need a little help putting together some .38 s&w ammo

[the kid]

so I've been looking for the correct mould to cast the bullets, standard size for this caliber is .360, but my chamber throats are measuring at 3.64, about right for makarov, but i need about a 148-158 grain bullet and all the moulds ive seen in this size are for makarovs which use a 90-100 grain bullet, so what should i do here? I'm totally new to reloading and casting bullets and am somewhat lost, should i use a makarov mould or just get a .38-.357 mould and hope it casts over size enough to use without a sizing die?

if someone has one of those ideal tong type tools stashed away somewhere that they aren't using which compleate and has the dies and the mould for this cartridge, perhaps they would be willing to sell it to me, please let me know.

[bob308]

i use a 358429 bullet unsized in my s&w victory model it works very well.

where are you located?

[deltaenterprizes]

Over on the "Cast Boolit" site there is a member named "Beagle" that has come up with an idea of using aluminum tape on the face of a mold to increase the cast diameter a few thousandths, this is called "Beagling a mold" The bullets or "boolits" as they are affectionately referred to on the site, come out slightly out of round but should work to get you started.
Check out the site, plenty of interesting info.

[the kid]

I don't think that beagling technique is a very good option unless the bullets were to be swaged after casting.

What would be the pros and cons of using the liter makarov bullets in this cartridge, if I ever had to use it for self defense which would be better?

I'm in Anaheim CA btw, you?

[38_Cal]

What make and model revolver do you have? If it's a swing out cylinder S&W K frame (not a top break) or a Webley, you might consider looking for a Lyman #358430 bullet mould in 195 gr., to duplicate the British military loading that was designed to give the same stopping power as the .455 Webley. If it's a light pocket pistol, like the top break S&W design, the Makarov bullet will do ok if you keep in mind the relatively weak gun design.

David

[the kid]

It's an iver Johnson 2nd model safety automatic hammer gun (DA/SA top break) so not the strongest pistol but it's tight and was probably a dresser or a night stand gun for many years, I got a good deal on it, I never had any hope of putting anything as hot as the .38-200 through it, but like to get as much knock down power out of it that I safely can