Lee 358-148 WC Load Advice

[ACrowe25]

Looking for some advice on this 148 gr boolit. Casts at 152 or so with my straight WW alloy, lubed with BAC. Having a hard time finding agreeing sources on data with similar OAL.

Will be using hp-38, thanks in advance.

[btreanor]

I would give 3.0 grains of HP-38 a try. That, along with 2.7 grains of Bullseye, are "classic" loads for wadcutter boolits around 150 grains.

[ACrowe25]

Thanks! Anyone else want to chime in on this topic?

[seaboltm]

3 grains of HP38 is a good start, with maybe 4 to 4.5 grains max.

[kungfustyle]

Hodgdon's web site says 3.5 to 4.0 w/ a col of 1.160 for 38 special...and 1.29 w/ 3.0 to 3.4 for 357 mag loads w/ HP38. Start w/ 38 special w/ 3.6 and work up .2 grains at a time. I know my 357 likes mid range loads and you know when you hit a sweet spot...stop if you notice it getting hard to extract the spent brass....Seat the bullet to where the crimp grove is and start at the minimum load. Stop when you notice the signs of over pressure. I just went through this, my lee mould was casting about 153 or so with the alloy I was using. I am using a 357 shooting 38 special loads and they left one ragged hole.

[Bzcraig]

Lyman's Cast Bullet Handbook lists a starting load of 3.7gr of W231 (same as HP38) @ 872fps and a max load of 4.2 @ 942 with OAL of 1.317

[Lonegun1894]

I use 3.0 grs Unique in .38Spl brass and just seat to crimp in the crimp groove. Sorry, don't have access to my notebooks right now. I shoot these out of several .357 Mags though, cause I don't have anything chambered in .38Spl in the house due to various loads being loaded into .38 brass and having a true .38 would be potentially dangerous.

[Wayne Dobbs]

For a target load, use about 3.3-3.5 of HP38/231. For a full power, yet standard pressure load, use 4.0 grains. The full power load is a great load for virtually any .38 Special chore.

[oso]

??? What gun???What C.O.L.???What primer??? And just out of curiosity are you using the tumble lube or the lube groove design?
For 151-152 gr grooved WC in my S&W 52 @ C.O.L. 1.155" I wouldn't exceed 2.8 gr HP38/231 using WLP or CCI 300 primers.

[seaboltm]

Educate me please. How do you use WLP primers or CCI 300 primers in a 38 Special or 357 magnum?

[ACrowe25]

Educate me please. How do you use WLP primers or CCI 300 primers in a 38 Special or 357 magnum?

Wondering the same, also why under 2.8 gr only...

[ACrowe25]

Loaded some up between 3.0-3.8. 10 each set, variance of 0.2gr

[seaboltm]

That should do fine. If you are shooting them in a 357 those will be under pressure (probably) by a very good margin.

[Mk42gunner]

Some by now truly ancient .38 Special and .357 Magnum brass had large primer pockets. I don't think it has been made since about WWII or so.

However, this is a classic case of do not take loading advice over the internet without a large dose of salt (checking in various loading manuals).

I will say that from what I have read the S&W Model 52 can be lights out accurate with the loads it likes. One day maybe I will find one I can afford so I can try it myself.

Robert

[oso]

Educate me please. How do you use WLP primers or CCI 300 primers in a 38 Special or 357 magnum?

The question isn't what is oso doing. Rather the question is what is ACrowe25 doing. If he wants data for a "similar COL" what is the COL?
FYI I do use small pistol primers in the appropriate cases but with a 144 grain WC and for snub nose revolvers.
LP 38 Spec brass has been discussed before.

[TXGunNut]

2.8-2.9 grs 231 is all it takes to stabilize it out to 50 yds in a good revolver or a 52. I used the WSP but some folks favor the Federal primers.

[rintinglen]

In a wheel gun, 3.2 grains of WW-231 was a favorite of mine for 50 yard PPC use, it seemed to duplicate the factory WC better than my usual 2.7 grain Bullseye loads.

[ACrowe25]

In a wheel gun, 3.2 grains of WW-231 was a favorite of mine for 50 yard PPC use, it seemed to duplicate the factory WC better than my usual 2.7 grain Bullseye loads.

Kinda what I was thinking also. My gun grouped better with 3.4. Was really! Nice. Went all the way up to 3.8 (in .2 grain increments) and leaded bad. I think the leading was due to pushing too hard, we'll see. Have another batch of just 3.4 to test out. Hopefully no lead.

[hardy]

Hi,exactly the same powder weight as I shot yesterday,discovered it two weeks back,magic!!!My lee 148 mold is traditional lube grooves
but I used 45/45/10 to tumble lube the unsized boolit and crimped using the groove provided.O/L is 1.250". Raise the powder to 3.9grains
for use in 357 brass,O/L 1.390",both rounds use Wolf Small pistol primers,both loads scarily accurate in my SP101. .
Funnily enough I,ve tried HP-38 in various calibers and couldn,t hit anything,it seems different to the last time I used it,about 15 years
ago.Good luck,Mike

[ACrowe25]

Oddly enough, I'm having some leading issues... Not sure why, need to figure it out.

[ACrowe25]

Chore boy wrapped brush scrubbed 2-3 times removes it all, but I like my stuff to be clean. Hopefully I can figure it out