Hi fellows,
Reloading is not my specialty so I am turning to the experts.
How do you load .38 Spl with ooo buck/L.G pellet.What is process of lubing pellet and what powders/and their charge.
Also what performence will it give in rifle barrel.Any help is benificial.
Thanks...

I have not worked with round balls in the .38, however, I have loaded many rounds of .45 Colt with two .454" round balls. Perhaps I am foolish for doing so, but I don't use any lube. When the barrel leads up, I scrub it out. In the .45 Colt, I use 8.5 gr of Unique, stuff the first ball in with a dowel in the seating die, then seat the second ball until the midpoint is just below the case mouth, then put a good crimp on it. I get two round holes about 2" apart at 25 yards. The best source that I have seen for doing this kind of stuff was a book by Dean Grennel. I believe it was called "The ABC's of Handloading." Grennel loved to do off the wall stuff like this, and if you run across any of his old articles, they are a blast to read.

I haven't loaded round balls in the 38 sp, but have in the 44 mag and 480.

I'm not sure what lubes are available to you in Pakistan, but Lee Liquid Alox is easy to apply. Place the balls in a disposable cup, squeze in some lube, roll the cup around til they are all coated, then dump the bullets on a piece of cardboard to dry.

If liquid alox is not available, then you can use commercial stick lubes, or a home made lube, equal amounts of beeswax and moly/lithium automotive greese heated and mixed works well. The lube is simply smeared around the ball with a finger.

For powders, I'd use one of the fast ones such as Bullseye or Red Dot. I don't have any load data handy, but there should be some in Lymanns cast bullet hand book.

GunCreek!
I have the book,"The ABC of Reloading",and it provides good general information regarding multi- projectiles as well as shot loads,but it lacks the data/process to load single 00 buck pellet.
PaulH!
We don't have lubes available to us,so home made one is the only option and thanks for advice for process.
I know that weight of single pellet of oo buck is around 70 grains,I need data to reload it to moderate speeds in rifle barrel.
Thanks for help/info...........

Hey gun geek, why not put 3 holes with one shot!
I put 3 "0" buck into a SPEER shot cup, loaded in a 38 or 357mag case, they spread to about 4' at 15yards. Fun to fool your buddies!
That's 4" not 4' sorry!

[ 07-28-2002, 01:28: Message edited by: reloaderman ]

Friend!
You are blessed with such reloading atmosphare that you take it for granted that same goes for whole world,and you have to thank N.R.A for that.
In other parts of globe,people are barely keeping their firearms and reloading is very very basic and almost secret.
And no,speer capsules are not available for reloading here.

RAO, here is what I have used to load round balls in pistol cases. After the usual sizing, flaring, and priming load the case with 1.5 to 2 grs of whatever fast burning pistol powder you have that you would normally use in a .38. Seat the ball in the case by hand( the buckshot should go about halfway into the case with light pressure) then run it into the bullet seating die to crimp the buckshot in place. Try this load then if you want higher velocity work up about 1/2 grain at a time. The best accuracy is usually with a fairly light charge of powder. I don't lube these projectiles but don't have any leading problems because of the low velocity and the type of rifling. If you are using a leveraction rifle these loads may be too short to feed through the action and may have to be single loaded.

About 12 years ago I loaded .350" lead balls in 38 and 9mm shells. Unfortunatly I didn't save the data. I loaded them just for fun, and that's about all they were, no real point to them (no pun intended).
If you can't get lube then I assume you are very limited on supplies in your area? Are you shooting these because that's all you can get? You'll need a very fast powder to launch such a light load. I think I used "Bullseye" for my experiments, but most any fast powder will work to experiment with.
In your book or elsewhere, look for the lightest cast bullet load listed with the fastest powder used, hopefully something like a 95gr slug with Bullseye. Use that data and the buckshot will have about the same velocity except your pressure will be much lower. You can add more powder to bring the pressure up and get some good velocity.
Be careful these balls don't fall deeper into the case, I remember my 38 shells had a hard time holding them in place. I'm sure your book told you what happens when a bullet falls deeper into the case.
Here's a thought that just came to mind to reduce bore leading. Find or make dense cardboard discs to fit tight in the shell, maybe 1/16-1/8" thick. Let the discs soak up melted wax, then load them under the ball to help keep the lead cool from the burning powder, and the wax will help lube the next shot. I made some of these cardboard discs years ago for an experimental shotshell. I used an empty shell with the outer case mouth filed a bit to make a sharp edge, basically a "cookie cutter". Using a hammer on a wood table, I could cut very nice tight fitting wads.
Sorry I didn't have exact data for you, but I hope this helps.

chevota had the same idea i had but i used a case deburring tool to make my cutter . you just keep deburring until you have a sharp adge on the case . i used old plastic lids for wads too. 2 .32 cal round balls over 3gr bullseye made some fun multiball loads. i dont suppose you could use them for self defense some bottom feedin lawyer would pick you to death an youd end goin to jail for premeditated shooting.

Thanks guys for helping me on this.I inheried an old drilling in 12Gax12Gax.360Ex,and with the help of friends on "accuratereloading",I managed to make a chamber insert for .360Ex to shoot .38Spl/.357Mag.It shoots real good groups of .38Spl at 100 yards in its 28" barrel and no I have not fired .357Mag in it neither I plan.
There is not much .38Spl ammo available here and all I own is about 100 rounds of 158 gr Winchester loads.And they are going to end some day.
About powders? Is shotgun powder used in light skeet loads or 32 grams shot charge,is fast powder.Because I have to use the powders from shot shells and primers from .32ACP pistol cases.

RAO:

Is it that powders and primers are illegal to sell in your country, or just that no one does so?If legal, maybe you should start a business?

If you are pulling apart .32 rounds to get the primers, I am pretty sure that if you dumped the powder charge out of the 32 into the .38 it might work with a round ball, if not weigh it and add a bit from another .32. Which you will likely need to do since the .38 case is larger, meaning lower pressures and the RB is lighter than most .32 bullets. I'm only guessing but I would weigh the .32 charge and add maybe 25% to it. But try it with the initial charge first. You do have a powder scale, don't you? If not, you'll have to do it by volume.

Light shotshell powders tend to be pretty fast burning, but probably not as fast as the Bulleye mentioned above, more like Red Dot or Green Dot, but that is just a guess depending on who makes them. I would try 3.0 grains or a little more of whatever shotshell powder you've got and see what happens. The standard target load for bullseye in a .38 is about 2.8 gr of Bullseye with a 148 gr wadcutter. Even if it is Red Dot or Bullseye(highly unlikely), you should be safe with 3.0, I would think it will be pretty light and you will have to increase your powder charge a bit.

Remember, all of the above is just a guess, be careful and go slow, but I think you will be on the low end of pressure and velocity with most of what we discussed. And, as mentioned above, DO NOT let your round balls slip down on top of your powder, crimp them in place. Otherwise your pessures will go up in a hurry especially with a fast burning pistol powder.

This is pretty basic, but it is not rocket science to make a bullet mold for a .38, or to order one from the states or Australia if they are legal.

[ 08-05-2002, 16:10: Message edited by: Gatogordo ]

Gatogordo!
It is not that reloading and its commponents are illegal,but there are so many legal and economic factors involved that factory loaded ammo is far cheaper.And since import of all weapons,ammo and related stuff is banned after sep,11th,the availibility of raw material is un-certain.
I think I will start with 3 gr of shotshell powder with decron swab over it to keep it near primer and crimp in place single OOO buck pellet and go boom.I can live with light loads as I shoot this gun for fun only.
Although ordering bullet mould is easy ,the tough part is paying import duties and later spending MUCH more on reloadind tools which I cannot afford.Even to crimp .38 spl case I would go to tool maker and order old fashion crimper(shaped like pliers)to do the job.
Thank you very much for your help and information.

How much are the duties? Can you receive gifts of minimal value, say under $50US, duty free?