Went shooting yesterday with my brand new Ruger Vaquero in 38/40. To put it bluntly, I had a heck of a time. Been reloading since 1978, but have NEVER had the time I had with this one. Factory ammo, both current Winchester and 25 year-old Remington chambered fine, so the chambers are okay. My reloads did not chamber fine, the following is what I learned (I think) from my reloads; please tell me what else I need to know! Thanks.
Lessons learned from reloading the 38/40 WCF
1.) Dimensionally there are three different variations of the 38/40 brass case: new, unloaded factory brass; new factory loaded ammunition; once fired brass (fire formed) for use in reloading. Cases sold for reloading come from the brass manufacturer with longer necks than once fired cases. For a good photo and description see page 394 in the Speer Reloading Manual #13.
2.) The Redding full length sizing die (and possibly others) resize the brass case to the fire-formed dimension (the industry chamber spec), thus the handloader need not worry about excessive working of the brass case.
3.) New brass must be full length sized before loading in order to ensure it will fit in industry standard revolver chambers. Find the tightest chamber of the six chambers on the revolver cylinder and load for it; the loaded ammo will then be a sure fit in the other five chambers in the cylinder as well.
4.) It is highly likely that new brass cases will be too long. If the new cases are too long after full-length sizing they should be trimmed to the "maximum case length" (1.305") because the cases will shorten after the initial firing (and the resultant fire forming of the case). If you trim new brass to the "trim to length" it will be too short after firing.
Odessa
Lessons learned from reloading the 38/40 WCF
1.) Dimensionally there are three different variations of the 38/40 brass case: new, unloaded factory brass; new factory loaded ammunition; once fired brass (fire formed) for use in reloading. Cases sold for reloading come from the brass manufacturer with longer necks than once fired cases. For a good photo and description see page 394 in the Speer Reloading Manual #13.
2.) The Redding full length sizing die (and possibly others) resize the brass case to the fire-formed dimension (the industry chamber spec), thus the handloader need not worry about excessive working of the brass case.
3.) New brass must be full length sized before loading in order to ensure it will fit in industry standard revolver chambers. Find the tightest chamber of the six chambers on the revolver cylinder and load for it; the loaded ammo will then be a sure fit in the other five chambers in the cylinder as well.
4.) It is highly likely that new brass cases will be too long. If the new cases are too long after full-length sizing they should be trimmed to the "maximum case length" (1.305") because the cases will shorten after the initial firing (and the resultant fire forming of the case). If you trim new brass to the "trim to length" it will be too short after firing.
Odessa
