New? .38 Special Thread

[Grump]

After decades of being a .357 Magnum guy, I'm going back into .38 Special reloading. What I did before was just various light loads and sometimes crappy plated 124-gr bullets (matched my Magnum bullets sorta) for the kids and newer shooters, but now I'm playing around with NRA Bullseye. Accuracy at 50 yards is key for this particular project.

I want to primarily use the H&G 73 (145-ish-gr pointier nose SWC, meplat's maybe 1/8 or 1/10 inch). Have 500+ or so ready to size and lube.

I also want to use W-W 231 since that's what I've settled on for a few other loads. Picked up some Power Pistol the last month or two partly on a whim and mainly because powder remains so scarce around here--I would be willing to use that for powder-puff loads too. I'd be testing 4.5 gr this weekend except my seater stem is out with a friend getting machined into the right shape for that bullet...

So, while I wait, what loads have y'all used with success?

Amusing tales of notable failures are welcome too. Heheheh...

[Grump]

Oh, I'm posting this AFTER spending way too much time with the site's search function. I can't seem to make it pull up only the POSTS with search terms. Too many threads to wade through.

[Outpost75]

If you go to the Outdoorsman section in Prepper Talk there is a thread there regarding the .38/.357 rifle-revolver combo which has alot of good info,

[Scharfschuetze]

Grump,

I used that H&G boolit for several years over 3.0 grains of Bullseye powder. It was a great plinking boolit and I even used it with some success at local PPC matches where the competition wasn't too advanced. As I recall, I could tickle the 1480s with it over the course. Sadly, the mold belonged to another officer so I no longer have access to it. I think that your choice of 231 would be a good one, but I think that I'd now try Tightgroup were I to load this boolit again.

[Shooter6br]

H&G 50 146 g WC with Universal powder or Red Dot82245
158 g Lee pictured

[runfiverun]

3.5-4.0grs of the 231 should have a sweet spot for your revolver.

[Larry Gibson]

I'd try 2.7 - 3.5 gr 231 with that bullet for accuracy and a low recoil target load. As with Scharfschuetzer I mostly used Bullseye with that bullet (3.0 gr) but 231 should do as well.

Larry Gibson

[Forrest r]

It might not hurt to try some american select, it's beat out clays, titegroup, hp-38, wst & bullseye for my light target/plinking loads in the 38spl.

A 148gr hbwc & 3.0gr of american select is a hard combo to beat. I'm getting 810fps with this load in my s&w model 10 (13,600psi) & excellent accuracy. It's very soft shooting & give more of a push than anything else.

82272

[EMC45]

It might not hurt to try some american select, it's beat out clays, titegroup, hp-38, wst & bullseye for my light target/plinking loads in the 38spl.

A 148gr hbwc & 3.0gr of american select is a hard combo to beat. I'm getting 810fps with this load in my s&w model 10 (13,600psi) & excellent accuracy. It's very soft shooting & give more of a push than anything else.

82272

Classy Picture.

[Grump]

Thanks!

Just might have to dig out that smallest charge bar... I'm ready to start with one that's 4.5, but sounds like that would be faster than I really need for paper-punching.

[firefly1957]

I recently did a bunch of 38's with Herco the powder is a bit dirty but the S&W K-38 sure shot them well the bullets were cast 158 gr but powdercoated and swaged to size and shape . 70 + shots and just a little soot in the guns bore no lead no paint.

[dubber123]

Not a powder puff load, but try 5.5 grains of Power Pistol. I have a lot of that powder, and that in conjunction with BRP's excellent 150 gr. RF will stay well under 2" at 50 meters. I never could get this level of accuracy out of any light loads. Best group with witnesses was .9" for 5 shots. The gun is a 6" S&W model 14.

[390ish]

I only cast for the 155 and 158 swc by lyman and lee. I found that 4.1 grs of 231 is my best bet.

[Grump]

Well, I'm now going to run out of 231 on .45s before I get back to the .38s.

Not sure if I ever chono'd the 4.6 gr loads, but they seemed okay.

I'm not willing to try out the few powders that are actually showing up around here (almost all the .50BMG powders you would want, few pistol powders), so I tried out Power Pistol--the last pound of pistol stuff I have left--at 4.7+ a tiny bit, loaded in a Dillon.

It was getting to dusk, but 3 inches even at 50 yards (red dot sight and a full 1-inch wobble area even over a rest) will be good enough for now. Will load 100-200 at a time for a while until I either get another pound of 231 or of Power Pistol.

But hey, you can buy all the 55-gr .223 and 230-gr .45 ACP you want, multiple brands, around here now.

[detox]

Change powders when buying more.
http://glarp.atk.com/2010/2010_Catalogs/AlliantPowderReloadersGuide.pdf

Alliant Reloding Manual loads for Cowboy Action 38 Special. Page 62

125 gr Oregon Trails lead........Bullseye, Rem 1 1/2, Remington 1.450" 4.8 1024
125 gr Oregon Trails lead........Am Select, Rem 1 1/2, Remington 1.450" 4.7 989
125 gr Meister RNFP...............Red Dot, Rem 1 1/2, Remington 1.450" 4.6 1025
125 gr Meister RNFP...............Unique, Rem 1 1/2, Remington 1.450" 6 1075
140 gr Hornady FP lead...........Bullseye, Rem 1 1/2, Remington 1.450" 4.5 945
140 gr Hornady FP lead...........Red Dot, Rem 1 1/2, Remington 1.450" 4.5 960
140 gr Hornady FP lead...........Am Select Rem 1 1/2 Remington 1.450" 4.5 988
140 gr Hornady FP lead...........Unique, Rem 1 1/2, Remington 1.450" 5.5 985
*147 gr RCBS mould # 82077...Bullseye, CCI 500, Speer 1.530" 3.5 838
*147 gr RCBS mould # 82077...Red Dot, CCI 500, Speer 1.530" 3.4 794
*147 gr RCBS mould # 82077...Unique, CCI 500, Speer 1.530" 4.6 820

*Notice 147 gr RCBS mould # 82077 is a 9mm design. I think this data was created before Cowboy Moulds #82304, #82305 were released.

[Grump]

The way it's going now, my change to a different handgun powder will be not a matter of choosing what I want, but of actually *finding* anything to buy!

It's been months since I saw more than 5 types in 1-lb bottles anywhere. I know a guy who's back-ordered from May on two different powders.

And to think that when I cracked open this last bottle of 231, I was having a slight bit of buyer's remorse over picking up the Power Pistol...meh.