• This Forum is for adults 18 years of age or over. By continuing to use this Forum you are confirming that you are 18 or older. No content shall be viewed by any person under 18 in California.

38 Special

Ok , make sure the bullet diameter is correct , something simple is going on here... It should easily size down , some people use 9mm bullets in .38 which is .356 vs the .38s .358....

The 110gr bullets have been reported to walk in light weight heavy recoiling pistols , exactly why I load the 125gr for my wife's Ruger LCR , and told her to stay around that weight with that pistol...

I just pulled a Hornady manual from 1973 and it has data for 110s , I didn't even know they had that light back then , everyone was shooting 158s I know at that time..

Glad you're watching for the double charge , I dropped powder for 50 and doing it by the rules and checking with a flashlight i found a double , it's the only one I have ever had... Scared the crap out of me , started dropping powder and seating one at a time after that day...

The mixed brass really shouldn't matter , exept for crimp , not neck tension...

No matter what , let us know what happened , I am following now to see...
 
Last edited:
Well after setting the die to put a nice roll on an empty case many times (just running in the expander to reuse it)I then set the seater for the right bullet depth. Then tried to load one in one stroke. I tried ten. Each had the bullet set to the right depth and with a nice roll crimp on the cannelure.
So what had I done wrong? Obviously the seating die was not adjusted properly. I really don't have one direct answer but maybe it was a combination of a number of screw ups. I will finish the other 90 later. I haven't loaded pistols in decades but I did not stop because of anything like this that I know.
Maybe yesterday was just not the right day for me.....too much on my mind and I really did it as a diversion and to help a friend. Thanks to all that offered advice and took the time to do so.
 
Glad you got it , I knew you would.... Just FYI I think unique does a pretty good job of filling cases for the future or at least half full anyway..lol

I bought some a few years ago to try during the shortage and never swapped over , you have inspired me to go find it and give it a try.... Especially since the weather's getting a slight bit cooler here in Texas..
 
I use many of the fast burner pistol powders like red and green dot, Bullseye, HP-38, etc. that would be easy to double charge; but I ALWAYS do a flash-light check of my charged cases before moving to the seating stage. Matter of fact, I do that check on ALL of my loaded cases, rifle or pistol. It's cheap insurance to catch any boogered charge whether too heavy or too light. jd
 
I use many of the fast burner pistol powders like red and green dot, Bullseye, HP-38, etc. that would be easy to double charge; but I ALWAYS do a flash-light check of my charged cases before moving to the seating stage. Matter of fact, I do that check on ALL of my loaded cases, rifle or pistol. It's cheap insurance to catch any boogered charge whether too heavy or too light. jd
To not do it is crazy... With .38 I just drop and seat a bullet and move on... I still look into each case before seating.... Most cases would be filled or overflowing but not old black powder cartridges like .38.... I found one once , it's the only time it has happened to me , I try and be super safe but accidents happen... The rules apply always and are there for good reason... One time a poster posted he thought loading blocks were a bad idea and that thought has stuck with me... On regular rifle or pistol that would be overflowing or full up I use the loading block but you still have to get the flashlight and actually take your time and look at every one for safety.... That double charge happened to me a few years ago , even though I cought it , it still shook me up enough to make me follow the rules forever...
 
One thing I have done is when loading a different cartridge (not common for me) I first try a double charge JUST to see if it will take it or overflow. In fact before I start on the last 90 cases I will try to see if 14gr of Unique actually fits or overflows. Guessing I will say it will fill it. The ten I have loaded successfully have had that 7 gr in and out of them a good number of times so I am comfortable with them.
 
Kind of a surprise to read all this discourse. I have been using RCBS three die sets in 38 Spl and 357 Mag to reload for decades. Literally thousands of rounds, both jacketed and lead, have been seated and crimped with my dies.

Simple to set the crimping length and depth. Surprised it is an issue.
 
Kind of a surprise to read all this discourse. I have been using RCBS three die sets in 38 Spl and 357 Mag to reload for decades. Literally thousands of rounds, both jacketed and lead, have been seated and crimped with my dies.

Simple to set the crimping length and depth. Surprised it is an issue.

As I stated in the beginning reloading pistol ammo was something I last did over 30 years ago. My problems were self induced and just failing to remember what the 3rd die actually did and of course having it set up entirely wrong. However with the help of those above the problem was solved.
 
I will try to see if 14gr of Unique actually fits or overflows

FWIW : 14gr of Unique totally fills the case....depending on the drop it may overflow.....just nice to know that double charge falls into the highly unlikely category if not impossible
 
FWIW : 14gr of Unique totally fills the case....depending on the drop it may overflow.....just nice to know that double charge falls into the highly unlikely category if not impossible
Yes sir , in that 1973 Hornady manual I pulled I think it was listed right under max at 6.9gr of unique... Don't quote me on that though... But that's exactly what I thought... It would be very noticeable with a double....
 

Upgrades & Donations

This Forum's expenses are primarily paid by member contributions. You can upgrade your Forum membership in seconds. Gold and Silver members get unlimited FREE classifieds for one year. Gold members can upload custom avatars.


Click Upgrade Membership Button ABOVE to get Gold or Silver Status.

You can also donate any amount, large or small, with the button below. Include your Forum Name in the PayPal Notes field.


To DONATE by CHECK, or make a recurring donation, CLICK HERE to learn how.

Forum statistics

Threads
166,855
Messages
2,224,578
Members
80,000
Latest member
Smiley96
Back
Top