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View Full Version : 38 Special kiddie load (Lee 358-105-SWC)



Revolver
04-18-2012, 03:36 PM
My 11 year old daughter has been shooting the 22LR revolver for awhile, she's ready for a 38 special but is nervous about recoil having only shot a 22 before. I would like to make a light low recoil 38 special load to get her started and thought this 105 grain boolit would be a good start. I picked up some red dot because I read somewhere on here that it would be appropriate for a light load. Does anyone have any experience or suggestions for a very light 38 special target load? I would like to try some out myself to find a good starter combo for her.

We really enjoy shooting together, I wish my son was a little more responsible so that he could join us but he is just not there yet in my opinion.

GRUMPA
04-18-2012, 03:40 PM
I use 2.5gr of Bullseye with a 110gr Ideal WC, wife loves it. I have safely taken it down to 2gr with the same boolit without an issue.

dodgyrog
04-18-2012, 05:26 PM
I use 2.5gr of Bullseye with a 110gr Ideal WC, wife loves it. I have safely taken it down to 2gr with the same boolit without an issue.

105gr Lee SWC with 2.5gr Bullseye is very accurate and is very light on recoil

Bill*
04-18-2012, 05:48 PM
When I saw the title of this thread, my first thought was probably most any load would stop a kiddie. :mrgreen:

steg
04-18-2012, 05:50 PM
I've used Red Dot in basic cat sneeze loads and find it very forgiving, I'm sure at times I went even lower than 2 Grains with 141grWC and 158grSWC.............

gwpercle
04-18-2012, 06:13 PM
I also like Bullseye , 2.5 to 2.7 grains is proven accurate. I just bought some Red Dot and will be trying it out in 38 special with cast wadcutters . Hear it works well in this application . Will browse around the site and see what others have experienced with it.

That's great you're teaching your children to shoot ,especially the girls. Don't worry about your son , once he hears how much fun your having, and he gets a little older, he will join in. Shooting is a displined sport and is a good way to teach the kids to be responsible. Can't be careless on the shooting line. I got a booklet on gun safety from the NRA when my kids started and we went over all the rules even before they touched a loaded gun . Must have worked because both of mine are now so safety concious they remind me if I'm getting lax at the range.

leadshooter5
04-18-2012, 08:09 PM
To get her started handling the gun safely, maybe the old gallery load? Melt 1/2" of common parafin wax in a pan, stand the primed cases in it mouth down until it hardens, and that's it. We have 7-yard targets at our range, and it should work great. Be aware that some revolvers with excessive cylinder gaps don't handle light loads well... they might vent enough pressure out the gap to leave the bullet stuck in the barrel.

jarex
04-18-2012, 08:17 PM
Standard Field Load here is 3.3 grains of N310 and seat the bullet to the crimp grove and just crimp a little bit, this load is very mild and used for competition shooting here.

DrCaveman
04-18-2012, 09:34 PM
Try Trail boss. 3 gr behind that boolit is a nice little plinker, I shoot by the bucket full. Also, surprisingly accurate! And the loaded rounds look like little crayons.

runfiverun
04-18-2012, 10:31 PM
k.
he has red dot a bunch of loads with everything from bullseye to blue dot won't help much.
2.7 grs of red dot will be fine, work from there.

bobthenailer
04-19-2012, 07:31 AM
Try 1.5 gr of BE with a 158 gr swc { seated upside down} in a 38 case, sort of a WC , the girls used to shoot alot of them and you almost dont need hearing protection . and there accurate. Im sure the 105 gr bullet will work but because it takes up less powder space you will have to use more powder than my load so it will be louder, if thats a consern with you ?
Happy shooting

ghh3rd
04-19-2012, 10:02 AM
I load my 148 gr wadcutters over 2.7 of Bullseye, and they are very accurate at 10 yds. I have had folks ask me what I'm shooting out of my snub because there was so little recoil.

KaliforniaRebel
04-19-2012, 11:55 AM
You can always drill out the tips as a hollowpoint to make them lighter if needed.

Be careful going too light on BE in such a large case. I remember 2.0 gr of BE behind a 105 gr bullet was really tame for my 9x18 loads.

whisler
04-19-2012, 07:41 PM
I loaded the 105 SWC over 3.3 gr of Red Dot for the wife's LCR. She is quite recoil sensitive and that revolver is very light. She shot 10 rounds and she said "no problem, load up some more".

GP100man
04-19-2012, 10:01 PM
I load 2gr. of RD under a RB & it makes it out the muzzle fast enuff to kill Coke cans !

jmsj
04-19-2012, 10:16 PM
Revolver,
I have a 12 yr. old daughter and she started shooting my 4" 686 a little last year. Our plinking load is 2.8 - 3.0 gr. of Bullseye and the Lee 358-105-SWC. She seemed to do fine with it and said that recoil is not oblectionable. She is fairly tall and strong for her age and has been shooting since she was 5. This is also the load my wife practices with for CCW.
This has been a great load for us.
Good luck, jmsj

Revolver
04-19-2012, 10:25 PM
I appreciate everyone's responses and suggestions. I do have bullseye on hand too so I may try that.

I have a 681 (686 w/fixed sights) but was thinking it might be too heavy so I was going to start her with the model 66.

My youngest daughter is 4. She loves to come out shooting with me although she just watches, helps set up targets, and tells me when to shoot. (She yells "Launch!"). She even knows all the steps for reloading as she used to watch me and help pull the handle on the press before I learned it was too risky to have her around that stuff.


Revolver,
I have a 12 yr. old daughter and she started shooting my 4" 686 a little last year. Our plinking load is 2.8 - 3.0 gr. of Bullseye and the Lee 358-105-SWC. She seemed to do fine with it and said that recoil is not oblectionable. She is fairly tall and strong for her age and has been shooting since she was 5. This is also the load my wife practices with for CCW.
This has been a great load for us.
Good luck, jmsj

Revolver
05-06-2012, 04:11 PM
RANGE REPORT:

Well, I went with the Lee 105 grain boolit and 3.5 grains of Red Dot. It doesn't seem much lighter than my normal 38 special load. Maybe the light boolit and light powder isn't the right combo? Would light powder and a heavy boolit have less recoil?

Regardless, today my daughter graduated from the 22 pistol and shot these 38 specials with good success. She opted for the biggest gun (S&W 681) and shot double action. After her first 12 shots she loosened up a bit and her accuracy got steadily better. She fired about 40 out of 50 rounds and then complained her trigger finger hurt. I was pleased, she seemed to enjoy it and asked if I would load up more for next time.

Thompsoncustom
05-06-2012, 04:41 PM
I find that lighter boolits tend to have more of a snap and heavier boolits more of a push. I have never reloaded for a revolver but if you could fit something in the 180gr-200gr 357 bullet in the .38 and put a grain or two of unique behind it I think it would be very soft. I only reload 9mm but a 173gr 9mm with 2.4gr of unique makes minor and has no recoil to speak of.

revolvergeek
05-07-2012, 03:47 PM
I have been playing around with working up this sort of load a lot lately. I had problems with the 105 Lee LSW and very light loads with poor powder burn and low POI. Upping the charge towards 4 grns of Red Dot made them shoot much better, but got the noise and recoil back up a little.

I have had very good accuracy with the 195 gr. bullet #358430 over light charges of 231 and Unique, but POI tends to be very high so they work best in something with adjustable sights. Recoil is more of a shove than a snap and blast is pretty mild.

The two loads that had the most positive feedback were a Bayou Bullets 135 LRN over 3.1 grn Red Dot (I was told that these "Shoot pretty") and a Lee 125 LRN-TL over 3.5. Both shot to point of aim at about 20 feet and produced very little recoil, even when fired out of a couple airweight snubbies.

runfiverun
05-07-2012, 04:38 PM
part of the bullseye game is to get all the boolits in the 10 ring.
recoil has an effect on the grip changing it slightly from shot to shot.
look at what they do.

the cowboy "gamers" are into the light recoil for speed.
you can see what they are doing also.
a 125 with a titch slower powder makes recoil feel different.
my 2,000 y.o. m.i.l. likes 125's with 4 grs of 231,i also use 2.9 grs of clays.

ku4hx
05-07-2012, 04:55 PM
When my son was 11 or so he wanted to move up to a center fire so I loaded him some minimal 38 Specials. He got a real kick out of shooting them in my GP-100 4" heavy barrel. Along about the third cylinder loading, I slipped in one near max 357 Magnum 158 grain SWCL.

When he touched it off, he just stood there for a moment then said, "What was that?". Before I could answer he announced, "I want to do that again". He's never looked back.

I love it when a plan comes together.

Bomber
05-07-2012, 04:59 PM
Lymans cast bullet 4th edition lists that bullet starting load with bullseye at 3.6 I shoot lots of those 105 grain bullets in both .38 and .357. They make lots of bullets for a pound of lead.

dakotashooter2
05-07-2012, 06:00 PM
Not having anything better to do I trimmed down some 38 sp cases to .775 to emulate the 38 S&W/38 colt round. I used 2 gr Red Dot behind a 158 SWC and they are powder puff loads.

Revolver
05-08-2012, 06:22 AM
Not having anything better to do I trimmed down some 38 sp cases to .775 to emulate the 38 S&W/38 colt round. I used 2 gr Red Dot behind a 158 SWC and they are powder puff loads.

That's neat, I have some 38 Long Colt brass, I may try that.

jcren
02-20-2015, 10:01 AM
My wife and girls were all recoil shy, but 3.4 of unique with Winchester Magnum primers and that 105 swc, barely move her all steel Taurus 85 .38. That is not a published load, so use your own judgement, the light charge was position sensitive to the point of occasional squibs until I changed to hotter primers. Now they go bang every time and are surprisingly accurate.

bedbugbilly
02-20-2015, 01:37 PM
I use that boolit quite a bit but primarily in 38 Colt Short. In those, I use 2.0 gr. of Bulls Eye or 2.0 to 2.2 gr of Red Dot. YMMV I know you're talking 38 spl. but I just mention it since the cartridges are shorter and might be easier for a 11 year old to handle - don't know as I don't have kids. I like them out of my J frames and they work well out of my K frames as well. If you were to ever try the 38 Colt Short (Track of the Wolf carries Star Line brass in smaller than 500 count quantities), you can load them with a combination of the 38 sizing die, 9mm expanding die with .358 expander, 9mm seating die. I taper crimp them with a 9mm taper crimp die.

On the 38 spl case - you might want to load some different loads up and try them out. With the case volume what it is, on light loads watch for squibs and work you way up to a light load that she can stand the recoil on and figure your POA based on your POI.

I bought that mold on a "whim" just to try it and I'm surprised how much I like it - I just "plink" and it's a neat little boolit - less lead and less powder = more fun! Good luck!

s1120
02-21-2015, 08:26 AM
I tell you, Ive had the best luck with new people to CF just shooting the tried and true bullseye loads. 2.7-3 gr of bullseye, under a 148gr wadcutter, is such a well balanced load. You know your shooting more then a 22, but its a good mix of more powerfull [if you don't want more hit then a 22...well keep shooting a 22.. ] but still not harsh recoil wise. I guess a lot depends on the firearm also. A heavy long bbl gun will make it feel weaker then a light weight, short bbl gun. Mine is a 4" model 19, and its a good mix of not too heavy... but still has the mass it needs to control recoil.

goofyoldfart
02-22-2015, 07:07 AM
for light loads in .357, 44 and 45 , I use one or two meat tray wads over the powder for a slight compression with a "plinker bullet". been doing this since 1975 or so and have never had a problem with sqib loads. God Bless to all and theirs.

Goofy

jonp
02-22-2015, 07:37 AM
Not having anything better to do I trimmed down some 38 sp cases to .775 to emulate the 38 S&W/38 colt round. I used 2 gr Red Dot behind a 158 SWC and they are powder puff loads.

I was wondering if that would work. I have a couple of 38sp brass with cracked mouths but couldn't bring myself to throw them out yet. I was going to try it.