I get 1000 fps with this load. 41 Rem Mag 35,000 You can fit 7.1gr of powder under the 125gn JHP bullet? Very forgiving with a straight wall case, and tons of bullet variety. 2.9 of Clays is soft enough and dead accurate at 50yds. As for the load ya the 158gr will probably take a little more, but your gun will tell you how much more.. SASS# 85224. I did start out fawning over all of the tactical gear, but once I had that covered my tastes matured I think to love the wood and steel guns. Very little recoil, and grouped acceptably out to 15 yards or so. That for just a nice shooting load one cant beat 148gr wad-cutter for pure fun. accuracy. And.those Hornady 158 HPs are easy to reload but I have never had one open up in a varmint of any sort. 5 are good choices. I don't have a chronograph, but have considered picking one up. So you only hang onto the primer boxes loosely? Winchesters 231 or WSL are also good powders for the .38 special. But I would only be caught dead with one in my hands if I had to use one for self defense (pun intended). That sounds. Note: More and more test are conducted with all rounds fired with powder UP against the primer for each shot, or DOWN on the bullet for each shot, then gently bring to horizontal to shoot. A GI surplus 1911 that puts most loads into dinner-plate sized groups cut 3.8 inches with the classic recipewhich is probably the only time Ive gotten excited about an almost four-inch group! Great gun. If youre recoil averse (and dont have a disability of some kind), its because you havent shot it enough. We look at three classics: one each in .45 ACP, .38 Special, and 9mm. The 36s greater weight makes it much easier to shoot than the 638. I have experimented with both of Hornadys 200-grain semiwadcutters in this load: the more button-nosed SWC and the longer Combat/Target (C/T) version. I picked some up from my local Scheels yesterday. The quality of the loads equals a bargain. The 9mm Bullseye load is a good stand-in for either training or match ammo, with the velocity putting the power factor comfortably over the minimum for action sports without too much extra oomph. As example, 5.8 6.0 grains UNIQUE with a 125 grain HP in a snub nose .357 revolver. Its hard to find those swaged SWCs and hollow point bullets anyone; it seems everyone is only interested in hard cast for velocity and penetration. It doesnt appear like there is much of an advantage in using WST with lighter weight bullets. Any pistol competitions yet? Maybe its just my age, but I may never shoot a 38 again after discovering the 32. I'm planning to use Alliant's Unique powder to reload with 125 grain flat point jacketed bullets from Berry's and Winchester small pistol primers. Not all guns are created equal. Also compared a S&W 638 to the S&W 36. Load manuals often advise against downloading .38 Special jacketed loads to prevent squibs, especially the 110 and 125 grain bullets. Magnum 44 S&W Special 45 Colt 45 Auto 45 G.A.P 9mm Luger 9x18mm Makarov 32 S&W Long (Cowboy Action) 32-20 Win. Never ransom rested it, but held 10 ring off sandbags. IF YOU ARE USING SWAGED 158GR BULLETS 3.1 WILL WORK, IF USING HARD CAST 3.3 IS NEEDED. Think a lot of people would find that a .44 special or .45 Colt, in a decent revolver, a viable alternate to a pistol. Wow I learned something vital from this topic. Posted March 2, 2013. Thinking of using it in NRA Action pistol or PPC. 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. .38 Special is a lot more comfortable in a service size revolver like my Model 10. Powder Bul Weight C.O.L. Paste as plain text instead, Shot placement is just as important if not more. These bullets shot to point of aim in modern S&W snubbies, but the older M10-5 was regulated with 158 grain bullets and 125's shoot low. If she had shot more, I would have probably bought another set of dies, to prevent the need for changing adjustments between the two. . With the powders you listed I would try Bullseye, 231, and Unique in that order. 358430 (195 grain) round nose bullet that was used in the old 200 grain police loads as there is always interest in these. WITH THE SWAGED BULLETS REDDING SELLS A PROFILE CRIMP DIE. (See note on Powders below or read all about various Powders.). 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 Model 19 is fine with .38s but mildly uncomfortable with .357s. 3 1/2" average not included flyers which seem to happen on every group test. And it isnt my first rodeo with a J-frame. 10 for a full cylinder. You are spot on about Trail Boss, that stuff is magical with cast reloads. If I get to see him shoot those loads, it would be worth the price of a new keyboard! "Berry's Superior Plated Bullets are the finest bonded copper-jacketed bullets available today.." ?. Just dont shoot a rabbit with this load if you want to be able to eat any of it. There is a difference in the manufacturing process of swaged bullets. Caveat: I have decided that I want to be prepared for threat scenarios that include stopping a terrorist or spree-killer (the odds of which I fully recognize is statistically zero). Using higher pressure loads will wear brass out faster and it will become brittle with time. 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. However, after consulting my several different manuals, 3.5 seems to be a border line max load. Ive loaded some wadcutters to the point of being flush with the case mouth and big lead bullets almost to the front of the cylinder. Since we are working with a gun that doesnt have a magazine, we can afford to mess with this dimension at will. Read my very long thread about "DR loads that don't suck". It also shows that the loads were established using a 6" barrel, so regardless of what any published data shows, the chances of ever finding published data for the exact projectile and barrel length you are using, as well as the exact conditions you will be shooting in, would be nearly impossible. Reloading .44 Spl. The powder charges used for .38 are forgiving. Speer .38 shot cup, 5 grains of UNIQUE, and (3) #1 Buckshot pellets dates back to the 70s as a Junk Yard Dog load. Winchester 231 is between Bullseye and Unique for the .38 special (see my personal load above). Replaced w/ Altamont laminated wood, and later w/ open- back Pachmayrs- the less-pronounced finger grooves fit me better. I favor the appearance of the C/T load and find it slightly easier to grab and orient in the loading process. 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. Thanks for the start load Power Pistol will run lower pressures for the same velocity than W-W 231. Bullseye is the best powder I have found for 38 special. 38 Special +P 18,500 want me to write up an article about 3d printed .38 special bullets that Ive been working? I dont mind it at all, though others do and look to similar performing powders that address these things. Ive not had a handgun entirely reject either load, so the recipe seems to be a worthy third alongside the previous .38 and .45. The pistol or revolver of good quality is vital. Word to the wise: all handgun cartridges (with the likely exception of .44 Magnum and maybe even .357 Magnum) are underpowered for self-defense. Bonus is the CT #305 grips are both large enough to be actually useful, and can use the laser, or turn it off if you dont need the laser. Agree 100% since I reload and shoot it since years, lost count. I just bought some 158 gr SWC bullets that are pure lead. 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 Notify me of follow-up comments by email. Oh, I practice with it. Very versatile cartridge. Plated bullets are to be loaded as lead bullets. The .38 with careful selection of components can be the cats as* for almost any shooter. 2) Ammo that would work in the Air Force's Air Crewman Colt's and Smith and Wesson revolvers that had weak alloy cylinders. WST is a good powder for a very specialized load. Classic loads are economical. I am way shy of 70 years old and I love me some .38 Special. Think that if a .44 spl. Bullseye 3.2gr / 763fps --> 4.2gr / 892fps (max), Unique 4.3gr / 773fps --> 5.3gr / 944fps (max), 231 3.9gr / 733fps --> 4.8gr / 896pfs (max). And, oh yeah. Initially I shot them out of my Dads prized Smith & Wesson 686 and learned a great deal about double-action shooting and what a truly accurate handgun can do with a wadcutter. I never enjoyed touching off a 357 Mag in a K frame, and I cannot imagine the discomfort of firing it in anything smaller or lighter. My best group was .9 inch out of a Model 15. With all the loads available, you can surely find one within recoil tolerance. There have been guns Ive bought for the caliber, but the .38 wasnt one of those. Pasted as rich text. But one classic target load is not far behind the .38 wadcutter in its own reputation with target shooters: a 200-grain semiwadcutter bottling up 4.6 grains of Bullseye. 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. Nitpicking is its own reward., I believe the correct spelling is loathe . Posted: 4/17/2014 10:53:09 AM EST. It seems to burn completely in the .38 and is not as critical as the faster powders like Bullseye. Im not a hoarder and I dont keep them, but I am detailed in my process. 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. Bullseye is one of the oldest smokeless pistol powders and still one of the most popular. Dont get me wrong: I think the Smith and Wesson Model 642 Airweight revolver is an outstanding self-defense (concealed carry) revolver and you wont feel/care about how snappy/unpleasant the recoil may be in a real self-defense event. is limited to either the various Charter Arms models, or as a training/target load in a .44 magnum size handguns. I keep thinking about trading it for a Model 27 or, maybe, one of the new Pythons for extra weight. This is good, because the snub takes a lot of practice to have a consistent capability. Interesting. For example, a Glock 17 shot the HAP into 1.35 inches and the FMJ into 2.2 inches at 25 yards. Depending on the drill, 200-grain .45s let shooter push faster or use available time to shoot better, with significantly less recoil than hardball. Don't know of any bullets like that. Current J frame factory grips have similar features and are made of a stiffer compound. Josh Wayner is a Michigan native, active competitor, Grand Valley State University alumni, troublemaker, and fiction author. Ive been looking for a reason to get into reloading, and am particularly intrigued by the extremely long case life of .38 Special. Similarly on drills with set times such as firing five shots in five seconds onto a bull at ten yards, the Bullseye load allows a little more time per shot to take advantage of a great 1911 trigger and lets the shooter nearly push shots into the same hole. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account. What I have found most remarkable is how well some pistols that typically fling wide groups have clustered the semiwadcutters. I have tested both brass and nickel-plated cases using mild loadings and have not yet worn out a case. Have not confirmed the difference with a chronograph. The cold header swages a bullet in one or two strokes.