Can I use .38Sp dies to reoad a few rounds in .38S&W

[2571]

Want to shoot a Victory pistol I bought in .38 Smith and Wesson.

Can I adjust my 38/357 dies set to make up a 1/2 dzn rounds? Trying to avoid dies set purchase.

I'll use .356 bullets & don't care if accuracy suffers instead of finding .361 bullet for this few rounds

tia

[Cosine26]

No. The 38 S&W case is larger in diameter than the 38 S&W I believe.

[Parashooter]

The big problem is crimping - can't adjust the crimper die down far enough for the short S&W case. If you have a 9mm or .380 ACP seater/crimper die handy, that will normally do the trick. If not, skip the crimp and single-load (avoiding risk of bullets backing out from recoil and locking up cylinder).

Some expanders may also be unable to adjust down to flare the short case. Since you haven't stated what kind of 38/357 dies you have, you'll have to figure that out for yourself.

Keep in mind that bullets designed for the .38 S&W are seated much shallower than those for .38 Spl./.357 Mag. Seating deep in S&W cases can raise pressure significantly.

[joem]

Before I bought a set of .38 S&W dies I managed to load a few rounds with my .38 spl. dies. I added flat washers to the expander die and washers to the seating die. I bought .361 cast lead bullets and made REDUCED LOADS for a top lock pistol. Worked OK but a pain to reset the die so I bought the correct die.