.38 Special. The caster's caliber.

[ScottJ]

Of all the calibers I load I think I like doing .38 Special in cast the most.

I've never had any leading problems out of it, ever.

I've done the Lee 358-140-SWC both tumble and pan lubed over 4.3gr HP-38.

I've done the 351856 tumble lube with no check over 3.8gr of Bullseye seated in both grooves.

I picked up a 6 cavity Lee 358-158-RF and tried them both tumble and pan lubed. Settled on 4.3gr HP-38 under them as well. It's almost but not quite +P according to the books but only goes about 790 out of my 4" S&W.

Yesterday evening I got the chance to try a couple more experiments.

I loaded some 358156 sized and checked (I know the check is overkill) over 4.1gr of Unique looking for an accuracy load. This showed potential but I wasn't having the best day. I might try a bit more powder. The auto disk chamber I used was supposed to throw 4.5 but I could only get 4.1 unless I tapped the measure every time which would yield 4.3.

I also had some unchecked I seated out in the lower groove with 4gr of Bullseye under them. Decidedly stout but not showing bad pressure signs. These are intended for use in my .357s. I'm curious to see how they chrono.

Throughout all the above tinkering I've never had more than powder and lube residue in the barrel across 5 guns capable of launching the caliber.

[fecmech]

In the Lyman manual 358156 goes to 5.1 Unique for max std pressure and 5.4 for +P. Using the Lee 158 swc and Lyman 358429 with 5.0 unique I get excellent accuracy and right at 900 fps out of a 6" k-38. HP38 and 231 are the same powder, I think the reason you're only getting 790 fps is you are no where near +P. According to Lyman 158 data that should be in the 4.9-5.2 range for 231. The Lee RNFP does very well at 4.2/Bullseye for me and again about 900 fps. I've settled on 2 loads for 158's and the 358429(Keith) over the years, 5.0/Unique and 4.2/BE. I have put many thousands of them through my .38 spl.

[ScottJ]

I went light with the Unique under the 358156 because I tried some of the 140s over 4.8 on a whim once and they felt quite stout (didn't chrono).

Hodgdon's online data site suggests 3.7 of HP-38 is a max for a cast 158 SWC. I started out below that and worked all the way up to 4.3. Some of my older manuals do list that as a start load.

[jblee10]

Years ago the first mould I bought was an RCBS 38-158 rn. I think my second mould was an RCBS 38-148 wc. Both of them worked excellent and are responsible for me being hooked on casting. Untold amounts of both of those bullets have been put downrange over the years. Over various types and charges of powders. And come to think of it, I don't think I've ever had any leading in the 38 special either!

[williamwaco]

YEAH! . . .

What Scott Said!

Me too.


.38 Special Rocks.

.

[chris12]

lee 358-158-swc over 3.0 gr bullseye and remington 1 1/2 primers works great for me out of all five guns i have that shoot .38 special.

[shooting on a shoestring]

Agreed. .38 Special is just a pleasure to run. I'm addicted to wadcutters in that caliber (and .357). I've got three wadcutters, 358087, 358091 and 358061. Love em all. In SWC, 358156 (my first boolits cast when I was in grade school...in the early 70s), Lee TL158, Lee 140 SWC and the Group Buy clone of 358429.

I got hooked on wadcutters when looking for the most effective load for my Mod 60. I discovered I could get a little more velocity out of that 1&7/8" barrel using wadcutters instead of SWC. I also liked the full meplat, and the short boolits with lots of bearing surface let me use nearly dead soft boolits at 900 fps in that little 5 shot machine.

Yep .38 Spl. Great caliber.

[azrednek]

For 38 Special I'm sold on the Lee 148 TL DE WC. With mild loads of Bullseye, 2.7-3.0 it prints the tightest clusters at short ranges of anything I cast and shoot. I don't size, dilute the mule snot pretty thin, dust them with motor mica and can't recall ever leading a barrel.

I tried the Lyman HBWC. If there was an improvement in the shot to shot accuracy it had to be insignificant. The pain in the donkey to cast hollow based WC's are just not worth the time involved casting one at a time with a higher than normal rate of rejects.

Over the years I've bought, sold and traded numerous 38/357 molds and so far I have not found one that wouldn't shoot good in 38 Special following published data. My mild to medium cast 38's may not be the ideal self-defense combo but for paper punching its hard and possibly impossible to beat if shot to shot accuracy is one's goal. Cast lead and the S&W Models 10 and 15 are a match made in heaven.

[casterofboolits]

38 Spec is my original fun cast boolits. 358429, 358477,358091, 358311 also assorted Saeco and H&G wadcutters. All the Lyman numbers are four cavity, two each.

[1Shirt]

It's hard to disagree with anyone liking the 38S. With the right boolits, it is equipt to do most anything you could want of a revolver short of big gam:coffeecome.
1Shirt!:coffee:

[ScottJ]

I think my next experiment is going to be the 358156 cast out of stick on wheel weights run with a check over stout charges of Accurate No. 5 to see if I can get some mushrooming performance out of them.

[45-70 Chevroner]

I really like the TL358 Lee six banger 148 gr. WC coated with a very light coat of LLA, it casts copius amounts of boolits in short order. I back them up with 3.5 of bullseye for a little over 900 FPS and send them down range with a S&W 4" Highway Patrol model and have so little leading that it comes out with a tight bronze bore brush. I don't notice any chamber lead build up as I shoot a lot of 357's also.

[Shiloh]

There are numerous available bullets both jacketed and cast. Not to mention boolit molds.
There are countless modern and discontinued molds for .38's

I have more .38 molds than anything else.

Shiloh

[Floydster]

What Scott said:)

[azrednek]

I have more .38 molds than anything else.

Shiloh

To bad you don't have enough!! I'm not greedy I just wont be satisfied until I have tried them all.

[Char-Gar]

The 38 Special is a wonderful round that will do 95% of what we want a hangun to do. I own seven Smith and Wesson and 4 Colt DA hanguns in that caliber.

It is very easy to find a good cast bullet load for the round. Of all the molds I have tried a good 155-160 RN like Lyman 358311 seems to turn in the best accuracy most often in many different pistols. This is academic as there are many bullets that will turn in first rate accuracy.

My loads are simple

1. 2.7/Bullseye under a HBWC
2. 3.5/Bullseye under a solid base WC
3. 4.5/Unique under your 150-160 grain bullet of choice
4. 5.5/AA 5 under your 150-160 grain bullet of choice

I also have a half dozen 357 Magnum sixguns, and to shoot hot loads, I go to magnum cases in magnum sixguns.

I am also a fan of the 45 ACP round in either a sixgun or autopistol. The 45 Colt round also still holds my interest as does the 44 Magnum round. The others hold no interest for me.

[StrawHat]

I have a few 38 Specials and am persuing another, a S&W M14. From my PPC days I learned to respect the accuracy of the full WC and 2,7 grains of Bullseye. I wanted a good small game load and got the 358439 mold and had some fun with it. Eventually went back to the WC, cast hard, and loaded about where Char-Gar went with his upper Bullseye load. It hits with authority and is very accurate from my M15. A bit much for me from the 36-1 but that is more my tolerance, not the revolver.

The 38 Special is never a mistake.

[koehlerrk]

The 38 Special is a wonderful round that will do 95% of what we want a hangun to do.

Truth! It also does very well in my Marlin levergun. I shoot the Lyman cowboy boolit and no issues with feeding and zero leading. My load is that 158gr boolit on 6gr Bluedot with a CCI primer. Fun to shoot! My kids will go through 38s like M&Ms in that rifle.

Also, the old tried and true 38 was what I cut my teeth on when I started reloading. It's still one of my favorites.

[Ole]

Has anyone tried the 100 grain Ranchdog bullet in a .38 case?

I just did the math and I can load 15 more bullets/lb vs my normal 38 plinking load with that bullet. I normally use the Lee 125 RNFP (mine drops around 130 grains).

[fecmech]

Has anyone tried the 100 grain Ranchdog bullet in a .38 case?

I just did the math and I can load 15 more bullets/lb vs my normal 38 plinking load with that bullet. I normally use the Lee 125 RNFP (mine drops around 130 grains).

I have. http://castboolits.gunloads.com/showthread.php?t=139563

[Ole]

Thanks for the info.

Great shooting! :Fire:

[hanover67]

The .44 Special does the other 5%...

[Arkansas Paul]

Great to hear all these good things. I picked up my first ever .38 Special yesterday. It's a Taurus 82 police trade in and it looks like it hasn't had but a couple boxes of shells shot through it. There's a good turn line on the cylinder, but the blueing at the crown of the barrel looks new, like it was dry fired quiet a bit but not really shot. Locks up like a bank vault. The double action trigger is no Smith, but the single action trigger is phenomenal. I think it was a good deal for $229.00.

Anyway, my dies and mold should be in from Midway when I get home from work. I ordered the Lee 125 grain FP mold. I'm ready to get started.

[Wally]

Great to hear all these good things. I picked up my first ever .38 Special yesterday. It's a Taurus 82 police trade in and it looks like it hasn't had but a couple boxes of shells shot through it. There's a good turn line on the cylinder, but the blueing at the crown of the barrel looks new, like it was dry fired quiet a bit but not really shot. Locks up like a bank vault. The double action trigger is no Smith, but the single action trigger is phenomenal. I think it was a good deal for $229.00.

Anyway, my dies and mold should be in from Midway when I get home from work. I ordered the Lee 125 grain FP mold. I'm ready to get started.

That's an excellent choice of bullet for the .38 Spl...4.0 grains of Red Dot or Bulleseye will give you about 1,000 FPS...I find it to be very accurate.

[Arkansas Paul]

Good to know. I keep Bullseye and Unique both on hand so I should be good powder wise.

[azrednek]

Has anyone tried the 100 grain Ranchdog bullet in a .38 case?

I just did the math and I can load 15 more bullets/lb vs my normal 38 plinking load with that bullet. I normally use the Lee 125 RNFP (mine drops around 130 grains).


I haven't used the 100gr Ranchdog. I have used the Lee 105 for 38 Special when I was casting on the economy plan to squeeze as many per pound as I could. With the lightweight Lee 105 the shot to shot accuracy was mixed. Best I recall as it has been apx 20 years. The lighter loads kept shot groups tighter. If you're 38's are for paper punching and killing tin cans you wont need a lot of oomph to do the job. I prefer Bullseye for mild 38's. Bullseye is also good for stretching as many shots as possible per pound.

My favorite for perforating paper targets with mild 38 loads. Is the Lee 148 Tumble Lube, double end wad cutter. You wont get as many castings per pound using apx 40 grs more lead per shot. Just something to consider if you should luck into a cache of lead. I use the 148 DEWC with 2.7 to 2.9 grs of Bullseye and the accuracy is superb.

I really like the Lee 125gr RN. Board member JimInPhx gave me a few to try in my 9MM. It worked great in my 9MM and I immediately ordered the mold. After trying the 125 RN in my 38/357 Rossi lever action rifle. I upped the anti and ordered the 6-cavity. The 125gr RN is a good multi-use Boolit. I'm currently using it for 9MM, 38+P loads and mild 357's.

[HangFireW8]

A quick look at old load books will reveal huge numbers of loads- and cast boolits- for the 38 Special, and a large number for the 44 Special. Old magazine articles will reveal all kinds of tricks to extract maximum accuracy, like finding the most accurate cylinder in your revolver, which cavity of the 2 in your mold is most accurate, etc. We may laugh today but these guys were dead serious, and really did extract some extreme accuracy from basic revolvers.