My 38 Special experience...

[Shome10x]

All,

Thought I'd share....not having a mould...I bought a couple of boxes of 158gswc .358 boolits....

Throats on my Mod 14 are ~.3575...at least that is the diameter of swaged bullet pushed thru...

I picked some of the powders I have on hand... Universal, Pb, Ba9(Vectan) & 700x. I have others...but four was enough to start.

I pushed them anywhere from 700fps to 800fps...There wasn't a whole lot of fps consistency with any of these powders....at least not from my loads. I had high hopes for PB...but accuracy was poor. Universal was better, just not great. 700x was a better still...but I don't think I'm loading them correctly for this fast powder(too much crimp).

Anyway, the initial winner was Ba9...Fps consistency was not good & it left burnt powder...but the accuracy was on par with my swaged bullet loads. So, I'm going to try a few more details with this load and see if the consistency improves. OF COURSE...I'll have to find a suitable replacement when I run out. I've got a bunch of VV N330...so this may be it.

Its been a fun few weeks playing with all the loads...

cg

[EDK]

Pal, You got a whole bunch of places to experiment with for good loads.

Get a good reloading book...or go to the powder company web sites for data. Read Glenn Fryxell's articles over at lasc.us. Read up on the various threads here.

To be more specific, investigate TITEGROUP or HP-38 (WW-231) UNIQUE, BULLSEYE for powders. Do some tinkering with crimp...or buy a taper crimp die. Different style bullets and different diameters too.

:Fire::castmine::redneck:

[dubber123]

Don't be afraid to lean on the powder scale a bit, (within reason). Higher charge weights often produce more consistant and cleaner burns for me. I have been shooting a Model 14 quite a bit lately myself.

[scrapcan]

I too have been shooting a S&W 38 a lot lately ( model 15-3 x4 inch). It is pretty hard to beat the old bullseye load for fun 2.7 to 2.8 gr bullseye or even up to 3.0 gr. I have been shooting the 3.0 gr load quite a bit with 150 rcbs SWC and many lyman 148 to 158 gr choices.

You did not say what you are using he handgun and load for so that info may help also.

[44man]

OH BOY, what do we do to get Shome casting?
I bet those store bought things are BB too with some funny lube.
:bigsmyl2:

[405]

Seems like you have the right assortment of powders. You mentioned swaged so I assume they come from one of the big companies like Hornady or Speer??? Usually those swaged bullet are very soft- something less than 8 BHN and are tumble lubed after the bullets are knurled. I've found those bullets, if they're what you are shooting, only shoot best within a very narrow range of load specs. I do shoot some of them especially in a carbine when burnin' ammo is the game and not necessarily accuracy.

You could chase molds and nearly unlimited bullet styles in that caliber from now on :) I settled on a basic grease groove, plain base bullet of SWC design at about 130 gr with a BHN of about 14-15 sized to .358 over a light charge of fast powder and minimal roll crimp. That combination has given the most consistent accuracy in the various revolvers I have in 38 Spec. Plus near zero leading and pleasant to shoot.

[Shome10x]

Yup 44 man....

These store bought bullets are not the best... I'm not a fan of hard crayon lube...and I think the bullet is the accuracy robbing culprit.

Since I will be shooting these is competition...I need to meet the requirement of 158 gr SWC or RN. Any suggestions for an available mould?

Thanks, cg

[Shome10x]

405...

I usually shoot Rem WC over Clays....They shoot better than I can, but not legal for the "Distinguished revolver" matches.

cg

[9.3X62AL]

RN would be Lyman #358311, classic 38 Special cast boolit. If SWC, I would lean toward an RCBS or Lee 158 grain design, since the Lyman #358477 runs 150 grains and the Lyman #358429 runs 163-175, depending upon Lyman's mood of the moment.

[.357]

unique all the way for my .38 special look at different molds RCBS is what i would suggest. 9.3X62AL is correct Lyman isn't exactly consistant shame you can't shoot a 148 grain wad cutter.

[KYCaster]

44man said, "OH BOY, what do we do to get Shome casting?
I bet those store bought things are BB too with some funny lube."

Shome10x said, " Yup 44 man....

These store bought bullets are not the best... I'm not a fan of hard crayon lube...and I think the bullet is the accuracy robbing culprit.

Since I will be shooting these is competition...I need to meet the requirement of 158 gr SWC or RN. Any suggestions for an available mould?"



Hmmmm...My S&W 14-5 shoots right around 1 1/2" at 25 yds with Magma style BBSWC, BBRN and BBWC lubed with Dave Thompson's "hard crayon" stuff.

Maybe I should get rid of those and find something that will really shoot. Can you guys recommend something better?:kidding:

Jerry

[405]

405...

I usually shoot Rem WC over Clays....They shoot better than I can, but not legal for the "Distinguished revolver" matches.

cg


Well, I still assume you're basing the load testing on a SWC bullet of some sort???
I'm unsure also of the nature of a "legal criteria" load for the matches you shoot??? 7-50 yards on paper? Steel plates? Etc.? And, not sure of the nature of lack of consistency??? Is it velocity SD??, accuracy?? or something else?? Possibilities could include: gun chambers-bore specs, bullet hardness, bullet style/weight, lube, cartridge OAL, crimp, load techniques/sizing, others.

My first post referred to a bullet type for 38 special that has given me the most consistent performance for target shooting with light loads in most all my 38s (mostly S&W). I use Bullseye, 700X or Trail Boss. I crimp with a very light roll crimp onto the front drive band using the seater crimp shoulder or seperately with a Lee FCD set to very light crimp. It is enough to hold bullet under the light recoil of these loads. I load to vels of about 700 fps. Pic is of described 38 Spl round. Bullet drops at 130-135 gr. depending on alloy. I don't know of a specific common mold that is identical but the closest, similar bullet is supplied by Magnus Bullet Co. out of Alabama. There may be other suppliers? This design is an old one. I imagine companies casting similar designs use a Magma mold.

Just looked in castpics and found the type mold I'm talking about. Also the Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook and some of the older Lyman Manuals list it. It's the 358480. Might have to scrounge around because suppliers don't list it as a current Lyman production.

[Char-Gar]

If you are shooting those soft swaged commercial bullets, that might explain your disapointment. I have not had good luck with those either. I think you can get good results, but I get such good results from my cast bullets, why bother?

The world is full of good 38 Special molds and many have been mentioned here. The two I use most are the old SACO/Cramer #12 SWC and the Lyman 358311 RN. I use Bulleye or 231 for most loads and for a little more oompf, I go with Unique or AA5. When I run out of 231 and AA5 I will use nothing but BE and Unique. The others don't offer any advantage.

[beagle]

Sounds like he's already infected. Just needs time for the seed to germinate......./beagle


OH BOY, what do we do to get Shome casting?
I bet those store bought things are BB too with some funny lube.
:bigsmyl2:

[Doc_Stihl]

Maybe try melting out that nasty wax lube and TL the boolits with LLA.

Try some Trail Boss.

A lee 6 cavity 158Gr SWC - TL mold is cheap and makes GREAT boolits in a hurry. Easy Easy Easy.

[Shome10x]

Thanks for the replies...I'd really like to find a #12...or maybe I'll have to go the balliscast route...anyway I'm only looking for paper accuracy.
cg

[Ekalb2000]

I have yet shot 38 thru the 357. But when I get some split cases and trim them back to 38s I am leaning toward unique. It does pretty good in the 357. Its no 2400, but for an all around usefull round, I think it will do the trick.

405,
"You can't have no idea how little I care"- Montelius Walsh
One of the most under rated shows. They should have made more.

[405]

Ekalb2000,
Agreed, much under-rated. I know that Selleck self-produced (TWS Productions) both Monte Walsh and Crossfire Trail. Had to go low budget without big Hollywood backing. Used actors that worked on the cheap because they also wanted to do and re-live those type Westerns. Selleck even used some of his own, original guns in those.

[Reloader06]

Might I suggest a H&G 51. 4 bangers can be had reasonably cheap on the auction sites. Great bullet.

Matt