Are there some decent loads in .38 Special with Blue Dot or 2400? I cant see any in my manuals or Alliant's website. The are pushing BE-86 and not showing any other powders like they were.
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Are there some decent loads in .38 Special with Blue Dot or 2400? I cant see any in my manuals or Alliant's website. The are pushing BE-86 and not showing any other powders like they were.
Once upon a time I played with both in 38 Spl. Of the two 2400 gave the least miserable results. Blue Dot had very large extreme spreads in velocity, very erratic. No need to worry about accuracy. There wasn’t any. 2400 did better and shoot decent but very dirty and very inefficient. Bullseye and Herco give great results in 38 Spl.
Thanks. I load Bullseye and W231 for my usual shooting and had a good bit of Blue-Dot left over and was just curious as I hate to see powder unused.
I've worked up some pretty fair +P loads using 125 gr. JHPs using Blue Dot but never found any joy with cast.
Bill
I use Unique in my 38's. I'm going to try some 700 x and some 800 x at some point.
I've obtained excellent accuracy with Blue Dot only by going to .357Mag - the higher pressures are needed to get a consistent burn with that powder. Like going from from 3-4" at 50 yds, to 0.75" at same distance (w/ scoped rifle).
Old Lyman 44 list 2400 using 112 to 195gr cast boolits and all have a starting load of 8.0 grains. The 158 grain load listed is:
8.0 for 690fps
11.0 for 1010fps
Mine is an electronic copy that I think I downloaded from Castpics which has a link at the bottom of this page.
There is an older Alliant manual available from Castpics as well. I believe it is from 2001. It gives load data for Blue Dot in the 38 special.
In my experience, Blue Dot works best in fairly large cases, loaded to pretty stiff pressures. Low pressure/velocity leaves about half the charge in the bore.
Wayne
That still may not be the answer. Model 19's from my understanding do not hold up well to the heavier .357 mag loads. My experience with BD is that it does very well in the .357 but only at the upper end of the pressure range. It worked very well in the 9.5-10 gr range with 358429 giving roughly 1200 fps in my handguns and about 1500 in the rifle.Quote:
Darn... I was hoping to find encouragement to resist getting that Model 19-4 and enjoying it.....
The only loads I want to do in 357 is +P level or 145 grain Silvertip level.(and .38 spl target loads in 357 cases) I have no interest in bucking recoil anymore... I've grown older to like creature comforts over hard adventure!!!!
Then-Hercules/now-Alliant Blue Dot is kind of a "Man without a country". It was released c. 1975 and intended for HEAVY loads in 3" Magnum 12 gauge lead pellets of 1-3/4 oz. to 1-7/8 oz. I recall Bob Milek writing a long article about Blue Dot in the 357 Magnum (mid-1970s) and generally thinking it to be a fine fuel for the 357 Magnum. He did remark that the fuel acted squirrelly and peaky when fired at uber-low temperatures--like -35 F. in the Wyoming forests he was chasing bobcats within, accompanied by his 6" Colt Python.
Where Blue Dot shines--357 Magnum rifle loadings with heavy-for-caliber bullets, 180 and 200 grain bullets get low SDs and pretty good velocity. Same loads fired in my Bisley Blackhawk x 7.5" barrel have larger velocity SDs. 10mm with 180 grain bullets--decent accuracy and better SDs than factory ammo. 28 gauge 1 oz. lead shot loads. (BPI has data and components). Blue Dot likes long barrels and heavy shotloads or bullets. 10mm seems to do its best work at the upper end with AA-7/Blue Dot/AA-9 burn speeds.
I have loaded 9.4 grains of 2400 with a 158 grain Hornady XTP. I found this load in the 47th Lyman manual. I didn't shoot it over a chronograph but the Lyman manual says 745 FPS in a 4'' barrel. So, my results were a load that was super accurate with mild recoil. While I enjoyed the superb accuracy it did leave a lot of unburned powder in the barrel and I'm sure there was no chance of the bullet expanding at that velocity. I felt it was a waste of an expensive bullet and a lot of powder. I could easily duplicate the results with Bullseye and a LRN bullet for a fraction of the cost.
I have also tried some standard 38 special level loads with 2400 and cast bullets and the results were poor with inconsistent ignition and tons of unburned powder. If your going for 38/44 level ammo you will have good results with those powders but you have to have the right gun to use it.
Thanks
Mike
Along the same lines...does anyone have a good load/caliber use for blue dot? I have a few lbs as well gathering dust I'd like to use up
357 Sig and 10mm. I don’t use BD due but plenty of its use it for those two. W/ the right gun all it takes is a conversion barrel and you can shoot both.
Works well in the 9mm with cast bullets at factory load levels.Quote:
Along the same lines...does anyone have a good load/caliber use for blue dot? I have a few lbs as well gathering dust I'd like to use up