Patrick Sweeney Posted December 11, 2002 Share Posted December 11, 2002 I have a shelf full of Duro-cast 147 flatnose bullets. (I picked up 50K of them at a match some years ago.) They're sized .356", for 9mm/Super use. I used them for Major Super before going to light jacketed bullets. I found that if I used the regular .38 belling stem, the bullets would pull loose under recoil. I took a 9mm belling stem and polished the expander down to .3525" and they work fine. Accuracy is plenty good enough, perhaps an inch more at 50 yards than the best .38 load delivers. (2.5" vs. 1.5) I can push them to Major, and I have more than a quarter ton of them left. So, if you want to load .38's, have 9mm/Super bullets on hand, and don't want to be stocking another supply of bullets, a little experimenting can turn up a useful load. Anybody know if Duro-cast is still in business? (Edited by Patrick Sweeney at 8:21 am on Dec. 11, 2002) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gm iprod Posted December 13, 2002 Share Posted December 13, 2002 I know quite a few guys that do that. I will always check them in a 38 and see what the revolver likes. I have a guy cast 147gr FP here and size them .3565 and they shoot excellent. More importantly, as the projectile is desinged to feed in a nine they are unlikely to have a shoulder where the nose ends. This will help with speedloading no end. I use a gentle taper crimp and they fair rip into the cylinder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Chuck D Posted December 13, 2002 Share Posted December 13, 2002 I had a 686 built for NRA Action pistol ( I'm a High Master classified shooter) about 10 years ago with a barrel sized for 9mm diameter bullets. The reason was you could fly a 115/124g bullet faster to cut down on the lead on the mover. Big mistake. Reloading turned into an all day event,bullets didn't want to stay in the case from lack of correct crimp etc,etc.... After 6 months of constant grief, retubed the gun and used 158g. jacketed bullets at 875 fps. Earned my High Master card at the '91 Cup with a 1906. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redmist10 Posted December 14, 2002 Share Posted December 14, 2002 My brother-in-law and I got this great idea from another well known Revo-man but found that it was just not practical due to the amount of extra time it took us to make sure they didn't move in or out of the case once you finished reloading. Using a 158g is SOOO much easier. Besides, you don't get that much of a difference from using the 147g bullet. I believe some people use this bullet because they buy the bullets in bulk and then reload for .38spl and 9mm using one bullet. It's a nice idea but too time consuming vs. benefit for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick Sweeney Posted December 16, 2002 Author Share Posted December 16, 2002 Time consuming? I have a specially-marked belling drop tube for my Dillon that rests in the setup .357 shellhead witht he standard one as well. If I'm loading .357"/.358" bullets I use the regular drop tube. If I'm loading .355"/.356" 9mm bullets I use the turned and polished drop belling tube. Can't get much simpler than that. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
redmist10 Posted December 18, 2002 Share Posted December 18, 2002 I guess you've got me there. I don't have the extra tube. We had to try to test each round (mixed brass) to make sure the bullet wouldn't move up or down when firing. This extra step is what made it time consuming. Pushing on each bullet before "approving" it to prevent mishaps took too long.... How did you get the extra tube? Did this method ensure that the bullet wouldn't slide up or down? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Patrick Sweeney Posted December 19, 2002 Author Share Posted December 19, 2002 I just picked up another .38/.357 tube from Dillon on an order, and polished it down. The diameter that works for me is .352" on the tube. I knarfed a bunch of others experimenting with case belling configurations. The smaller diameter increases neck tension on the bullet without having to go to a weasel-choking crimp. The experimentation I did on belling configuraitons simply destroyed a handful of belling tubes and a cardboard box of brass. Hey, if I knew what I was doing all the time, it wouldn't be an experiment, would it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gm iprod Posted December 22, 2002 Share Posted December 22, 2002 I use a Sd 9mm/38Super 'powder funnel' in the Dillon, they look completely different from the 38spl ones so they are hard to mix up. Yes they are shorter in the part that expands the neck, but I am using a short projectile anyway. I use very little crimp and that works for me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Ted Murphy Posted December 23, 2002 Share Posted December 23, 2002 I use 147 grain 9mm bullets for my .38 quite a bit. The guy I bought my bullets from would call me when he was casting the 147 grainers but before he had sized them. I'd tell him how many I would want and he would take that many aside and later on when he was working on his 158 grain .38 bullets he would take my 145 grainers and size them .358 for me for use in my wheelies. When my friend retired I bought one of his magma casters and that 147 grain mold. I've never used it as I just don't seem to have the time to cast bullets. Found a guy selling 150 grain pointed .358 bullets for $30.00/thousand, it doesn't seem to be worth casting them. Ted (Edited by Ted Murphy at 6:56 pm on Dec. 23, 2002) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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