38 Short Colt recipes ?

[TruthTellers]

your additional comments have given me a better idea of what you intend to do.

Thanks for explaining further.

You want approx. 9mm level loads in brass that fits in your gun.

Ok, in general terms a pressure vessel is a pressure vessel

Your brass has slightly more capacity than 9mm Luger..ok, fine, you can work with that. A quick look at an old book shows several powders pushing 9mm 147gr (the closest the data gets to 158gr) showing max loads with somewhere between 4 and 6gr of powder.

you have plenty of room for that.

The loads I looked at topped out in the 950-1050fps range, but that's from a semi with a 4" you'll probably get a different result from a revolver, what's your .357's barrel length?

Another thing to watch for is accuracy / bullet jump. May not make a noticeable difference, or you might be shooting patterns instead of groups.

No way to know until you begin testing. you might find some bullets make a big deal of how much they have to jump, and others behave differently.

Cross that bridge when you come to it.

If I were doing it, I'd start with bottom end 9mm load, load a few, and see how they behaved. Chrono them for speed, and consistency. Once you know what you've got, work up carefully like any other load.

That's what I said earlier. Start with 9mm start loads and see what results OP gets.

The accuracy and bullet jump I have no insight into, my focus was solely on velocities and pressures with .38 Short. Accuracy is probably not going to be as good as .38 Special.

 

[jski]

My K-frame 357 has a 4” barrel.

Now to complicate things a bit, I intended to buy a Colt Cobra as a carry gun. I’d like to be able to use these 38 Short Colts in it. Remember, the Cobra is a 38 Special +P wheelgun with a 2” barrel.

 

[Unclenick]

Ha! Jim Watson caught my brain fart. It was the .38 Long Colt the Army dropped and that Hatcher issued, of course. .38 Short Colt, .38 Long Colt, .38 Special, .357 Magnum, and 357 Maximum make up the string of rearward-chamberable cartridges in this caliber.

 

[Radny97]

Loading 38 short colts to 9mm pressures for use in ICORE and USPSA is very common. Most guys running a S&W 627 are doing it. Use a target powder like Sport Pistol, Clays, Bullseye, 231 and heavy bullets. I use 135 and 160 grain. Don’t try to get magnum performance. Don’t run them in non 357 mag guns. Anything over 1000 fps and you’re pushing the bounds of safety.
The jump of the bullet down the cylinder does affect accuracy, but less than you would think. From sand bags my 627 will hold a 4 inch group at 25 yards using 38 short colts.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Unclenick]

That's good information to have. Do you know what makes of cases are prevalent in that practice?

 

[jski]

Radny97, do most, if not all, those ICORE and USPSA shooters use Starline brass? Not sure who else manufactures 38 Short Colt brass?

 

[Don P]

Everyone I know shooting short colt are using Starline brass. There may be other manufactures of brass but the go to company is Starline. Loading my rounds I use a 38 spl decapper sizing die and powder, bullet seater, and factory crimp are 9 mm dies

 

[jski]

Now this is an excellent example of 38 Short Colt being put to good use!

 

[jski]

Just called Starline and spoke with their ballistician. I asked if their 38 Short Case were designed to handle 9mm +P pressures.

His answer: “Absolutely!”.

Oh yeah, he did give one caveat: for 357s only.

 

[Radny97]

Yes everyone uses Starline that I am aware of.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[Unclenick]

Jski,

Thanks for posting the confirmation. Seems like you are good to go!