41 Rem Mag 35,000 38 Special +P 18,500 This Cast Reloading Bullet feeds great in automatics and has excellent accuracy in both the 9mm and 38 Super. The more serious concern for some loaders is that the small charges of fast-burning powder take up little room in the case, making it possible to double charge a cartridge and exceed safe pressure. VV N320, N330 and N340 are products of VihtaVouri Oy Company Great gun with the best factory double action trigger Ive ever shot. It seems to burn completely in the .38 and is not as critical as the faster powders like Bullseye. Ive probably picked up 300 cases of .38 the past few months and will continue to grab them as I see them, but whats nice is I can shoot more and put that money towards brass for .32 or .45 Colt, stuff that I never see at the range. No more lead in the barrel or on my hands. .38 Special: What I've Learned After 20,000 Rounds The manufacturing process of swaged bullets requires relatively soft lead for two reasons. You may find it will need to be faster for good 50 yd. I make a habit of counting the number of reloads I make by keeping a tally of primer and bullet boxes. Me too! Dec 18, 2011. Replaced w/ Altamont laminated wood, and later w/ open- back Pachmayrs- the less-pronounced finger grooves fit me better. Use the lead bullet loads with the plated and you will be fine. That isnt unique to Bullseye, but is certainly more pronounced with the relatively small charges required. I don't completely understand the physics behind it. .38 Special +P (Alliant Reloaders Guide) Warning! Components add up to far less than even generic grade factory ammo. If you have a lightweight .38 or older gun, you may want to start with 10% less than max amounts listed above, and work up to the full loads. So I'd think you should find a decent load for short line at about 700 Fps and for the long line at about 800. .38 Special +P Load Data - PowderThrough Notes: Bbl Length: 5.6; primer: Fed. I'd imagine I'm not the first person to use this load, but I have found it is a very sooty/smokey load. I completely understand the respect for the performance of the 327 Fed, but not being a big fan of the 357 Mag (or 38 SPL plus P for that matter) I havent been drawn to the 327. Bullseye is one of the oldest smokeless pistol powders and still one of the most popular. Jacketed bullets are legal for DR, as long as they are 158 grain round nose or semi-wadcutter. Just dont shoot a rabbit with this load if you want to be able to eat any of it. In several of the guns, the old standby couldnt quite duplicate the level of precision they exhibit with current production wadcutters from Black Hills or Winchester, but in each case, the load shot close to or right on the sights and nearly held the X ring. Click there and go to the load data lookup section . I've tried 2.8, 3.0, and 3.2. 6.) In fact, in the past I specifically sought out revolvers chambered in 38 SPL only, knowing I would never be putting a 357 Mag in it (I carried a 4 GP100 chambered in 38 SPL as a duty sidearm in the early 90s). But for plinking, they'd be fine. 3.7gr WST with Zero 158 SWC did the job for me. A gun on you always works better than the gun left at home. Just shows the importance of trying/checking the feel of a gun and if possible, test firing it, before you buy it. Using bullets from Hornady HP-XTP, Hornady HP-XTP or FP-XTP, Hornady FP-Cowboy, Hornady HBWC, Hornady SWC-HP, SWC or LRN. Good thing I didn't go with the original powder charge I intended to use. PDF Cast Bullets in the .38 Special - Castpics Jacketed bullets create a bit more wear on the rifling, but its better than trying to wire brush out a bunch of lead build up. 38 Special 125 gr XTP American Gunner Item #90324 | 25/Box The American Gunner line of ammunition is a collection of tried-and-true, versatile loads that are popular with shooters for their target shooting, hunting or self-defense needs. Upload or insert images from URL. Thanks to all for the info. Thats a pretty clear explanation and comparison of the NEEDS of the strength of the chamber for each caliber. But still nothing under 3.5". One cool load Im working on is two pellets of 000 Buck. Just depends on what kinds of loads you plan to shoot. Installed some wood boot grips, modified them with grooves at the bottom of each side panel, similar to those on Pach. Hence the lack of load data from just about anybody. I carry 38 /357 every day have used them in real world shootings. Stylish But Serious: Kimber Super Carry Pro, Survival Savvy: Gearing Up for the Next Level, Force Multiplier: Knife and Gun Integration. Especially if you reload. Reloading .44 Spl. .38 Special Chronograph Test | Perfect Union 3 1/2" average not included flyers which seem to happen on every group test. I thought about trying 2.5 gr. Even slower powders may provide more consistent speeds and will be tested in the future (No. Of course, these will be used in a revolver. As I said I am not familiar with your frame and suspect it is one of the latest models out by Smith. 10,870. Winchester only published load for WST in 38 special using lead bullets if you look at the data for the 158 data the start load goes from 3.3 Gr and a max load of 3.7 Gr. One cool load Im working on is two pellets of 000 Buck. Something like the Ruger GP100 or S&W 686 yup, theyre the best caliber for those size revolvers. .38 will take care of nearly any critter that needs dispatching feral cats, raccoon, armadillo, even wait for it. head I use 3.2gr. It would have been too hot. i use a Lee mold 150 round nose with 4 grains of bullseye crimped into the crimp groove of the bullet. I load it almost exclusively though with either a powder coated or plated 125 grn bullet. Ive not had a handgun entirely reject either load, so the recipe seems to be a worthy third alongside the previous .38 and .45. Although the .357 cylinders are the same length so they can be timed to a 642. @ Grumpy- I tried LOTS of grips on S&W revolvers. And for 99% of the actual real world needs of a citizen for self defense it will work just fine. I have tested lots and lots of different bullet and found them all to be great. looks like today. I'm still hunting for a DR load for my S&W M19-5. Yeah no. hebyta 38 Special Loads - Bullseye Forum This load tends to clock about 670 feet-per-second (fps) give or take 20, depending on the exact brand of wadcutter and the revolver its fired in. Im also impressed by the apparent durability of your Airweight J-frame. The stuff you learn shooting 20,000 reloads (on top of thousands of rounds of factory ammo) can be pretty interesting and I feel that Ive got a very good picture of what the .38 Special. Robert Frost. YOU WOULD BE WASTING YOUR TIME TRIMMING THE BRASS. Not as easy to find brass these days as it is not the most popular round anymore. Or does the CMP make the rules for DR, and the NRA admins it? Always make sure your lead bullets have been sized and lubricated. A Forum dedicated to the sport of Bullseye shooting, Bullseye-L Forum::Ammunition Discussion. It is less of an issue on a progressive press, but still requires attention. It will then fit in your 38 Special gun. I used to reload .38s and .357s with 158 grain LSWC bullets over 4.3 and 6.5 grains of Unique. SWC, 160 gr. WST seems like such a good powder in .45 ACP that I thought I might try it. Wow I learned something vital from this topic. I burned up about 300 of them before giving up. A Tyler T grip would have helped here, but is incompatible w/ factory grips. Winchesters 231 or WSL are also good powders for the .38 special. They all shot horrible at 25 yards. Recoil is mild enough that for many years it was the golden choice for the next introductory step for young or new shooters after rimfire. The .38 with careful selection of components can be the cats as* for almost any shooter. 158 gr. The fast powders, W231, HP38, Bullseye would go over pressure very quickly with any slight changes, in seating depth or primer change. IIRC, I used 4.5 gr of Bullseye under a 125 gr lead bullet for a light plinker, and 5.6 gr of Bullseye under a 148 gr wadcutter (~815 fps, 4" bbl, probably around 750 fps out of a snub). WC, 158 gr. Soft shooting. Hornady also has load data for the 110-grain .357 XTP for the lower-pressure .38 Automatic. Powders include IMR, Hodgdon, Alliant, Vihtavuori, Winchester, Accurate I haven't used any of those powders but I like faster powders in 38 Special like Titegroup and Clays. A bullet with a copper gas check or copper plating is best for INDOOR ranges to keep lead vapors out of the air. https://www.bullseyeforum.net/t2221-distinguished-revolver-loads-that-don-t-suck?highlight=distinguished+++%2Bloads, Load question on Penn Bullets for Distinguished load. This is not loaded 9mm ammo. A .38 Special mystery---what is the reason for this load? I have a long way to go before I'm ready to compete, but enjoy plinking and hand loading. (Inceptor) Diameter: 0.357" Powder: CFE Pistol (Hodgdon) Primer: WIN WSP Case: WIN Trim Length: 1.145" C.O.L. Ive been shooting them for 50 years. Anyway, you are probably right that the revolver guys trend towards the older end of the spectrum, but I think some of the younger guys are starting to catch on to the magic of wheel guns. Nothing, they dont need any. Bonus is that dont need magnum Primers for these reloads. Would you like to react to this message? The load you use will be up to your gun. Eventually somebody introduced me to tungsten carbide resizing dies, after which case life became near indefinite. Accurate's No. I think you will find since the .38 special is headspaced on the rim your case length is very important to achieve your best accuracy. 11/2/2022. In a 1909 vintage Smith & Wesson target .38, the 2.7-grain load cut a nearly one-inch cluster, showing that classics go well together. ), I very much wanted to start with some tried-and-true Bullseye loads, but it took an epic scavenger hunt across many months to find a canister of the elusive classic. I wish Id had a commercial version of this load in my ammo allocation when we were tasked with getting classes of students up to special operations standards with the issue custom 1911s. The beauty of shooting a .38 is that you can easily practice at the ranges you'd fight at using basically any cheap bullet at minimal expense. I have not loaded plated bullets in quite some time, since they are not useful for my accuracy needs. 7.) 357 Magnum 35,000 My more serious RN is the 358311 that drops @150 gr. For any loads over 900-1,000 FPS, I suggest using a jacketed bullet. for 38 special Nickle cases look pretty but dont seem to take the number of resizings that plain brass cases do. Id pay at least a dollar to see it. Here's what the Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook says for cast 125g flatpoint for 38 in the powders you mentioned. Most modern revolvers chambered for .38 SPL are rated to +P, so there is room for error, but care must still be taken. Like the author said, I consider it a garbage disposal round as you can load it with almost anything with good results. My brother put CT laser grips on his wifes M36. COPYRIGHT 2021, THETRUTHABOUTGUNS.COM. Just want to state for the record, that with one of the more heavy duty Corbin presses it is possible to easily swage some hard cast bullets. WST for .38 special 125 gr plated bullets - Bullseye Forum I am way shy of 70 years old and I love me some .38 Special. Think that if a .44 spl. What I have found most remarkable is how well some pistols that typically fling wide groups have clustered the semiwadcutters. .38 Special - CHUCKHAWKS.COM Wes, SASS Wire rules prohibit posting specific load data on the forum, but it can be passed along via private message or email. Similar to a 9mm 124 gr RN Cast Bullet. Wadcutters are tailor made for lightweight snubbie practice, allowing shooters to enjoy shooting the pocket guns. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account. Just got back into reloading 38 special again after a long hiatus with no revolver, and was instantly reminded of what a joy it is to reload. This is my plink load for the kids. To many shooters, .45 ACP means 230-grain hardball at 830 fps. Midwest Supply Group. MAGTECH 38SPL 125 FMJ FLAT 50/1000 Note the dark band of lube on the 3 lead bullets. If there is only ONE load, it is MAX. Good job on you! A longer case, with have a tighter crimp them a shorter one, what will lead to variations in pressure, and accuracy. Also compared a S&W 638 to the S&W 36. Best and most realistic article about the .38 special ive found. 9mm 125 grain RN Lead Hard Cast Bullet. Now, you have to go to a range or have a membership and pay to fill the backstop with lead. Loading 38 special for best accuracy - Revolver Forum - Brian Enos's My M60 came w/ factory banana grips- open back, long enough for pinkie rest but too small in girth behind the trigger guard.