.360 boolit is a 38 SW?

[fiatmom]

I am going to start casting for a 38 S&W in a webly. The cylinder measures .361/.362 and tyhe bore is .360. What boolit mold should I use? Most .38 molds seem to measure .357. Would this create a problem with leading and accuracy?or would the boolit bump up when fires. It seems as though it would be to large a bump. Coild I use a .365 Makarov boolit and perhaps size it down?
Thanks
Nick

[Landric]

The .38 S&W is generally around .360. However, all the molds I have for .38 Special/.357 drop bigger than .357, most are in the .359-.360 size range before sizing. I haven't seen a mold specifically for the .38 S&W, but a lot of .358 molds would work. There are also often group buys for molds dropping in the .360+ range. A .365 boolit might be a bit much to size down, and probably also lighter than you might want for a Webly, which I suspect was designed around the British .38-200 load, which used a 200 grain boolit.

[HORNET]

Lee makes a mold for the Makarov that you could try. That's only being sized down about .005, which should be alright. Some of the old Ideal (pre-Lyman) molds were designated as 360xxx and cast large enough to size at .360/.361. They tend to be somewhat sought after and hard to find. You could probably 'Beagle" a mold that runs .358/.359 to get something to play with. Don't know where it would group at relative to the sights...

[BLTsandwedge]

I reload for two 38S&Ws. I got lucky with a 100g button nose wadcutter mould (made by mountain moulds) that drops .360 with 90/10 WW/tin. For this 100g WC I use 3.5g Unique- a light charge that my break-top S&W tolerates. Even with a bit of barrel pitting I can generally get 5 rounds into a 5" circle at 50 feet. Not a record breaker, but the revolver is 120 years old! This weekend I'll pass a few rounds over the chronograph and see where we're at.

Tom

[Hip's Ax]

I bought some 38 S&W bullets from this guy a few years ago.

http://westernbullet.com/3535738caliber.html

[257 Shooter]

Sweede Nelson is running a small GB for a .360 180 grn. mould. You can even get it with a hollow point cavity.

[lathesmith]

Also consider that, to load the 38 S&W properly, you'll probably need to use a 9mm Makorov die set, such as Lee's, to load your larger .360+ slugs. Most 38 S&W die sets are designed to load .357 bullets; it does you little good to go to the trouble of getting the right-size slugs @.360-.362, only to have them squeezed down as you load them in undersized brass and crimped with an undersized die. I'm facing the same issues myself, as I gear up to load some decent ammo for my own S&W model 10 in 38 S&W. I have a great 200 grain mold that casts beautiful, nearly period-correct 200grain RN's, that measure around .363 in diameter. I now have a set of Mak dies, but I still haven't gotten time to put it all together--maybe this winter(sigh).
Good luck,
lathesmith

[Dutchman]

My new Lee d/c 358-158-RF drops at .3615". Nice large flat nose profile.


Dutch

[jonk]

The Mak bullets work fine, but as said, I use the Mak dies as well- even with 360 bullets (actually 365 DO chamber in my Webley, albeit snugly so I just use those) they sometimes bind in the 38 seater.

I've had fine results with as cast '357' molds- usually they drop at 359-60 anyhow. My favorite accuracy wise is a 148gr wadcutter.

[badgeredd]

Bruce at BRP has a couple molds that should work well for you. His molds spec at 360 so you'll have the diameter you need, Also I agree on using the Mak dies. In my Colt, I use a softer alloy because the velocity is so low as is the pressure. One need a bullet that will upset and seal easily.

Edd

[Shepherd2]

I have an old Lyman 358430 DC mould in the 150 grain version that drops at .361. I size them to .360 and load using Lee Makorov dies.

[azjohn]

Try this company.http://www.castbulletengineering.com/default.htm

[Buckshot]

.............I load for three revolters in the gee-whiz 38 S&W chambering :-) Two Victory models and a IJ break top 5 shooter. I'll add my suggestion to use the Lee Makarov dies along with the rest of the responders. If you bought that Lee mould Dutchman suggests, you might be lucky and get one to suit, but you also may not. There have been a couple Group Buys done here specificly for the 38 S&W. Even though there were several wildly enthusiastic supporters for it, it DID take awile to fill. It seems those who are dazzeled by the magnificence of the cartridge, are a rather smallish population of the handgun crowd.

NEI is supposed make a suitable mould for the cartridge, but I forget the mould number now. If you can find a Lyman 35863 which is a long out of print 150gr DEWC, snatch it up. Every one I've heard of casts large and my copy drops a pure lead slug at .363".

.................Buckshot

[Landric]

There is an Ideal 1-Cavity 360271 on the auction site right now, says a .360 150 grain boolit. Sounds perfect for .38 S&W to me.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=230389922759&ssPageName=STRK:MEWAX:IT