.38 Special round ball load

[BrianB]

I have looked all through my search results and cannot find this, so if it has been covered before, at least I tried.

I'm looking for a .38 Special load using Unique or Clays and a single .360 round ball.

Anyone got a recipe?

Thanks, BAB

[NickSS]

I have never tried a RB in a 38 but I have used them in a 45 colt. All I did was load 5 gr of Unique and seated the ball in the mouth of the case a little past half way and role crimping it in place. So I imagine that if you load like 3 to 4 gr of Unique and a 360 ball it will work fine. I lube the balls with LLA.

[Shiloh]

Why not just use a wadcutter??

Shiloh

[woody1]

Not Clays or Unique, but I use 3.1 gr. B'eye. Works for me. Regards, Woody

[.357]

I once got a PM i requested about this topic from
45-70 Chevroner


It has been quite a while since I used the RB load. I used a 36 cal RB over, I think the load was 3 or 4 grs. of Bullseye. You can't push them to fast as they will not stablize, not enough berring surface. You can use two RBs for in house self protection. At 10 to 15 feet they will print about 2 to 3" apart. I never tryed them at much over 25'. I seated the ball flush and used a little lube over the end. Crisco works ok but it is messy and you need to shoot them soon after loading or they will get dirty pretty easely. I would not be suprised if you could get them to shoot well out to 25yrds with a little load tweeking. They should shoot as well as a cap and ball pistol. Both of my 44 cap and ball pistols will shoot inside 4" at 25 yrds.



i have not tried these but would love to, gotta experiment with this.

[mooman76]

I tried some RB loads but they tumbled allot!:kidding:

[Hardcast416taylor]

There`s just nothing more dis- heartening than to have your RB`s tumble!Robert

[Beerd]

I have run .375 round balls thu a .358 sizer and load on top of 3.0 grains of WW231. You could probably do the same with Clays.
Not real accurate but there's not much recoil either.
..

[Echo]

I really haven't laughed as much when shooting my reloads as I did Saturday. I had loaded some .38 Special RB loads with 2.0 grs of 231. Aiming at the middle of the 60-yard berm, the ball would hit about 20 ft in front of the berm, ricocheting up to hit near where I was aiming. If I took it to the 100 yard line, it might make it, but it would be rolling, not flying. I guess I need a little more oomph...

[Multigunner]

I made up some rat killer/cat sneeze loads using aprox 1 gr of bulleye under a round ball I'd squeesed down to .359 by pounding a .375 round ball through a hole in a steel slab. Pounding the RB through the hole left of flattened on the base with a good bearing surface and rounded nose.

I was trying for velocities about that of a wrist rocket sling shot, and low noise level of course.

I found that I could hang a hankerchef on a cross wire and the bullets would flip the cloth up without penetrating.

I had only one bullet that failed to exit the muzzle, it in fact didn't fully exit the chamber mouth. I could hear the gases expelled around the bullet in a sizzling hiss.

This was using a snubbie Model 37, so its likely the balls wouldn't exit the bore reliably if the barrel was longer.

I seated the short slug below the case mouth, to reduce free space to promote full ignition of the tiny charge, and smeared door ease silicone grease around the inside of the case mouth as a lube.

[Beerd]

re: 2 grains of 231 & a 38 RB


I really haven't laughed as much when shooting my reloads as I did Saturday.

the main idea behind my reloading and shooting is fun and games anyway


If I took it to the 100 yard line, it might make it, but it would be rolling, not flying. I guess I need a little more oomph...

I'd call this a half fast load :lol:
Probably doesn't require much hearing protection either.:wink:
..

[Oyeboten]

I am thinking to squeeze two .360 Balls into a .358 resizing Die, on the Anvil, and with a flat Punch of about the same diameter, give them a few wacks to flatten them a little for more side grip in the Rifling...and see how much 3f BP I can fit into the .38 Special Case then, for the top Ball to get crimped...should shoot pretty nice.


I was looking at some .358 90 Grain Wad Cutters the other day, thinking of double-shot Loadings with those, but, that'd be over Smokeless.

[82nd airborne]

Rufracer and i have contemplated loading 3 stacked discs in a .357 mag, with the top one being somewhat conical. as soon as it makes it to the top of the rediculous project list ill post results.

[WARD O]

One of the older Speer reloading manuals had this data included. I seem to remember it being in the manual that was mostly black, grey and white for the cover.

[sheepdog]

Why not just use a wadcutter??

Shiloh

Why ask why? If it can be done why not try just to see what happens?

Been wondering about something like that myself.

[Oyeboten]

The only thing I can think of to take care about, is if loading Double-Ball rounds over a fast smokeless like say Bullseye, is if the lower Ball is undersized and drops down onto the Powder, it may cause a nasty pressure spike for having then too little Air Space the Powder's conflagration Gases to expand into.


I think when I get onto loading these, I will size the Cases, and elect chubby enough Balls to prevent that possibility...but then too, I was thinking of sizing slightly oversize Balls by squishing them in a die, to have just a little more bearing for them to engauge the Rifleing.

[Echo]

I had an idea for a New Match! 38 Special RB ammo w/2 gr 231 (as my previous post), target on berm @ 60 yards, ball MUST strike ground prior to striking target. Winner is the guy that gets the most hits on the target out of 10 shots.

[Chainsaw76]

Due to the perpetual shortage of .22LR, I'm considering RB loads for cheap revolver practice. Maybe slug the bore and use an oversize RB that won't bulge the case? Use 3.0 gr of Unique or Bullseye, and a lubed ball to hold down on leading. It doesn't need to be fast, just reasonably accurate. Any suggestions?

jim

[Walkingwolf]

I simply use 105 grain soft cast TC for plinking. Cost is probably not much more than RB when casting, and probably less if buying cast bullets over RB. I bought mine from Cowboy bullets at 8 dollars for 100 just to try them out. Five hundred would be less.

Hunters sells RB sized for 38 spl, IIRC they are more than 8 dollars per hundred.

[williamwaco]

Can anyone spell triple naught buck shot?

Diameter = .360

I used to buy it in 5 pound bags.

Used it in .38 and .357.



Size
Type
Weight
Diameter


#TriBall 12
Buck
20.41 g (315 gr.)
15.24 mm (0.60")


#0000
Buck
5.51 g (85 gr.)
9.40 mm (0.380")


#000
Buck
4.54 g (70 gr.)
9.14 mm (0.360")


#00
Buck
3.49 g (53.8 gr.)
8.38 mm (0.330")


#0
Buck
3.18 g (49 gr.)
8.13 mm (0.320")


#1
Buck
2.62 g (40.5 gr.)
7.62 mm (0.300")


#2
Buck
1.91 g (29.4 gr.)
6.86 mm (0.270")


#3
Buck
1.52 g (23.4 gr.)
6.35 mm (0.250")


#4
Buck
1.34 g (20.7 gr.)
6.09 mm (0.240")


#FF
waterfowl
1.18 g (18.2 gr.)
5.84 mm (0.230")


#F (#TTT)
waterfowl
1.04 g (16.0 gr.)
5.59 mm (0.220")


#TT
waterfowl
0.899 g (13.9 gr.)
5.33 mm (0.210")


#T
waterfowl
0.778 g (12.0 gr.)
5.08 mm (0.200")


#BBB
Bird
0.66 g (10.2 gr.)
4.82 mm (0.190")


#BB
Bird
0.57 g (8.8 gr.)
4.57 mm (0.180")


#B
Bird
0.48 g (7.4 gr.)
4.32 mm (0.170")


#2
Bird
(4.4 gr.)
3.76 mm (0.148")


#4
Bird
(3.1 gr.)
3.28 mm (0.129")


#5
Bird
(2.6 gr.)
3.05 mm (0.120")


#6
Bird
(2.0 gr.)
2.77 mm (0.109")


#7½
Bird
(1.5 gr.)
2.39 mm (0.094")


#8
Bird
(1.3 gr.)
2.26 mm (0.089")


#8½
Bird
(0.97 gr.)
2.16 mm (0.085")


#9
Bird
(0.75 gr.)
2.01 mm (0.079")


#12
rat/snake (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rat-shot)

1.3 mm (0.05")




One bag is a lifetime supply.

Don't know if it is still available.

[2wheelDuke]

It only makes sense to me if you've already got a bunch of 000 buckshot around, like if you cast it. Otherwise, I'd recommend a lightweight mold. I cast 100gr flat nose for the .380 already, and those work quite well as light .38spl loads.

[Boolseye]

I load 2 .360 round balls in a .38 case over 3.3 gr. BE. about 850fps, if memory serves.
That would equal approx. 3.6gr. Unique, conservatively. I have the top RB about half way out of the case, and they're touching each other. They shoot fine, pretty mild. I sold my 18 cav. 000 buckshot mold, and have 3 such rounds left :-). I shot quite a few for awhile there.

[Chainsaw76]

Thanks gents! I've been teetering between 000 buck and a light weight bullet. Anything to shoot cheaply as possible. Any of these loads will work for me, and are more available than .22 LR that I used to shoot so many of, but can't get but rarely.

jim

[Boolseye]

I like the idea of the 2-cav RB mold–that 18-cav was challenging.
The 2-cavs are made in all calibers.

[longbow]

+1 on what 2wheelDuke said.

I tried round ball in .44 mag and while it worked fine I am having much better results using a lightweight 165 gr. TC boolit mould I got made by Accurate. Works great.

Cheap on lead and and powder... and low recoil for fun plinking.

If you already have 000 buck or a suitable round ball mould then use that but if you are buying a mould anyway I would go with lightweight boolit over ball.

My $0.02.

Longbow

[Beerd]

Can anyone spell triple naught buck shot?

Diameter = .360

I used to buy it in 5 pound bags.

Used it in .38 and .357.

One bag is a lifetime supply.

Don't know if it is still available.

I hope not, that's only 500 boolits worth.
..

[BAGTIC]

I shoot .360 RB in a single shot rifle. I seat the ball deep directly on the powder. In a revolver it would be necessary to find a way to keep the ball positioned deep. Possibly a suitably sized carbide die that would size down the unfilled portion of the case , about .65 inch. 3 gr of Red Dot should give about 1200 fps in a 6" revolver according to QuickLoad. It gives considerably more in a 22 inch rifle barrel. Being able to seat the ball directly on the powder makes all the difference for consistency and clean burn.

[Mica_Hiebert]

I experimented with 360 (000) round balls with 38 using unique (very dirty) and trailboss I finally just went with 90 gn full wad cutters and my results where allot more consistent!

[oldblinddog]

How about this? :
151613
Maybe in a Marlin 1894 .357?

[rbuck351]

Ya got me thinking now. I have a variety of cast boolits of different weights in 22, 25 and 30 cal. I think I will put some pre lubed ones through the old Swag-O-Matic .358 die with different nose punches and see how they shoot with 2 to 3grs of Bulls Eye.

[JSnover]

The only thing I can think of to take care about, is if loading Double-Ball rounds over a fast smokeless like say Bullseye, is if the lower Ball is undersized and drops down onto the Powder, it may cause a nasty pressure spike for having then too little Air Space the Powder's conflagration Gases to expand into.
I'm a little late getting to this thread but I'll ad my $.02 anyway.
My first handgun was a 6" Taurus 66 and some of my first reloads were two RBs over Bullseye (can't remember the charge but it was fairly mild for the combined weight of the balls) in once-fired brass.
About one of every four cases split. Blast/recoil were normal. My theory was the when the first ball hit the forcing cone it stopped and was driven out by the second ball as the powder continued to burn, causing a spike. I also found later that the timing was a little off.
Having learned quite a bit since then I would do it again, I just thought I'd share may experience, because it appears to back up Oyebotens thoughts.

[foxtrotter]

Handloader's Digest 1964 Had a lot of data for squib loads....

[rintinglen]

152218152219.
I have played around with multi ball loads but have never had good results with round ball loads. Too many fliers and messy lubes killed the joy for me.

However I have a Lyman 358-101 75 grain wadcutter that has lead a dual life. Initially, It was lightweight boolit for low recoil trainers for my 7 year old daughter to learn to shoot with. Later, I got the idea of using them as multi ball projectiles. I have revisited the idea several times with pretty good results. Two in a 38 casing or three in a 357 casing makes for interesting shooting. A 75 grain WC under a 115 grain SWC also works very well. I used the Starting Unique load for the 358-430 from the old (and generally useless, save for the pictures in the back) Lyman No. 2 Cast bullet Handbook and reduced it a few tenths.

IIRC, the first picture shows the result of 6 3-ball loads, though only 15 holes are discernable. The second shows the boolits used and a couple of the 3 boolit 357 loads on the left and two of the two boolit loads on the right.
Note the 3 ball loads are crimped in the bottom grease groove. If you were to deep seat them, the cases bulge to the point where loading them is impossible. It also allows a little more room for powder.

[Alferd Packer]

This is an interesting series of postings started in year 2010 and made it to 2015. no
These experiments with light loads have been written about by shooters in ols black powder hunting books where they used leather punching for bullets from thick saddle leather and loaded them into cap and ball pistols in .32,.38 , and .44 caliber.
They were used as short range loads for target shooting as well as dispatching of varmints like mice, rats and squirrels.
Some used them for rabbits and moles who invade your garden.
Later, after WW1, the cats sneeze loads for both pistol and rifle became more popular.
But the old trapdoor 45/70 always had foraging loads using lite 130 grain collar button bullets.
With straight wall cases as well ad cap and ball, it was customary to seat the bullet right down on the powder in the case.
The old first brass cases were called balloon cases because they were straight sided without any taper to the bottom of the shell.
A d the primer pocket protruded into the case instead of being punched in the web of the case as are the modern cases. The c
old cases were weaker, but they were straight sided and you could easily seat a bullet or ball deep in the case atop the black powder or whatever powder you used.
Some modern made replicas of old cases that use a web instead of letting the primer pocket bulge into the case are the .45 Colt by Winchester and the 45/70 case as well seem to have a shallower web to hold the primer pocket and thereby don't show as much internal taper. So when you can seat a projectile deeper in the case, you can increase pressure using very little powder to expel the bullet.
A quieter, less powerful load, but still useful at close range.
The Starline brass is heavier, thicker brass than the Winchester, but they seem to be making their cases heavier as well.
Anyway, all this means that it takes more work for a quiet squib load than it used to.
There's paper patch, cloth patching, Hot glue bullets and wax slugs as well for close range paper punching.
Then there's the pistol shotshell cartridges experiments.
And uncooked rice as well as ground walnut hulls loaded for close range work. These entail overpowder wads and sleeves to protect the pattern when shot.
There are .32 and .38 special loads needing only 3/4 grain of fast pistol powder for close range work.
The experimenting and methods used vary, but this is sure nothing new.
Take it from there and good luck.
I will also add that primer powered wax slugs from a .38 or .45 will easily kill a mouse, rat or squirrel if they are shot at close range in the body. Sometimes a second shot with a squirrel, but it makes a mess of them.A hot glue bullet is final. Be careful as these are real bullets, just not lead.
It pays to treat them as carefully as lead bullets.

[Alferd Packer]

Those old balloon head .32 S&W cases are straight sided so I am able to seat a round ball on top of the primer allowing me to shoot a primer powered ball to punch paper.
I prefer using the glue bullets as they are higher velocity than the lead pea shooter.

[beagle]

Look at castpics/articles for Round Ball loads. I did an article on round ball loads and it's posted there.

I found the .38 Special tp be the best candidate and it gave me a nice workable load with two balls. Give's you a place to start anyway. I always keep a couple of boxes loaded and carry some around the place here. Pretty good on snakes in the springtime.

I did not have that good of results with the .44 Mag but the .357 showed promise with three balls. I worked up a load for the .45 ACP but it was pretty dismal.

Single ball loads should be apiece of cake to work up./beagle


I am thinking to squeeze two .360 Balls into a .358 resizing Die, on the Anvil, and with a flat Punch of about the same diameter, give them a few wacks to flatten them a little for more side grip in the Rifling...and see how much 3f BP I can fit into the .38 Special Case then, for the top Ball to get crimped...should shoot pretty nice.


I was looking at some .358 90 Grain Wad Cutters the other day, thinking of double-shot Loadings with those, but, that'd be over Smokeless.

[sniper]

Just buy a Lee resizing die in whatever size you wish, then anoint liberally with BLL (Ben's Liquid Lube) There's BOUND to be a sticky somewhere in here. Or order some Lars' 45-45-10. It'll do good, too!

[MT Gianni]

I wonder about running oversize balls through a sizer die, think .375" in a 360 for a slightly longer bearing surface and pc'ing them. Anyone tried that route? I have rb molds for all but the 40 cal for all I shoot over 30 cal.

[Soundguy]

I wonder about running oversize balls through a sizer die, think .375" in a 360 for a slightly longer bearing surface and pc'ing them. Anyone tried that route? I have rb molds for all but the 40 cal for all I shoot over 30 cal.

i betcha the bearing surface made by the 375-358 might actually do it.

[Denver]

I've loaded powder coated .490 round balls sized in a .454 die in my 45 Colt revolvers and rifles' There is a flat left that is about 1/8 inch wide. I've used most of the fast burning pistol powders, but around 5 or 6 grs of Bullseye works best. Ditto with .440 round balls in my 44 revolvers. Accuracy is quite good for short range plinkin etc. Also no need for messy lubes.


D

[Denver]

I've loaded powder coated .490 round balls sized in a .454 die in my 45 Colt revolvers and rifles' There is a flat left that is about 1/8 inch wide. I've used most of the fast burning pistol powders, but around 5 or 6 grs of Bullseye works best. Ditto with .440 round balls in my 44 revolvers. Accuracy is quite good for short range plinkin etc. Also no need for messy lubes.


D

Also shoulda mentioned my experience with round balls in 38spl wasn't as good. Most loads I tried shot so low in the fixed sight revolvers even at close range that they were not worth the effort to load.

[Alferd Packer]

Roll in alox and let dry overnite.
or load over 2 grs bullseye and seat flush with case and give a wipe of crisco in space left around ball in case.
Low power load.
More power, use 3 grs bullseye, same way.
700x, or any quick powder faster than Unique works best.

[Alferd Packer]

You can put a wad under that single round ball and seat them both right down on the powder and they will hit much higher on the targets using the two grain load.
This is a close range load out to 15 yards.
Dont expect to shoot this at a 50 yard target and see any hits.
When you look at one ought buck and you see it's close to 7.62 doesn't that ring a bell.These are also perfect to load I a 30/30 rifle shell over a couple grains of fast shotshell powder. A dab of grease like crisco or any bullet lube and you have a short range plinking load good to maybe 25 yards and certainly anything closer. And it works the same for any .30 caliber like a 308, 30/06 , 0r .303.
The loader merely has to wedge the ball in the case neck, or put a dimple above and below the ball with a nail or punch to keep the ball from falling into the case.Same for cartridge cases in a revolver.
There's no end to the experiments of reloaders
I have been shooting round ball out of a centerfire rifle since my boy scout leader showed it to us teaching us about reloading when I was 11 or 12 years old.
Remember: Always be Prepared.Target Covid and its effects.

[Goofy]

.310" ball from Hornady
https://i.imgur.com/PB5RNL2.jpg

One of a half dozen loads tested:
https://i.imgur.com/rZgILkb.jpg

They all worked and inside 25-30 yards would smack the average critter well enough to get the job done.