.38 special load

[dlbarr]

my carry gun is a Taurus 605. The load im shooting
for practice is a Lee 158gr swc backed by 5.8 gr of
Blue Dot. I always have some unburned powder when
using this load. Any suggestions?

[Winger Ed.]

You're probably getting a real cool looking muzzle flash too.
Blue dot is on the slow side. It shines in magnum calibers with long-ish barrels.

Switch over to Unique, or something else faster than blue dot.
It'll clean all that up.
Whatever left behinds you see are usually just graphite and soot.

[Outpost75]

Blue Dot is not a suitable powder for standard-pressure loads in the .38 Special.

You would be much better served with a faster powder such as Bullseye, TiteGroup, 231, HP38, WST, 452AA, etc. While Unique is often recommended, it is better suited for +P loads than for standard pressure, unless you are loading bullets heavier than 150 grains.

[BigAlofPa.]

I had issues with blue dot not burning completely with 10mm. I tried magnum primers. They did the trick.

[farmbif]

3-3.5 gr bullseye shoots real well and a pound of powder goes a long way, I also load some with 4.5 gr be-86 and that works well also in my old lend lease S&W.
this is where I use up all my Remington 1 1/2 primers

[Gar10]

Try a faster burning powder and I bet you unburned powder goes away.

[uscra112]

Bullseye. 'nuf said.

[Mk42gunner]

I've used W231 for decades in standard .38 Special loads. I see no reason to change.

Robert

[Hutch556]

I would switch to Bullseye or Unique.

[winelover]

I use either Bullseye or Unique in 38 Special. Save the Bluedot for 357 or 9 mm.

Winelover

[Jniedbalski]

HS6 has worked for me in 38 loads with 158 gr boolets. Bulseye is my #1 powder in 38

[cwlongshot]

I love Blue Dot... But I also love 4350.... Neither is really best for the 38spl!

As suggested, Unique, Bullseye, 231, HP38 and a few other newer powders are better!! Id like to see the pile of Bullseye I have burned in almost 40 years of Bullseye 3.2g at a time...

CW

[Wayne Dobbs]

3.5 Bullseye or 4.0 231/HP-38 with a 150 - 160 boolit. That's about all you need to know for a working .38 Special load. It's full power, standard pressure.

[Larry Gibson]

Casting a lot of 158 SWCs with a TL358-158-SWC I seat to an put a medium roll crimp in the top lube groove in 38 SPL cases. Loaded over 3.5 gr Bullseye they are an excellent factory duplication load and very accurate.

[dlbarr]

Appreciate the input. I'll switch to Unique as I have plenty of that. Somewhere I thought I heard Blue Dot was the powder for .38 snubbies....apparently I heard wrong. thanks again

[Outpost75]

Appreciate the input. I'll switch to Unique as I have plenty of that. Somewhere I thought I heard Blue Dot was the powder for .38 snubbies....apparently I heard wrong. thanks again

.357 Mag. powder for snubbies, but VERY finicky and I no longer use it.

[ddixie884]

Ed and Larry know that you reduce it to the lowest common denominator BE and Unique for everyday and a little extra when needed. I started with Unique and BE always scared me a little. When I first started I had a can of Unique and a Lyman 45th. That is all I used for a year or two.........

[rfd]

it's all good to someone somewhere. i use w231 for .38spl and 9mm. it works well for me.

[Dvdmacdaddy]

In my S&W 638, I use a 155gr MP Keith HP Bullet HiTek coated, 4gr Universal, seated to crimp groove, heavy crimp getting 720fps. I am not getting any leading and great accuracy. Universal is very similar in burn rate to Unique.

[FISH4BUGS]

I've used W231 for decades in standard .38 Special loads. I see no reason to change.

Robert

Ditto!
231 for ALL my standard handgun and subgun loads. 4.0 for revolver over H&G #51 for 38.