Looking for 38S&W bullets

**_JTK_** · 20-03-2025, 15:02

Good to know. going to try unsized 38 special bullets. I believe it will probably be a very close fit..

**mic** · 20-03-2025, 20:46

If you are in need of unsized 38spl cast bullets (158 grain) please let me know and we can get together. I am in Brits, North west and have access to two different 38 SWC bullet molds. I will measure unsized cast bullets from both of them next week and let you know what they cast. Unfortunately all the previous castings from them were sent directly through a .357" sizer and I don't currently have unsized bullets available to measure.

**mckg** · 21-03-2025, 10:19

If you cast your own, you can try beagling your mold, aka stick two little stripes of furnace tape on one or the two halves of your mold. Tape comes in different gages. This will bump your bullets up a bit.

**Heath Robinson** · 21-03-2025, 17:48

Or if you want to do it a little more permanently you can lap them out a bit.

Cast a bullet in the mould, drive a longish self-tapping screw into the base (must be nice and concentric), cut the head of the screw off, saw some longitudinal grooves in the bullet and stick it in a drill press. Then put some grinding paste on the bullet and while it's turning close the mold around it.

Process is rrasonably slow and controllable.

**Dick** · 22-03-2025, 10:27

As a retired commercial bullet caster this is what I can tell you for what it's worth. The 38S&W groove dia is nominally 361. 38Spl/357mag groove dia is 357 - I slugged several and all were exactly 357 except one that was 356. Which is apparently not unusual. Cast bullets usually sized 358. The good news for you is that moulds usually cast at least 360 often 361. Therefore no need to enlarge them by lapping. Especially if you powder coat them. Conventional canelure lubing will require that a 358 sizing die must be polished out to 361 - not difficult just time consuming plus you must have some means of measuring. But if you don't have a conventional Lubamatic or similar, powder coating is much simpler and equipment not expensive. The few powder coated bullets I miked indicated that powder coating is about two thousandths thick ie a bullet that casts 260 ends up 364. Powder coated bullets can be sized through a conventional die. But a 147 grain 9mm should cast 358-359 plus powder coating = 362-363 which is ideal for 38S&W without need for sizing. Cast bullets are very soft compared with jacketed and will shoot successfully without pressure problem even if two or three thou over groove. So a 38S&W rollie, provided it is actually 361 groove not 357 as some were, will be perfectly safe with a cast bullet as big as 364.