Using 9mm bullets for loading 38 special - Thoughts?

[Bossloper]

I just sold my 9mm but have an abundance of 9mm lead & jhp bullets, so instead of getting rid of them, I figured I could keep them and use them for loading 38 special plinking ammo for my S&W 67. I know that there's the .002-.003 size difference, but how much can that really make a difference going down a 4" barrel? Or should I just trade the 9mm bullets for other bullets for the calibers I load for?

[Scibaer]

i have been using .380, 9mm , .357 and .38 bullets inter changeably for a while now.
with OK results, all i have been doing , is making plinking loads with very light charges, so far ive no problems.
i feel what i have been doing , is ok and not unsafe.
 what works best is using .380 bullets ( 90 grains ) in .38 slp or .357 mag cases.
using the smaller 9mm ( .355 ) bullets do work but they are not very accurate and seem to get my guns dirty fast  (blow by maybe ? )


now you are using that 4 inch barrel, so you should not see any problems with blow by.
you should be able to load those 9mm ( .355 ) bullets in the .38 spl cases, using a light powder charge and shoot them just fine.
just my 2 cents.

[mdi]

Don't know for sure about the jacketed bullets; prolly safe to shoot, but accuracy? As for the lead bullets, .002" undersize will cause leading in your bbl. and not be accurate. The extent of the leading and loss of accuracy will be determined by your individual gun. If'n it were me, I'd melt the lead and trade off the jacketed for .357" bullets (after I experimented, of course!).

[dieselman]

I have used 9mm loads in both 38slp and 357 mag I used a Lee fac crimp die with jacketed 9mm (.355 dia) no crimp groove and with the bullets being the smaller dia they could move. I have never had any trouble with them and for punching holes in paper; the paper won't tell any one. My 38spl will shoot 9mm cast with out leading and my .357 mag will not but, the 357 is for hunting not target shooting any way.

[Savage]

I loaded some 147gr .355 lead bullets in .38 spl cases. Surprisingly they were more accurate out of my mdl 19 than the 158gr LSWCs.
Savage

[P.A. Myers]

Back when I was young and poor I found I could get massive quantities of truncated [flat cone] 9mm. I miked them and found they were .357.The supplier said it was because of his swedge/lube dies were .357. These were about 123g and they performed like any lead bullet. I just crimped into the side, and never had any bullet crawl. It took many years to shoot'em all up. 

[Dand]

I had some Speer Swaged lead 9mm bullets that I tried in 38 Special plinker loads. They weren't very accurate and leaded my gun. Same problem in my 9mm. Finally burned them up and haven't used them since. They were better in the 9mm than the 38.

[Steve P]

I don't like to just blow up ammo.  I like my bullets to hit what I shoot at.  If it were my choice, I would trade the 9mms and get 38/357 bullets. 

However considering the cost associated with reloading components and current availability of said components, I wouldn't stop shooting my .357 if I ran out of my favorite bullet and a reasonable substitute component were available.  9mm bullets at .355 or .356 are reasonable substitutes for some loads in some 38s or 357s. 

Steve

[sbhg]

Give them an honest try, Ruger does make a 9mm cylinder for their .357Magnum Blackhawk convertible.
If your expander is too large, just try seating them w/o expanding/belling. I tried some this way in a t/c .357Maximum barrel, they seated and crimped fine but w/ a good charge of H-110 they patterned.

[HAMMERHEAD]

Give them an honest try, Ruger does make a 9mm cylinder for their .357Magnum Blackhawk convertible.
If your expander is too large, just try seating them w/o expanding/belling. I tried some this way in a t/c .357Maximum barrel, they seated and crimped fine but w/ a good charge of H-110 they patterned.

I used to have the Ruger 9mm/.357 convertible and it shot pretty darn good with 9mm ammo, I could get groups of 3"-4" at 25 yards, not match grade, but I was satisfied.
I wouldn't hesitate to try them. The lands of the rifling do some squeezing of the bullets, and a quick powder might provide enough of a pressure spike to bump the bullet bases up in diameter.
Mike Venturino in Handloader magazine did some experimenting with cast .45 bullets and found he could get the bases to bump up as much as .003". He used a barrel-less SA Colt revolver with oversized throats and water tank to catch the bullets.
I have used .356" plated .38 Super bullets in all my 9mm, .38 super, .38 spl and .357 magnums with good results.

[Badnews Bob]

I shot up a bunch of 9mm 115 gr ball ammo I had left in one of my .357 handi rifles, I used .38 cases and I think 2.5 or 3 grains of bullseye, Murdered a bunch of beer cans with that load, Many a dirt clod and rock fell to that round also.

[Lloyd Smale]

i shoot the hornady hap bullets for a 9mm in my ppc gun and there the most accurate bullet in that gun that ive found. I wish my cast shot as well as it sure would be cheaper.