.38 Special - 158gr. Handloads?

[TomNash]

Hi. Does anyone have a good load for a 158 grain jacketed bullet out of a .38special snubnose? I have tried it with maximum loaded Bullseye, and the load was very light-kicking ... something like a 125gr +P . Please help! Thank you. Tom

[Leftoverdj]

Depends on your pistol. If it's +P rated, 6.5 grains of HS-6 is good with 158 jacketed. If it's not, you are probably as well off with any of the standard WC target loads as anything else. I have grave doubts about getting jacketed bullets to expand from a snubbie at standard pressures.

[RERICK]

Speer makes The 135 and 147 gdhp Especially for snubbys They say they are designed to expand better at a lower velocity such as the 38 Special
But I believe the loads available are all in +p.Just go to Speers web sight they have some loads listed for the Gold Dots in differant weights.I just loaded some up but have not fired them as yet.I'll keep you posted.




FROM THE SPEER SIGHT


Police officers know the best handgun bullet because they use it in their service ammo. It's Speer Gold Dot®. Handloaders can get the same premium Gold Dot bullets in component form. We're committed to reloading; unlike some other ammo manufacturers, we make our premium handgun bullets available to those who prefer to load their own.
We created the first bonded-core handgun bullet. Our method is so innovative that we hold patents* on the process. Using our proven Uni-Cor® technology, we bond the copper jacket to the lead core one molecule at a time. We've virtually wiped out the cause of most bullet failures — core-jacket separation. In the process, we've assured high retained weights and excellent penetration.

What about expansion? We have you covered. Most bullet makers add the hollow point cavity at the very last operation. This is not very smart if you want premium performance. We, however, form the cavity in two distinct steps. Very smart.

The first cavity operation establishes the limit of maximum expansion--a bullet isn't very effective if it rolls back so far that it falls apart--and precuts both the jacket and the core for symmetrical expansion. The final cavity operation establishes the rate of expansion. The flexibility of this two-step proces lets us tune each bullet to its intended velocity range. Bullets for low-velocity cartridges have a deep cavity; those for high-velocity have a shallow cavity. Very smart, indeed.




I hope this helps