38 Special Revolver Reloading Questions

[MilsurpShooter]

Been reloading rifle brass for a year. Some full-length, but most neck-sized - you can get quite a few loads out of the brass before the neck gets too thin and finally splits during the shot. Not really a dangerous thing in a bolt-action rifle. However I do realize that a revolver is a different animal.

Just now starting to reload 38 Special with 148gr Speer Wadcutters over 2.8gr Bullseye with WSP primers using a new 3-die carbide RCBS set, a hand-held RCBS primer tool, and an old JR2 press. Have been reloading once-fired brass (that I fired that one time myself) from 5 boxes of new Remington 158gr semi-wadcutter ammo that I got a good deal on. Hopefully both the original ammo and my reloads will be good target loads, easy on my old Colt Officers 2^nd issue, and have minimal leading. Have only shot/reloaded 1 box of 50 so far, and all seemed to go quite well except for that one case I flared too much when getting the second die set, and subsequently crushed the case when trying to size back. I have not shot any of my reloads yet.

Before I get too far into reloading my ammo, I would like to ask the experienced 38 special reloaders about dangers of case failure in reloaded 38 special ammo in a pistol. What fails in the case first? Why? What else can happen? What does that mean for the shooter? How can I extend the case life of my ammo as much as practical? What is a practical case life?

Thanks in advance

[WIL TERRY]

WITH the loads you are shooting I've never had a case failure in over 50 years and some of that brass has been in use the entire time. Case mouth cracks are the usual culprit and that comes from YOUR overworking the case mouth in preperation for loading. I have many brass pistol cases in numerous calibers that have been loaded over fifty times and a bunch of have been loaded over one hundred times. You are now officially ordered to go back to worrying about something else....
And so it goes...

[1988z01]

I've had the same experiences you list with the 38 as I do with my bolt action rifles. The great thing about straight wall brass is that you can inspect the inside at the case head better. Never had any problems there, and I would think you would be ok with the moderate loads. Unfortunately, newer reloaders seem to think that the max load is their starting point. Impatience will never lead to that magic recipie...ever. The only problem I have ever seen was with a very old case that showed a small split at the top of the neck. This was an OLD case, but it evened out a box of 50. Only advice I could offer is to keep your cases clean, inspect them religiously, and trash ANYTHING that makes you think twice.

[capstan]

Ive had many case mouths split after shooting them a few too many times. I just throw them away when I find them. I assume the group accuracy would suffer some with a case splitting at the end but I ve never had any other problems.

[MilsurpShooter]

Thanks guys,

I'll stop worrying about case failures. Looks like I can load 50 for around $6.00, and if the brass will last a long time then great! It makes for some relatively inexpensive shooting (in comparison to my rifles).

Since the 148gr wadcutter/2.8gr Bullseye combo seems to be documented as a slam-dunk for accurate target ammo, and since it is a kind load for both the brass and gun - I don't really see why I would even want to mess with load development, hotter loads, or jacketed bullets. After all I didn't buy this gun for protection - but it's a pretty cool old target revolver. As I am new to handguns (and per my first experience in shooting it) - I'm sure this ammo/revolver combo will outshoot my abilities for some time. I'll keep learning and trying to improve.

Best,

Les

[bmcgilvray]

Unlike Wil Terry I've only been cycling some of the same old cases through for only 36 years now. A few mouth splits takes a few more each time but I've got scads that have been reloaded many, many times.

[smkummer]

Same as above, when a case splits, its gets thrown. Even split cases eject easily and sometimes are not noticed. Dean Grennell found in his testing that 3.0 grs. bullseye did better when he tested both a Officers Model Match and a target K frame smith. My point being that since you are a reloader, you can find what works best in your gun. Also don't always bank on what the chart tells you a scoup or disk states it is measuring, check it with a scale.

While $6 for 50 38 special is a tremendious savings over new, you can cut that even more by casting your own bullets. We are down to about .05 per round or $2.50 per box of fifty with cast bullets. The hardest part is finding a source of scrap lead as wheel weights are getting a little tougher to find.

[MilsurpShooter]

I've always used a digital scale for weighing powder in each one of my rifle cartridges. However with the 38 Special I bought a scoop set for convenience/speed and the smallest one happenes to seem to reliably measure 2.8 grains of Bullseye (I checked this by actually weighing 10 scoops on my balance, not by the scoop chart) so I was happy to go with this amount. I did see the 3.0 grains of Bullseye data listed somewhere as probably a little more accurate load so I definitely understand what you are saying.

Right now I think that my shooting technique is probably the limiting factor in the precision I am observing and I will need a LOT of practice before I can see the difference between 2.8 and 3.0 grains of Bullseye with 148gr wadcutters. I'm simply trying to generate decent target ammo to start training with, in a convenient and inexpensive way. Plus doesn't leading become more of an issue above 800fps? Am I wrong in thinking this way? Is a novice handgun shooter like me really going to see a difference?

What I have read that makes a definite difference in bullet speed (and presumably precision I suppose) is proximity of the powder to the primer in the relatively large 38 Special case. Seems that it is good to point the gun upwards between each shot to let the powder fall down to the primer end of the case. Anyone else heard this?

Thanks again,

Les

[DFrame]

At the pressures you are loading your cases will last a very long time. Occasionally one will split. You will most likely feel some extra resistance when you extract the case. I've even had factory cases split (rarely) and it's not big deal. Case life can be extended if you don't overwork the cases during belling and crimping. In my experiance splits most often occur where there is excessive working of the case or high pressure loads.

[Bisley]

Hello, MilsurpShooter. The only trouble I have ever had with revolver brass was when I was heavy into IHMSA. I used a Smith & Wesson 57 8 3/8" in .41 Mag.
Using H110 required a heavy crimp. If I got careless (cheap) and didn't replace the brass every so often, the crimp wasn't as strong & my accuracy suffered.