.38 Special-Reloads, or not? Western wadcutters.

[orpington]

Does this western round appear to be factory or a emreload?

I think the scores in the case longitudinally and the clear demarcation of the end termination of the sizing die suggest this may be a reload. But maybe I’m wrong.

Thoughts?

If factory, I can shoot. If not, then fairly useless to me.

 

[Ohen Cepel]

I am guessing a reload. Marks on the brass part of it, but I'm not sure factories loaded much WC ammo which wasn't near flush with the case mouth.

 

[.38 Special]

I've used an awful lot of factory .38 wadcutter loads and have never seen a bullet like that in any of them. Another vote for "handload".

 

[Starter52]

Looks to be semi-wadcutter ammo to me.
Is it possible to pull one bullet?

 

[LV Gun]

Hand load — I have been shooting wadcutters for 29 years and have never seen one like that plus the marks on the case are a dead giveaway

 

[orpington]

Okay, it confirms my suspicions. I have about 250 of them.

What do I do with them given it’s too much trouble to pull the bullet for the lead?

The only thing suggesting this might have been factory is the convex primer but even that might just mean primers from decades ago available to handloaders differed from those available now.

I do have a .38 Special revolver dating from 1919 but I won’t risk it even trying one load.

 

[Bazoo]

Sell them or give them away? Plenty of people would shoot them without any thought whatsoever.

 

[orpington]

Sell them or give them away? Plenty of people would shoot them without any thought whatsoever.

Where do I sell them? What’s a fair price per round? My guess is there are 250, but might be more. So a price per round would be best.

 

[orpington]

Sell them or give them away? Plenty of people would shoot them without any thought whatsoever.

Who are those folks who would do this? I was always told to NEVER shoot someone else’s handload.

IF I had someone else’s loads written down with these rounds, and it was a reasonable load, I MIGHT give it a try, but I don’t even have that.

 

[Show Me]

Primers look odd. Ya that's it sell to some fool. Trash them, good lord.

 

[Bazoo]

Not sure where you'd sell them. The folks that would shoot them without consideration are those that aren't reloaders. I have a friend that would shoot them without a thought. To him, ammo is ammo, he'd be a buyer if you were local.

I would shoot them if I first checked them. I'd weigh, then disassemble a couple to check for consistency, and if it looked normal (powder charge was something reasonable), I'd weigh each loaded cartridge. I don't make a habit of that, but I would do it for a large quantity like that.

 

[orpington]

Primers look odd. Ya that's it sell to some fool. Trash them, good lord.

How do you “trash them”? You just can’t throw them away.

 

[Bazoo]

I believe you can turn ammo in at the local police station for disposal.

 

[Soonerpesek]

That is an insane crimp on that bad boy............
Pull one of 'em, I'd be willing to bet that bullet is "upside down" and crimped in a lube groove.............?

 

[fxvr5]

The marks on the case suggest a reload, but who knows for sure. In the old days, some factory ammo wadcutters were loaded that way.

Some of the old ammo had domed primers, which is different than the flat primers we see today.

Image from a 1925 Winchester catalog:

 

[orpington]

Okay, I tried pulling one with a set of needle nose pliers and my Redding press, and that didn’t work. I used metal cutters and cut three and all came to 2.6 and 2.7 grains of the photographed powder. Most suggested starting loads are greater than this. And, the backside of the bullet was photographed and it appears to be a wadcutter.

So, what might be powder X? My guess is Bullseye.

 

[orpington]

I counted and there were 177 of these, less the 3 I sacrificed, so 174 left.

These came from the estate of a gunsmith friend whose brother gave me a bunch of stuff when he passed away nearly three years ago. My friend was VERY conscientious about his guns, and his reloading. However, the fact that he had a business is the concerning part. Were these his handload or taken in from someone else who didn’t want them?

 

[GeoDudeFlorida]

I counted and there were 177 of these, less the 3 I sacrificed, so 174 left.

These came from the estate of a gunsmith friend whose brother gave me a bunch of stuff when he passed away nearly three years ago. My friend was VERY conscientious about his guns, and his reloading. However, the fact that he had a business is the concerning part. Were these his handload or taken in from someone else who didn’t want them?

I’ve read articles as old as the 1930’s talking about the accuracy of 2.8gr of Bullseye under a 148gr wadcutter. It’s probably the oldest, best known load out there.

I can only tell you what I have done in the same situation and how I would probably handle it in your situation: use a kinetic hammer and pull them. Recycle all of the components except the powder. That’s what I would do. But you’re not me so that might not be the best advice. It is the best advice I’ve got though.

 

[rfwobbly]

Plenty of people would shoot them without any thought whatsoever.

They are 38Special. Max chamber pressure is around 19,000psi.

So, shoot them in any 357M handgun, which is tested at a chamber pressure about double of the 38Spcl. That way you'll be safe.

► Read this last statement as: This is the best excuse you'll ever have to go buy that Ruger GP100-6 that you've always wanted.

 

[Jim Watson]

Hard to tell with nothing but the pan for scale, but it seems coarser than Bullseye. Might be old DuPont #6 or Something Else Entirely.

 

[Hooda Thunkit]

I'm checking in here, for better or worse. 35+ years reloading.

Those look like older domed primers. Presses used to come with separate priming arms; one for domed primers, one for flat.

I would tear down maybe a half dozen and check consistency of load, consistency of OAL, etc.

If they checked out, I would shoot a couple from a 357 Mag over a chrony. If that checked out, I would shoot them.

 

[FROGO207]

Yeah, if you have a friend with a 357 and 6 or so random rounds checked out about the same weight it should be safe to shoot them. So you and a friend would get some trigger time and you end up with some reloadable brass to use or sell. Or use this as an excuse to get a 357. We ARE enablers after all.

 

[orpington]

My only .357 Magnum is a Registered Magnum, I definitely don’t want to play around with that!

I wish I had a friend with a junker .357 Magnum.

My concern is, of course, with the volume of the powder, were one or more double charged?

 

[Beach Bum]

Weigh each one and compare to the one you took apart if ok , I'm with Hoods thunkit use a 357 and shoot me up ....

 

[orpington]

IF I weigh each round, presumably they should be consistently the same and if one weighs between 2.6 and 2.7 grains more than the rest, then likely a double charge?

I’ve never had to weigh loaded rounds before, and so how consistent is the weight between rounds, assuming loaded identically?