.38 S&W-M

[Tubac]

Gents,

I was at a gunshow and a feller had some Ideal reloader/moulds for sale.
One was marked 38 S&W another 38 S&W-M. The feller told me the ones
stamped 38 S&W were for the cartridge of the same name, however, he said
the ones stamped with -M were for military 38s AKA 38 special. I had no reason to
call him a liar, so I walked away wonderin'.
Any of you folks heard of 38 special;s called 38 military's?

Tubac

[St. George]

Just checked Barnes' 'Cartridges of the World', and there's no mention of an 'identifier' such as that.

So - I checked a copy of TM 9-1305-200 - 'Small Arms Ammunition' - and that features the various issued .38 caliber ammunition of the armed forces.

Nothing there, either.

In checking actual military headstamps - if the ammunition was commercially-procured, it will feature the manufacturer's commercial headstamp.

If it's contracted for the military - it's headstamp will have the initials of the manufacturer and the last two digits of the date of manufacture.

Now, that's for the cartridge cases.

Since the military's M41 ammunition was jacketed hardball - no one with any sense is reloading for that round.

I'd take a good look at an Ideal catalog to see what they say.

Vaya,

Scouts Out!

[Sir Charles deMouton-Black]

I am guessing that the "M" has to do with the mould.  I have some older Lyman moulds that have a letter suffix.  Doesn't it apply to the mould specs?  I have heard that "U" means "undersize".

[Steel Horse Bailey]

Howdy!

Just speculation, but the Brits called it something like the 38-200 which refers I believe to the 200 gr bullet it's loaded with.  Since the normal 38 S&W bullet is in the 145-155gr weight range, could that "M" designation mean that it's made for a heavier bullet?  I would think that the 200 gr bullet would make the loaded round OAL longer, so maybe the seater die or mould was for the longer projectile.

[St. George]

Again - read the above posts about 'Barnes' - 'Cartridges of the World', and military headstamps.

The .38/200 has the identical OAL to a commercial round, with a slightly 'rounder' ogive for the jacketed Ball round.
The projectile length is the same.

The answer is in an Ideal catalog, since Ideal is the mold manufacturer.

Vaya,

Scouts Out!

[Tubac]

Gents,

I was getting curiouser and curiouser, so I went back to the show on Sunday(my ticket stub was good forboth days).
The reloader was still there and I paid the man $15.00 and after a walk arround I went home.
It's marked .38 S&W.M. The mould is .356" and the loading cone loads.38 specials but is too deep to load.38 S&W.
So it appears to a reloading tool for a .38 special. But I still have no clue to the stamping.

Tubac