Loading .38 Special And 9MM with Cast Lead

[Eddie O]

Hi Guys,
I've posted in this forum before and always got good advice. I am new to reloading, and trying to start now. Problem, I'm a retired Police Officer. I purchased both of my .38's from the Agency when I left. Current problem is .38 Special seems to be scarce and when you do find it they want a small fortune for it. We used to sell it at our Range where I did some reloading on our turret press for $5 a Box. I got a culture shock at the price.
My solution turn to reloading, unfortunately a bad time to try that however through persistence, I came up with 7 lbs of Hodgdon HP-38 Powder, a Lee 158Gr SWC Mold, 5000 Federal Small Pistol Primers, 3,000 .38, 3,000 9MM once fired Cases and a Lee .38 Special Hand-loader (I know! a Lee Turret Press and other parts are on my Christmas Wish List). I pulled down the reloading data from the Hodgdon Site, No problem its easy to understand.
However,
The Lee Reloader calls for using Winchester Primers and cases? I have Federal Primers and Brass from several Manufactures. Does it really make a difference what Primers and Brass you use? This was never even considered when we were reloading at work, we used whatever Brass and Primer we had on hand. Is there something that critical about using Lee Products or are they just promoting Winchester?
Second question I was going to cast Lead for my 9mm P38, and Glock (only after I swap out my Barrel for a Rifled one) thanks to the guys on the Board who gave me the Heads up on that one.
Anyway Hodgdon gives the 9 reload data as a "LCN" the casting mold by Lee list the Mold as a Lead Round Nose (Same Gr. weight), are the LCN and LRN the same 9MM Bullet.
Thanks for taking the time to keep a fellow Newbie and Voter safe.
Later,
Ed


Cartridge: 38 Special
Load Type: Pistol
Starting Loads__________________________________Maximum Loads

Bullet Weight (Gr.) Manufacturer Powder Bullet Diam. C.O.L. Grs. Vel. (ft/s) Pressure Grs. Vel. (ft/s) Pressure

158 GR. CAST LSWC Hodgdon HP-38 .358" 1.475" 3.1 782 11,900 CUP 3.7 834 14,600 CUP

[justashooter]

hey ed,

good powder for your application, but be careful to keep things organised so you avoid double charging. get a block of wood about an inch thick and 6" x 12", lay it out in a 5X10 grid in pencil, and counterbore a series of holes into it with a 5/8" spade bit and a drill press so you can keep things organized during the different stages of reloading.

no problem mixing case manufacturers in handgun loads of this pressure range. no problem mixing standard small pistol primers, either. no problem changing bullet profiles in the same weight of lead and not of dramatically differing bearing surfaces (length from base to beginning of ogive). overall lenght is important to feeding in your 9mm, so load up a dozen and shoot them for feeding function before you press 500 or so too short or long to feed reliably, or too long to fit in the magazine. missouri bullets has a good shipped price you will appreciate when you get tired of casting.

enjoy

[Eddie O]

Thanks,
That is just what I was hoping to hear. I know casting my own bullets is a bit of overkill. I worry more about current shortages, which seem to be clearing up a bit. However supply and demand has resulted in any local Dealers lucky enough to get a shipment bumping the prices to unrealistic highs, I was lucky enough to hit the Primer and Powder just at the right time on Gun Broker and get it at pre shortage prices.

Cabrels has powder in stock and Primers on 2 to 4 Week Backorder, Midway and others are still saying No Back-orders.

I firmly believe that all Americans, with exception of Violent Felons should have an absolute Right To Carry, there would be a lot less Violent Felons if only that were true.

Unfortunately we have a Nigerian in a position to destroy the Second Amendment.

Part of my quest here is to be in a position to produce my own Ammo. should the Pretender and Congress be successful in destroying our Liberty.

I pray for our Liberty and our Servicemen and Woman in Harms Way on a Daily Basis. I pray that Americans will never need to fight for our Freedom in the streets of our Homeland.

And lastly I pray that enough Americans take this seriously enough to Arm themselves in numbers large enough to maintain the Homeland Militia that our for-fathers were wise enough to establish.

Did not mean to get off track, and I'm not trying to compete with our Military, just want to be knowledgeable enough to fill the Responsibilities set out in our Constitution.

And I hope you note I say Responsibility not Rights.

When you see Police Chiefs on TV supporting Gun Control, remember the vast majority of Police believe as I do and do not support that position.

However keep in mind that we do have cowboys out there, also Officers are sworn to uphold the law, even if they do not agree with it.

Always obey all Federal, State and Local Gun Laws. Don't put an Officer in a position where he is forced to take action he does not want to do.

Sorry about the Soap Box and thanks for the great information on reloading. Promise I'll try to stay on point from now on.

Later,
Eddie O

[max384]

I exclusively use federal primers on all rounds I reload, regardless of what the book says. The brand of primers doesn't really matter, other than CCI, as they are closer to a magnum primer. Hopefully someone will confirm or deny this. I don't actually have firsthand experience with the CCI primers, but I've always known that to be fact. Also, as already stated, the cases aren't going to matter. I use range brass for reloading whenever I can find it. I am just extra careful to make sure the brass is in good shape. The only problem you can get into when using different cases is some military cases are thicker-walled, and can increase pressures. That is generally only seen in rifle rounds though.

.... Oh, and obey all laws. Agreed.

[JoeWilliams]

Don't worry about using different brands of powder and brass. If you are good enough to try for ultimate accuracy, you can see small differences in groups if you separate your rounds by brand of brass vs just shooting mixed brass. 99.9% of the time, this is a waste. That level of accuracy isn't needed for most handgun shooting. And most of us aren't good enough for it to really matter anyway

For your purposes, you can use the data for about any 125 gr cast bullet. Reduce the loads and work your way up, though you can't do that if you are using the dippers. If that is the case, just don't use a max load.

I've got Lee Loaders for every caliber I reload, except .45 ACP. I'll fix that at a gunshow nearby next weekend. They are handy tools, produce really good ammo if you aren't sloppy in how you go about your work, and are packable.

As nice as turret presses and all that are, you don't need one if you are on a tight budget. First thing I'd buy would be a Lee Perfect Powder Measure ($20), which will let you really tailor your loads. Then I'd consider a Lee Hand Press, available in a nice kit from Cabellas for $37. Includes a few extra goodies, including the Lee Ram Prime. This press isn't as fast as fancier presses, but it's compact, stores easily, and isn't all THAT slow. I've been using these for years, now. They are nicer and quieter than the Lee Loader .

http://www.cabelas.com/cabelas/en/te...233&hasJS=true

[WVBob]

I've used every breand and form of primer out there and as long as you stay in the type you are fine. I like CCI, not because they are hotter but because they are harder. It does take a good solid hit to set one off. Federal are softer Remington and Winchester fall between.

Have fun but be safe.

[Brick]

The Hodgden Manual is a good source, but I suggest you get another manual as a second source. Speer #14 is a good choice and will cover a wider selection of powders. 158 gr. any shape is a good .38 Spec. bullet I'm switching from SWC & RN to truncated cone.

I gave up reloading 9mm over 20 years ago so I don't have any words of wisdom for you there except be sure to use the right crimp!

These days reloading is pretty tough because of the shortage of components especially primers. Generally speaking for most reloads using mixed brass isn't going to cause a problem and varying primer brands won't cause a problem either unless you're trading small pistol primers for small pistol magnum.

[Bib]

Just a suggestion... If you want to cast bullets for both guns, get a 125 grain conical point mold and size them .356. I know someone who has been doing this for years and gets good accuracy from both guns.