358105 SWC 38 sp

[Jal5]

I found my new load for the 38 sp with this Lee mold and just a little Bullseye. Very mild and very accurate out of my S&W M66. You can really stretch the lead supply too with this little boolit. Used JPW tumble lubed. Now to load up a lot to keep on hand for when we are just plinking. Would be a good round for the wife to shoot too. I've been wanting to pick up a snub 38sp next for CC too and this boolit will be a good one to try with it.

Joe

[MtGun44]

Good design, you are the latest to find that it works well. I used it for a long time in
9mm, so it is flexible, too. I used pan lubed when I started, moved up to an RCBS lubrisizer
later.

Pass it on! ;-)

Bill

[noylj]

I have asked Lee to produce a 115-125gn bullet of the same nose design. Who knows, maybe they'll try it.

[Jal5]

I have 100 cases set up on my bench right now waiting to be filled!

Joe

[XWrench3]

F.Y.I. i load this combination DOWN to 1.5grains of bullseye for my 7 year old daughter. the same amount will also RELIABLY function both my Ruger LCP and Kel Tec P3AT 380 autoloader pistols. that is my "super-saver" load when i want to shoot a bunch. the most expensive part at that point is the primers.

if it is true that the higher the quanity, the larger the discount. then how many primers do i need to order to get them for free?!

[Will]

I tried it in my 38spl and could never get anything less than pie plate patterns. I'v never found a load less than 148gr that would shoot in my Colt PP. It will shoot a 358156 very well as long as I load it near max.

[XWrench3]

tried it in my 38spl and could never get anything less than pie plate patterns. I'v never found a load less than 148gr that would shoot in my Colt PP. It will shoot a 358156 very well as long as I load it near max.

my initial thoughts on your situation is to small of a boolit. when you get up near max, you are finally reaching the point where there is enough pressure where the boolit is deforming enough to seal to the bore. have you tried beagleing the mold a bit to see if it helps?

[Will]

Xwrench3; Haven't tried beagling but tried some unsized that were about .359 and that didn't help. My bore is about .3575. Havent checked the cylinder. I had a 358480 that cast about .361 but never tried it unsized. I got it for a friend who had a 38sw. I sold it to someone on this forum because it wouldn't shoot in my 38spl sized 358 and I no longer loaded for 38sw. I have the same problem with the 148grWC. I tried the lighter boolits at near max and still got dinner plate patterns. I've just decided my gun won't shoot a light boolit.

will

[Centaur 1]

I tried it in my 38spl and could never get anything less than pie plate patterns. I'v never found a load less than 148gr that would shoot in my Colt PP. It will shoot a 358156 very well as long as I load it near max.

My favorite load is 3.6 grains of Bullseye with this boolit. My reloading setup is very simplistic. When I started loading for the .38 spl I used 158 grain swc's, I found that 3.6 grains of BE worked good so I made a powder scoop that gives me that weight. Since I already had it made, I loaded my first batch of 105's using that scoop. That load works so well that I haven't tried anything else. I have a target out in the garage where I put 50 rounds into a 1 1/2" group at 50' with my S&W 19. I love using this boolit, it's a light recoiling round and very economical. Another favorite that just seems to work in everything I try is the Ranch Dog TL358-100-RF.

[Will]

I'll try the 3.6gr BE and see if it works. Our range had been under 6 feet of flood water until last month. I think I'll go check it out.

Will