38 Special Load Advice

[uncle fester]

My dad wanted a gun so I have let him borrow my new model Colt Cobra (my safe queen). Not having fired a pistol since pilot training for Vietnam, he would like to practice. I found him 1 Box of range ammo and 1 box (25 rounds) of self defense ammo.

Before the ammo crisis got out of hand, I picked up some Lee dies and 100 Hornady XTP bullets. Comparing my Lee Manual to the powders in my inventory, I have available loads for CFE Pistol, Power Pistol, and Clays to choose from.

With a short barrel and his age, I am looking to minimize blast and recoil. With that in mind, which powder would you recommend I start with?

 

[Dub]

Clays is awesome for what you described.

 

[PhilKeil]

Clays would be great.

 

[lb-ft]

+3 for Clays

I’ll add that if you can find some cheap cast bullets of really any weight, they can be loaded so lightly that the recoil and intimidation factor is reduced to truly negligible levels.

NOW, if you can find some 158 cast wadcutters and a pound of Bullseye powder, your father will have so much fun you’ll never get back that safe queen Colt.

So maybe don’t try 158 cast & Bullseye after all.

 

[hpshooter]

"So maybe don’t try 158 cast & Bullseye after all."

Or, 148grain HBWC over 2.8 grains of Bullyseye for lots of accurate low recoil re-familiarization to revolver shooting.

 

[Crow]

Or, 148grain HBWC over 2.8 grains of Bullyseye for lots of accurate low recoil re-familiarization to revolver shooting.

...also purported to be a decent carry round in snubbies. Sure tears up soaked phone books.

 

[jackson1]

Plus 1 on the 158 grain semi wad cutters and Bullseye (Hercules paper can), a pound lasts a long time. Soon will open a Alliant plastic can of the stuff. Could be wrong but have been shooting that load for over 45 years. Only problem is needing to clean cylinders before switching the 357 mag, which I rarely shoot anymore. Been bringing a pistol to the range for years to give my barrels a little down time between stings.

 

[rr2030]

...also purported to be a decent carry round in snubbies. Sure tears up soaked phone books.

We used that load with Speer148 grain swaged hollow base wad cutter backwards, just for that purpose.

 

[biggun2869]

I have some soft lead wadcutters loaded like that except (I'd have to go look at the charge but it's not hot) I used 231. I had heard a couple of stories of low charge detonation w/bullseye. Probably not a concern, but it scared me out. Gary

 

[powderbrake]

2.8 gr of Bullseye under a 148 gr HBWC is not a low charge. I probably have shot over 10,000 rounds of 2.7 gr BE with a 148gr HBWC, with no detonation.

I have not heard of detonation with bullseye, but have been warned of it by loading manuals when using 296 in pistol loads.

 

[biggun2869]

I know a lot of you know more about this than I do. My friend was in Vietnam (major) (Zeb Rush) that shot bullseye for the USMC and he used bullseye. There was a local guy that had it happen. A gunshop owner told me about it. I just shyed away from it when I heard about it and I don't know the charge. If it works for you'all great. I even have an old cardboard container of bullseye in my basement and have successfully loaded 38 wadcutters out of it I just changed when I did because of lack of knowledge.
I'm not trying to tell anyone what to do, I'm just saying what I did and why. Gary

 

[Ken]

I'm still working on an 8 pounder of Bullseye. 20,000 rounds from that cardboard container. Wonder what I paid for it? I cast 150SWCs.
2.8 grs---no complaints

 

[divingin]

Any of the fast pistol powders will work fine. Bullseye, 231, Clays, Clays Universal, Titegroup, bunch of others. Some shotgun powders work as well (notably WST, but there are several others.) Fast pistol powders will generally not have a problem with light charges (they're easy to ignite, and burn too fast to get the flashfront dieback and re-ignition.)

For light revolver target work, I'd say any bullet you can get reasonably cheaply will do (cheap will likely mean cast bullets; don't try to push them fast.)

I load a lot of 148 HBWC over about 2.6 gn Titegroup to use through my S&W Model 52. Haven't shot revolver in a while, though.

 

[David Milisock]

My dad wanted a gun so I have let him borrow my new model Colt Cobra (my safe queen). Not having fired a pistol since pilot training for Vietnam, he would like to practice. I found him 1 Box of range ammo and 1 box (25 rounds) of self defense ammo.

Before the ammo crisis got out of hand, I picked up some Lee dies and 100 Hornady XTP bullets. Comparing my Lee Manual to the powders in my inventory, I have available loads for CFE Pistol, Power Pistol, and Clays to choose from.

With a short barrel and his age, I am looking to minimize blast and recoil. With that in mind, which powder would you recommend I start with?

Just be real careful with light charges, make sure to inspect the cases for accidental double charge before seating.

I always pick a powder that uses 60% of the case volume, it totally prevents double charges.

 

[K22]

I use 231 but have used Bulls Eye also. Both are excellent for light loads with cast or swaged bullets.

The swaged HBWC is the most accurate pistol bullet I've ever used capable of "X" ring precision at 50 yards. I shot a Model 14, 38 Special, S&W in competition for about 30 years using this bullet and either 231 or Bulls eye. I used the Speer HBWC, seated flush with a taper crimp.

As mentioned by others, you have to careful to avoid at all costs a double charge. I use a fail safe system of turning all case upside down in the loading block and as I charge each case I turn the case over one at a time. In addition I visually inspect the entire batch of cases in the loading block before seating any bullet to make sure there is no double charge.

Another good lead bullet I've used is the 125 grain Oregon Trail Laser Cast bullets with 231. If loaded below 1,000 f/s there is minimum leading. This a light recoiling combo and very accurate for me.

A mentioned by others, a 1 lb container of powder lasts a long time.

 

[outasite`08]

"So maybe don’t try 158 cast & Bullseye after all."

Or, 148grain HBWC over 2.8 grains of Bullyseye for lots of accurate low recoil re-familiarization to revolver shooting.

The LOAD.Little holes when you do your part. Jeff

 

[Twicepop]

The downside to all of those fast burning powders in the spacious .38 Special case is, it's easy to get a double charge if you're not paying close attention. I'd recommend Unique of maybe Longshot.

 

[riflewoman]

Another + for Clays. Another + for a 158 SWC or RN cast bullet over the same clays. Use loads that will give a velocity of 700-850 fps. Then go run some “Bill Drills”. These are draw from the holster at the signal and put all 6 into a 5 inch circle at 10 yards in 2 seconds. If your range won’t let you draw, then a very low ready ( point it 2-5 feet in front of your toes with your finger OFF the trigger, and don’t touch the trigger until you see the muzzle sweep the target) and drop .2 seconds. Once he can do that he’s well along being combat ready.

 

[Outrider27]

The downside to all of those fast burning powders in the spacious .38 Special case is, it's easy to get a double charge if you're not paying close attention. I'd recommend Unique of maybe Longshot.

True; not paying attention can definitely cause problems, but, in my reply in another thread, after conducting an experiment using a 50 cartridge loading block, I was able to EASILY spot double charges of a base charge of 2.7 grains of Bullseye in 38 Special cases - they stuck out like sore thumbs when one did a quick row by row view of the cartridges in the loading block. Using K22's system described in post #15 above would really make double charging difficult.

 

[No.343]

Shot thousands of 160 grain coated bullets with 3.0 grains of Clays. They are fun to shoot and shoot well. Don't crimp them too tight.