And if youre doing that with a snub.let me know I wanna watch you shoot em. All three of those powders have published load data for that weight bullet in .38 Special. .38 J frame.) Like the author said, I consider it a garbage disposal round as you can load it with almost anything with good results. I estimate that the price for each of the three loads runs between $7 and $8 per box of 50. They are true classics, and I hope you get as much use out of them! Swaged bullets do not have the hardness of poured (cast) lead. ,I looked at Speer data, nothing there. VV N320, N330 and N340 are products of VihtaVouri Oy Company It is easy to load in progressive presses and has commercially available options from virtually all modern manufacturers. Ask your Dealer, or call Hodgdon), has a Cowboy Load section, (near the center fold), that lists data for about all SASS calibers. With the powders you listed I would try Bullseye, 231, and Unique in that order. Hornady 115-grain HAPs over 4.4 grains of Bullseye alongside 25-yard timed-fire target. A bullet with a copper gas check or copper plating is best for INDOOR ranges to keep lead vapors out of the air. I use 3 gr. All newly manufactured .38 Special revolvers must be proof tested to the same higher proof . Oh, I practice with it. Best and most realistic article about the .38 special ive found. Maybe its just my age, but I may never shoot a 38 again after discovering the 32. Through the heyday of bullseye shooting over the various match courses of fire, there was probably a Mount Rushmore-sized mountain of powder loaded and combusted 2.7 grains at a time. Go figure. Good point Len. A revolver shooting .38 SPL only requires the power of your finger to make it fire and can thus be loaded with ammo that is extremely mild or hotter than hot. Only if you see more than one load, is it less than maximum. My other son fired one shot and handed it back. Eventually somebody introduced me to tungsten carbide resizing dies, after which case life became near indefinite. At belly button range, very nasty load. If you have the means, I highly recommend you trying one out. A 4 inch barrel would be my choice as well. is limited to either the various Charter Arms models, or as a training/target load in a .44 magnum size handguns. I used to reload .38s and .357s with 158 grain LSWC bullets over 4.3 and 6.5 grains of Unique. COPYRIGHT 2021, THETRUTHABOUTGUNS.COM. The cases are large enough that they can be easily manipulated by inexperienced hands and yet small enough to not require much force in the sizing stage. http://www.alliantpowder.com/reloaders/Powder.aspx?powderid=1, I also have the Berry's 125gr plated flat point bullet and I am trying to find a min and max load with unique powder. DR loads (158gr Remington swaged LSWC over 3.6gr AA#2 in Winchester .38 Special cases) I shoot American eagle, remington factory,remington umc, and mag tech. The load is a great learning tool in .45 for beginner and experienced alike. If all you practice with is the easy comfortable stuff, its not really practice. NULLI SECUNDUS. I bought him as a gift a 642 with the black rubber grips, a few speedloaders w/big knob tops, and Hornady 125 grain FTX loads. Any pistol competitions yet? That one Ill keep. Hmm. One cool load Im working on is two pellets of 000 Buck.. WC, 158 gr. of Bullseye, 148 gr lead DEWC and Federal 100 primers. LRNFP - your load, with a plated bullet should be Very Similar, or slightly slower and safer. Power Pistols works well in short auto cartridges and higher pressure cartridges but no so well with a 158 grain bullets in 38 Special. I had enough, The Model 1911 pistol will officially turn 100 years old on May 5, 2011. You will be, essentially, making 38 Short Colt. I went from 2.7to 4.0 gr and nothing to speak of. Thanks for the excellent article, Josh! 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. @ Grumpy- I tried LOTS of grips on S&W revolvers. The load you use will be up to your gun. Discussion: Bullseye is a faster burning powder and some people feel better suited for the .38 special. I'm seating to what's in my loading manual. I would say I completely disagree with you on ever even contemplating using a revolver for self defense unless you are a person that has never owned a gun and not likely ever to practice with it. 38 special , bullseye, and 125 grain lead rnfp Handloading, Reloading, and Bullet Casting : The Firing Line Forums > The Skunkworks > Handloading, Reloading, and . I am using this load in some .38 specials. No offense sir but those charges look low for Unique. I found the plated wadcutters to have NO accuracy. This Cast Reloading Bullet feeds great in automatics and has excellent accuracy in both the 9mm and 38 Super. If you havent taken a look at what the .38 Special offers, youre selling yourself short. YouTube has plenty of reloading channels or the Reloaders Network webpage has more info as well. I'd imagine I'm not the first person to use this load, but I have found it is a very sooty/smokey load. It is always higher when powder is next to primer. Great article & thread!!! You can fit 7.1gr of powder under the 125gn JHP bullet? 9 mm, .40 sw, 45 acp, .44 mag. 110gr JHP! 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. The flyers tend to be severe. 4.2 gr. Don't worry too much about lead/coated/plated/jacketed. DISTINGUISHED LOADS SUCK - Distinguished Revolver loads that don't suck? Accurate's No. At one time or another, I also owned and shot a M38 Bodyguard (nka the 638), a M37 Chiefs Special (now the 637), a M60 (which is a tad heavier but no more user-friendly), and a couple of others. Others Have reported some success but few have more than one or two loads. I shoot almost exclusively cast lead from my handguns. That blunt-ended bullet cut a clean hole all the way through whatever its modest velocity allowed it to penetrate. Also compared a S&W 638 to the S&W 36. There are so many new powders today, its hard to keep up. (This is prevalent among most aftermarket designs- they are smallest in the longest, strongest finger area, and largest at the bottom pinkie area.). This is not loaded 9mm ammo. Bullet seating depth is very forgiving. Think a lot of people would find that a .44 special or .45 Colt, in a decent revolver, a viable alternate to a pistol. ES 27 SD 12 Independence 130 grain FMJ round nose MV 892 fps ME 230 ft./lbs. Biggest problem I had was the lubricating cases for sizing and then cleaning them afterwards, I guess grit was somehow scratching the cases after getting stuck in the lube. 32 H&R Mag 21,000 Create an account in a few clicks or log in to continue. Pasted as rich text. [ARCHIVED THREAD] - 5.0 gr unique with berry's 125gr = .38 Special squibs (solved ! But not too tough. Reducing consumables (and therefore cost) that much more is definitely appealing to me. I find the Pachmayr Compac grips on my 640 reduce the slap of full-boat .357 to less than that on my 3 M65 (w/ wood Altamont grips) or my 4 686 (Pachmayr Gripper Professional grips.) But for plinking, they'd be fine. It's given me good results in the 2, 3 and 4 inch barreled. I stopped handloading around 1985, so Im not certain how much technology has changed in that area, but in general it sounds like our experiences are similar. And Vihtavouris N320 and N321 fall in this range for burning times. This represents a great start, and if thats all you do, youll still be far better off than the majority of the population. My Hornady 11th edition shows this for 38 Special 158 gr lead RN, LSWCHP and LSWC. If she had shot more, I would have probably bought another set of dies, to prevent the need for changing adjustments between the two. I load it almost exclusively though with either a powder coated or plated 125 grn bullet. Bullseye 3.2gr / 763fps --> 4.2gr / 892fps (max) Unique 4.3gr / 773fps --> 5.3gr / 944fps (max) 231 3.9gr / 733fps --> 4.8gr / 896pfs (max) These are out of a 5.5 inch barrel Edited June 25, 2016 by jschweg Dr. Phil Classifieds 712 Your link has been automatically embedded. I checked out Alliant's website-no data for flat point with the powders I have, but data for Gold Dot HPs for Bullseye and Unique. The upside of the grainage is that the small charges mean more loaded rounds per pound of powderhelpful since Bullseye can take a while to reacquire once the container is empty. I may have to rethink my plan. Have not confirmed the difference with a chronograph. I'm not looking to blow up my old model 10. But you guys need to practice more. If I do carry a revolver its my 642 with a laser grip in my right front pocket or my SW model 69 5 shot 44 mag. .38 Special (Alliant Data) Warning! Maybe its just me, but having that tiny bit of extra length and weight in the cylinder that I was never going to use just kinda bothered me. The only reason that my standard (everyday carry) self-defense handgun is not a .38 Special revolver is because I can conceal a semi-auto better (it isnt as fat as the cylinder on a revolver) and my semi-auto has 15 rounds of hard-hitting 180 grain bullets. The plated bullets feed nicely through my bullet feeder. No matter where you look, the first mention in classic loads for the .38 Special is a 148-grain wadcutter over 2.7 grains of Bullseye. If you continue to use this site we will assume that you are happy with it. If I get to see him shoot those loads, it would be worth the price of a new keyboard! Try. Also, too light loads don't allow the bullet to seal the gases causing problems. Were all familiar with the old adage, Never bring a knife to a gunfight. And while we should, The active shooter is a relatively new phenomenon in the grand scheme of things. As for the load ya the 158gr will probably take a little more, but your gun will tell you how much more.. You will find plenty of Red Dot loads there. In terms of thousands of rounds of range practice, though, that is a definite no-go in my book. Recoil is the good kind that reminds the shooter handguns are serious tools but without eliciting a flinch. 8.) Choosing a bullet ammunition in the same gun enables that shooter to hunt larger game and to fend off beasts that snarl. A chameleon depending on your loads and the barrel length or action its fired from. 6.) Last I looked still available at Brownells. I will start ouy at the minimum velocity then. Hi. (Or so I have heard.). It is also one of the most pleasurable loads a shooter can touch off. I load a hard cast 125gn for my 38 special all the time. Easiest way is casting lines and a sprue mark on nose or base. WST is a good powder for a very specialized load. 1.455 in. Would you like to react to this message? 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.