Different bullet weights in fixt sight handguns

[robert12345]

I am soon to be the proud new owner of a Montreal Canada police surplus, Smith Wesson, Model 10 heavy barrel; ..38 caliber revolver.
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Me, I have been shooting sixguns for 50 years, and in that time, I have only adjusted only one pistol sight, ..one time, ..it was on an old Hi Standard, .44 magnum Crusader revolver.
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Note to self:
Heavy bullets shoot high.
Light bullets shoot low.
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My interest in the model 10 heavy barrel, is using this revolver as a belt gun on my hikes, and shooting just one reload; maybe 38 wad cutters, or 160 grain LBT flat point , or the old Thompson 155 grain gas check.

One bullet, one re-load, ..at about 950 fps, using between 5.5 to 6 grains of Unique.

Old age has taught me, " beware of the on gun man," ....and I will add to that, "especially if he shoots just one reload..."
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Questions of curiosity:
Will these different loads print differently at 25 years ? ( I would like my one chosen re- load to "cut center" at 25 yards)

Will the difference be enough to notice ?

Has anybody here done any testing using a different bullet weights at roughly the same velocity, and how they shoot on paper at 25 yards, in fixed sight revolvers ?

[Outpost75]

Your 5.5 to 6 grains of Unique is +P. If you want your Model 10 to stay tight I would drop the charge back to 5 grains for steady use with a 155-160 grain bullet with minimum ctg. OAL of 1.45". Save the hotter loads for field use. You will find point of impact more dependent upon bullet weight than velocity.

I would drop the charge even further to 4.5 grains for loading a full-charge wadcutter with a DEWC bullet similar to the Saeco #348 at an OAL of 1.2". In a 4" gun with cylinder gap at Mean Assembly Tolerance (pass 0.005/hold 0.006) this will give 855 +/- 30 fps, which is a full charge load, warmer than factory standard velocity, but not +P.

With soft-swaged 148-grain HBWC bullets seated nearly flush at 1.17-1.180" I would not exceed 4 grains, as you will likely blow the HB shirts and this should give 775+/-30 fps.

Factory wadcutters are closely approximated with the HBWC bullet seated flush with 3.5 grains of Unique.

Most likely your Model 10 was targeted at the factory at 20 yards using standard velocity 158-grain lead ammunition unless something else was specified in the contract. If this is the case I would expect 148-grain wadcutters to shoot to poi nt of aim at the top of the front sight at 25 yards and the 158s a bit higher, maybe 2 to 2-1/2" above the top of the front sight at 25 yards, correct for a 6:00 hold on the B15 timed and rapid-fire target.

[robert12345]

My standard load in 38 special is 160 grain cast LBT or Thompson bullet and 5.5 gr unique.
Pistols are K-38/6" bbl, or model 19/4" bbl.

The old Speer Stagecoach #8 manual says 6.0 is max.

5.5 Unique/160 grain/950 fps in a smith Wesson K frame works well for me.

Looking in my old Speer manual, it shows factory 38 hi-speed at 1100 fps which equals about 6.0 gr unique.

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Setting all that aside, your answers were very informative, and I learned something.

It seems that the factory may well sight in fixed sight guns, ( not just screw the barrel on ), and the best load to cut center is a 148 grain target wad cutter at around 800 fps.
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I do not have the gun as yet; it will arrive at my dealer any day, ( maybe today ); likely I will start with my old tried and true load of 5.5 gr unique, then if that is not what I want, I will just go with a target wad cutter.
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The Smith Wesson model 10:
I have ignored that l handgun over my lifetime, ( distaining it's fixed sights... ) then, in the gun shop the other day, I handled one, and that at old Smith 10, is as natural a pointer, as is a Glock.

I look foreword to walking many happy miles with it.

[centershot]

What Outpost75 has said mimics my experience with a number of fixed-sight .38's. The only exception I ever saw was a Colt Detective Special I had many moons ago. That gun would shoot 110 gr. JHP's to point of aim, anything heavier than that was low. A lot! Today, I carry a S&W 67 loaded with factory 158 gr. LSWC-HP's, the so-called "FBI load". Practice loads are a cast 160 gr. RNFP over 4.5 of Bullseye. It does what I need a handgun to do.

P.S. Be judicious in your use of some of those .38 Special loads in the Speer #8 manual. As it says in the section on "snubby loads" continuous use may loosen the action of the gun. Those loads were tested in a K frame and that caveat applies to the smaller frame guns, BUT, I've shot some of those top loads in my 67 and they are HOT!

[David2011]

Although I have several .38 and .357 revolvers I'm not going to be very good at a direct answer. Most of my loads of those guns over the years have been 2.3 to 2.8 grains of Bullseye with 148 grain wadcutters or 158 grain semi-wadcutters. Most have adjustable sights and haven't been adjusted in years. They're all used solely for fun plinking.

OTOH, I have a fair amount of experience with a TC Contender with a scoped 14" barrel in .44 Mag. I only shoot one boolit regardless of the powder charge and that's the RCBS 44-250 KT. When I first got the gun I loaded up some moderate .44 Special loads using Win 231 powder as published by Lyman and good for around 725 fps. I also loaded up some .44 Mag loads with the same boolit using 2400 that resulted in a 1600 fps load. At 25 yards the Magnum loads printed a full two feet lower than the Special loads. The Special loads allowed the muzzle to rise before clearing the barrel. The Magnum loads cleared the barrel before the muzzle had time to rise very much. I knew the faster loads would hit lower; I just never imagined that the difference would be that great. It isn't the boolit weight alone; velocity is also a component of the equation.

Handloading will allow you to contour your powder charges to get any boolit weight to hit in the center of the target. While the loads that print in the middle of the target at 25 yards might not be the most accurate possible, little groups are of no value if they miss the target. Example: For my primary hunting rifle I opted to find the velocity that matched the bullet drop reticle from 100 to 500 yards over the load that made the smallest group. I can still hit a 4" target at 500 yards so it's accurate enough.

[georgerkahn]

I have a similar revolver, 'cept mine was a U S Government Property one lend-leased to the United Kingdom in the war following the war to end all wars ;). In early experimentation with cast loads, barrel leading was an issue. Hard bullets; soft bullets; varying velocity making little difference. A friend suggested trying/using mid-range trajectory flush-seated 148gr wad-cutters. For me, these propelled with a modest (2.3gr) load of Alliant Bullseye powder has worked well for me. The same fellow professed the "buck" sighting method, where he'd tack a U S dollar bill to a tree at 25 paces. He'd aim for the center of picture on the "buck", and that was his criteria for load accuracy. (I never was proficient enough, off-hand, to do more than put a half-moon on the bill's edge). For a defense firearm -- regardless of how many legs the aggressor affronting you may have -- it may work.
NICE revolver, eh?
BEST!
geo