9mm loaded in 38 cases ?

[rebs]

Has anyone ever done this ? How did it work out ?

 

[Just Say Moe]

Lead or jacked? What weight?

I bought a bunch of 38super 158 grain (0.356) bullets for pennies and have been loading them in 38 special and they work fine.

Not sure if I would put .357-358 through a .356 bore - especially if jacketed. If they are lead I suppose you could run them through a sizing die to .356.

 

[Hoser]

You mean loading 9mm bullets (.355 diameter) in 38 Special brass?

Accuracy wont be olympic level, but it works just fine.

When loading 38 Special bullets (.357 diameter) in a 9mm you just have to back off a few tenths of powder and they shoot just fine.

 

[stork]

If they're cast or swaged get ready for some MAJOR leading. You're pushing a .355 bullet through a .357-.358 bore. The flame cutting will result in some severe leading.

If they're jacketed, you'll just have a less accurate load.

 

[JRR]

I cast the NOE 9mm mould 358-136-FN. I size them .358". Taper crimped just like a 9mm. Shoots great in my revolver.

 

[DirtySteve]

I have shot .355 jacketed bullets in my 38 Super... 4" at 50 yards.. Seemed to work for me and another guy I shot with..

 

[RegionRat]

In the example of the Ruger Blackhawk convertible revolvers, the one that is 45 LC and 45 ACP works great. On the other hand, the one that is 38 special and 9mm, not so much.

If you are careful about final size on cast bullets, you can make many of the same bullets work between both calibers, 9 and 38.

When talking about jacketed bullets, the difference between the .355 versus the .357 is sometimes enough to cause issues. In some instances, they can work and in others you won't be happy.

I punted on 38SP/9mm and went with a dedicated moon-clip revolver for 9mm and I'm very happy with it. It is a S&W 986 and the cylinder and bbl are designed for 9mm.

 

[nicholst55]

The USAF actually did some testing with this concept many years ago (mid-70's). They used to issue the S&W M15 to their Security Forces (or whatever they were called at the time), and were switching to, IIRC, the S&W M39. They actually rechambered some M15 cylinders for 9mm and tried shooting both .38 Spl, 9mm, and .38 brass with the 9mm powder charge and bullet loaded into it. Accuracy with the 9mm ammo was poor, but was attributed primarily to the long jump from the case mouth to the forcing cone. Loading the 9mm bullet into the .38 Spl case provided better accuracy, but still nothing to write home about. Shooting either standard .38 Spl or the hybrid 9mm/38 ammo resulted in badly swollen brass, due to the 9mm rechamber. IIRC, they abandoned the idea.

 

[Outrider27]

I have a .357 mag with a tight bore (.355) and using 9mm bullets in .357 or .38 Special cases does not result in a significant reduction in accuracy. It does fall off some in my Specials and .357s that have more normal for the caliber bores, so I only use loads with 9mm bullets in that one revolver.

 

[No.343]

In the game of ICORE there are many, many shooters that shoot 38 Short Colt through their 357 revolvers including myself. The 38 Short Colt is very similar in size to the 9mm. This is mainly done to ensure that we have consistent reloads ( mainly ejections for partially used moon clips). The long bullet jump was not that critical. Most of us have pretty good accuracy at 50 yards. The issue is normally bullet size and bore size, not bullet jump.