S&W K-frame .38: How hot can you go?

[Sevens]

Today I used the heavy barrel Model 10-10 that I mentioned above to run some *GASP* OVER-SPEC loads on a range day. This is *GASP* probably the 5th or 6th time I've run these loads through that excellent revolver. As a .38 Special goes, these loads are kinda snotty.

WARNING!
The following load data isn't endorsed by anyone on the planet, but it's WAY under the controlled testing that Clark performs. This load is beyond published max in any source I have searched. Please do not EVER use this load, don't even consider it. Neither TFL Forums nor myself, nor any God that you may worship suggests that you use the following load.

A 125gr Speer TMJ load over 7.0 grains of Power Pistol and loaded to 1.450" COAL in .38 Special brass.

This load chrono's 1,031 FPS from exactly this revolver.
I developed this load for one specific reason -- to reliably run my semi-auto Coonan with the accessory 10-lb spring. I do like to pop it out of revolvers on occasion. Today was just such an occasion. They are slappy for a .38 and even from a 4-inch heavy barrel K-frame with rubber grips, they smack the hand. They also knock down steel and will send many empty 12-ga hulls in to orbit. Certainly did today.

That load, it -IS- beyond published load data. But... how far? Where does it fit? Well, in the 2005 printed Alliant guide, the last published data source from Alliant before they streanlined all the data and dumbed it down and aligned it with only ATK bullets, the max published load for a 125gr slug (a JHP) in .38 Spl+P is listed at 6.3 grains.

However, if you click up Alliant's current online data source, they'll tell you that their max for a 125gr Gold Dot bullet is 6.8 grains of Power Pistol. So my load is merely two-tenths beyond that.

My '05 guide shows a 125gr JSP load for 357 Magnum using Power Pistol, also. That max is 9.2 grains. And their online source for 125gr Gold Dot with Power Pistol in .357 Magnum is 10.5 grains.

My K-frame Model 10 just goes to work when I ask.

[SSA]

I'm a pretty careful sort of guy, and I follow published reloading data.
My model 15 is more than 30 years old. I used to shoot it a lot, with loads that were not over max in my books. Those loads did not seem hot at the time. Now, some of those loads are way over max in the new books.
The gun seems to be as good as new.

[ligonierbill]

Actually, Speer #14 lists 6.8 gr PP as the max +P load for .38 Spl. They got 1,082 out of a 6" Model 14. In fact their standard pressure load is 6.1 'DNR'. So, yes, 7 grains is over, but not by a lot.

[Sevens]

Okay, I was a bit conflicted about adding this little bit to the discussion, because it's not exactly what we are talking about. So I'll agree up front that it doesn't apply directly. However, it's still a nugget of fact that might be considered just a bit in this topic. Take whatever you like from it.

The Smith & Wesson Model 16-4 is a .32cal K-frame. Unlike the previous three transitions of the Model 16 (.32 S&W Long caliber), the dash-4 variant was chambered from the factory for the more powerful .32 H&R Magnum.

Now the .32 S&W is an absolute pipsqueak of a round and has all the pressure of a 7pm "release" after Thanksgiving dinner. And the fact is, the .32 H&R Magnum should have been named something else, because given the maximum peak pressure it is spec'd for, it is hardly a "magnum" as we've come to know it. In a more perfect world, they'd have named it the .32 H&R Special. It's an improvement on the .32 S&W Long and does run a longer case, but this is also not a high pressure round.

My point, however, is that brilliant and world-renowned revolver God Hamilton Bowen is a big fan of reaming the chambers on a Model 16-4 and thus "converting" them to .327 Federal Magnum. He does this for himself. He offers this as a commercial service. And he is willing to buy any 16-4 that you offer him, if you can agree on price. (because he wants to convert them!)

Now this, folks, is a high pressure round. The .327 Federal has ben spec'd for a max pressure of 45,000 PSI and that's confirmed by SAAMI.

Indeed, a K-frame cylinder with a smaller .312" hole in it is not the same thing as a Model 10 with a .357" hole in it, but we're also talking about running a .327 Federal from a cylinder marketed around the .32 H&R Mag, which likely runs HALF the pressure.

No, Smith & Wesson would not endorse this alteration of their gun.
But I'll be honest...
I love Smith & Wesson products, but I trust Hamilton Bowen more.