.38 Special reloads

[Opinated]

Just before the ammo shortage started, I bought 100 rounds of .38 Special reloads at a gun show. In a zip lock bag. Price was $18-$20, as best I remember. Counted them when I got home and the count was exact-- one good sign. I have not yet fired any of them.
All my .38s are the small frame 5 shot. My prized S&W 36 3" loves the Blazer 147 grain wadcutters.
My though is to fire a couple of the reloads in a .357 as well as couple of regular factory-loaded .38 Specials and compare noise and recoil. If they prove equal, then I plan to use them in the small-frame revolvers. If the reloads seem hotter, then they will be used only in the .357.
Stupid question perhaps-- does this sound like the best plan?
I have never done any reloading.
The only problem I ever had with reloads was when I bought a 30-06 rifle from a relative. Came with some factory ammo and a few reloads supposedly done by a well-known local fellow. WAAAYY too hot. So only one of them was ever fired.

 

[Chaz88]

Sounds like a good plan. I use one of my 6" N frames to test and set the benchmark for most of my hand loads.

 

[Bob Wright]

I won't use anybody's reloads that are in a zip-lock bag. If re-manufactured and properly boxed, O.K.

One squib load:



Not mine, fortunately.

Bob Wright

 

[BigD_in_FL]

and compare noise and recoil.

You have recoil and sound measuring equipment or is this going to be some sort of "feels like" science experiments?

 

[rebs]

I do not buy or shoot any reloads other than my own.

 

[bedbugbilly]

The only reloads i shoot are my own - because I know what's in them.

As a suggestion, do a little studying on the reloading forum and search for excessive pressure, etc. This will help educate you some on what to look for on cartridges with excessive pressure such as bulged primers, cases, etc. The last thing you really want to do is cause harm to your revolver (or yourself) for the sake of using ammo that was inexpensive but which you know nothing about.

If the reloads are too weak, you run the chance of a "squib" - a stuck roundi in the barrel - the results if you don't catch it? Well . . . look at the photo above.

If you are shooting 38s, etc. and getting ammo is a problem - consider reloading. To get started you could use a Lee Classic Loader - thousands of these have been used for years and you can make up some good ammo. Save your casings and reload them. You can probably get started with a Lee Classic, a pound of the correct powder, a thousand primes and some purchased bullets for a little under a $100.00. There are lots of good reloading forums out there with lots of folks who will answer your questions.

Good luck and be safe!

 

[g.willikers]

Whoo Boy.
What you are saying is that you have no idea what those rounds are like.
You're braver than me.
The only reloads that are trustworthy are either my own, or from a commercial company with a good reputation.
I've seen too many damaged guns and bloody digits from "some guy's" reloads.
If you are going to ignore our advice and try them anyway, at least do it from a safe distance, with a long string.

 

[AID_Admin]

From my experience I only used what seemed to be reloads once. I was in process of trade and the other party offered to give me a difference in ammo instead of cash. He told me these were original Winchester rounds, but they looked a little suspicious. They looked kind of dirty and bullets weren't very smooth, but I figured why would he lie to me? He said they were taken off the boxes a few years ago for storage purposes.

While nothing bad happened to my gun, I had at least five misfires out of hundred some rounds. And usually if I ever have a misfire in DA, same round goes bang in SA. Not these rounds. They were inaccurate. They also were so dirty it took me twice as long to clean the gun. So, I am not buying reloads any more, unless the are from Freedom Munition or some other very reputable mass production places...

 

[TennJed]

The biggest problem with shooting reloads is that it only takes one double charge or one light load to cause a problem. That will not be something you can test with a couple of shots in a 357. It only takes one, and you don't know which one that will be

 

[jamaica]

I am with those who say I only shoot my own reloads.

You are braver than me if you shoot those.

 

[stu925]

Yeah I'm with the others on this one, I wouldn't shoot them. I load my own and I wouldn't buy someone else's reloads because I'd have no idea how they were loaded. There's a lot of variables that go into reloading your own ammo and anyone of those variable could cause an over pressure issue. I'd pull the bullets and dump the powder in the flower garden for fertilizer. Reuse the bullets and primed cases if you like with your own powder, of course you'll need access to reloading equipment for this. You could always sell the bullets and primed cases to try and get some of your money back.

Stu

 

[John D]

I would NEVER shoot someone else's reloads! I know how much care I put into my own loading and, yet, had a squib load several years ago. You don't know what powder was used, what kind of pressure you'll get, anything. Really bad idea...

 

[Nick_C_S]

Stupid question perhaps-- does this sound like the best plan?

The "best plan" would have been to pass on the ammo purchase.

Toss the ammo and call it a "$20 learning experience."

 

[Crunchy Frog]

Aw, what a bunch of pantywaists.

I would load them......

into an inertial bullet puller to salvage the cases!

I remember talking to an experienced handloader/shooter when I was just a young pup getting into the shooting sports. Someone had made a disparaging comment about shooting "some d****d old reloads". My friend corrected him: "This is not a reload. It's a custom handload."

I am not "reloading" ammunition. I handload my own ammunition.

 

[Dondor]

I'm with the ones that "shoot only my own."

As well as "I don't load for anyone else."

 

[Colorado Redneck]

Pull the bullets, dump the powder. If you know somebody that handloads 38 special, give them the primed brass. If you have no bullet puller (which I doubt you do) then throw them into the trash and move along. Tuition for a lesson learned.

Above posts are all fairly good advice. Mainly NEVER shoot someone else's handloads. If you are shooting factory cartridges and one of them blows your gun up through no fault of your own, you have a chance of recovering some damage money. Unless you know the people that loaded your purchased rounds, and can get your lawyer to file suit, your fanny is waaayyy out there alone on this deal.

 

[Sevens]

Every answer thus far has been the "high risk/low reward" safe bet answer. These are not the wrong answers, but they are not necessarily the RIGHT answers either. They are the only right answer for every person that posted, and that's fine.

Ultra-Max ammo is "reloads." Black Hills built a very successful company based solely on "reloads." We can (and should) argue that those two example are "Factory Remanufactured" as opposed to "gun show reloads" or the proverbial "brother-in-law's reloads" but without knowing and vetting the process, they are fundamentally the same thing: ammunition constructed from a previously used cartridge case.

All we have really heard about the ammo depicted by the OP is that it came from a gun show in a plastic bag. That doesn't mean it wasn't assembled by an FFL07 and hopefully, built to some standard of quality. But frankly, we've seen plenty of issues coming from a package of Winchester White Box, especially in the last couple of years as demand (and production) has skyrocketed.

There are -many- FFL07's that produce a stunning volume of ammunition that you never hear about and maybe never will, most of it gets filtered directly to local/smallish LE organizations. These little outfits do not produce the volume of ammunition that Winchester does, but they might produced more ammo in a year than some of you will shoot in your LIFETIME.

We've got at least one former commercial ammunition producer active in these forums who might have an opinion on this subject also.

My point? The strict idea usually professed with great vigor is the SAFE ROUTE and not necessary the wrong answer, it's certainly the road with the least risk. But that also doesn't mean it's the correct answer for everyone and before you vehemently disagree, consider that many folks feel exactly the same way about NEW guns versus USED guns for similar reasons, and I'm sure we have some of those folks in these forums as well.

 

[Bob Wright]

Well, Sevens, I will respectfully disagree with you. The SAFE route is the CORRECT answer. Always will be.

My point is, factory ammunition, and correctly boxed re-manufactured ammunition, is correctly identified and should there be any accident, recourse is available. Such would not be the case with ammunition packed in a Zip-Lok bag.

Bob Wright

 

[357 Python]

Other than my own there is only one other person whose reloads I would trust. He is a retired police firearms instructor and armorer. He has been reloading for as long as I have known him and that is more than 20 years. Reloads from some seller at a gunshow? Not in my lifetime. Factory remanufactured loads are different.

 

[James K]

I shoot only my own reloads. That way, if something goes wrong, I know the name of the SOB who messed up and where he lives and I can go slap him upside the head!

Jim