Anyone tried VV N110 in .38spl?

[ddixie884]

I just wondered. I use 2400 sometimes and It is supposed to be similar burn rate...........

[Poygan]

This was the only powder I have ever go bad on me, in over 50 years of reloading....

[Conditor22]

http://castpics.net/dpl/index.php/re...okup-by-powder

shows loads for 357 mag but not 38 spcl

https://www.vihtavuori.com/reloading.../?cartridge=36

[onelight]

This is from the VihtaVuori Oy 2nd edition reloading guide .
Hope you can read it only 1 load with 180 grain bullet.

[ddixie884]

Thank you sir. I loaded a few rnds today with 10gr under a 158gr swcbb and fired them through my SP101 and they seemed about like the factory PPU .38spl I fired for contrast in recoil. The noise level seemed about the same with muffs on but I'm not a good judge. I came back and loaded a few at 10.5 and 11gr to try tomorrow. There was very little or no unburned powder.

[ddixie884]

Well the 10.5 and 11gr loads are probably safe to shoot. I tried them in my 15-3 S&W and a LCRX and they are a hand full. Not painful but certainly not a target load. They definitely ring steel. The primers look OK and the empties dropped from the chambers with a light touch of the extractor rod or a hard shake. I tried both just for fun.....

I regard this as a way for a handloader to access high speed loads without purchasing Boutique loads at $1.00 to $2.00 per round including freight and tax.......

[ddixie884]

I'm going to use 11gr 2400 and N110 interchangeably in .38spl with 158gr SWC.......

[PAndy]

I'm surprised you didn't have unburned powder kernels.

[Hi-Speed]

Don’t you get a lot of unburned powder using 110? Even 11.0 grs 2400 is dirty at least for me...

[ddixie884]

I was using N110 not H110.....................

[meh]

I'm going to try a few of these 158gr bullet over 11gr N110 loads and see how they chrono and group when shot out of lever gun. I doubt the load can be optimal in any sense when shot out of shorter barrels, but I have an Uberti "Cody-matic" 1873, and I find myself thinking about a balance between muzzle velocity and pressure for it. I worked up a light .357M load over Shooters World Auto Pistol that's pretty close to .38 special CIP pressure, but I wonder if the N110 loads in .38 special cases can best it and yet still be safe to shoot in a modern .38+P revolver.

[45DUDE]

I think a heavy boolit >200>prints better on a bench target in 38 special with magnum powder. It does in mine.

[Cosmic_Charlie]

Years ago I loaded a bunch 225 gr. Speer semi jacketed hollow points with VV 110. Had gas cutting on my top strap. But these were hot .44 mag loads. I think there are much better powder choices for you out there.

[Kosh75287]

I think a heavy boolit >200>prints better on a bench target in 38 special with magnum powder. It does in mine.

I couldn't agree more. I got 2400 to work best in a 6" K-38, a 6" Python, and a 5" S&W M27, using very heavy bullets. Initially, I had a small amount of un-burned powder, but a slight increase in crimp (1/4 turn or less) made it all but undetectable. My load(s) exceeded the max recommended in the old Lyman manual (7.8/2400/195 gr. LRN), but by very little. No alarming primer distortions, very easy cylinder ejection (except one cylinder on the Python, which ALSO reliably stuck with 148 gr. HBWC factory ammo, and any +P that went through it).
If VV110 tends to behave like 2400, it'll like bullets over 175 gr. and barrels 5" and longer.

[meh]

My reason for wanting to get the velocity up is to reduce the bullet drop at longer ranges. The reason for considering a slower powder than normal for 38 special is to do it without driving up the pressure. Granted, a heavier bullet would have a better BC, but that's not going to compensate for the lower velocity. If the 158 grain bullets don't work out, I simply won't try to use N110, or any other magnum powder, for 38 special at all.

I've shot full house 44 magnum loads over N110 and seen no flame cutting at all in my model 69. I've got a little bit of flame cutting on a model 27, but I know it was H110 that did that, not N110. Stuff happens.

As for 2400 and N110 behaving alike, I'm not sure. I have noticed that, without trying, I tend to wind up at the same charges by weight for those two powders. It just happens.

[meh]

Loaded some and tried them today. These were jacketed bullets (Zero 158 grain JHPs) loaded to a fairly short COAL (1.430") using 11.0 and 11.2 grains of N110. I was not really impressed. They were OK. Standard deviations in 20's generally, with one bad group having a couple of outliers that pushed the sd over 100. There were no pressure signs in the rifle, and velocities were just OK (circa 1200fps). I'm going to file it in the category of things one can do if one doesn't have any better alternatives at hand. I like my 125 grain Hi-Tek-coated TCFPs over Shooter's World Auto Pistol much better: circa 1400 fps with single-digit standard deviations out of the same 20" barrel.

[ddixie884]

I couldn't agree more. I got 2400 to work best in a 6" K-38, a 6" Python, and a 5" S&W M27, using very heavy bullets. Initially, I had a small amount of un-burned powder, but a slight increase in crimp (1/4 turn or less) made it all but undetectable. My load(s) exceeded the max recommended in the old Lyman manual (7.8/2400/195 gr. LRN), but by very little. No alarming primer distortions, very easy cylinder ejection (except one cylinder on the Python, which ALSO reliably stuck with 148 gr. HBWC factory ammo, and any +P that went through it).
If VV110 tends to behave like 2400, it'll like bullets over 175 gr. and barrels 5" and longer.

Lyman #45 gives 9.5gr with that bullet. Bmcgilvray on the S#W forum killed a deer with that load wih a RP 200gr in a 8 3/8 M-14 way back when. He listed this load in his big chrono thread on several forums........

The Lyman #49 loads were tested in a 6" M-14 S&W.........

[ddixie884]

This is from the VihtaVuori Oy 2nd edition reloading guide .
Hope you can read it only 1 load with 180 grain bullet.

Those are some great loads with the 140gr jacketed bullet. The 125gr too. Thanx.......

[wilecoyote]

I advise against Viht.N110 in .38spl. S&W revolvers_ fine for full .357 and .44 mag. loads, but as example I would shoot a N110 load in .357 N frames, not often in K .357 frames_ definitively not in lessen guns.
I learned that .38spl S&W K's aren't hardened as the .357 K's: even if I've learned wrong, I won't try such experiments on my vintage S&W's.
btw, N110 isn't engineered to be used at reduced loads below the official VV. tables_
ok at full blast in my 6"27, not so in my 2,5"19... my guns, my 2c., of course, but mainly I use VV powders only since 20yrs, here_
(please,stay safe: I've blown a 36 38spl. thanks to my 1st time stupidity)

[ddixie884]

Larry Gibson loaded and test fired some .38spl 158gr swcbb Rim Rock N110 loads in Speer cases with Rem 1 1/2 primers, oal 1.500 in his 7.9" Contender for me. The results;

11grs, 1145fps, 26,000psi, sd 43fps, es 158fps
12grs, 1333fps, 26,700psi. sd 52fps, es 142fps

These were 3 or 4K higher than I had expected and probably not for J or K frame guns.
I can have beliefs and extrapolate but the electronics don't lie. I think a pretty much hard cap of about 22,000psi should be followed in these guns.........