[shucks]

I have recently been gifted with a thousand or so rounds of 38sp reloads from a guy I know who's dad was a cop out of state years ago and reloaded for practice with his service revolver. Everything I have that shoots the round is in 357, including a couple blackhawks and a puma rifle. I hate to tear them apart for components to sell, as I dont relaod, but dont want to blow anything up. They are a mixture of swc, lrn, and jhp rounds and all in good looking 38sp brass. They are all old, with tarnished brass and in really old cardboard boxes. Some of the lead and copper are oxidized too. It's a fairly low pressure round, so I would think any gun in 357 should be able to handle even a poorly made round, should one be there.
To shoot or not to shoot, that is the question.

Thanks for any advice.

 

[me26245]

I only fire reloaded cartridges if they were reloaded by a commercial reloader that is still in business and insured or it's someone I know and I know how they reload. Otherwise they get disassembled for salvage.

That's just me.

 

[AmmoSgt]

Break them down and sell the parts. You got nothing into them.. you have nothing to lose by breaking them down and nothing to gain by trying to shoot them .. and selling reloads without a manufactures FFL license is legally problematic.

This should be pure profit for a little of your time.. the tool to disassemble them only costs a few dollars http://www.midwayusa.com/product/215517/frankford-arsenal-impact-bullet-puller?cm_vc=ProductFinding
The powder is not identifiable , so it is not safe to reuse, but primed brass and pulled bullets have value .. you could have a couple hundred dollars worth of components, maybe more.. a lot depends on the bullets , but even at a dime a piece for primed brass that's $100. . Shouldn't have any trouble making $20-$30 an hour breaking them down and selling them.

 

[mtnboomer]

I guarantee it would be extremely hard - no, make that virtually impossible - to pack enough of the correct powder into a .38 Spl. case that your Blackhawk couldn't handle and laugh about it!

That said, unless you want to shoot them all, breaking them down or giving them away are your only choices.

 

[pilot1950]

Bullseye can certainly be classified as a "correct" powder for 38 special. We're all human, even the cop that loaded them. Humans are fallible. What would a double charge of Bullseye do in one of your .357 revolvers? How much are your guns, hands, eyes worth to you vs. the cost of your time to break it down minus salvage value? Does the thought of Russian Roulette sound good to you?

Only you can answer these questions for yourself.

 

[shucks]

I was pretty much just thinking of making them rossi rifle only rounds, but in light of this thread, I'm seriously reconsidering it. I guess they could be old commercial rounds, having talked to the guy I got them from again, he just figured they were reloads from the old boxes and the fact that there were so many of them. thx guys.

 

[03man]

I'd give them to someone who wants to take them down for the components.

 

[cruffel]

I may get some flak for this, but IF IT WERE ME, I'd shoot 'em in the Rossi.

 

[AmmoSgt]

cruffler.. naw, nobody going to give you flak.. it is what the OP wants to hear in the first place, he just wants somebody's, anybody's permission to do the unsafe thing... you can tell by the way he is trying to rationalize past all the good safe proper advice he has got. And so, if something goes wrong, he can tell family and friends and a cute nurse down at the ER that Cruffler said it was okey dokey.

Here, hold my beer.. watch this.....

 

[Tuna]

Bullseye can certainly be classified as a "correct" powder for 38 special. We're all human, even the cop that loaded them. Humans are fallible. What would a double charge of Bullseye do in one of your .357 revolvers? How much are your guns, hands, eyes worth to you vs. the cost of your time to break it down minus salvage value? Does the thought of Russian Roulette sound good to you?

Only you can answer these questions for yourself.

What would a double charge of Bullseye do? NOTHING at all to a good .357 Mag. I've seen what 15 Grs. of Bullseye with a 158 JHP on top did to a S&W model 19. Just bulged the chamber it was in and the rest of the cylinder was fine and still shot.

 

[cruffel]

I was pretty much just thinking of making them rossi rifle only rounds, but in light of this thread, I'm seriously reconsidering it. I guess they could be old commercial rounds, having talked to the guy I got them from again, he just figured they were reloads from the old boxes and the fact that there were so many of them. thx guys.

Not confirmed reloads. Just a guess. I'd shoot them.

 

[03man]

What would a double charge of Bullseye do? NOTHING at all to a good .357 Mag. I've seen what 15 Grs. of Bullseye with a 158 JHP on top did to a S&W model 19. Just bulged the chamber it was in and the rest of the cylinder was fine and still shot.

And that was "nothing"????

 

[Tuna]

When you consider a double change is about 7 grs of Bullseye, and this one was 15 grs of Bullseye, then yes it is not an issue. 7 grs. in a .357 is nothing compared to 15 grs.

 

[03man]

When you consider a double change is about 7 grs of Bullseye, and this one was 15 grs of Bullseye, then yes it is not an issue. 7 grs. in a .357 is nothing compared to 15 grs.

OK, but a "bulged" chamber would not be nothing if it were my M 19; but to each his own.

 

[NY50/70]

If they are reloads you can't be sure they were loaded for a 38 special.
Many years ago when I only had .357's, no 38's, I loaded 38 brass with 357 loads.
If that was how they are loaded AND some were overloaded it narrows your safety margin even if you shoot them in a 357.

 

[Draybo]

Here, hold my beer.. watch this.....[/QUOTE]

cruffler.. naw, nobody going to give you flak.. it is what the OP wants to hear in the first place, he just wants somebody's, anybody's permission to do the unsafe thing... you can tell by the way he is trying to rationalize past all the good safe proper advice he has got. And so, if something goes wrong, he can tell family and friends and a cute nurse down at the ER that Cruffler said it was okey dokey.

Here, hold my beer.. watch this.....

Wasn't gonna chime in but my stoopidity or wisdom might equal/echo others thoughts on the matter. Came across a gallon jug of reloads by a family member. 38 spl. Load data said middle of the book for a lead semi-wadcutter.

This individual is a precision craftsman. I trusted his ability to produce safe reliable reloads. After shooting approx. 2/3's of the gallon jug, one cartridge blew the entire top half of a beautiful 6" blued S&W Mod. 19. Dislocated a joint in my supporting hands thumb. Felt like a grenade had gone off, ears rang through earplugs.

Won't shoot any more reloads unless from a trusted commercial manufacturer.

Draybo

 

[Draybo]

Double post

 

[Fritz1255]

Another thing to watch for, almost as bad as an overload, is a "fizzle". This is where the round only pushes the bullet partway down the barrel. If you shoot another round behind, bad things happen to the gun and possibly you as well. If it is a reload, it can happen if the case is primed, but the reloader forgets to charge powder before seating the bullet. I had this happen to me with several rounds of factory ammo years ago, also 38 Special, and I still don't know what happened there. They were either defective rounds or possibly sitting in an oily chamber for months ruined them? Luckily I realized right away what happened and removed the bullet from the barrel before shooting another round. Needless to say, the guys I was shooting with assumed that I was the idiot who had messed up with reloads.....

Oh, and my latest experience with shooting someone else's reloads was not great - about four duds out of 50 rounds (once again, 38 Special). A buddy of mine threw them in when he sold me some factory rifle ammo. Also supposed manufactured by an ex-cop. Shooting 50 is one thing, 1000 is something else again.