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I don't believe you mentioned the powder brand you were using
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Mea culpa.
I started another reloading thread, pretty much about the same problem in .44Mag. Gave the powder brand there, but not here. I always use Vihtavuori. A fine powder, most say, and just as well as it is the only brand stocked locally. All the powders I've seen of theirs are stick powders.
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p.s. What Jim Watson in post 23 said agrees with my "Modern Reloading" manual. Lead 124 grain bullet, starting load suggested is 5.7 of N-350 (maximum 6.3) and for jacketed bullets 6.2 grains of N-350 (maximumn 6.9).
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I based my loads on the Lee die chart that came with the .38Spl carbide die kit as it was the only source of mine that actually had values for a 125gr plated bullet, which is what I load. In fact my load is not the listed starting load on that sheet. It was 5.3gr, IIRR, but 5.6gr was what I could get from a 1.06 auto-disk aperture, so I took that. The VV site say a start load of 5.9, but that is a Rainier 125gr FP. I don't know if that is plated, cast etc.
The Lee data was exactly the bullet I had and so I took that. If it is an unreliable/unrecommended source, I'll err toward the VV data.
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p.p.s. Grains and granules. Readers of all knowledge levels will read this far into the future and we don't want to cause anyone to mix the two meanings in their thought processes. Granules are the individual flakes or pieces of powder. Grains is how powder charges are quantified. A secondary meaning of grains is, of course, a synonym for granules, but it would not do to mix the terms on the forum.
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Yeah, I know. Mea culpa here too.
I was too lazy to type "a couple of fractions of a grain", so went for granules as in "extra pieces of powder".
In other words upping the charge by 0.2-0.3 grains or so.
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I understand your rationale for trying to do it all with one expensive powder
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Well, I've got N110 for .44 now, so N350 is a dedicated .38 powder for now. It may not be a good .38 powder, but it is certainly adequate given that both VV and Lee list it as a viable choice.
Once it's finished, I'll look at a faster burning option: only about 250 grams to go!