More info on the 38-44....

Keith found his .38 Special bullet #358429 was too long to use in the short-cylinder Smith & Wesson when crimped in the crimping groove. So he just On using his Heavy .38 load of his bullet over 13.5 grains of #2400. This load is hotter than many .357 Magnum loads today. It is also what was used to fire the long-range targets in the 8-3/4" .357 Magnum in Ed McGivern Book, "Fast and Fancy Shooting". Phil Sharpe said Elmer's load was at 42,000 psi. I covered the .38-44 and the Smith & Wesson Outdoorsman sixgun in American Handgun or September/October 2008. It was entitled "Who Needs a Magnum?"

in a can. I'll look for them. I thought they were "W-W 38-44 HD" marked? Sort of spoiled your stride when you were priming cases and a primer just fell out! It is just an interesting sidebar. I see no advantage over a small magnum primer. But it would be interesting to test with some powders. Where'd I put that old can of #80....

This level of shooting is about all I want for serious pleasure shooting. Much beyond that and I need to be either mad or scared!

The little single-five I ended up with in .400 cal. does great with a 180 gr. at 1300. The larger bore spreads out the psi over more "I" to get the performance at less pressure than a smaller caliber. It has 10% more area in the diameter. I'm going to drop to a 175 gr. SWC at around 1000-1100 fps and an even lighter load.