.38 load with Unique--how little is too little?

[Leadbelcher]

Hi again-
Earlier i wrote about a heavy load with a .38--180 gr FPJ over 4.0 grains of Unique. The load max was 4.3. The books all say to start with 10% less, which is about 3.9. Soooo, shooting the load was like letting off a bunch of squibs that left me with a bullet in the barrel . I was able to shoot 5 rounds before that happened...
So the question is, how little is too little? Would loading the full 4.3 grains have saved me a trip to the smith?

thanks to all already for their good advice!

LB

[WESHOOT2]

A range-rod in your gear would have saved that trip.

Suggest testing with more powder LOL; try 4.2g.

"Make ten test ten (but be careful)".

[Lunicy]

I would check your cases and primers. I've shot target loads at 3.0 gr unique with no squibs.

[Maj Dad]

Belcher,
I used to look for excuses to use Unique, more often than not with good results. But after 40 years of reloading, I have finally returned to the good old standard, Bullseye. With the 148-150 gr lead, 2.7 is the quintessential target load, and I have not yet found the powder to equal it in accuracy, other factors being equal. In 9mm Luger, 5 grains is the sine qua non for Lugers & P-38s, and for mil-spec 45 loads with the 230 FMJ. I have pounds and pounds of powder, AA#2, #2 Improved, #5, #7, #9, Unique, Clays, W630 (yes, after all these years), 231 etc etc and I have come back to the old standard. That is not to say those others won't work for you - we all know about individual weapons and their idiosyncracies. It's just that I have found that if I want to find an accurate load, Bullseye is the best place to start. I still try out the others but I no longer look for those excuses not to use it.
Cheers,
"Maj Dad"
George Jacoby

[Leadbelcher]

Thanks Maj Dad!
I've been looking for an excuse to change over to Bullseye!
Thing is, I load a lot of .44 mag--any suggestions?

Thanks!
LB

[AlaskaMike]

I think a couple of things bear mentioning here. One is that a full wadcutter seats much more deeply in the case than other bullet designs, requiring less powder. So if you have some 150 grain SWC bullets and want to try out someone's 148 gr wadcutter load with them, you'll get substantially less velocity. The other is that you mentioned you were shooting 180 grain FPJ--I'm guessing that's Flat Point Jacketed? If so, jacketed bullets have much more resistance going down the bore than plain lead, and because of this they're much easier to get stuck.

If you want ultra-light target rounds, I would strongly recommend not doing it with jacketed bullets. You mentioned that you were able to shoot 5 rounds before the last one lodged in the barrel, so that would seem to indicate you're right on the ragged edge of having enough pressure to reliably drive the bullets out of the barrel. You could try raising the charge a bit, but the answer really is to get some lead wadcutter bullets and save the 180 grain jacketed for something else.

The Unique vs. Bullseye issue is really a side issue. You've got a basic safety issue (bullets lodged in the barrel) that you need to resolve before anything else.

Mike

[zippy13]

Originally Posted by Leadbelcher

Hmmmm
Thanks Maj Dad!
I've been looking for an excuse to change over to Bullseye!
Thing is, I load a lot of .44 mag--any suggestions?

Thanks!
LB

I load .38 (2.7) and .45 ACP (3.5) mid-range with the classic Bullseye loads. For .44 Mag, I'm happy punching paper with 5.7 grains of Unique under a 200-gr wadcutter. I'm old school and use a bit of dacron filler to take up the void.