Because the World Totally needs another wildcat- .355/19R

[Michael Tinker Pearce]

The first test firing went without a hitch! Except for my tendency to pull shots to the right...

Recoil was quit mild, accuracy was typical- meaning the gun is still more accurate than I am. Brass showed no evidence of splitting- there may have been some slight bulging in at least one case (bottom middle in the photo below,) no primers backed out etc. I only fired about 25 rounds, but they were extremely consistent. I'm very pleased with the results!

 

[entropy]

That's not bad for bulging. It'll size right back down. Where you'd have to worry about it is further down by the rim. As for the putting 'em to the right,

SHOTS in the 3 o’clock position:

Here the shooter “thumbs” the handgun. Just as the shot begins, the shooter pushes the right thumb against the side of the frame, causing the aligned sights to move to the right.

And:


Failing to move the trigger finger independently is less predictable because the point of impact is dependent on the movement of the shooter’s hand when the trigger is activated. For instance if a right-handed shooter rotates his thumb clockwise during the trigger press, his rounds are likely to impact to the right. This error is often referred to as “thumbing.”

Read more: http://www.handgunsmag.com/reviews/how-to-cure-common-shooting-mistakes/#ixzz4jZFOtZdW

 

[Michael Tinker Pearce]

That's not bad for bulging. It'll size right back down. Where you'd have to worry about it is further down by the rim. As for the putting 'em to the right,

SHOTS in the 3 o’clock position:

Here the shooter “thumbs” the handgun. Just as the shot begins, the shooter pushes the right thumb against the side of the frame, causing the aligned sights to move to the right.

And:


Failing to move the trigger finger independently is less predictable because the point of impact is dependent on the movement of the shooter’s hand when the trigger is activated. For instance if a right-handed shooter rotates his thumb clockwise during the trigger press, his rounds are likely to impact to the right. This error is often referred to as “thumbing.”

Read more: http://www.handgunsmag.com/reviews/how-to-cure-common-shooting-mistakes/#ixzz4jZFOtZdW

Thanks for the advice- I'll read that!

 

[gotboostvr]

Congrats! It's always nice for a project to turn out how you wanted.

What was the distance of the test target?

 

[Dave T]

Michael,

Your "project" is something I would never have considered (my answer would be to buy a different gun - no imagination) so I found this whole thread interesting. Good luck to you and your wife shooting this little revolver.

Dave

 

[Michael Tinker Pearce]

Congrats! It's always nice for a project to turn out how you wanted.

What was the distance of the test target?

Just seven yards, fired at a 'brisk' pace (that range does not allow 'rapid fire' unless you are a member and have been checked out for it.)

 

[Michael Tinker Pearce]

BTW, I am told this is not a true 'wildcat' because it does not require a unique chamber. Hmmm- I have some .9mm/.357 barrel liner on hand... maybe it's time to make a .355/19R derringer!

 

[chicharrones]

It looks like you have a winning combo in that revolver and ammo, MTP!

 

[Malamute]

Nice project! Have you checked case wall thickness on the cut down cases? Theres been some discussion about wadcutter cases being thinner father back so as not to distort the base of the deep seated bullets. Wadcutter cases are supposed to be the 2 canelure cases. Ive not sectioned or measured any to investigate any further.

Ive recently tried 38 Short Colt after reading about people using them for extra-light loads in 38 cal guns. 125 gr cast TC bullet with 2 or 2.5 grs Red Dot. Havent been able to shoot them yet to se what each are like. Was thinking both fun plinker loads and as geezer loads later. Ive been able to load them with 9mm dies, and taper crimp so far.

Regarding headspace, I don't know how much leeway there is in rimmed revolvers. All Ive looked at seemed to have quite generous space between the case head and frame, seeming to indicate its not required to be very tight.

 

[Michael Tinker Pearce]

Nice project! Have you checked case wall thickness on the cut down cases? Theres been some discussion about wadcutter cases being thinner father back so as not to distort the base of the deep seated bullets. Wadcutter cases are supposed to be the 2 canelure cases. Ive not sectioned or measured any to investigate any further.

None of these cases appear to all be normal stuff- no double-cannelure cases or apparent thin walls, so I think I'm good. I visually inspected every case as I shortened them and none had conspicuously thin walls. As to the headspace it doesn't seem to be an issue; every indication is that things are working out fine.

 

[Malamute]

Your picture above of the 5 fired cases, the one at upper right is a double canelure case. I was thinking if the others were thicker than desired with the cases shortened that much, the wadcutter cases may be better so they didn't squeeze the base of the bullets, but there may not be enough (or any?) difference in case wall thickness back where the base of a flush seated wadcutter would be in the case, which I think is about where the second canelure is.

If it works as is, there may not be a need to change a thing.

 

[Rock185]

I have Ruger and S&W revolvers in 9MM. Never attempted that, but I like your work. Very creative. I would have had a concern about 9MM rim thickness + moon clip total thickness as compared with .38 Spcl. rim thickness for the mentioned headspace reasons. But looks like that did not turn out to be an issue. Can't argue with success

 

[ThomasT]

I have loaded lead 9mm bullets in 38 cases for years with 3grs of Bullseye for a very light recoil load in snubby 38s. So I understand what you did it for. They are just a little more in the recoil department than a 22 mag without the blast.

Here is an article on 38 wadcutters and how to identify WC brass. And if you are getting bulging cases you may want to get a reamer and ream the cut off cases out a little and that should solve that problem.

http://www.hensleygibbs.com/edharris/articles/38wadcutterQA.htm

 

[hollywood63]

I* do the same thing with my 905 except I use mostly 38 S&W cases they are closer in dimension to 9mm then 38 specials. Don't get me wrong I use a lot of special cases but for hotter loads I use the S&W case. I shoot a lot of cast so my boolit of choice is a 130 gr .357 which I lightly roll crimp so there is never a issue with boolit jump. There was/is a couple guys over on the cast boolit site that did this very thing which is where I read about the S&W case. Either I love using them eliminating the pesky little clips. Check out the link or do a bing search for 9MM rimmed lots of info out there
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?181160-9mm-rimmed-advise-please

Happy Shooting

 

[Michael Tinker Pearce]

I* do the same thing with my 905 except I use mostly 38 S&W cases they are closer in dimension to 9mm then 38 specials. Don't get me wrong I use a lot of special cases but for hotter loads I use the S&W case. I shoot a lot of cast so my boolit of choice is a 130 gr .357 which I lightly roll crimp so there is never a issue with boolit jump. There was/is a couple guys over on the cast boolit site that did this very thing which is where I read about the S&W case. Either I love using them eliminating the pesky little clips. Check out the link or do a bing search for 9MM rimmed lots of info out there
http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?181160-9mm-rimmed-advise-please

Happy Shooting

Interesting reading... I wanted to avoid using .38 S&W cases since I actually shoot a lot of .38 S&W and want to save the brass for that. Currently my loads are quite light, but I may try .38 S&W cases when I get more of them; I only have 120 or so. As I said, I do like the option of rimmed defensive rounds in a speed-strip for reloading the 905.