Top Three Powders for .38 Special

[M-Tecs]

Bullseye, Unique & 231

[jimb16]

1. Bullseye
2. Unique

[TXBRILL]

I actually like Red Dot or Promo the best but too many problems with squibs and a powder measure so Bullseye for me 99% of the time

[henry-ctc]

Hi everyone. New here.
Unique for 158 LSWC and BE for 148 HBWC.
Anyone came across Vectan BA10?. Slightly faster than BE but very clean burning and easy to deal with when metering. I use it for 32 sw long and 38 spcl. Also working up for a 9mm luger 122 LTC at 2.8 grains.

[FergusonTO35]

Accurate #5 is my all time favorite powder. Short or long barrel I always get the best velocity over others I've tried. You can make it work well in pretty much any handgun cartridge although it may not be the best choice overall for a particular one. Very clean burning too. My favorite load is 5.7 grains under a 158 grain LFP for 875 fps out of my S&W 10-5 with 4" barrel. Thats actually moving faster than the old +P SWC loads from Remington and Federal but according to the data this is a middle of the range standard pressure load.

[brghp]

1. Bullseye
2. Unique
3. 231

[Grmps]

I kind of like 6 grn HS-S -w- 148 gr WC
4.6 gr Unique - 158 grn

[Outpost75]

Bullseye
231
WST

[farmerjim]

Herco for boolits
Bullseye for shot loads

[telebasher]

Bullseye, Unique, 2400 have been my go to powders for 40+ years but a year or so ago when powders were hard to come by I found some HS-6 and began playing with that in the 44 SPL. It has become my go to in that caliber with any bullet. Loaded up some with the Lee TL SWC in a 38 case and it will do any thing I need a 38 Spl for. I really like this powder !

[youngmman]

5.5 grns Blue Dot with the H&G #43 bullet. It's the Keith 173 grn bullet.

[Jack Stanley]

Bullseye , Unique and 700X if I have it .

Jack

[jrmartin1964]

No.1 choice for .38 Special: Bullseye
No.2 choice for .38 Special: See No.1
No.3 choice for .38 Special: See No.1 & No.2

[Geezer in NH]

Bullseye
Red Dot
Unique

I have never used much more except for Clays a small amount but it disappeared before much use.

[Texas by God]

Bullseye, Unique, and FFFG for giggles but I intend to try Red Dot soon.

[P Flados]

This is really too easy for many to deal with.

It is not a "Top 3" question. It is more like a "top 33" question.

For most shooting, the fastest powders available will work. Faster powders get the job done with smaller charges but some (like BE) cost a lot more per pound. The Red dot to BE range are plenty fast and have lots of 38 load data and lots of feedback from satisfied customers.

If you are trying to maximize what a 38 special will do, or maximize load density, you can go a lot slower. I have tried some of the slower powders, but was never impressed at all. Typically much "dirtier".

I am now quite happy using Titegroup & Promo.

I used Promo for years and it is really good until I get to minimum charges where it does not meter as good. I also went through a good amount of 700x with near identical results.

Titegroup meters great, is ok for low load density, it has a good range (mild to hot) and is good when you crunch the numbers for $/round. The biggest reason not to use it is that it does leave a lot of empty space. I do not use a progressive press so I feel ok with Titegroup. I am confident in my visual check of 50 rounds in a loading block. My loads are also well below max (why push 38s for killing paper?), and most of my guns could handle the very very unlikely double charge.

Look at where they fall in the list of the powders below. Promo is in the first 1/3rd, Titegroup in right near the middle. I included the fastest available and stopped about where the powder is really too slow but you can use it anyway. Actually the next 6 slower are still Ok, but I just see using them as silly unless it has nothing to do with "good for the job".

Winchester WAALite
Vihta Vuori N310
Accurate Arms Nitro 100
Alliant e3
Hodgdon TITEWAD
Ramshot Competition
Alliant Red Dot
Alliant Promo
Hodgdon CLAYS
Alliant Clay Dot
Hodgdon Hi-Skor 700-X
Alliant Bullseye
Hodgdon TITEGROUP
Alliant American Select
Accurate Arms Solo 1000
Alliant Green Dot
Winchester WST
Hodgdon Trail Boss
Winchester Super Handicap
Hodgdon INTERNATIONAL
Accurate Arms Solo 1250
Hodgdon PB
VihtaVuori N320
Accurate Arms No. 2
Ramshot Zip
IMR Co SR 7625
Hodgdon HP-38
Winchester 231
Alliant 20/28
Alliant Unique
Hodgdon UNIVERSAL
Alliant Power Pistol

[Low Budget Shooter]

I was using W231/HP38 for 38 Special, until I ran out during the powder drought. The only thing available was Red Dot in an 8-pound jug. So I've used it now for a few years, and it does great for me. It is very close in in performance to Bullseye. In my Dillon, metering is pretty consistent all the way down to 2.5 grains or so.

[arlon]

Shot a lot of 148gr DEWC out of a S&W model 27 using 4.5g of Unique. Dirty but very accurate in that gun.

[pworley1]

Bullseye then Unique

[saleen322]

First, if you want to load 38 Special to just to go out and shoot, most all fast to medium speed pistol powders will work okay. When I was shooting matches I did a lot of accuracy testing of target loads with 38s at 50 yards. Specifically S&W models 14, 27, and 52; Dan Wesson 15, and Ruger Blackhawk. The bullets were mostly 148 WC and 158s in both round nose and SWC. These were mostly target loads with the best accuracy usually at or under 800 FPS. These are the powders that performed the best in order:
WST (Consistently the best with all bullets)
Clays
Power Pistol (Best powder for higher velocity loads)
Zip
Bullseye
W231

I tried others that included Unique, Titegroup, etc but none did as well as the ones above. YMMV