Update and bumped Question: have any of you ever utilized the Guns International or Gun Broker online sites for making purchases? There are some interesting firearms out there, but I have no experience with either site (Gun Broker involves bidding on most of the products listed). I'm a bit wary, because the sites are essentially clearinghouses for a multitude of individuals and shops that are selling firearms and related items, which could make due diligence a little difficult.
.38 long Colt is an archaic caliber that has the reputation of being the worst cartridge ever used by the U.S. Army; it was employed during the Philippine-American War and proved to be a weak and ineffective round against Moro tribesmen (who were frequently juiced up with drugs during their attacks).
In any event, Colt made numerous revolvers in this caliber which it also sold in the domestic commercial market. I bought some .38 Colt in the past to use as low recoil target rounds at the range in one of my .38 Special revolvers, so I have about 50 rounds in stock. The ammo is only manufactured by a couple of companies, these days, mostly for cowboy-action shooting. Still, it wasn't hard to find until we got hit with the multiple whammy of the coronavirus/BLM-Antifa-violence/potential-Biden-victory run on firearms and ammunition. Today, I was astonished to see that, on the Gun Brokers online site, a seller has five full boxes of 50 rounds each, plus an incomplete open box, the whole totaling 285 rounds. The lot has been bid up to $455. That's almost $1.60/round. Before the panic, I could get them for about 69 cents/round. I saw an old Colt in nice shape for sale online chambered for this round, with really sweet-looking stag grips, but I can't afford to feed it on caviar-like prices. So, maybe I'll look around for a Colt chambered in .38 Special.
12 comments:
I'm a history nerd and love to learn all this stuff about the past.
Meanwhile I wonder what historians of the future will make of now?
Sounds like a caliber to reload, 'eh Paco. It's a struggle but my match grade 308 and 223 hasn't gone above 38 or 29 cents. It takes constant shopping and backordering but it keeps me busy.
I checked Buffalo Arms, they have 3 kinds of .38 long colt, all out of stock.
Weird.
My local gun dealer has plenty of ammo in stock. It's hard to get .45acp or .40S&W, but they have plenty. Plus tons of .223. They had bricks of .22 long rifle too.
They were mostly out of .410 though.
It's weird what's out of stock.
I have a couple of .45 "Long Colt" pistols -- that ammunition isn't too hard to find, but much of what is available is for Cowboy Action. Which means light loads and soft lead bullets. So I load my own ammo.
A little known fact -- "Long Colt" was not the original name. It was just .38 Colt or .45 Colt. The "Long" was included by some people, I suppose, because the cartridge is longer in length.
ck: I don't know if I could get .38 Colt cases (except from the cartridges I already have). Maybe you can shave down the .38 Special, although I'm not sure what the respective diameters are; still might not work.
I never did ask your original question.
I've never used them to buy stuff, I do peruse it but I'm a paranoid type.
I won't use eBay either.
You can get 38 long colt brass at Buffalo Arms.
They're excellent about obsolete ammo.
Not too expensive, at least, no more than anyone else.
V: Thanks.
Jeff: I think I read somewhere that the word "long" was added to 38 and 45 to more clearly distinguish those calibers from their near relatives (e.g., the .38 Special and the .45 ACP).
I have four single action revolvers chambered in .45 Colt, and I love 'em. Most of the ammo I have is cowboy stuff, but I do have a few boxes of Hornady defensive ammunition.
Thanks Paco! Thanks to looking around for 38 long colt I found ammo for my Martini Henry!
Since I was on Buffalo Arms, I checked for 577-450 ammo. I don't have much of it.
They're all out of stock of $20/round ammo.
So looked around to see if I could find some.
I found some Knyoch ammo from the 50s still floating around for $7/round delivered, so I got 20 rounds. I have some of that that I got from Buffalo Arms about 12 years ago and it works fine.
I swore if I could find it for $10/round or less I'd buy it, so I did.
It's still a "special occasion" gun, but at least I got enough for a decent day.
Congratulations, Veeshir! Nice score. How old is your Martini Henry?
Buffalo Arms looks like a great source for the old stuff.
Regarding the "Updated and Bumped" ... ...
I've used GunBroker a couple of times. While the transactions are off line (GunBroker simply facilitates the dealing), those generally are shipped commercially, which means an FFL is required -- at both ends.
You can request a serial number check by the receiving FFL (who will run an NCIC check on you anyway) to see if it's stolen. That would cost you extra, of course. But it would ease your mind.
I did take a gander at the Guns International site -- I'd say the same thing applies.
The only exception to this that I can think of is if buyer and seller can conduct the transfer in the same state. Then only state laws apply, and an FFL may not be required.
Beyond that ... .... as I used to teach my response teams, "In order to break the rules, you have to know the rules."
Fun fact: If you ship a weapon back to the manufacturer for warranty work, and they they send you the shipping label, no FFL is required. Wrap it up, slap on the label, and send the package off. Stonkered me the first time I did that -- I kept expecting the BATF to swoop in.
Paco, mine appears to be a Mark III so it would have been made between 1879-1888.
I got it in DC, the dealer told me he got it from a Marine coming back from Afghanistan.
I feel bad for the guy who lost it 135 years ago. I hope he saved the last round for himself.
I am not a lawyer and I don't play one on the Internet, but I'm pretty sure you can ship it yourself to an FFL. You have to use UPS and go to a specific one. I did it once selling a Nambu on Gunlisting dot org.
To be clear, you, yourself, can ship it but it has to be shipped to an FFL.
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