.38 long Colt reloading

[zorro]

howdy to all , i am thinking about rebuilding my 1901 colt army-navy and getting back in shooting shape , does anyone reload this cartridge and what head do I use ??
If I remeber these cartridges were like the .41 long colt with both heel bullet and hollow base bullets , please post , many thanks Zorro

[Harry O]

I don't have any [personal experience with reloading the .38 Long Colt, but I do with the .41 Long Colt. See here:

http://harryo.sixshootercommunity.org/

The mould numbers would be different, but there cannot be much difference in procedure. I have fired some .38 Special target wadcutters (REPEAT: LOW POWER FEDERAL TARGET HOLLOW-BASE WADCUTTERS) from an 1892 Colt in .38LC. It worked and did not appear to damage the gun in any way, but I did not fire many of them. The skirt expanded to the larger bore, just like my .41LC hollow-base bullets do.

[Ricochet]

The Winchester .38 LC factory loads that were still available in the '60s had a 150 grain bullet, rather blunt nosed like the 200 grain "Super Police" .38 Special or .41 LC, inside lubricated and hollow based. They also had the "Lubaloy" copper plating. Seems to me that advertised MV was 775 FPS.

[Ricochet]

It's also noteworthy that these old revolvers generally had the chambers bored straight through, with no throats. .38 Special and even .357 Magnum cartridges will often fit, though loaded to higher pressures than the revolver's rated for. I wouldn't worry about firing mild .38 LC pressure loads in .38 Special cases, if they fit the chamber without interference.

(I had a friend in the '70s who routinely fired standard .38 Special 158 grain LRN factory loads in his 1892 Colt, though I thought it horribly dangerous and advised him so. It digested them without a burp.)

[Bent Ramrod]

zorro,

The .38 Long is a "real" .38 caliber, going about .379" to the grooves, at least in the two rifles I own in it, You can trim .38 Spl brass down to 1.03," a trivial exercise, but the bullets are another story. Maybe Rapine offers a mould for a heeled boolit; I cast mine from the mould on an old Ideal .38 LOL reloading tool.

I don't have a pistol in the caliber, but in one of my rifles I find I can shoot .38 Spl. hollow-base wadcutters loaded flush with the end of the shell, The hollow base expands the .357" bullets to give decent accuracy in the rifle; might be worth a try in the pistol. The bullets must be soft swaged lead, my harder castings with shallower hollow bases don't work.

[725]

zorro,
I would bet that "Old West Bullet Mould" company would make a heeled bullet mould for the .38 LC. I just bought a mould from them and it really looks like a beauty. Haven't had a chance to cast any yet from it. Yep. I just checked their ads and they list heel bullet moulds and "special" crimping dies.
allisonmonument@aol.com
Bernie@oldwestbulletmoulds.com
970-858-1449
http://www.oldwestbulletmoulds.com
There ----- that should get you started.
725

[beagle]

Pretty good article in Handloader a while back and I just went through it with a friend with a Ballard so chambered.

It depends on what you have. The original .38 Long Colt had a .379" bore as has been previously mentioned. Later, some were fitted with .358" barrels.

First thing I'd do would be to slug the barrel and see what I had.

.38 Special cases cut down can be used and supposedly the Speer HB wadcutters give fair accuracy in pistols with the bigger barrel.

I have a Lyman 35870 HB mould and it didn't do well in the ballard. May do well in a pistol with the shorter barrel though./beagle

[Wayne Smith]

Old West Bullet Molds makes both the molds and a crimp die based on a modified Lee crimp die. They work. NEI also has molds for the .38LC, and yes, it is a heeled bullet.

[zorro]

thanks guys great to know I not the only with a .38 long Colt

[smkummer]

I ran into this same situation. I first had some 38 LC cases and loaded about 3.0 Grs. bullseye behind a 150 bullet. This was a Hercules published load for the 38 LC. Worked fine. This is really just the same load as the standard 38 wadcutter target load. So now I forget the need for 38 LC brass and just fire 38 match ammo out of my gun. I did even fire standard 38 Specail ammo out of it with no problems but usually just fire the 38 wadcutter ammo. This is plain base 148 WC cast bullet but would expect the hollow base wadcutters would probably shoot a tighter group.

[PatMarlin]

I was planning on cutting down 38 special cases for my colt.

Here's a picture of my old colt. Pay no attention to the munchkin holding it while standing next to my wife.. :mrgreen: