Need advice for light 38 special load for wife

[seabreeze133]

Wife has had some health issues (age 76) and has become somewhat recoil sensitive.

She has a Charter 38 special 2.5" that she likes (pink of course :o))and I would like to load something in the 600 to700 fps range with 130gr TC cast for fam fire.

I have Unique, WSF, and HP38, Red Dot and some Bullseye. WST is available in my area.

She has some of the Hornady Lite 38 special loads for carry.

Sad news is she was a REALLY good shot just a few years ago.

Any advice would be appreciated.

seabreeze

[Kestrel4k]

Sounds like you've already decided on the 130's, but my first thought are those neat little 100gr wadcutters; they should make more of a difference for minimum recoil than powder choice; plus, that light of a projectile can get by with a lighter propellant charge.

Red Dot & Bullseye are natural powders for this; of your six powder choices I'd pass on the Unique & WSF.

Edit: I'm not a caster, so Penn (http://www.pennbullets.com/38/38-caliber.html) is my bible:

.38 Caliber 100 Grain Double Bevel Base Wadcutter
A simple balanced design that generates ultra low recoil in .38's. and excellent accuracy. Originally designed for new women shooters who were getting into shooting for the first time for self defense. Since most self defense instructors would recommend a .38 revolver for novice shooters (remember the Lady Smith line from S&W?) they wanted a bullet that would generate the lowest recoil possible and this bullet delivers it. It wasn't too long after its introduction that competitive shooters in PPC (Police Practical Course) picked up on the bullet to lower their recoil and recovery time. There are some reloaders who have even double stacked these in .357 cases as a self defense round that generates double impact on the target. All in all a great little bullet.

[Outpost75]

My concern is that lighter bullets in revolvers usually shoot much lower in point of impact, and depending what your Charter Arms was targeted with a the factory, shot placement may not be acceptable at defense ranges.

I would suggest using ordinary 148-grain target wadcutters, as having moderate recoil, deep penetration and good crush characteristics which do not depend upon expansion. For low-recoil practice ammunition the powder charge can be reduced to as little as 2 grains of Bullseye or Titegroup and with the deeply seated, flush wadcutter bullet the free airspace in the case will not be objectionable and ballistic uniformity will not be impaired.

Overall I think this will be MUCH more satisfactory than trying to load lighter bullets with reduced powder charges resulting in large amounts of free airspace in the case.

[seabreeze133]

Thanks for the advice. I do have a lot of wadcutter bullets from previous toys.

seabreeze

[jcren]

I have used a lot of unique for reduced-very reduced 38 special. I will say that around 3 grains becomes squib country with standard primers, but mag primers are reliable down to 2.4 under a 125 grain rf that is a pop gun with enough grunt for yard critters.

[rintinglen]

I taught my daughters to shoot with 358-101 75 grain Wadcutters over 2.5 grains of Bullseye. Recoil doesn't get much lighter.
For your 130 grain boolit, I'd try 3 grains of Red Dot or Bullseye, or 3.3 grains of HP-38. Should deliver about 650-700 FPS but the cases might be a little sooty. Be sure to crimp well for a good burn.

[dverna]

2.7 gr of Clays is accurate in my pistols and rifles. You may want to try 2.9 gr of HP38

[ShooterAZ]

For powder puff loads for the wife or kids I use the LEE 38 105 SWC. 3.0 to 3.5 grains of most any fast burning pistol powder is just the ticket for light loads with that one. The LEE 38 148 WC is another good one for us. 2.5 to 3 grains of Bullseye works well and recoil is very light.

[Piedmont]

If the point of impact is OK with the 130s, remember you can turn any bullet around and deep seat it. Your TC cone shape would become a boat tailed wadcutter.

[reddog81]

I've used Bullseye for light loads with success. The biggest concern will be making sure the bullets leave the bore.

Using a magnum primer and moderate to heavy crimp might help ensure sufficient ignition.

I'm not familiar with the charter arms frame size but a larger gun might be easier to hold, shoot, and adsorb recoil better.

[rexherring]

I've loaded quite a few Lee 125 RNFP with Trail Boss for a friends wife and they are a joy to shoot. For my plinking load I load the same bullet with 3 grs of BE

[Hardcast416taylor]

Using the 148 gr. WC boolets and HP-38 powder with a 3.0 gr. charge is still an attention getter, if necessary yet fun to shoot.Robert

[Mauser48]

148 grain wadcutter and 2.4 grains of 700x.

[Lead Fred]

The Mrs here shoots 5gr Unique pushing a 158gr Elmer Keith hollow point.

[quilbilly]

I've loaded quite a few Lee 125 RNFP with Trail Boss for a friends wife and they are a joy to shoot. For my plinking load I load the same bullet with 3 grs of BE
Excellent load and boolit for the ladies not accustomed to shooting much or a fun practice load for anyone.

[Sean357]

My wife likes the lower recoil loads. When she had her Charter Undercover I loaded 155 gr WC over 700X and it shot really well out of that revolver. I adjusted the load for a 148 gr wadcutter out of Lyman's cast bullet manual. Can't remember the charge right now and not in state so can't look. But it was very low recoil and accurate.

Sent from my XT1030 using Tapatalk

[ohiochuck]

These may help you .
Jim
http://www.castbulletassoc.org/forum/view_topic.php?id=1383&forum_id=4 (http://www.castbulletassoc.org/forum/view_topic.php?id=1383&forum_id=4)

http://www.thehighroad.org/archive/index.php/t-496743.html (http://www.thehighroad.org/archive/index.php/t-496743.html)

http://shilohtv.com/?p=9430 (http://shilohtv.com/?p=9430)

[Moonie]

When my wife took her concealed carry class I loaded up some 125gr Lee RNFP boolits with a light load of Clays, she used my 6" stainless security six. She really liked shooting it.

[plainsman456]

I use 3.2 grains of red dot with my 158 grain boolits in my 38 spl.

My hand likes them.

[country gent]

The old NRA bullseye load for pitol matches was very soft recoil and extremely accurate and ran in the velocity range you want. It was a 148 grn hollow based wadcutter and 2.7 grns of bullseye. Vey accurate and soft shooting was accurate to 50 yds also. I would siuspect your 130 grn bullet over a similar charge would be as good.

[ghh3rd]

I think my first question on this forum was about using my 148gr wadcutters in my snub. Ted answered my question... he has since passed on.


TAWILDCATT

Sun, 01 Feb 2009 16:04:35

If your shooting 38 spec try 2.8 of bullseye or 700X.It is the target load for 38 Spec 148 gr.I shoot that in my 4 " bull mod 10,in compitition.or I did as I am out of it 84ys old.I also use it in S&W 52.

it would depend on how good you are as to how many to shoot.at 50 ft you should be able to cut the 10 ring out.and you really have to shoot at a paper target.that load is good to 50yds.beyond that I dont know.

TED

[Bzcraig]

I've loaded quite a few Lee 125 RNFP with Trail Boss for a friends wife and they are a joy to shoot. For my plinking load I load the same bullet with 3 grs of BE


Excellent load and boolit for the ladies not accustomed to shooting much or a fun practice load for anyone.

I load 4grs Trailboss under the Lee 105 swc for my bride and it is very easy for her who is recoil sensitive.

[kycrawler]

I load the 100 gr wad cutters 130 Tc Bullets or the Lee 148 swc over a Lee . 3 cc dipper of bullseye which weighs out to 2.6 gr. It is a mild load little recoil probably 600 fps. Makes a good wife and kid load

[Don Fischer]

My favorite light load in 38's was 2.5 gr of Bullseye with a 148gr wadcutter. Actually all my loads are fairly light but then my present 38 is a heavy gun, 38/44 Outdoorsman S$W. I have a very light mod 16 Smith in 32 Long. With a 93gr bullet it is a ***** cat!

[Norske]

A second vote for the old bullseye competition load. The late gunwriter, Skeeter Skelton, pointed out the Hornady swaged wadcutter made an excellent defense round, especially if it was loaded backwards to make a soft hollowpoint with a giant hole. It's still accurate, and fairly comfortable in my wife's aluminum Taurus 85 snubby.

[P Flados]

After I got a Ruger 3" LCRX 38 for the wife to shoot, her first response with some of my regular 38s was that they hurt.

Since then I have loaded a ton of Lee 110s. To get recoil to her liking for the little light weight Ruger, I use either 2.8 gr of promo (same as red dot) or 2.5 gr of TiteGroup.

The little Ruger is a blessing and a curse. Blessing is the fun to shoot factor. Curse is they way ammo just seems to evaporate each trip to the range.

I found that they shoot either pretty good or OK in all of my other guns I use for 38 shooting. Plenty good enough for offhand practice.

This all occurred after my primary supply of COWW dried up and a hoped for chance to harvest some range lead got rained out. With my lead running low, the number of 110s per lb is a really nice plus.

[quilbilly]

My neighbor gave his wife one of the Taurus "snubbies" and he asked me to work up a load for her so I used the Lee 125 gr RF with 3 gr of Bullseye. She loved it. I called it an "air marshal" load.

[Doog-Meister]

Wife has a Ruger LCR. My go-to load of 158 gr SWC over 4.5 gr of Unique is too uncomfortable for her, so I load up a 125gr RNFP over 4.0 gr. Unique for practice stuff. I slip in the factory 158 gr JHP for her carry ammo. At self-defense ranges, the difference in point of impact will be negligible.

[Walkingwolf]

I use Bayou 138 grain coated wadcutters for self defense loads. They also make great target loads, the deeper a bullet seats, the less powder it uses. At least to me it seems to reduce recoil considerably. I found that Hodgdon Universal seems to be a light recoiling powder with 158 grain bullets in a snub. Just start at the lowest load on the Hodgdon charts.

You could also consider switching to a 22 LR snub, or semi auto. A SR22 or Walther P22 would likely have next to no recoil. My wife has a Hi Point CF380 she bought some years ago, 22 recoil with slightly more power. BUT it is a Hi Point, and it is heavy for a 380, she enjoys shooting it though. So far it is only a range gun, BUT it has been reliable, about 1000 rounds without any failure. Personally I would suggest the SR22, they have a good reputation when used with quality ammo.

You could also consider a CA 32 H&R, a trade off between a 22, and a 38. My wife carries a Colt Police Positive in 32-20, about the same power. It has mild recoil and is still a very capable SD cartridge. I have it loaded with 83 grain DEWC at 1100 fps using Long Shot powder 6.2 grains. That comes out to about the same kinetic energy as a standard 38 special. I would have considered a CA for her except for the 5 shot capacity. But your wife's 38 Charter is the same as the 32 Charter.

[smkummer]

Yep, I loaded the lee 125 tumble lube bullet intended for 9mm with 2.8 grains bullseye for a light ladies training round(this is also with the proper lee 125 FP bullet considered a good cowboy action load). It worked fine when sized to .358. Sized to .356 for the 9mm and some rounds made a weak sound. Now all the women are fine with 2.8 bullseye and a plain base 148 wadcutter, including out of the alloy Colt cobras and agents. So I am done with the cowboy with the 125 grain bullet.

[DanishM1Garand]

Be careful. I was working up a mouse load for .38 special for plinking and had a squib got stuck in the barrel. After that I put a wad of TP on top of the powder to keep it in contact with the primer.

[Walkingwolf]

Be careful. I was working up a mouse load for .38 special for plinking and had a squib got stuck in the barrel. After that I put a wad of TP on top of the powder to keep it in contact with the primer.

I use a small piece of cotton ball, and a really good crimp. It is especially important with mild loads in magnum cases. Found out one day with the 32-20 shooting at a snake. All I got was a pop, and a stuck bullet. Ya don't need a lot, just enough to keep the powder close to the primer.

[Kosh75287]

3.0/RedDot/130 TC. You might need to increase by 0.1gr., depending the revolver, for it to burn cleanly.

[RogerDat]

I have found recently that 3.2 grains Titegroup driving a sized 158 SWC or a sized Lyman 150 grain WC that projects out a bit from the case and fills the same amount of case as the SWC or RNL are both good, mild and accurate at shorter ranges. The two are very close to the same feel and point of aim remains consistent. This is min load for Titegroup and 158 grain bullet but is fully functional and noticeably lighter recoil.

I feel that Unique has more kick than Titegroup but that is not a scientific assessment, just a general feeling. I also am beginning to think that sizing helps smooth things out as far as feel goes, even if "as cast" will work fine, sized is just a touch more accurate and seems less jarring. Not blind tested and so could be just a figment of my imagination.

Just an odd outside the box thought, black powder seems to me to have a lighter recoil.... you can spend as much range time while firing less shots, and thus less abuse of the hand and joints from recoil. Weird ideas pop into my head, what can I say. Daughter noticed how mild a 44 C&B was compared to a normal round from a smokeless 45 colt even with a mild load.

[xringshutr]

They hit a little low out of my Model 10 Smith, but a 105 Lee SWC is crazy accurate and "cat sneeze" with 2.8-3.2 gr of Win WST.

[Overalls87]

I'm a newbie to this reloading game. But 3 grains of bullseye and a 158 grain cast bullet is quite mild and quite accurate.

[cherokeetracker]

WST is great for the wadcutters and even some of the cast bullets such as 158 grain. Very mild shooting and many guys I know use this powder in cold weather since it ignites easier than W231. Look at Hodgdon Website for info.

[MarkP]

They hit a little low out of my Model 10 Smith, but a 105 Lee SWC is crazy accurate and "cat sneeze" with 2.8-3.2 gr of Win WST.

Similar load to mine but with Reddot also use a Lyman 77 gr WC

[Texas by God]

4 grs Unique/150gr Lee swc are creampuffs in my wife's 4" K frame.

[Lloyd Smale]

in my 15 I shoot a lot of the lee 105 swc and 2 grains of bullseye. I don't even bother sizing them. Just coat them will alox load and shoot. Not much more recoil then a 22. Very accurate in my gun to boot.