New to .38 short

[Wagonburner]

I'm a old school revo. shooter who had lost his way.the dark OPEN side dominated my past couple years.i am gearing up with a new 627 and embracing the 8 shot rule change.The .38 short seems to intrigue me with the shorter length and complies with the minor PF accordingly.so here is my question,I have a boat load of powders,Vit3n38,WST,AUTOCOMP. Which powder and, which bullet should I lean toward .The starline short brass is available so which moon clip is best suited for the complete component. I shoot in the senior division and I just inventoried my 38 special cache and I'm fondling the modified jet loaders,as well the 686 made butter smooth by NelsonFord here in my home town of Phx.Its a shame to push aside all those 38special brass but i compete in a town where a weekend match is larger than most state championships,reload time is essential in the A division.So any lessons learned on the 38 short subject would be great appreciated.

[pskys2]

Been shooting the round gun since it became a Division and I'm just starting down this 8 shot road also!

Moon Clips HearthCo. Worth the money.

Powder, of what you have and what I' ve seen on the Revo Forum it looks like WST, I just got a 4# canister of it, to go along with the pound I have left from the late '90's and 45 acp.

I've got some Bayou 358 160 RN and Ranier 356 147 RN coming. I figure to load a bit long.

If you use the search function, both here and in the Revolver Forum, it will turn up quite a bit of info.

[DougCarden]

Short colt is fun, think of it as a rimmed 9mm. You can use the low end 9mm data to start. Once you get sticky extraction you are done. Faster powders like 310 are good up to a 125PF with heavy bullets (150+). Medium powder like 320 is good for 135ish PF loads with Heavy bullets. The heavier bullets with longer bearing surfaces shoot more accurately.

Go slow and work your load up.

Buy the Starline brass and Hearthco clips. It only hurts once....

Good luck,

DougC

[GlockCanMan]

Hearthco or TKS for moon clips. .38short brass from Starline. I use 158gr Bayou Bullets with VV N320 powder. Also have used Billy Bullets of 160gr also. Nice mild recoil.

[thermobollocks]

I'm new to Short Colt reloading, too. I'm using a Dillon 550, and it seems like the .38 special beller/powder funnel can only reach down so far. I'm going to venture a guess that I need to get a 9mm powder funnel, right? If I'm way off, someone tell me.

[GlockCanMan]

I'm new to Short Colt reloading, too. I'm using a Dillon 550, and it seems like the .38 special beller/powder funnel can only reach down so far. I'm going to venture a guess that I need to get a 9mm powder funnel, right? If I'm way off, someone tell me.

Can't help you on that one, I use a Hornady Progressive. Hopefully some one else can reply.

[Brian Gonsalves]

I'm new to Short Colt reloading, too. I'm using a Dillon 550, and it seems like the .38 special beller/powder funnel can only reach down so far. I'm going to venture a guess that I need to get a 9mm powder funnel, right? If I'm way off, someone tell me.

Yep, 9mm or .38 super. I use the .38 super because that's what I had at midnight when I realized the special wouldn't work. I have 3 friends that all use the 9mm.

[itchy]

I'm new to Short Colt reloading, too. I'm using a Dillon 550, and it seems like the .38 special beller/powder funnel can only reach down so far. I'm going to venture a guess that I need to get a 9mm powder funnel, right? If I'm way off, someone tell me.

Your 38 special setup is fine. My 1050 started off as 38 special, I changed seating and crimp dies for loading short colt.

Seiichi

[alecmc]

I use a 38 spl size and deprime die and 9mm for bell , seat and crimp

[thermobollocks]

I'm new to Short Colt reloading, too. I'm using a Dillon 550, and it seems like the .38 special beller/powder funnel can only reach down so far. I'm going to venture a guess that I need to get a 9mm powder funnel, right? If I'm way off, someone tell me.

Your 38 special setup is fine. My 1050 started off as 38 special, I changed seating and crimp dies for loading short colt.

Seiichi

It's fine for .38 special. I assure you the powder funnel that came with my .38 spl/.357 mag conversion kit will not reach.

Thanks all.

[t0066jh]

I'm new to Short Colt reloading, too. I'm using a Dillon 550, and it seems like the .38 special beller/powder funnel can only reach down so far. I'm going to venture a guess that I need to get a 9mm powder funnel, right? If I'm way off, someone tell me.

Yep, 9mm or .38 super. I use the .38 super because that's what I had at midnight when I realized the special wouldn't work. I have 3 friends that all use the 9mm.

station 1, 38 special. 2,3,4 all 9mm.

Starline Brass, Dillon edm moonclips or Hearth

160 Billy bullets caused case bulge and flattened primers for me at 128 pf. I switched to 135 Billy Bullets and am much happier..3.4-3.5 grains of Clays loaded deep enough to hide the lube groove.

Just my experience over the last 3 years.

Joe

[Gdpudge]

I'm just curious. What is a .38 short? I have never heard of that

[alecmc]

I'm just curious. What is a .38 short? I have never heard of that

Just a 38 case that is about as tall as a 9mm

[thermobollocks]

I'm going to try identical loadings in 9x19 and .38SC and see what happens. As a fun aside, Starline .38SC brass appears to be a couple hundredths of an inch longer between the mouth and the case head compared to 9x19.

[sargenv]

I've seen a lot of people try to go cheap and load the 38 short colt with really fast powders (think clays or Bullseye) and run into issues with stuck cases due to pressure.. One person who seems to have figured this one out, TMC, uses SR 4756 with his 38 Short colt and does not run into the pressure issues at all.. SR 4756 is a slower powder, similar to the Vitt 3N37 or 3N38 and other slow burners.. It is what I would suggest to those going to load these cases that have little capacity.. Even with the new rules, I will continue to shoot a 6 gun.. mostly due to ease and speed of reloads.. I shoot minor now so it's not that big of a deal to me.

[thermobollocks]

I've seen a lot of people try to go cheap and load the 38 short colt with really fast powders (think clays or Bullseye) and run into issues with stuck cases due to pressure.. One person who seems to have figured this one out, TMC, uses SR 4756 with his 38 Short colt and does not run into the pressure issues at all.. SR 4756 is a slower powder, similar to the Vitt 3N37 or 3N38 and other slow burners.. It is what I would suggest to those going to load these cases that have little capacity.. Even with the new rules, I will continue to shoot a 6 gun.. mostly due to ease and speed of reloads.. I shoot minor now so it's not that big of a deal to me.

.45 ACP minor?

I got to try out some ammo yesterday, and I was pleased with my 105 grain TCs with 2.5 grains of Clays for Steel Challenge (nowhere near pushing a pressure limit) and my 147s with 4.8 grains of AA#5. The only down side is I have all of a pound of AA#5, so I'll probably work out some Titegroup or N320 loads, or find more AA#5. I've also got some Power Pistol to play with, but, again, quantity limits. My goal is to know that I have 2 or 3 powders with a safe minor load to choose from.

GIven the differences in time between what I shot with cricket fart 105s and "full" minor ammo, it's probably more in my head.

[ffl]

I have been shooting 38 short colt for 3 or 4 years now. i use N320 and a 128-130gr lead bullet. some I made and some from Unique precision bullets (yuthh) both work fine and I shoot it really soft. I should up the load some because I have had some tumbling on longer shots (Standard at IRC 50yds). I think my load is 4.0 grs but not sure as I would have to go home to look it up. The brass is starline and the moons are mostly Hearthco but I made some of my own several years ago.

the case volume is only 1 grain difference in water than a 9mm so that is what we start with.

A word of caution. DO NOT USE A GUN MADE FOR 38 SHORT COLT UNLESS IT IS A MODERN (LAST 2 YEARS) OLD GUN.

MOST OF THE OLD REVOS CHAMBERED IN SHORT COLT CAN'T HANDLE THE PRESSURES OF MODERN LOADS. THE LOADS IN THE LEE RELOADING MANUAL ARE FOR LOW POWER LOADS AND OLD GUNS. MOST OF THOSE WERE BREAK OPEN TYPES.

Have fun.

BTW Doug Carden built a dedicated 38 Short Colt revo several years ago and it is a great shooting gun and very accurate.

[johnmac]

Here's a working "Minor" load for .38 Short Colt I chrono'd this morning that seems promising, YMMV:

Brass: Starline .38 Short Colt

Powder: 3.5 grains Unique

Primer: Federal Small Pistol

Bullet: Bayou Bullets 160 grain round nose (.358)

OAL: 1.21"

heavy taper crimp

Shot from a 4" M627, this gave me an average velocity of 795 fps, an ES of 56 fps, and a SD of 22 fps, for a five shot string. Very clean, no unburnt powder I could find anywhere. No pressure signs, very easy extraction. I don't like the high ES and SD, but I think it may come with territory throwing relatively light loads of Unique, which does not seem to meter all that well. But seeing I have about 12 lbs of Unique on hand, I think I can live with it.

This load is actually very close to a .38 S&W (aka Colt New Police) load I found in Lyman #47 (3.7 grains Unique over 158 grain LRN, OAL 1.15" supposedly produces 805 fps in a 4" S&W Model 33) The .38 S&W is very similar, dimensionally, to the .38 Short Colt, so data for .38 S&W seems a reasonable reference source for published loads, on the low end of pressure.

John MacLean

Edited December 7, 2013 by johnmac