New-b needs some advice

[Village Idiot]

The wife broke her wrist and its now held together with screws and a rod. She back to 80% of full range movement and doc's say thats about as good as it gets. She is getting along fine and life is good however, its weaker and can't take the pounding it used to. She has a snubby S&W 38 that she shoots . She’s always run upper end 38's and some +p's. Tried to take her shooting but after a couple cylinders full she said her wrist wouldn't take it. I want to load way down and see if I can work her back up to reg 38 fodder. I think we can build the wrist back up and have some fun doing it. Doc says she can do what she wants' it won't damage anything. Now for the question? I have 120 gr TC and 125 gr RNFP "boolits". Available powders are unique, red dot, blue dot, win 231, (out of bullseye at the moment but will have some when on the shelves again). Any thoughts on reduced loads for the snubby with any of the above powders and how low can I go without trouble?

By the way, been lurking for a couple of months since I decide to pour my own. This site and the people on it are a fantastic knowledge base. Every time I have run into an issue, checking stickies or old threads has answered my questions. You have saved me hours of frustration by reading posts here.

Thanks to all
Village Idiot

[bobthenailer]

in 38 special cases load a 158 gr swc backwards almost flush with the case mouth approx 1/8 inch and try 1.5 gr+ of BE or TG HAVENT TRIDE THE OTHER POWDERS for around 500 fps. i have 125 rn for the 9 and super but never used them in the 38

[MT Gianni]

Try 3 gr Red Dot for a load with you 125 gr. You may be able to back off to 2.7-2.8 but make sure that the boolit leaves the bbl.

[mooman76]

Lee has a 105gr SWC plinker bullet that shoot good. Maybe it with a really light powder load would work well.

[Village Idiot]

Bob - intersting concept, I was thinking lighter bullet but, even less powder with a bit heavier bullet may reduce recoil more? I have a 158 gr SWC mould so its something I can try. Hopefully BE shows up on the shelf soon. Have not played with TG yet but hear good things. May have to add that to shopping list.

MT Gianni - thats what i was looking for, I know there is less bore resistance with cast than j and wasn't sure how low I could go before having issues. Been loading a long time but new to casting.

moonman - I looked at the 105 gr but was trying to work with what I have at hand. However, if i can't get there with what I have its top of the list for next purchase.

The 125 TC boolit is the 9mm mold but its been lapped out to drop at .359 an sized to .358 as all my 9's run large on goove dia. at .357-.3575. I was thinking the TC would make it easier on her to chamber the buggers with the reduced wrist dexterity.

Thanks, great advice as always
Village Idiot

[lylejb]

Another thought, Trail boss powder was made for reduced cast loads.

I'm using 2.6gr trail boss with a Lee 358-158-rf for the wife and kids to shoot. It's about 1.5 times a 22lr recoil and noise wise.

Trail boss is a fast powder near the red dot - bullseye speed range, but is unusual in that it's made to fill up the case. It's almost twice the volume as other powders, for the same grain weight.

With the powders you have on hand, I would try about the same ammount of red dot.

[Village Idiot]

Great idea, I haven't played with trail boss yet and I do belive they have that on the shelf. I like the idea of the bulkier powder for reduced loads also. That will also work well for plinkers in my 44's & 357's? How about 45 ACP, will it work for plinking loads in that? Looks like I will be adding another powder to the cabinet. I think I will grab a can tomorrow on the way by the gun shop, need to check for BE anyway.
Thanks Lyle

[mdi]

Sorta on topic(?). When I had hand probs, I learned to shoot with my off hand. I now shoot my 2" 38 with either hand. Anyway, 148 gr wadcutters were mild enough to get me by, with about 3.0 gr Bullseye. FWIW...

[Gee_Wizz01]

Take a look at the Hodgdons web site they have several loads for light weight cast bullets with WW 231.http://data.hodgdon.com/cartridge_load.asp

G

[405]

A really good low recoil load for kids, ladies and others where recoil is a problem is a light to mid weight cast (125-140 gr.) over 1.9-2.0 gr of Trail Boss. Yes they'll get out of the barrel. Have shot a bunch of these in 2" small frame 38s.

[pmeisel]

All good ideas, but you could also consider stepping her down to a 32. I had my wife (who could handle a 38 but never seemed comfortable) shooting a borrowed 32 not long ago. Now I am shopping for one.

[Three44s]

mdi is really onto something ...... that of shooting with the other hand!

It's a needed skill that most shooters don't avail themselves of ...... and this would be a perfect time for your wife to take it up.

Shoot the weaker ammo with her strong side but BY ALL MEANS ........ pursue the off side as well.

Three 44s

[MtGun44]

Lighter boolit, 105 Lee has worked wonderfully in my 9mm, not certain it is large enough
diam for your .38, but if it is, try some Bullseye or Red Dot down at the very bottom of
the loading chart for a mouse-sneeze load to keep the wrist happy.

I have broken two wrists over the years, and both of mine came back to full recoil
capability, but it took almost a year for the second one to be OK with hot loads.

Hope the wife has the same luck that I did, but I had no surgery on either.

Bill

[Village Idiot]

Thanks for the great advice all!
Gee Wizz - thanks for the link, don't know why I didn't think to check for data there before,
its a great resource.
Its been a year since the surgery with months of therapy. Its is what it is at this point. The reduced dexterity is due to scar tissue from the surgery, nothing they can do about that. It's weak so she needs to build it back up, doesn't seam to be a pain issue at the moment just to week for the recoil.
I agree with shooting with the off hand as I practice that myself occasionally. I have never had her try it as I was just getting her comfy with the 38 strong hand with high end 38 & +P's. I will get her to practice weak hand but really want to work on building her strong hand wrist back up.
I picked up a can of Trail Boss that 405 & Lyle recommended and going to try the 2.0 grain load with the 125 gr RNFP home poured and see how it goes.
Again, thanks all for the great advice!!! This forum and the people on it are just awsome!!!!

Village Idiot

[44MAG#1]

Did she hurt he other wrist too?
I would just change shooting hands and keep trucking. May be a slight learning curve but it would solve a lot of problems and keep down the concern.

[Village Idiot]

Appologies,
I call the dominate shooting hand the strong hand and the non shooting the weak hand. Just the terminology I have always used. I didn’t mean to confuse the issue.

Village Idiot

[44MAG#1]

I still would like to understand why she can't use the other hand to shoot with. My buddy hurt his elbow of the strong hand arm and he went to the weak hand to do his shooting till it healed. Can't she shoot weak hand? If so what really is the problem? Even if she can never go back to her strong hand her weak hand will then become her strong hand and he strong hand will become her weak hand right?

[Village Idiot]

Again, sorry, I guess I didn't explain myself well. I am not saying she can shoot with her other hand and believe it is a good thing for everyone to learn. However, her wrist is healed up and now we have to work on strenghtening it. I am hoping part of that process can be shooting by starting with reduced loads and working up as she gains strength.

[NHlever]

You can try 3.0 grains of Red Dot, or 3.5 of W-231, and that should get you started with the 125 RNFP. You are only looking at 600 fps, or a bit less so I probably wouldn't go much lower though it seems safe to do so. Just make sure you don't go too low, and stick a boolit in the bore.

[Village Idiot]

NHlever - I have delt with stuck bullets in the past with 380 rim in a revolver with very old surplus ammo so I am aware of the possiblity. Its one of the reasons for my asking how low can I go to get a feel for what others have done. I have never loaded outside loading manual recomendations (usually cross referencing 3 to4 manuals). I know from posts other do for specialized purposes. My concern was not only too low and stuck boolits but also picking the wrong powder to reduce (example: H110 in a 357) and causing pressure problems. I will be doing all the testing and insure all is safe. I would never put anything in another persons hands I did not have full confidence was safe.

Thanks for the info, its greatly appreciated

V.I.

[NHlever]

As long as your throats are a reasonable size, and the barrel / cylinder gap on your revolver is reasonable, say under .008 the loads I suggested should work fine.

[Village Idiot]

Throats are 3575 - .3580 dia, groove is .3565 dia. I don't have feeler gages at the moment but 3 folds of paper between the barrel and cyl have resistance when pulling the paper out. 3folds mic at .009 so I am close or slightly over .008 on gap I believe.

Mould is lapped to drop at .3590 dia. Lee sizer is honed to size at .3580. Going to try Lee alox & JPW tumble lube recipe I found here on the forum.

I am using close to pure pb with tin added for fill out. Bullets mic at .3580 after sizing.

The issue I am having now is is seating and crimping. I assembled some dummy loads then pulled them with a kenetic bullet puller. I mic'ed the bullet and they are swaging down to .3570 - .3575 after bullet seating and crimp. They are still over bore dia. but under throat dia. Will this cause problems with soft pb? Should I blend for a harder bullet to resist swaging when seating or am I getting to Neurotic?

Apologies if my questions seam stupid but I am new to pouring my own.

V.I.