38 S&W load help

[turmech]

I am looking for advise on loads for a H&R break top 38 S&W that’s in pretty good shape. I am thinking of loading a soft .358 150 gr SWC that I already have a mold for use in my 38 spl. Using either Bullseye or trail boss (TB would need to be purchased bullseye already on hand). I Know the 38 SW was designed for a larger bullet but I don't see any cheep molds available. I am not looking to create super accurate loads I mainly just wanting to shoot the old gun safely every now an again.

Any one loading something similar?

[crowbeaner]

I load the RCBS or Lyman 150 grain swc sized .360" over 3.0 to 3.3 of Unique. Accurate, safe, and shoots great even in topbreaks. If you add antimony, your boolits will be bigger. CB.

[Will]

I loaded some for a friend many years ago and ifnI remember right I used 3gr of unique. I would start with 2gr BE and work up. The 150gr swc should work fine. Might slug the bore as some 38SW have a large bore as much as .362.

[turmech]

The bore and throats are larger than .358. I just don't see low cost comerical mold for .360. I was thinking of loading a soft .358 and hoping it would slug up when fired. Would you guys consider 3 gr of unique a starting load or start smaller?

[shotman]

3 gr of unique is hard to meter but there is a better way for your bullet if you have expander take the 358 you have and mash it in a vice. It dont take much. I do it and use a 1/2 nut that I filed down. tape that to jaw and you get same everytime
Bullseye is nice and cleaner

[dubber123]

I haven't tried it, as I have a couple more suitable molds, but the LEE mold for the 9mm Makarov is supposed to cast about .365". It's on the light side, but it should fit your cylinder throats better.
Pay attention to your dies, I have seen .38 S&W dies that apparently have a .38 Special expander, and leave you with way too small an inside diameter on you brass after belling/expanding, which can squeeze your fat boolits right back down to undersize. Have fun.

[Guesser]

I cast and load 38 S&W for two S&W Regulation Police revolvers. My molds drop at .361 so I'm set. I'm told that the 38/148 gr. HBWC is a good choice for the 38 S&W if you don't have .360 or larger bullets. It will fill the chamber and bore at low pressure and should work well at most any small charge.

[rintinglen]

+1 on the HBWC advice, though I have a 2 cavity 358-250 that casts large that I used to load up some for my Father-in-Law's old Iver Johnson. I used 2.2 grains of Bullseye, IIRC, simply because that was the smallest rotor I had for my Little Dandy at the time. I later loaded up 200 speer HBWC, over the same charge, with half the bullet in the case and half hanging out. Those were actually pretty accurate. I used the afore-mentioned 358-250 to load up a bunch for my k frame M&P, which was chambered for the 38 S&W. I finally used that frame to make a 38 special snubbie and got rid of the 38 S&W stuff. Use the start load in one of the older Lyman Books and things should be all right.

[olafhardt]

Triple ought buckshot might work along with the smallest Lee dipper. I have been using single ought buck and a dipper I made out of a filed down 22 short hull and win 231. I think dipped charges are more accurate for tiny charges YMMV.

[Guesser]

#1 on using a dipper for small charges, much more uniformly accurate charges are achieved.

[Larry Gibson]

The throats on my H&R .38 S&W run right at .362 and the groove depth is .359. I've loaded pure lead 358477s as cast at .358 - .359 and TL'd with LLA over 2.1 gr of Bullseye and they shot as well as factory loads. Factory R-P and older REM-UMC run 620 - 640 fps out of my 3.2"barreled revolver BTW. Commercial swaged Hornady and Speer HBWCs seated long over the same charge do really well also. Mostly I use the Lee 358-105-SWC cast very soft, left as cast and TL'd in LLA over 2.5 gr Bullseye. It shoots as well as DA only revovler will let me, conserves alloy and is fun.

Larry Gibson

[turmech]

The 358477 is exactly what I had in mind. The measurements on my H&R are appear to be close to the same. Now I just need to find some brass and dies. I may get lucky I remember as a kid my father had some rounds for this gun when he had it (I would pull the bullets and reload them). The only dies I have found for sale were from lee.

[rintinglen]

If you have a set of 9mm and 38/357 dies, you can cobble together a pseudo-38 S&W die set. Partially size and de cap with the 38 sizer, expand with the 9mm expander die set deep, seat but do not crimp with the 9mm seater die, then lightly taper crimp using the 38 sizer die with the decapping rod removed. Adjust the die to just barely touch the leading edge of the case and then screw it down 1/4 to 1/2 turn. This works very well with the HBWC, since they often lack crimp grooves.