Reproducing military .38 S&W

mowart

I have some surplus .38 S&W ammo. It is powerful compared to commercial rounds. With its large bullet (200 grains?) should be real man stoppers in my S&W Model 33. Unfortunately every few rounds I get a split case. I think the brass is degrading. What would be involved in finding out the specs of this round and having it made with new components?

Pearyw

I reload for my 38 S&W pistols. You can buy new brass and reload it any way you want. The only problem is getting the right size bullet. The 38 S&W uses a .359" to .360" bullet. It was never as powerful as a 38 Special. I usually load mine with a 148Gr hollow based wadcutter seated about half way in the case. It will flair and seat in the rifling. I don't usually load these very hot. You can reverse the bullet and load it as an effective hollow point. I wonder which cartridge you are shooting. The old WWII British fmj 38-200 was a little hotter than the current commercial 38 S&W ammo that is being made.

mowart

The base of the brass cased surplus has "FN" at 12:00, a star at 3:00 and "380 2Z" centered on 7:00.

skikir

You have the "0.380 IIz" ammo. It was the last version of the 38/200 ammo that the Brits used in their WWII revolvers. It was changed from the 200gr lead bullet to a 178gr FMJ. I measured the bullet to be .357" at the case mouth and oal at 1.223" The velocity by my F1 chroney (which I don't trust) is about 640FPS. The bullet has a long Ogive which makes the OAL long. I am working on a load of speer 180grn and seara 170grn FMJs and will be trying 3.1grs of Bullseye to night. I am useing an Enfield No.2 as a test gun and plan on using them in my S&W Victorys also.