How to duplicate Remington 38 Special 158 gr “Hi-Speed”

[Hi-Speed]

Maybe some here remember the old Remington 38 Special 158 gr lead “Hi-Speed” round. Ammunition catalogs listed it as 1,090 fps in 6 inch test barrels. It was discontinued in the early 1970s and replaced by 158 gr +P loadings.

The “Hi-Speed” seemed to be a reduced 38-44 round, not as powerful as the 1930’s 38-44 which obtained true world 1,100 fps out of 6 inch tubes.

I would like to duplicate the “Hi-Speed” load. I remember seeing a 1972 Law Enforcement Digest testing it and it obtained 945 fps from a 4 inch S&W revolver. With that in mind, perhaps 5.5 to 5.7 grs of Unique?

Appreciate any inputs and also any actual experiences with Remington’s 38 Special Hi-Speed 158 gr load. Wish they still made it (doubt they would with all the Airweights out there).

[PositiveCaster]

Maximum loads from Alliant’s site using a 6” barrel:

[rintinglen]

Remington's "Hi-Speed" was, for all practical intents and purposes, a 38-44 loading. It was not really a reduced loading, but rather, more of a "truth in advertising" correction of previous, overly generous, estimations of velocity. It can be duplicated, but bear in mind all the usual warnings about accelerated wear, firearms damage to older, weaker revolvers etc.

I used 10-11 grains of 2400 in my own, 1970's era, experiments, but they were used in 357's. I did not use them in my 38 (I only had one back then-a S&W 37-1.)

[Hi-Speed]

…Good advice, yes only in 357 magnums…my standard 38-44 to match the old 1,100 fps version also uses 11 grs 2400 under Lyman 358311 RNL.

[Kosh75287]

First things first, what do you plan to shoot these rounds out of?

[Hi-Speed]

Postivecaster, yes, I’m well aware of these and use two such loads in my 38 Spl +P duplicates (Unique and Power Pistol. I just got back from shooting both of these loads this morning!). I’m speaking of a “Hi-Speed” round before +P designation.

The 38 Special in all its loadings - ie standard velocity, +P and 38-44s - has been a favorite on mine dating back 45 yrs+.

You get more nostalgic with age! I miss the age of revolvers and I don’t refer to them as “wheel guns”…they’re revolvers all.

[Larry Gibson]

I use 5.5 gr of Unique in W-W 38 SPL cases with a WSP or CCI500 primer under a soft cast (30-1) GC'd 358156 HP (Forster 1/8" tool 3/16" deep) to duplicate the velocity and pressure of the Winchester 158 LSWCHP "FBI load" factory ammunition. Both run right at 1000 fps out of a 6" revolver.

[CZbob9]

Remington's "Hi-Speed" was, for all practical intents and purposes, a 38-44 loading.

This is exactly what I came to say

[Larry Gibson]

Remington's "Hi-Speed" was, for all practical intents and purposes, a 38-44 loading.......

No, it was not. It was a +P load (the actual fore runner of what became +P loads) and did not develop the pressures of the actual 38/44 Remington/UMC load.

[Hi-Speed]

Finally found some data from “Law Enforcement Handgun Digest” 1972:

Reference: Law Enforcement Handgun Digest (1972):

Tested Remington 38 Special Hi-Speed 158 gr lead (Remington ref: 6538):
Revolver - 4 inch HB S&W Model 10
Velocity - 943 fps
Remington catalog fps (6 in test barrel) - 1,090 fps

Larry, your data as usual is spot on, this morphed into the +P moniker.

[Stopsign32v]

Would low power 357 Magnum data not suffice?

[mnewcomb59]

In a Handloader edition Brian Pierce goes a little bit above the Alliant Power Pistol +p data with a 158 gr lead bullet and gets 900 something fps in a snubbie. I have used this data (6.3 gr Power Pistol) and it is a hot one. Well over 1000 fps in a 6" with Lee 158-RF which seats shallow, and close to 1100 fps with a SWC HP that seats deeper. Most recently I am using 5.7-6 gr and it is still over 1000 fps in a 6" and well within established pressures. The recoil will still beat the gun up even if the pressure is acceptable. J frames and even a 10-5 will loosen up within about 500 rounds of loads like this and develop endshake. You can only repair endshake a few times before you gotta set the barrel back because repairing the endshake increases your barrel cylinder gap.

[Hi-Speed]

That’s why I use all my loads in a heavy frame Ruger 357…95%+ of the loads I shoot are with 38 Spl +P or mid range magnum loads. I can count on one hand the boxes of magnums I’ve shot out of the Ruger. The Ruger has seen more than just a few thousand rounds through it and is still tight.

[mnewcomb59]

I usually shoot the 38 +p in my 357 revolvers for steel out to 100 yards. The trajectory is excellent compared to 755 fps loads. With 2" high POI at 50 yards, the standard pressure stuff (755 fps)drops 6-8" more at 100 yards than the 1000 fps stuff.