Military 38 Special brass?

[awaveritt]

I just came across some 38 Specials with a military headstamp that reads R A 6 5. Any headstamp historians out there who can shed some light on the origins of such brass? It has been reloaded but is this brass really 45 years old?

[Mike Venturino]

The headstamp stands for Remington Arms 1965. It really is that old. In my opinion military .38 Special brass is good quality but if you try to seat very long bullets in it the case walls will bulge and prevent chambering in some revolvers.

MLV

[awaveritt]

Thanks Mike. I've loaded them up with my Lee TL-358-158-SWC boolits and I noticed that there were no bulges in the brass (my boolits drop at .359). It seems to chamber just fine in my S&W 638 snubbie.

I'm assuming you were thinking of boolits longer than 158gr SWC's. I've got a whole box of 'em and they look like good quality.

[oldhickory]

I had a few loaded cartridges from WWII. They were hard ball, but badly corroded. I pulled the bullets and discarded everything, it was back in the 60s and I couldn't imagine any value to them at all.

[ReloaderFred]

You'll find brass headstamped with "WCC", "WRA", "R A", "F C", "L C", "IVI", "TZZ" and "IMI" on military .38 brass. There may be others, but those are the ones I've run across.

It's normally thicker brass, and some have the primer crimped, just like other calibers of U.S. Military brass. It's good brass and generally lasts longer than commercial, due to the greater thickness of the case walls.

Hope this helps.

Fred

[Poygan]

A long time ago I acquired a bunch of RA 64 brass in .38 Spl and it is by far my favorite .38 brass. Plenty of reloads and I don't recall any split necks.

[Guesser]

I'm working my way thru a 5 gallon bucket of military 38 cases, several hundred nickel plated FC from the 80's. Lots of WCC 71 and LC 77/78, so far only the LC is crimped, some of the older RA from the 60's. All good brass. I've also got to go thru about half a bucket of Military 45 ACP cases, mostly FC 96/97/98 and crimped. Thats why I have a Dillon crimp tool.

[Echo]

My only caveat about GI .38 brass is that it is so tough that it will swage down soft boolits. I tried some w/commercial HBWC's in my Clark .38, and they were all over. Pulled one and it was obviously squoze - didn't measure at the time, but never used GI brass for the Clark after that.

[Mike Venturino]

I still have a few rounds of tracer .38 Specials. Supposedly it was issued to naval and marine aviators for signaling search and rescue aircraft. Most of them carried S&W .38s in WW2.

[shotman]

Have about 150 if someone wants them. most have had pocket sized and all are shinny---shipping?

[Rocky Raab]

Mike, I was Air Force and was also issued tracer .38 ammo along with a 4" S&W revolver. We also got ball ammo, but most of us who flew the FAC mission carried six tracers to use for signaling. We knew we weren't going to win any land battles with a .38 for sure.

The common wisdom was to plan on using five and saving the last one for oneself.

Back to the present; the only problem I've had with GI brass is that it is so thick that I can't use a gas-checked bullet in it or I can't chamber the loaded ammo in my old Flattop Blackhawk. They will just barely chamber in a Security Six and drop into my Colt Officers' Match, thank goodness.

[KYCaster]

Just a bit OT, but it bears repeating occasionally.....

Like Mike said, bulging cases when seating long bullets is fairly common, even with commercial brass. It can be a big problem when seating wadcutters.

Most of the manufacturers identify brass that was originally loaded with wadcutters with two cannalures around the case. Since I learned that I've had no problems with bulged cases.

Jerry

[NavyEngineer]

Shotman,
I'd be happy to take them off your hands and pay the shipping if no one's spoken for them already. They'd be perfect to load rounds for my Navy marked Victory model. One of the Navy Civilians (retired aviator) who works on the base I'm stationed at said that he carried one of these revolvers when he was flying Intruders into Vietnam in the 1960s (with tracer rounds). Navy helicopter pilots carried 38 revolvers at least into the early 1990s (that's what they were issued on my first ship from 1992-1996. In those days, we carried three types of handguns - 1911A1s for ship's company, 38 revolvers for the aviation detachment, and 9mm Berettas for the Coast Guard detachment.

[Mike Venturino]

Rocky: Thanks for that tidbit. I didn't know the Air Force issued them too. I don't have one but I do have one of the Brit versions chambered for the .38/200.

[Shiloh]

There is a quantity of military brass in my supply from various manufacturers. Pretty common if one acquires a lot of .38 brass.

Shiloh

[Shiloh]

There is a quantity of military brass in my supply from various manufacturers. Pretty common if one acquires a lot of .38 brass.

Shiloh

[NickSS]

I have been using the same GI cases for 38s for almost 40 years. Compared to commercial they almost never wear out. I probably have a 5 gallon bucket of 38spl brass but the stuff almost never gets tossed. I guess my kids will inherit most of it.

[1Shirt]

Like NickSS said! Have loaded mil 38s with various markings for many years. Only wish that the mil had adopted the 357. Oh well!
1Shirt!:coffeecom

[Rocky Raab]

Heck, I have an unopened box of mil .38 ball stored under my bench, plus a partial box. (It is not very good stuff, being both inaccurate and greatly downloaded. It has a 130-gr FMJ and clocks under 700 fps.)

[mauser98us]

I have a bunch. Thick as a brick,but works well for CB loads. I likes it

[DLCTEX]

I have a number of them acquired from a site member some of them were crimped in so that the primer punch pin pierced them rather than push them out. Haven't found an easy way to remove the remains, so just tossed them.

[Rodfac]

Mike, I was Air Force and was also issued tracer .38 ammo along with a 4" S&W revolver. We also got ball ammo, but most of us who flew the FAC mission carried six tracers to use for signaling. We knew we weren't going to win any land battles with a .38 for sure.

The common wisdom was to plan on using five and saving the last one for oneself.

Back to the present; the only problem I've had with GI brass is that it is so thick that I can't use a gas-checked bullet in it or I can't chamber the loaded ammo in my old Flattop Blackhawk. They will just barely chamber in a Security Six and drop into my Colt Officers' Match, thank goodness.

Rocky Raab....I flew out of a 5th Spl Forces Camp, (B-334) at An Loc, lll Corps in '70 as Rod 24. We flew the O-1E. What FOL did you fly out of? Among other weapons, I carried the CAR 15, a 9mm Hi-Power, a 1911-A1, and an M-79...not all at once mind you, but usually the CAR and the Hi-Power. The Combat Masterpiece that was issued to me, I usually left in the bunker unless I was headed down to Bien Hoa to visit Squadron HQ for one reason or another. Regards, and welcome home. Rodfac..aka Dave Oberg, La Grange, KY

Regards, Dave Oberg La Grange KY

[sheepdog]

What years did the military actively use the 38 caliber? I know railroad and postal did for a long time.

[NavyEngineer]

The Navy used 38 Specials at least until the late 1990s, and I suspect may have been the last service using it. My last ship got our first M16s (M16A2s) in late 2006. Navy ships still carry M14s, M60s, and M79s (and M2HBs, of course).

[jnovotny]

I just sold a thousand rounds of LC half of which i worked. Tough as nails could'nt get the primers out of alot of them. I also have some tracer rounds for the .38 wondered what they were ever used for. Now I know, thanks for the info.

[MtGun44]

Mike,

I can corroborate your Navy tracer story. My Dad (still with us at 85) was a Naval
Aviator in WW2 and carried a S&W Victory model. He has told me about being issued
tracers for the .38 for signaling in a bailout situation.

Bill