.38 Spl in .357 Contender

[Lonegun1894]

So I was looking at my brass selection, and realized that I have quite a bit more .38 Special than .357 Mag brass, and I'm betting I'm not the only one here.  So here is my question, and yes, I know there's some safety concerns, but I have considered those.  First off, I do not currently, and have no intention of getting anything chambered in .38 Special, in part due to experiments like this one, so there is no concern of these loads getting loaded into a .38 unless someone steals them, and if that was to happen, well, you can't fix stupid.  So how much is possible from a .38 Special case loaded into a .357 Magnum Contender?  I figure this should provide quite an upgrade in my 10" barrel with no cylinder gap, but what say you?  The main purpose will be paper-punching, but I am thinking small to medium game, on up to about 100# hog should be achievable with these loads, and quite possibly more.

[kynardsj]

PM me and I'll share a load with you that I developed in a 38 spl a few years ago. Not in any books but it's scooting and there are no, none, zero, zip pressure signs. I've shared it with my reloading friends and they love it too. Even though I own other calibers I plan on taking a deer with one this coming season using my rifled 10" 38/357 adapter in my 12 gauge.

[parisite]

The 38 Special loaded to the pressures you are referring to was once a cartridge called the 38/44.
 
There is a small amount of data online for it, but it's basically loading the 38 with 2400 to 100% load density.

[parisite]

[Lonegun1894]

Thank you.  I had read about the .38-44, but didn't have any load data.  This round had crossed my mind, but I didn't know much about it, and even though I knew it was hotter than the .38 Spl, I didn't know actual numbers as to how it really compared--that's due to having seen loads that got 25fps more than standard loads labeled as +P before, so those charts help immensely.  Those loads look like they should be fine for at least smaller hogs, and more than enough for any small game.  In fact, and I'm not saying that I would make a habit out of this, but they seem like they should be plenty for our deer around here out to 50-75yds as long as I'm as picky about my shots as I usually am.

[Keith L]

Just make damned sure that you mark these shells clearly so no one you care about mistakenly takes some and gets injured/

[Lonegun1894]

Very good advice.

[pme166]

The 38/44 is a hobby of mine.  As others have said, don't get them in something not made for it. 


They are great to shoot with big old 38/44 Heavy Duties or Outdoorsman's.  Your design goal is 1150 fps with a 150/158 grn bullet. 


These are all 38/44's

[GarrettJ]

I load subsonic ammo in both .44 Spl and .38 Spl to shoot suppressed.  It's nice to have a way to visually determine which rounds are which.   For that, I really like the heavier Hornaday XTPs, with the second crimp groove.  If you seat to the first groove in Spl brass, you get the same OAL length as if you seat to the second groove in Mag brass.  Yes - I keep my ammo in labeled ammo boxes.  But a second way to verify is always nice.  Also, the "magnum" length ammo is often too long to fit in a revolver chambered in one of the "Spl" cartridges. 


This should give you an idea of what I mean.  Shown is .44 Mag/Spl with a 300 gr. XTP.  But the 180 gr .357 XTP works the same way.