jeremy kemlo Posted July 20, 2012 Share Posted July 20, 2012 I have been using my friends 686 for a year to shoot icore(w/ 38sp). I now have my very own 627 5" .357.I am going to shoot icore only with this gun. What would be the best load to go with and why. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankbray Posted July 20, 2012 Share Posted July 20, 2012 I have been using my friends 686 for a year to shoot icore(w/ 38sp). I now have my very own 627 5" .357.I am going to shoot icore only with this gun. What would be the best load to go with and why. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankbray Posted July 20, 2012 Share Posted July 20, 2012 Get long colt and cut down to .900 (38 super) the cases will reload and extract faster. If you ever get a 38 super 627 you can use the same brass. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeremy kemlo Posted July 20, 2012 Author Share Posted July 20, 2012 Where do I get them cut down? This may be a dumb question but what is the difference between 38 long colt cut down and just buying 38 super brass? I am loading on a Dillon SDB. That die set up should I run to do that? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kevinj308 Posted July 21, 2012 Share Posted July 21, 2012 You can cut them down yourself with a power case trimmer. I use an RCBS model. I can't speak to ,38 super, I've never had one. There are a lot of threads on the pros/cons of long and short colt vs. special brass. A lot of it comes down to personal taste and how comfortable you are reloading short colt. There isn't a lot of published data for that cartridge, there are some threads on here though with good recipes. I personally like short colt for no other reason than I can use 9mm dies. I use a ,38/.357 sizing die, because it's a straight wall case, and the rest are 9mm dies. And I use 9mm load data as well. That's just me, please do some thread searching. Just type in "short colt" and you'll find lots of good info. Then make some brass and try a few loads. You can get some Lee long colt dies pretty cheap if you want to try those as well. You might find a load your gun really likes, then just stick with it. Kevin Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankbray Posted July 21, 2012 Share Posted July 21, 2012 You can't shoot 38 super brass in a 38special but u can shoot 38 special in a super. I shoot about 50,000 round a year so ive done quite a bit of experimenting . I've found that pushing lead out of a short colt case to power factor creates leading. I'm guessing it just a little too much pressure in such a short cases. Don't get me wrong I love that case but hate to lead build up in the cylinders. When you shoot as much as I do it builds up fast. I'm finding the cases cut don't to .900 is the perfect compromise. With 38 long colt and special you really have to be more deliberate when reloading both loading and unloading (ejection). With the cases cut down I feel I have more of a margin for error. The shorter cases just seem to slip in sooner and when ejecting they fall out faster. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GlockCanMan Posted July 21, 2012 Share Posted July 21, 2012 Then what you will want to buy is the Starline .38 short colt cases. I use 158gr/160gr round nose bullets using VV N320 powder. Makes very soft shooting loads and still meets power factor. To gain some additional speed, you will also want to use Hearthco moon clips from TK Custom. If you use the standard moon clips from Smith & Wesson you lose time as the cartridges will be a little loose and you will end up having to jiggle the cases to get them to slide in. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itchy Posted July 21, 2012 Share Posted July 21, 2012 Where do I get them cut down? This may be a dumb question but what is the difference between 38 long colt cut down and just buying 38 super brass? I am loading on a Dillon SDB. That die set up should I run to do that? Why not buy 38 short colt, instead of buying long colt and cutting it? If you want to cut cases, just cut the specials, no need to buy new cases, only to cut them down. 38 short colt is a little shorter than super. Is your gun a special or super? You can shoot shorts out of a super cylinder, but the cases will expand a little more. Frank has a case cutting setup, maybe he will trim cases for you. Seiichi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
twister Posted July 21, 2012 Share Posted July 21, 2012 Glockcanman, would you mind sharing how much vv320 you're putting in the 38sc? I have loaded a few with 4 grains of vv320,I hope that's not too much. Thanks for your help, Dave. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Brian Gonsalves Posted July 21, 2012 Share Posted July 21, 2012 (edited) You can't shoot 38 super brass in a 38special but u can shoot 38 special in a super. I shoot about 50,000 round a year so ive done quite a bit of experimenting . I've found that pushing lead out of a short colt case to power factor creates leading. I'm guessing it just a little too much pressure in such a short cases. Don't get me wrong I love that case but hate to lead build up in the cylinders. When you shoot as much as I do it builds up fast. I'm finding the cases cut don't to .900 is the perfect compromise. With 38 long colt and special you really have to be more deliberate when reloading both loading and unloading (ejection). With the cases cut down I feel I have more of a margin for error. The shorter cases just seem to slip in sooner and when ejecting they fall out faster. Then what you will want to buy is the Starline .38 short colt cases. I use 158gr/160gr round nose bullets using VV N320 powder. Makes very soft shooting loads and still meets power factor. To gain some additional speed, you will also want to use Hearthco moon clips from TK Custom. If you use the standard moon clips from Smith & Wesson you lose time as the cartridges will be a little loose and you will end up having to jiggle the cases to get them to slide in. I have been shooting Short Colts (Starline brass) in my 627 for 3 years now. Using 158/160 LRN, most have been moly-coat lead from Black Bullets International, and some 'regular' lead from JD Sales and and haven't had any problems with leading, the moly coat are cleaner. I use a small charge N310. +1 On the Hearthco moonclips, the only way to go! Edited July 21, 2012 by Brian Gonsalves Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GlockCanMan Posted July 21, 2012 Share Posted July 21, 2012 Glockcanman, would you mind sharing how much vv320 you're putting in the 38sc? I have loaded a few with 4 grains of vv320,I hope that's not too much. Thanks for your help, Dave. WARNING: The .38 short colt case is a small case and you will have to be very careful in loading it. I load it on the long side. I believe that I am at 3.0grs of VV N320. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
itchy Posted July 23, 2012 Share Posted July 23, 2012 38 short colt has approximately the same length and case volume as 9 mm. Seiichi Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankbray Posted July 23, 2012 Share Posted July 23, 2012 Hey Seiichi, I cut the long colts down to .900 because they are shorter than special so they are easier to cut. I tried the short colts but they just lead up and really expand at the base. You know how much I shoot and the cases just don't hold up. By the way the next time I cut cases you can come over and help me! Lol Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeremy kemlo Posted July 23, 2012 Author Share Posted July 23, 2012 Thanks for all the help. I think I will try to cut down some long colts to .900. Now I need to see if one of my friends has a case trimmer. I use TG for my 9mm. Will this work for this round as well? Powder and bullet suggestions, oal? Thanks, Jeremy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankbray Posted July 23, 2012 Share Posted July 23, 2012 I use clays its clean, cheap and easy to get. Start with about 3.0 grains and work your way up to desired power factor. Ive tried just about every powder out there and find that this is the cleanest powder for a revolver (keeps cylinder chambers clean). It's also very accurate as well. Case overall length should be about 1.300 with a 160 moly. Federal 100 primers of course, seat them deep. By the way test the bullets there are only 2 160 molys that are consistently accurate at 50 yards (yes I tried them all) I did a ton of testing this last year getting ready for IRC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
frankbray Posted July 23, 2012 Share Posted July 23, 2012 I use clays its clean, cheap and easy to get. Start with about 3.0 grains and work your way up to desired power factor. Ive tried just about every powder out there and find that this is the cleanest powder for a revolver (keeps cylinder chambers clean). It's also very accurate as well. Case overall length should be about 1.300 with a 160 moly. Federal 100 primers of course, seat them deep. By the way test the bullets there are only 2 160 molys that are consistently accurate at 50 yards (yes I tried them all) I did a ton of testing this last year getting ready for IRC. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jeremy kemlo Posted July 23, 2012 Author Share Posted July 23, 2012 (edited) By the way test the bullets there are only 2 160 molys that are consistently accurate at 50 yards (yes I tried them all) I did a ton of testing this last year getting ready for IRC. AND THEY ARE ???????????? I have a friend that uses 170gr. What do you thimk of those vs 160gr. Have you tried Bayou Bullets? Thanks Jeremy Edited July 23, 2012 by jeremy kemlo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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