Anybody reload .38 long Colt or .38 Smith & Wesson?
- Thread starter gunnerbob
- Start date
I haven't loaded .38LC myself but I shot and reloaded with a guy several years ago that started loading it for a Colt Lightning he was using in NCOWS matches. Since it was something very unusual (and I want to have a .36 '51 Navy conversion built one of these days), I paid attention to what he had to go through to get the components, case prep and the difficulties he went through to make it happen.
Starline makes the brass you are looking for. I just checked and the .38LC is backordered until late March but the .38S&W is showing as stock. If you are loading .38LC, slug your bore and see if you need to use the heelbased bullet or the .357-.358" bullet. If you need the heelbased one, your best bet would be using .358 hollow based wadcutters. It won't the the most accurate way, but it will be chaper and they are more available. If you want to use the proper heelbase bullet, you are probably gonna have to either buy a mold and pour them yourself (check with LEE, they made him a custom mold based on a bullet he designed for his Lightning and probably have it on file- be forewarned, they were charging $200 for a custom mold back 10 years ago, Lord only knows what they are charging now) or find a bullet supplier that specializes in the CAS crowd that has the mold on hand.
If you end up having to load the heelbased bullet, you'll also need to shorten the brass to the original case length, too. It was designed originally with the heel based bullet. When they converted it to a modern style bullet, they kept the overall cartridge length the same but lengthened the brass to cover the bullet.
Starline makes the brass you are looking for. I just checked and the .38LC is backordered until late March but the .38S&W is showing as stock. If you are loading .38LC, slug your bore and see if you need to use the heelbased bullet or the .357-.358" bullet. If you need the heelbased one, your best bet would be using .358 hollow based wadcutters. It won't the the most accurate way, but it will be chaper and they are more available. If you want to use the proper heelbase bullet, you are probably gonna have to either buy a mold and pour them yourself (check with LEE, they made him a custom mold based on a bullet he designed for his Lightning and probably have it on file- be forewarned, they were charging $200 for a custom mold back 10 years ago, Lord only knows what they are charging now) or find a bullet supplier that specializes in the CAS crowd that has the mold on hand.
If you end up having to load the heelbased bullet, you'll also need to shorten the brass to the original case length, too. It was designed originally with the heel based bullet. When they converted it to a modern style bullet, they kept the overall cartridge length the same but lengthened the brass to cover the bullet.
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