.38 Short Colt

Type

Revolver

Place of origin

United States

Production history

Designer

Colt

Manufacturer

Colt

Specifications

Bullet diameter

.375 for original heeled bullets, .358 for some modern loads

Neck diameter

.379 in (9.6 mm)

Base diameter

.379 in (9.6 mm)

Rim diameter

.445 in (11.3 mm)

Rim thickness

.060 in (1.5 mm)

Case length

.765 in (19.4 mm)

Ballistic performance

Bullet mass/type	Velocity	Energy
93 gr (6 g) LRN	791 ft/s (241 m/s)	165 ft·lbf (224 J)
129 gr (8 g) LRN	777 ft/s (237 m/s)	181 ft·lbf (245 J)

Source(s): Hodgdon Online reloading data

The .38 Short Colt (.38 SC) / .38 Short Center Fire (.38 SCF) was a heeled bullet cartridge intended for metallic cartridge conversions of the .36 cal cap & ball Colt 1851 Navy Revolver from the American Civil War era.

Later, this cartridge was fitted with a 0.359" diameter inside-lubricated bullet in the 125–135 grain range.

Visually, it resembles a .38 S&W but the case dimensions are slightly different. The .38 Short Colt case is the parent to .38 Long Colt and .38 Special. The round was produced in two lengths. The classic .38 Short Colt M1874 is ?mm. It is the original and standard .38 Short Colt cartridge and was designed for use in the Colt New Line revolver. The shorter .38 Short Colt M1919 was ?mm. The .38 Short Colt M1919 was designed for the .38 Colt Police revolver, but was discontinued in the 1920s due to its unpopularity.

Remington is one of the few producers of this cartridge today with a 125grs LRN bullet. Magtech produces this grain weight and Ten-x manufactures a 95gr load, as well as blanks.

There is no problem firing this cartridge in .38 Special or .357 Magnum revolvers, but some shooters worry that the long bullet jump might make accuracy difficult. The "bullet jump" has not, however, been proven to have any effect on accuracy.

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Wikipedia