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Old 02-02-2009, 08:23 PM
  #3  
driftrider
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Join Date: Feb 2003
Location: Coralville, IA. USA
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Default RE: 38 special question

Should work just fine. Sometimes lead bullets will run just a bit big to make a good tight fit with the riflings and make a good gas seal.
To elaborate a little on Tuk101's post...

The rifling in a bore designed with jacket bullets in mind will have much shallower rifling than a bore meant only for lead (i.e. almost all modern CF firearms). The copper or gilding metal jacket is a lot harder than lead and the shallow rifling grips it just fine and provides a good gas seal without causeing excessive engraving or pressure. The problem with lead, especially pure or the softer alloys, is that if the bullet were formed at the actual bore diameter (in your case, 0.357"), there would be the high likelihood that the shallow rifling would not get a good grip and would essentially wipe or shave away part of the bullet as it entered the rifling rather than immediately spinning it. This results in poor accuracy and bad lead fouling in the bore that, left unchecked, could cause what amounts to a partial bore obstruction, especially if jacketed bullets are fired. By casting/swaging the bullets to 0.001-0.002" over bore diameter, and by using harder lead alloys, they increase the probability that the lead bullet will firmly engage the rifling immediately and firmly. This is also why care must be taken when handloading cast lead bullets in high intensity cartridges (i.e. .44 Mag, .454 Casull, CF rifles, etc...) not to push the bullet to too fast, because the higher velocity can also cause serious leading to occur.

Mike
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