Alan3413
Ultimate Member
- Mar 4, 2013
- 17,198
Found some shorties in a 500 rd box of .38spc sjhp I bought from Academy. The rightmost is normal, left to right bullets seem to have abnormal setback.
Would you shoot these in a rifle chambered for .357 mag?
Where da crimps be at?
I would ask for them to be replaced.
That is unacceptable and quite possibly dangerous.
The default answer is NO .
But not out of concern for a squib , but out of concern for excess pressure .
I’m curious though. Even though they may be over pressured, since they are 38 spcl being fired in a 357 mag, would the over pressure be enough to be a problem? I honestly don’t know, and wouldn’t take the chance, but am wondering...
You sir have actually answered your own question. The Correct answer here is indeed "you honestly don't know". AND, I'll add to that, neither does anybody else!
Now SAAMI has a maximum pressure spec of 17,000 CUP on standard 38 Special. And they have a maximum spec of 35,000 CUP on .357 Magnum.
So you know you have a firearm rated to handle twice the amount of pressure of standard 38 Special. But what would firing those setback bullet cartridges actually yield pressure wise?
The correct answer....short of having a lab's pressure testing equipment? The correct answer is, you don't honestly know.
Just for purposes of general awareness, it has been documented that bullet setback as seemingly "inconsequential" as 10 thousandth of an inch in one extremely popular cartridge I'm aware of can more than DOUBLE chamber pressure. What does setback do here in this instance? I don't know.
Be content to know and act upon 2 very real truths here. One is that this ammo should never have left the factory. Two is that neither you nor I nor anyone else here can tell you with any degree of certainty what pressure those cartridges would produce.