justindad
01-30-2024, 01:02 PM
I traded for some Starline .38 Short Colt brass. I have some used Starline .357 Mag brass and some range pickup .38 Special & .38 Special +P brass. I am going to run some experiments to see how %case fill and total powder weight independently effect pressures & velocities.
*
I contacted Starline to get an indication of how much pressure their .38 SC brass can handle in a .357 Mag revolver. They didn’t give me a direct answer on just how strong the .38 SC brass is, except to say it is similar to the .38 Special brass. It is the same alloy as 9mm brass, but doesn’t have as much material in the case head so they can’t get the same metallurgy throughout the case. So, the .38 SC brass is likely weaker than 9mm brass. Ultimately, he said that if you’re exceeding .38 Short Colt pressures you should just use .357 Magnum brass. The interesting thing from all that is the thicknesses of the case head & web indicate how strong the brass is overall, because of the implications on the metallurgy of the brass. You cannot apply that reasoning across different brands of brass, but thought I would share it as food for thought.
*
I contacted Starline to get an indication of how much pressure their .38 SC brass can handle in a .357 Mag revolver. They didn’t give me a direct answer on just how strong the .38 SC brass is, except to say it is similar to the .38 Special brass. It is the same alloy as 9mm brass, but doesn’t have as much material in the case head so they can’t get the same metallurgy throughout the case. So, the .38 SC brass is likely weaker than 9mm brass. Ultimately, he said that if you’re exceeding .38 Short Colt pressures you should just use .357 Magnum brass. The interesting thing from all that is the thicknesses of the case head & web indicate how strong the brass is overall, because of the implications on the metallurgy of the brass. You cannot apply that reasoning across different brands of brass, but thought I would share it as food for thought.