38 special vs 38 long Colt

[Crazy Gun Barney, SASS #2428]

Looking for opinions. I am one click from ordering conversion cylinders for my 51 navy’s.  They say that the ammo length must not exceed 1.425”. This is short for 38 special. Being that I am not getting the barrels lined, I am planning on using the 97 gr hollow base procast bullets.  I have seen posts showing 3.2gr of titegroup as a good load. 
so, my question. If this was you, and with the limitation of length, would you shoot 38special or 38 long colt?  I will be buying new brass for either, so jthat won’t matter. Seems like the shorter case would open up more options for bullets.  If I went 38 long colt, any idea how much to reduce the load in the smaller capacity case?  None of my reloading books show 38 long colt. I know my dad has some older books, I’ll have to go check his out to see if that caliber is shown. 

[Leroy Luck]

Here’s some data for reference 

[Hawkeye Kid]

I have a 2nd Gen Colt conversion.  It prefers a heavier bullet, been using 148 hollow base wad cutters.  2.7g Bullseye in a 38 special case or 2.8g TrailBoss 

in the 38 long colt. Titegroup at 2.5g 

.

[Bison Bud]

Yeah, wad cutters should eliminate any length issues, you just have to have the lead past the lip of the case to be SASS legal.

[watab kid]

i did click and install that conversion on one of mine , it was a bit of a pain but i did go to the 38 long colt for the versatility in bullets , 

[H. K. Uriah, SASS #74619]

.38 Special and .357 Magnum are about the only 2 SASS Legal calibers that I really don't have any guns for, and that I am not interested in, for Cowboy shooting.   I DO have a derringer in .38 Special, but I run .38 Short Colts in it.   I also have a couple of revolvers in .38 Long Colt.

For .38 Short Colt I run 1.2 grains of Trailboss using a .358" 150 grain RNHB bullet from Buffalo arms.
For .38 Long Colt, I run 2.0 grains of Trailboss using the same bullet.

It works very well.
 

I do sometimes also load with black, and in that case, I just fill the case so I get the proper amount of compression with the same bullet.

 

[Lead Monger]

I play with Uberti 61 Navy’s sometimes with conversion cylinders that have .375 throats. A 148 grain HBWC over 2.5 grains of Bullseye in a 38 Special case is very accurate and prints to point of aim out to 20 yards. Very easy ammo to build. Have also played with a Eras Gone healed Colt style bullet with 2 grains of Bullseye in a 38 Special case cut down to Short Colt length. More of a pain to produce and requires a special crimp tool but they do shoot well and look kinda cool. I have found the HBWC to be more accurate 

[Crazy Gun Barney, SASS #2428]

Thanks much to everybody. I’ve jumped in with both feet and ordered the conversion cylinders and ejectors.  I have decided on 38 long colt and have a bag of that brass coming as well.  38 long Colt just sounds like a more cowboy caliber than 38 special.  Now if they had the sense to name that round 38 extra long Colt, I may have swung that way. 😁

 

I’ll post my process on cutting the frames for the loading gates when I do it  

[watab kid]

23 minutes ago, Crazy Gun Barney, SASS #2428 said:

Thanks much to everybody. I’ve jumped in with both feet and ordered the conversion cylinders and ejectors.  I have decided on 38 long colt and have a bag of that brass coming as well.  38 long Colt just sounds like a more cowboy caliber than 38 special.  Now if they had the sense to name that round 38 extra long Colt, I may have swung that way. 😁

 

I’ll post my process on cutting the frames for the loading gates when I do it  

while i cant disagree with how it "sounds" 28 long colt and 38 specl are not enough different to quible over the distinction ., i do have a couple revolvers that were built for 38 long colt though - both military in my collection , 

[H. K. Uriah, SASS #74619]

.38 Short Colt -->  .38 Long Colt --->  .38 Special ----> .357 Magnum  ----->.357 Maximum

Where it breaks down is the "official" name of the .38 Special; .38 S&W Special.    I really wish people selling things on Gunbroker and other venues would not use full name.   It makes looking for things in .38 S&W, which is not a part of the family, difficult at times!   At least I don't hear .357 S&W Magnum or .357 Remington Maximum!

But the problem is not unique to this family of cartridges...

.32 S&W -->  .32 S&W Long ---> 32 H&R Magnum ---->  .327 Federal Magnum (I really don't get the .327 designation...)

 

.44 Russian -->  .44 S&W Special --->  .44 Remington Magnum
.
There does not seem to be a problem with the following...

 

.32 Short Colt  -->  .32 Long Colt

 

And there is a unique problem with these...

.38 S&W --> .38-44 Target.    
The problem comes from the fact that there are 2 .38-44's   The original was a .38 S&W made longer.   The newer one used the same case as the .38 Special, but was loaded to nearly .357 Magnum levels.

Oh well...

Honorable Mention...

.22 Short -->  .22 Long  --->  .22 Long Rifle ---->  .22 Winchester Rimfire.  This last one, now rather obscure, it not the .22 Winchester Magnum Rimfire.   It's just a .22. LR made longer.  I think to the same length as the WinMag.  It did not have much success, and faded away quickly when the WinMag came out.

[El Sobrante Kid]

Don't leave out the .22 Winchester Automatic cartridge. Only one gun was ever made that shot that cartridge, the Winchester Model 1903 semi-auto rifle.

[H. K. Uriah, SASS #74619]

1 hour ago, El Sobrante Kid said:

Don't leave out the .22 Winchester Automatic cartridge. Only one gun was ever made that shot that cartridge, the Winchester Model 1903 semi-auto rifle.

 

Was that the centerfire one?

[H. K. Uriah, SASS #74619]

4 hours ago, H. K. Uriah, SASS #74619 said:

.22 Short -->  .22 Long  --->  .22 Long Rifle ---->  .22 Winchester Rimfire. 

 

Correction....

The .22 WRF is not a part of this family.  It is akin to the WinMag, being slightly shorter than the Magnum.

[Three Gun Cole]

I use 38 short colts in my 38 special revolvers.   I run 2.3 grains of Vihtivoui N-310 with a 105 grain TC poly coated bullet

or a 125 grain round nose flat point Fireball bullet for knockdowns.

 

Starline brass has been the best supply of the short colt brass for about 20 years.

 

3GC