Sometime in the last Year I acquired a few S&W Victory Models and one S&W M&P made about 2 months before start of Victory Model SNs. This one has had a 2.5 inch barrel mounted and a .38 S&W Cylinder that has been reamed out to .38 Spec. Another has had a Parker Hale rework that had a 4 Inch barrel with a Long Ramp Sight Mounted. The third is an untouched 5 inch. I am about to embark on a quest to see if it possible to load the .38 S&W to .38 Special velocites. I have determined that the .38 S&W case has approximately .67 of the .38 Special. I am guessing the .67 x Max .38 Spec load is the absolute maximum. With A5 powder this equates to 3.95 grains. Not wishing to create a hand grenade and loose my fingers and eyes not to mention potentially my life. I plan on starting at 3.1 grains and going up at .1 grain increments with a max of 3.7grains. Testing velocities with the idea of stopping at the velocity of a .38 special load shot from the gun or if I start picking up pressure signs. I do have a colt police positive and a Webley MK IV that are only safe at standard .38 S&W loads. I load the 200 grain bullet for them at 600 is FPS like the original British .38 200 load. My intent is to use 160 Grain SWCHP cast bullets from GT Bullets for the Victory model only loads.
Has anyone out there tried to get .38 Special Velocities from their Victory Model .38 S&W. If I am embarking on a fools errand please say so. The other alternative is to just buy a model 10 cylinder in .38 Spec for any or all of the pistols. I have given serious consideration of doing just that for the Snub Nose that had the reamed out cylinder.