saboted revolver cartridge
Retreived: December 06, 2013
Article discussing a S&W patent application for a "disintegrating sabot" for revolver ammunition:
The patent application itself: http://www.google.com/patents/US20060011092
Some years ago I noticed that the .38 Special runs at the same pressure range as some shotshells, and wondered about the practicability of plastic .38 cases. The problem was retaining the bullets. Other than gluing them in, I thought of having ridges molded into the front of the case to go into extra grease grooves.
Anyway, if you made the sabot an integral part of the case (basically, making the shoulder really, really thick) you could get some neck tension on the bullet and have a cartridge that was bottlenecked inside, but square outside, so it wouldn't be subject to the occasional setback issues that make bottlenecked revolver cartridges a hassle at higher pressures.
Making such a case out of brass would involve major expense, but it would be possible to mold such a thing out of plastic...
TRX
August 16, 2013
Probably. It might even be possible to do a heat-sealed crimp, and use .38- length cartridges in a .357 chamber. I bet there's more than one way to solve the bullet retention problem.
Considering how expensive brass is, there are definite attractions to a plastic cartridge.