38 spl 38 short Colt quiet carbine loads

[Malamute]

Im seeking a very low noise load in 38 spl or 38 Short Colt that I can shoot in the yard and not be as concerned about hearing problems. I have a few 38 Short Colts loaded with 3.something gr Red Dot (from lee dipper) with 125 gr cast that made more noise than I expected. The info I had indicated it should be low 700s fps in a pistol. Id like a pest/snake load I dont have to worry about my ears ringing or hearing damage after shooting if I dont have time to use hearing protection. I already have a significant amount of damage and dont want to make it any worse. Anyone have specific loads they can recommend for this? I have Unique, Red Dot, and Clays Universal available. Gun is current mfg Winchester 73 carbine in 357 cal. I can easily single load the 38 short Colts or 38 wadcutters in the chamber, so feeding isnt an issue.

[smkummer]

A few years back, I friend kept down loading red dot in 30-06 to get the Lyman 77 grain 32 auto bullet to be Quiet enough not to need hearing plugs. But this was a bolt action rifle and the low powder charge was all burnt up by the time the “wee” bullet exited the barrel. CCI 22 quiets are very quiet in my Marlin 39 because the charge is all expended. Of those powders, bullseye and red dot will be your best bet. I would go with the 125 grain cast and work down from about 2.0 grain as a start. Keep going .02 grains less until your “ pop” is inconsistent, then go back up .2 grains. Just my .02 from what my friend did with his 30-06 and red dot. 231 wouldn’t work. Remember when you get inconsistent sound, you are on the border of the bullets just clearing the barrel. I have seen my fair share of stuck bullets with cowboy action shooting.

[Drm50]

I just bought 4 boxes of 38s off a women that said they were on a shelf in their attack and must have been her dad’s. It turns out it’s 3 boxes of Win 38 Long Colt and a box Win 32Colt New Police.
I was going to look these up to see if they have same dimensions of 38sp and 32 S&W. I had a Colt DA revolver that was 38 Long Colt and I didn’t shoot it. I think it was because I didnt have any 38LC at the time. Never had a gun marked 32 Colt NP. From style of boxes they are 50s or 60s ammo.

[Outpost75]

Factory loads for the .38 Long Colt chronograph about 700 fps from a modern 4-inch .38 Special revolver, similar to wadcutters, but a roundnosed, hollow-based bullet.

[Scrounge]

I just bought 4 boxes of 38s off a women that said they were on a shelf in their attack and must have been her dad’s. It turns out it’s 3 boxes of Win 38 Long Colt and a box Win 32Colt New Police.
I was going to look these up to see if they have same dimensions of 38sp and 32 S&W. I had a Colt DA revolver that was 38 Long Colt and I didn’t shoot it. I think it was because I didnt have any 38LC at the time. Never had a gun marked 32 Colt NP. From style of boxes they are 50s or 60s ammo.

32 Colt New Police is the Colt version of the 32 S&W. Brass is the same dimensions, bullet/boolit is a little different, but not a lot.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Colt_New_Police_Revolver

[smkummer]

38 short colt is factory loaded with a outside lubricated bullet (.375) intended for old bore through cylinder chambers. Although it works fine in modern dimension tighter chambers. Reloading it with inside diameter .357 diameter bullets works in modern 38 special or 357 cylinders. It may allow for even smaller charges of powder than the larger 38 special case before it starts acting erratic.

[KWK]

Some older reduced loads for lead bullets can be found here (http://www.gmdr.com/lever/lowveldata.htm). The accuracy (GroupSize) numbers can be discouraging, but these are 10 shot groups, not 3.

My son and I have done some quiet .357 WC loads over Solo 1000 in his 77/357, but that has been a frustratingly inaccurate rifle for us, so I won't bother to copy those here.

[Malamute]

Thanks for the comments so far.

I load a .310 round ball in 30-30 with 3 grs Unique, its about like a standard velocity 22 LR load, not the crack of the high velocity 22 LR. Im hoping to achieve a similar sound level for the 38 loads for the carbine. Ill try the lighter charges of Red Dot with the 125 gr bullets first, I may end up casting or buying .360 round balls for extra-light loads.

Ive shot scads of 22 CBs and shorts over the years, they are great, the 22 quiets work fairly well, as do 22s in general. The quest for fun and useful centerfire loads in various chamberings is ongoing. I started with round ball loads in 45-70, they work great for grouse and snakes. The 30-30 load are also very good, no problem shooting them without hearing protection, and they didnt even spook my last dogs that were gun shy, especially when we were grouse hunting, the bird falling out of the tree after the pop was well worth the noise to them. Current dog is mildly tolerant of gunfire, but doesnt like very loud shooting. ive shot 22s in the yard and she just ran around barking and excited, wondering what all the excitement was. When i shot 2 rds of 30-30 to check zero, it was too much, now shes a bit hesitant about it all, and one reason I want to build a truly mild load I can use in the 38/357 carbine. If i can make a reasonably quiet load thats useful within 30 or so yards Ill be pretty happy.

I have 100 38 short Colt cases by Starline, if I can figure out a good load Ill likely get more. They load fine with 9mm dies and 38 shell holder. I grab a few and put in my pocket when dog walking around the yard (10 acres) leaving the magazine loaded with regular full power stuff. Its an interesting neighborhood, so like having something more than a 22 when walking about. The bigger guns are hard on my bum shoulder at this point.