Henry Rifle Forums

I like the idea of shooting the old 38 Long Colt round out of my 1872 Open Top with 38 Special cylinder and also be able to shoot it through my .357 Henry rifle. Now the shorter length of the 38 LC may have feeding problems with that so I found a solution.
Before I ordered the 38 LC brass from Starline I cut down some 38 Special brass to correct Colt length of 1.023 which is about .117 shorter.
Then looking at the Missouri Bullet 158 gr. RNFP bullet it seemed if I seated the bullet to the top edge of the empty lube groove the OAL would come in at 1.440 same as .38 Special I load using that bullet plus a generous area for a nice crimp. Made up a plug to insert into the 38 Special case so I could chuck it in my lathe without crushing the brass and cut back a couple for a test.
Ran the dummy round thru my press and it looked very good and cycled perfectly in my Henry rifle just like my 357 Mag and 38 Special loads!
Now since the case is now .117-.120 shorter BUT I seat the bullet the exact amount out of the case the powder capacity should be the same as my current 38 Special load using same bullet.
Will make up a few of these and see how they shoot thru mu Uberti open top and the Henry. Shooting Cowboy style with 38 Colt instead of 38 Special!

Does that chamber prevent use of .38 Special brass, like the .357 won't fit in a .38 Special?

Modern day 38 Long Colt is same O.D. as 38 Special so no issues with chambering and the 38 Special barrel of the OT is labeled 38 Special and Long Colt. The whole idea of this project was to be able to fire same round in my 357 Henry and this is where the shorter length of that cartridge might be an issue. So my easy fix was to just be lucky enough to seat that same bullet to a longer OAL. Waiting on my 38 Long Colt Starline brass to arrive as well as another box of those MB 158 gr. 357 bullets to arrive as I had run out.
To me the 38 Colt with that 158 gr. bullet at a longer seating depth just looks a bit meaner than same bullet in the Special case! Ballistics should be the same and with a Power Pistol powder load within 38 Special pressure specs you can get some good bullet speeds. Stay tuned!

It is interesting looking especially with the big crimp in it. That’s a lotta bullet sticking out and does look intimidating a little bit.

Wonder how one of those 180 Pugs would work???

Well now looks like the Pug would work fine using 38 Special data from loads I found for a 170 gr. cast bullet in my Lyman book.
Just crimp in the 2nd groove from top. 4.2 Unique gives 840 FPS with the 170 gr. bullet max load 38 Special. Drop it to 3.8-4.0 gr for the 180 Pug.