a picture to look at, I can't tell if yours in normal or something else going on.