38-40 load info wanted

[silverback]

hey guys i thought this would be a good place to start. I would like find out as much as i can about the 38-40. I have a buckeye and enjoy the 10 mm but the 38-40 intrigues me and since i have the cylinder i may as well make use of it.

so any opinions, reloading recipes and or links would be appreciated.

Or should i see if i can get the cylinders machined for the 40 sw?

i don't plan on selling but who knows so machining the cylinder may be a last resort.

 

[Ale-8(1)]

Just out of curiosity, have you checked the chamber throats?

The ones in both of my cylinders are considerably undersized.

 

[Mike Armstrong]

Get hold of a copy of Ken Waters' "Pet Loads." He has a section on the .38-40 in the Ruger .38WCF/10mm Buckeye version, and (I think) another on the .38-40 in rifles. I'd offer to snail mail you the articles, but that book is "Perfect Bound" (a very IMperfect kind of binding, IMO) and very thick, so almost impossible to copy without breaking the spine. Or, if you have access to back issues of "Handloader" and "Rifle," let me know and I'll tell you which issues these articles originally appeared in.

.38-40 is an excellent handgun round, once you get the basics down.

 

[WIL TERRY]

I JUST TOOK DOWN the first seven loading manuals on the shelf. ALL seven had pressure tested loading data for the 38-40 [38WCF ] with several bullet weights. NEVER trust data taken off the internet.
And so it goes...

 

[mhblaw]

If you are into loading cast bullets, Oregon Trail has a re-loading manual for just cast bullets in all popular calibers, including 38-40. It is one of my favorite calibers in a couple of Bowen customs, a Buckeye and a USFA.

 

[Boxhead]

I was just out shooting a custom S&W 38-40 for the first time today and used the air cooled 180 gr RFP from Montana Bullet Works sized at throat diameter over 6.4 grs of TiteGroup (maximum in Hodgdon's on-line "manual") and the combo shot very, very well.

 

[silverback]

Great info guys. I cant wait to get my reloading equiptmdnt set up. keep it coming. what velocity ranges are we talking about?

 

[eric conrad]

silverback, take a look here www.reloadammo.com
Eric

 

[mhblaw]

In the latest issue of Handloader, Mike V. suggests 6.9 grs. of W-231 as his favorite load for 180/38WCF, 200/44WCF and 250/45 Colt. I use that combo in those cartridges and also for 41 Mag, 215 gr. bullet.