38 LC vs .38SP/.357

[Flinch Morningwood]

I currently shoot 1851 conversions that take the 38 long colt round...I am looking to pick up a couple SAA and want to be able to use the same brass, bullets and reloading dies...

Can you confirm or deny that the 38 Long Colt Brass and bullets (HB bullets) will work in a .38 Special or .357 chambered pistol?

Thanks!

[Matt Bastardson]

I guess that depends on what you mean by .38LC as there are apparently several different incarnations of this round.  (Not to mention that .38 Special brass loaded with the heeled/skirted .38LC bullet is also sometimes called '.38LC'.)

[Pettifogger]

Modern .38 Short Colt, .38 Long Colt, .38 Special and .357 are all based on the same case.  You can use any shorter case in a longer chamber.

[Matt Bastardson]

Oh, and I can indeed confirm that I found so many different 'versions' of .38LC floating around for sale that I just stuck to .38 Special cases reloaded with the skirted .38LC bullet for my .38LC Remington conversion.  Much simpler (and cheaper).

[Daniel Nighteyes]

Modern .38 Short Colt, .38 Long Colt, .38 Special and .357 are all based on the same case.  You can use any shorter case in a longer chamber.

My experience this past weekend, at the Firecracker Shootout, differs.  Running short of  45 Colt ammunition, I decided to use my '51 Richards-Mason revolvers and my old microgroove Marlin 97C.  I decided to use some Ten-X .38 Long Colt hollow-base wadcutter rounds that had been lying around for a few years (I got it on special) in the pistols, reserving my .38 Special ammo for the rifle.

Great idea, right?  Nope.  In the first three stages I had a total of nine misses, all with the pistols.  Now, I'm not a fast shooter but I'm typically far more accurate than that.  I went back to the .38 Specials for my pistols, and didn't have another pistol miss in the next nine stages.

Best I can figure out, the rounds were somehow tumbling as they came out of the barrel, going every-which-way. Don't know exactly why, as they SHOULD have worked just fine.  But I just can't argue with the evidence.

[Anybody wanna buy about a box-and-a-half of .38 Long Colt ammo?  I'll sell it cheap... ]

Regards,

-- Nighteyes

[Flinch Morningwood]

Thanks for the replies so far.

What I mean by 38 LC is:

38 LC Brass (starline)
Hollow Base soft lead bullet (not heeled)

They have been pretty accurate on the 1851 conversions due to the HB expanding into the barrel....

I guess I could always try them and see, once I get the new pistols....