Top Three Powders for .38 Special

[bowfin]

123456

[felix]

5.0 grains Unique with Lyman 358477 or other Keith like 150 grainer is perhaps the best general purpose load for all revolters. If I were making loads for community of revolters, this would be the one. ... felix

[john hayslip]

2.8 grains of Bullseye behind a 148 grain wadcutter

[texassako]

Bullseye and Unique are the only 2 that I have used in .38 Spl, but all I have shot in the cartridge is 148 gr wadcutters.

[Shiloh]

Like you.

1. Bullseye
2. Unique

I may add Blue Dot or AA #7 as a third.

2.7-3.0 grs of Bullseye behind 148 gr WC is hard to beat.

Shiloh

[reg293]

3 grains of Bullseye behind a 148 grain hollow base wadcutter.
3 grains of 452AA behind a 148 grain hollow base wadcutter( Power is OLD but shoots good ).

[Moondawg]

Bullseye, H-Universal, H-Titegroup

[Wally]

I won't do a poll, as it would take 20 choices and I would still leave out somebody's favorite.

So tell me your favorite, you two favorites, or your three favorite powders for the .38 Special, and we will keep a running tab.

This thread will also be a good place for a newer reloader to start looking for loads.

1. Unique (3 votes)
2. Bullseye (2 vote)
3. ???

Red Dot or Promo....I used Unque and Bulleseye for years and found Red Dot is better. I wish I had tried it years ago.

[PS Paul]

bullseye,red dot then unique- in that order

[JohnnyFlake]

I really like the following and all are very accurate with a cast 158gn RNFP bullet. All three produce about 800fps out of a 4" barrel.

4.0gn of W231
4.5gn of Unique
8.0gn of 2400

[Kraschenbirn]

700X followed by HP38 followed by Bullseye.

[GLL]

I will join the crowd.

Bullseye and Unique !

Jerry

[Hardcast416taylor]

After consuming many pounds of each powder I vote for these. 1) HP-38, 2) Win. 231 and Alliant Red Dot.Robert

[Larry Gibson]

Bullseye and Unique......did I mention Bullseye?

That's my "top 3" for the .38 SPL.

Larry Gibson

[wild_weasel]

I have recently been doing a lot of experimentation with standard and +P 38 Special loads.

3.5 gr BullsEye with any 158 gr LSWC (Standard)
4.0 gr Unique with Lyman 200 gr LRN (Super Police)
6.0 gr Power Pistol with RimRock 158 gr LSWC-HP-GC (+P)#
10.0 gr 2400 with any 158 gr LSWC (38-44)*

# shoots to point of aim in both RHKP S&W M-10 and Saudi S&W M-49 Body Guard
* shot in Ruger GP-100 only

Given that Power Pistol is a newer powder there is not as much loading data compared to Bulls Eye, Unique, or 2400. However, the up side is that with Power Pistol the available data was developed with modern test equipment and techniques, giving me a high level of confidence that given loads for Power Pistol are at or under 17K PSI for standard loads or 20K PSI for +P loads.

While Power Pistol has significant muzzle flash at standard 38 Special pressures, I have noticed significantly reduced muzzle flash at +P pressure using 158gr LSWC-HP-GC bullets.

As you can surmise Power Pistol is now my preferred, over 2400, for +P loads while BullsEye remains my favorite powder for STANDARD loads.

Cheers,
W-W

[bowfin]

I'll let the votes roll in for the rest of the day and then sort them out.

[GBertolet]

Bullseye-3.7gr 158gr SWC & 2.8gr 148gr WC
231-3.6gr 148gr WC

[paul h]

Another vote for Bullseye and Unique, they are the only two powders I use for 38 sp.

[zxcvbob]

1) Red Dot or Promo -- the only real difference between 'em is whether you want to buy 8 pounds at a time or not.

2) American Select.

[KYCaster]

Hodgdon Clays.

I can't believe it hasn't been mentioned already.

Jerry