Question on interchangeably of ammo
Question on interchangeably of ammo
I have been gathering in some old top-breaks of late. Some of these are black-powder .38 S&W ammo. .38 S&W BP ammo is twice as expensive as .38 Short Colt BP. I have seen references discussing that the two ammos are close enough to be interchangeable. Does anyone have any experience with this?
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Junk Yard Dog
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Re: Question on interchangeably of ammo
Straight wall case, lead bullet, dies are available, so are molds, reload your own. I never compared the two rounds, I just loaded my own. I have to look into if there is a compatible size round ball for this load, fill the case with powder and thumb press the ball down on top of it, the old Turner Kirkland formula for reloading oddball BP straight wall cases.
Leave it as it is. The ages have been at work on it and man can only mar it.
Don't hit at all if it is honorably possible to avoid hitting; but never hit soft.
Theodore Roosevelt
Don't hit at all if it is honorably possible to avoid hitting; but never hit soft.
Theodore Roosevelt
Re: Question on interchangeably of ammo
.38 S&W and .38 Colt Short are the same case, dimensionally. Buffalo Arms has the BP .38 S&W rounds, @ $1 a round. Bullet diameter is .361. Hornady round balls are .375, this shop, https://www.etsy.com/listing/167735041/ ... AtKM8P8HAQ , has .350 dia. round balls. You are better off getting the correct size mould and casting.
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A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an
invasion, butcher a hog, design a building, conn a ship, write a
sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the
dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve an
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Specialization is for insects - Robert A. Heinlien
Murphy was an optimist.
A human being should be able to change a diaper, plan an
invasion, butcher a hog, design a building, conn a ship, write a
sonnet, balance accounts, build a wall, set a bone, comfort the
dying, take orders, give orders, cooperate, act alone, solve an
equation, analyze a new problem, pitch manure, program a
computer, cook a tasty meal, fight efficiently, die gallantly.
Specialization is for insects - Robert A. Heinlien
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Junk Yard Dog
- Owner/Founder
- Posts: 48861
- Joined: Sat Aug 27, 2011 12:54 pm
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Re: Question on interchangeably of ammo
Dixie will make you one of their original style molds in any round ball size you request, not expensive, I have a few they made up for me in odd sizes.
Leave it as it is. The ages have been at work on it and man can only mar it.
Don't hit at all if it is honorably possible to avoid hitting; but never hit soft.
Theodore Roosevelt
Don't hit at all if it is honorably possible to avoid hitting; but never hit soft.
Theodore Roosevelt
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Re: Question on interchangeably of ammo
38 Short Colt is slightly smaller diameter than 38 S&W, though sometimes they will interchange due to loose manufacturing tolerances. Usually the Colt will fit in the S&W but not the other way around. Before I bought 38 S&W dies I've loaded 38 S&W using 38 Super dies. The easiest projectile to find that works in 38 S&W is the 148gn hollow base wadcutter. Seat it so the bullet is ALMOST flush with the cylinder mouth, NOT the case mouth. These are usually soft lead and the hollow base expands well. 38 Short Colt is the parent case for 38 S&W Special. So cases are easy to make. If your 38 S&W chambers are a little loose using cut down 38 Special cases will sometimes result in a bulge, though I've never had one split. As an experiment I once cut down some 38 Super cases and loaded them as 38 S&W. They fired fine but were a pain to extract. 38 Super is a tapered semi rimmed case so can work but the cases tended to slip under the extractor.
Re: Question on interchangeably of ammo
Lax and Selway has .38 short colt for .50 and .62/round. Ammunition to Go has .32s&w short for .46/round and .38 short colt for .74/round. Hope info is worthwhile. I also have a few old top breaks. Got them as part of package deals but I they are fun to shoot.
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