.38-200

[Adscapes]

Anyone load the .38-200. A 200 grain bullet in .38?

This load was designed to tumble when it hits a target. I recall a load of
3.4 or 3.9 grains of Du-pont. Its reported as quite accurate, 3" Groups.

[Steve Dyer]

In <4ndr5j$s...@xring.cs.umd.edu> adsc...@ix.netcom.com (Adscapes)
writes:
#
#Anyone load the .38-200. A 200 grain bullet in .38?
#
#This load was designed to tumble when it hits a target. I recall a
load of
#3.4 or 3.9 grains of Du-pont. Its reported as quite accurate, 3"
Groups.
#
#

I've loaded the .38/200 in a couple of revolvers, the first being a
British-proofed S&W M&P (Victory Model) chambered for the .38 S&W
(.38/200). This revolver shot well enough in the original chambering
but I eventually replaced the cylinder with a M&P .38 Special cylinder
and enjoyed the increased flexibility. My notes indicate these .38/200
loads were used in the first revolver:

158 grain LRN bullets and 2.7 grains of Bullseye

125 grain JHP and 4.1 grains of Unique

As I recall (15 years ago) there were so few commercially available
200-grain bullets that I could not locate any and due to my transitory
nature at the time casting was not an option. My old manuals list no
loads for the .38/200 with bullets heavier than 158 grains. Ken Waters
list these loads:

Markell 200 grain lead 2.0 Bullseye 610 FPS to duplicate Brit
service load
2.5 700X 702 FPS MAX LOAD
3.6 Herco 784 FPS MAX LOAD

For offhand shooting my loads shot to point of aim in this revolver
but probably won't in one regulated for the real .38/200 load.

The second revolver I still have and it too is a S&W M&P, but
it's a 1941 .38 Special. Because of the height of the front sight and
my unwillingness to alter it to change the point of impact with
standard .38 Special loads, I duplicate the .38/200 which brings the
point of impact on target exactly up to the point of aim. This load
is:

National Bullet Company 200 grain Lead TC and 3.5 grains of Unique in
.38 Special cases.

THIS LOAD IS PROBABLY EXCESSIVE IF YOU USE .38 S&W (.30/200) CASES.
-------------------------------------------------------------------

This is especially true if you wish to load for any light-frame
top-break Smith & Wesson, Harrington & Richardson or similar pocket
revolver. These are designed for lighter duty.

This is the most accurate load I have tried in this revolver, even
better than 148-grain hollow base wadcutters that easily cut 1" at
25 yards from most any good .38 Special. I was stunned by the way this
old warhorse responded to the 200-grain load as it has been largely
indifferent to most other loads - doing no better than 2.5" with the
majority of them, but not much worse with any of them either. This
200/3.5 Unique load will consistently stay in 1.5" at 20 yards with
a well-sandbagged rest and no crosswind.

Steve

[Robert P. Firriolo]

adsc...@ix.netcom.com (Adscapes) wrote:

#Anyone load the .38-200. A 200 grain bullet in .38?

Yes, a 200 grain bullet in a .38. The cartridge is what we in the US
refer to as .38 S&W (not to be confused with .38 Special). The Brits
used to load it with a 300 grain bullet, hence the ".38-200."

#This load was designed to tumble when it hits a target.

And your source for this is ... ?

# I recall a load of 3.4 or 3.9 grains of Du-pont.

DuPont what? DuPont made lots of powders (which, BTW, are now sold
under the IMR name). That's like saying it used "3 grains of
Hercules." It is really not advisable to mention loading data like
that.

# Its reported as quite accurate, 3" Groups.

At what range do you consider three-inch groups to be "quite
accurate?"

Robert P. Firriolo

**************************************************************
Don't Tread on Me!

"Little more can reasonable be aimed at with respect to the
people at large than to have them properly armed and equipped."

- Alexander Hamilton
The Federalist Papers - Number 29
***************************************************************

[Keith Whaley]

Adscapes wrote:
#
# Anyone load the .38-200. A 200 grain bullet in .38?
#
# This load was designed to tumble when it hits a target. I recall a load of
# 3.4 or 3.9 grains of Du-pont. Its reported as quite accurate, 3" Groups.

Where did you read that it was "designed to tumble?"

Sources please.

keith