Lead for 38 special.

[Ball Caster]

I have been shooting a 158 grn LSWC from my 38spl at about 800 ft./sec. I use Trail Boss or Red Dot and they are a fun load to shoot. The bullets are sized and lubed when I get them.

For decades I have cast and shot from, my 54 cal. Longrifle, round balls from what ever lead I could scrounge; the softer the better.

Lately I have been giving thought to casting, sizing and lubing my own 158 grain bullets. My question is; at 800 ft. /sec out of my pistol, do I need to worry about the harness of the lead?

Soft lead seems to work fine in my 36 cal. cap and ball revolver.

[Jack Stanley]

Provided you have a good fit in the throat of the firearm and use good lube I don't think soft lead is going to be a problem at that speed .

Jack

[williamwaco]

I have been shooting a 158 grn LSWC from my 38spl at about 800 ft./sec. I use Trail Boss or Red Dot and they are a fun load to shoot. The bullets are sized and lubed when I get them.

For decades I have cast and shot from, my 54 cal. Longrifle, round balls from what ever lead I could scrounge; the softer the better.

Lately I have been giving thought to casting, sizing and lubing my own 158 grain bullets. My question is; at 800 ft. /sec out of my pistol, do I need to worry about the harness of the lead?

Soft lead seems to work fine in my 36 cal. cap and ball revolver.


Yes but not for the reason you think.

If they don't fit and are too hard, they will lead like crazy.

For an inexpensive way to start, buy the Lee T358-158-SWC
Cast from straight WW. Air cooled. DO NOT WORRY ABOUT HARD.
Lube it with LLA. You will get a bottle with your sizing kit. Buy a sizing die kit - get a .358 Don't buy a sizer lubricator until you get hooked.

REMEMBER:
.38 special factory wad cutters are loaded to 770 fps and measure about BNH 6.
You do not need hard.

ALSO;

I routinely load this same bullet cast from reclaimed bullet cores (BNH 8) to 1000 fps with great accuracy and zero leading.

BEWARE:

You are playing with a dangerous hobby. You are about to become hopelessly addicted.

PS: If you like the "Cowboy" look, get the C358-158-RF instead. I also use it and really like it.



.

[John in WI]

I agree with these guys. I cast a bunch of LSWC and full WCs out of dead soft and also wheel weight. For the slugs I was able to recover (in phone books) I could clearly see the rifling marks in both.

The "advantage" for me is that dead soft has better expansion at the 800-900fps range. I read a rule of thumb some place where they said that the speed needed for expansion is ~BHN x 100

[tacofrank]

I use wheel weights with zero leading. I shoot the same bullets in my .357 around 1000 fsp with no leading. I think barrel fill is more important than hardness when shooting under 1000 fps.

[FergusonTO35]

The .38 Special is one of the most boolit friendly cartridges ever made. I've rolled ammo for it with all kinds of lead with no problems at all, even in +P. You can also tumble lube boolits with regular lube grooves and they work just fine in the wonderful old .38.

[rintinglen]

+1 on Ferguson's insights. If I had to pick one handgun cartridge to teach a newcomer to reload, it would be the .38 Special. Not fussy, either about powder type or charge, not prone to leading (modern--ie post WWII-- Revolvers are remarkably consistent in their bore dimensions), and capable of excellent accuracy, there is no downside.
I have used various 38's to teach dozens of people to shoot over the years, and I shake my head at some of the various black guns groups I see being shot at the range. A decent 38 in the hands of someone who can shoot and still see the sights will shoot smaller groups than any auto of comparable price. (sadly, that second qualifier lets me out, in broad daylight, I can do okay, but indoors I am hard pressed to make out the front sight, much less get a clear sight picture.)

[gwpercle]

Ball Caster...
Stop, warning.....casting and reloading for 38 special just may lead to an addiction you will never recover from. Yes you say I'm just going to load for this one cartridge...but then you get a 45 acp, which leads to a 9 mm , then you get a rifle or two or three.....there is no end to what can happen.

I started with a 1-cavity mould and was only going to load for the 38 spcl... this has led to a 45 year hobby that I now reload for so many different pistol, rifle and even a few shotguns I can't count them all.......and I have enjoyed every second .
Welcome to the addiction, you will enjoy it and welcome to the cast boolits site.
The people here are most kind and very helpful. I have learned a lot from the site.

gary

[beagle]

Wouldn't worry about hardness at all with that combo./beagle

[mdi]

"Harder is better" is a wive's tale perpetuated by commercial bullet casters who play on new lead shooters' ignorance. Wow, did I say that? :shock:. Bullet fit is the key to clean, non-leading shooting lead bullets. I cast and shot for mebbe 12 years before I "learned" about the BHN/pressure stuff. But, I was able to cast and shoot wheel weight and scrap lead alloy in my .44 and .357 magnums with no leading...

[williamwaco]

"Harder is better" is a wive's tale perpetuated by commercial bullet casters who play on new lead shooters' ignorance. Wow, did I say that? :shock:. Bullet fit is the key to clean, non-leading shooting lead bullets. I cast and shot for mebbe 12 years before I "learned" about the BHN/pressure stuff. But, I was able to cast and shoot wheel weight and scrap lead alloy in my .44 and .357 magnums with no leading...

You sure did! GOOD for you!


.

[MtGun44]

+1 on mdi

Bill

[Old Caster]

I think it is too difficult to ship soft bullets in the mail without deforming them so commercial manufacturers have to use hard lead to satisfy customers. Even swaged HBWC's these days have a BHN of about 10 when commercial stars used to be pure lead. -- Bill --

[Harter66]

I just went to a shoot . In 1 contest my daughter fired 120 38s from a Lee 358-150 & 358-158 rapid fire no leading that didn't go away w/a few brush passes and a mop. They were cast from 10bhn cores water dropped.
The bbl was too hot to touch after that shoot.

[mdi]

I think it is too difficult to ship soft bullets in the mail without deforming them so commercial manufacturers have to use hard lead to satisfy customers. Even swaged HBWC's these days have a BHN of about 10 when commercial stars used to be pure lead. -- Bill --

Yep, a couple years ago I ordered some bullets from a caster that advertised the bullets at 8-12 BHN, but I think they were softer. They arrived looking kinda "pock marked", from being loosly packed and handled by USPS. They didn't look good and some of the lube was knocked out, but I shot 'em anyway. No difference I could tell, but looked, cheap, second rate.