.38 Super VS. .38 Short Colt

[Toolguy]

I called the guys at Starline when I was thinking of going to 38 Short Colt about the moonclip grooves. All of their rimmed

38/357 brass has the same exact groove. With the Hearthco clips sized for Starline brass, I can shoot 38 SC, 38 Special,

and 357 mag all in the same gun, all on the same moonclips. There are others that work too, like 38 Long Colt, etc. but

I only do the first 3. I shoot all Starline brass. I have 2,000 38 special brass that has lasted several years.

[hearthco]

Dave,

I shoot a 38 spl in my 627 PC gun.

Can I use the same Hearthcos for short Colt brass?

Thanks!

If you have my standard clips the starline brass will work, but it will be looser than the rem or fed brass. Some of my customers actually prefer the slightly increased wobble of the starline brass in the standard clips. Dave

Edited December 31, 2008 by hearthco

[scottyinAZ]

well to kinda get back to the topic, when you go the short colt route it looks like the heavy bullets are required. is that to get the bullet closer to the cone? are revolvers like rifles in that generally when the bullets have less "jump" they are more accurate?? i have not played arround with OAL on my super to see how it affects group size. i do know if i use light bullets the groups open up a lot but i have the same OAL. or is it that heavy bullets are the only way to get the desired accuracy?

Scott

Edited January 1, 2009 by scottyinAZ

[Bubber]

well to kinda get back to the topic, when you go the short colt route it looks like the heavy bullets are required. is that to get the bullet closer to the cone? are revolvers like rifles in that generally when the bullets have less "jump" they are more accurate?? i have not played arround with OAL on my super to see how it affects group size. i do know if i use light bullets the groups open up a lot but i have the same OAL. or is it that heavy bullets are the only way to get the desired accuracy?

Scott

Scott, Mostly the heavy bullet is for the PF. As you have little case capacity it is easier to make PF with the heavier bullet. (heavier being the 147 to 160 grain). At least that is my take on it. Changing your crimp affects the grouping of your shots as much , if not more, than you would imagine. later rdd

[scottyinAZ]

i had no idea crimp would affcect accuracy that much. like having too much crimp that distorts the bullet? or is it ignition thats affected? i ran light crimp to the point the bullets would pull slightly when shooting partial moons. i went just enough to keep them in place. i will have to play with the crimp too i guess.

are you shooting the same load at the 50y standards? i was going to start to tinker with the heavy bullets but i started to wonder about rainbow like bullet path. just curious.

Scott

[Carmoney]

Plenty of crimp is a good thing for ammo used in revolvers.

[Bubber]

i had no idea crimp would affcect accuracy that much. like having too much crimp that distorts the bullet? or is it ignition thats affected? i ran light crimp to the point the bullets would pull slightly when shooting partial moons. i went just enough to keep them in place. i will have to play with the crimp too i guess.

are you shooting the same load at the 50y standards? i was going to start to tinker with the heavy bullets but i started to wonder about rainbow like bullet path. just curious.

Scott

Scott, I use the 160's for the Far and Near and the match. I just like to have the confidence in my loads. I run about 780 to 820 fps depending on the temp and chrono. Now this is the 38 super we are talking about. too much crimp on the plated bullets have been a problem. An I believe it is because of the soft lead in the bullet. It will cause the bullet to be weak at the point of crimp and undersizes the bullet to a point. How much that will affect you is debateable. In my 625 I have had the bullet pull foward under recoil to stay in the cylinder if I reloaded with a live round in the cylinder. I also would be intersted if you test some ammo with crimp changes and if you find any differences. Oh good job at Rio the other night I see you finished in the top 20 overall.....again....and then in the top 40 this last one. Not bad considering that there were 147 shooters the 30th. later rdd

[ffl]

I use a 125 gr lrn bullet I cast from a lee mold. (9mm) I run at about 1050 to 1100 fps.

I am going to try some bulletworks 130 gr .358 bullets over the same load and see what I get.

Last year at the IRC LittleFFL made PF by .9 fps. There Chrono was about 6 fps slower. they are at sea level and I am at 840. Don't know if that made a difference or not. I will be bumping up the load this year though.

david

PS my powder is VVn320

[scottyinAZ]

thanks for the info Bubber. i had 2 very bad stages this last tues. rare for me =( .my strain screw backed out and i had a few clickers on 8 round boxes. standing reloads will put you down the pile quick. i need to lock my strain screw i guess, its backed out twice now in the last few months. i shoot billy 115s and 135s and solo 1k. never tried the heavy bullets ... yet. i shoot the super and just got the 45.

Scott