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jim brady · 10-25-2011, 01:30 PM

I guess I might be a little slow today, but I gather you have at least 2 issues with those .38 Special reloads. The first being the tough cleaning after 100 rounds of cast lead bullets? Yup, you can go with the plated bullets and that would help greatly in reducing bore fouling. I do that with a couple of old German pistols that saw too much trench time and not enough oil in the bores. They lead-up like crazy with lead bullets, but the plated ones are fine.

The second being that bulge in the cases when seating jacketed bullets? That is normal to see a slight bulge. If you are comparing your reloads to factory ammy - consider this: the factory cases are new and never fired; Your reloads are sized back to be within tolerance. When you seat a bullet into a re-sized case it can be expexted to see the bulge where the bullet expands the brass case.

You only need to 'flair' or bell the case mouth enough to start the base on the bullet when you seat them. Just a tip - if you trim your cases to a standard length, it takes the guess work out of how much of a flair you need. Just enough to allow the bullet to start into the case.

10-25-2011, 01:30 PM	#4
jim brady Advanced Senior Member Join Date: Sep 2009 Posts: 1,076	Re: 38 loads I guess I might be a little slow today, but I gather you have at least 2 issues with those .38 Special reloads. The first being the tough cleaning after 100 rounds of cast lead bullets? Yup, you can go with the plated bullets and that would help greatly in reducing bore fouling. I do that with a couple of old German pistols that saw too much trench time and not enough oil in the bores. They lead-up like crazy with lead bullets, but the plated ones are fine. The second being that bulge in the cases when seating jacketed bullets? That is normal to see a slight bulge. If you are comparing your reloads to factory ammy - consider this: the factory cases are new and never fired; Your reloads are sized back to be within tolerance. When you seat a bullet into a re-sized case it can be expexted to see the bulge where the bullet expands the brass case. You only need to 'flair' or bell the case mouth enough to start the base on the bullet when you seat them. Just a tip - if you trim your cases to a standard length, it takes the guess work out of how much of a flair you need. Just enough to allow the bullet to start into the case.