100 grain lead truncated bullets for 38 Special

redbeard55 · March 7, 2006, 12:52 PM

Was at the local gun shop last weekend. Noticed they had some 100 or 105 grain lead truncated bullets for 38 Special. I've heard they are probably for the Cowboy Action shooting crowd. Has anybody worked up loads for the 100 grainers with Winchester 231?

Leftoverdj · March 7, 2006, 01:27 PM

I played around a little with 100 grain .380 bullets in the .38 Special, leaving them as cast by lubing in a .359 sizer. I used 3.0 grains of 231, but you might want to drop back to 2.5. Pressure is not an issue here. You'll never get close to redline with any of the very fast pistol powders in those quantities with that bullet weight.

Got 15 yard beer can accuracy with very low recoil and report. That oughta be plenty good for CAS, but nowhere near normal WC loads.

redbeard55 · March 8, 2006, 02:07 PM

I don't shoot CAS but I do shoot Steel Plates at the local gun club. I've been using 158 grain SWC with 4.3 grains of W231. D&J used to offer a 140 grain LSWC that shot exceptional well in my 4" GP100. Only problem is that they went out of business. Velocity with 4.7 grains of 231 was right at 1000 fps for the 140 grain LSWC. I was hoping to drive the 100 grain bullets to at least 1000 fps. My experience with most hard cast bullets is that there is less leading in the 1000-1200 fps range than there is in the 600-900 fps range. My 44 Mag hardly leads at all with my practice load at 1180. My 45 Colt leads something terrible at 900 fps. One barrel might be rougher than another, but I can't tell by looking down the barrel. They are both Rugers. The Steel Match has targets up to 40 yards. My standard load with the 158 grain LSWC is causing me to eat some penalties. Shot the match clean with my 140 grain load last weekend. Trouble is that I will soon run out of the 140 grain ammo. Was hoping for a fairly fast (but safe) load with better than average accuracy.

Leftoverdj · March 8, 2006, 03:29 PM

The Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook shows a standard pressure load of a max of 5.7 grains of 231 under a 92 grain cast in .38 Special cases for a velocity of 1104 fps. The +P load goes to 6.0 grains.

Under a hundred grain bullet, I'd be willing to load 5.5 grains and would expect to get about 1100 fps, and pressures in the +P range. I would not be expecting stellar accuracy, but might get reasonable accuracy. That's a light bullet for those plates, though.

You might want to try bullets intended for the 9mm if you can get them sized .358. I have had TC bullets of about 135 grains shoot nearly as well as wadcutter match loads, and do so with low recoil and at 1000 fps.0

redbeard55 · March 9, 2006, 11:26 AM

Leftoverdj. For the Steel Plate match I shoot you only have to hit the plate - you don't have to knock it over. If I could find more of the 140 grain bullet that shoots so well out of my GP100, I would stock up. Since I can't seem to find anyone that casts the 140 , I'm forced to try another load. The distances for Steel Plates goes out to at least 40 yards. However the 40 yard shots are all on large rectangular plates. Its the 12 inch plates at 30-35 yards that are giving me some problems. Shooting a revolver double action is a whole new ball game for me after years of firing mostly single action. With the 140 grain load, I can still fire double action and as long as I don't rush, hitting the 12 inch plates isn't too hard. However with my 158 grain loads, I simply miss too many of the plates, even if I cock the revolver to fire single action.

There was a recent post on one of the chat rooms about cast bullet loads (no gas checks) in rifle calibers. What I found interesting was that the best accuracy with all of the calibers typically happened in the 900-1250 range. After 1250 the accuracy went from 1-2 inch groups at 50 yards to 8-12 inch groups with just a small increase in velocity. Since the cast bullets used are probably the same alloy as used for pistol bullets, I was hoping accuracy in the pistols might also increase in the 900-1250 range. I have a Lyman manual, but would prefer to locate data specific to the 105s I purchased yesterday. I have the phone number for Meister, so maybe I will give them a call. Ia've been through all of my reload manuals, and no one seems to list either a 100-105 grain bullet.

I was thinking about the same as you for 231. If accuracy doesn't develop, I could probably switch to 357 cases and run all my loads over a choronograph. If the accuracy isn't there by 1250, chances are it will never be.

March 7, 2006, 12:52 PM	#1
redbeard55 Member Join Date: November 16, 2005 Posts: 55	100 grain lead truncated bullets for 38 Special Was at the local gun shop last weekend. Noticed they had some 100 or 105 grain lead truncated bullets for 38 Special. I've heard they are probably for the Cowboy Action shooting crowd. Has anybody worked up loads for the 100 grainers with Winchester 231?

March 8, 2006, 02:07 PM	#3
redbeard55 Member Join Date: November 16, 2005 Posts: 55	100 grainers I don't shoot CAS but I do shoot Steel Plates at the local gun club. I've been using 158 grain SWC with 4.3 grains of W231. D&J used to offer a 140 grain LSWC that shot exceptional well in my 4" GP100. Only problem is that they went out of business. Velocity with 4.7 grains of 231 was right at 1000 fps for the 140 grain LSWC. I was hoping to drive the 100 grain bullets to at least 1000 fps. My experience with most hard cast bullets is that there is less leading in the 1000-1200 fps range than there is in the 600-900 fps range. My 44 Mag hardly leads at all with my practice load at 1180. My 45 Colt leads something terrible at 900 fps. One barrel might be rougher than another, but I can't tell by looking down the barrel. They are both Rugers. The Steel Match has targets up to 40 yards. My standard load with the 158 grain LSWC is causing me to eat some penalties. Shot the match clean with my 140 grain load last weekend. Trouble is that I will soon run out of the 140 grain ammo. Was hoping for a fairly fast (but safe) load with better than average accuracy.

March 9, 2006, 11:26 AM	#5
redbeard55 Member Join Date: November 16, 2005 Posts: 55	105 grain bullets Leftoverdj. For the Steel Plate match I shoot you only have to hit the plate - you don't have to knock it over. If I could find more of the 140 grain bullet that shoots so well out of my GP100, I would stock up. Since I can't seem to find anyone that casts the 140 , I'm forced to try another load. The distances for Steel Plates goes out to at least 40 yards. However the 40 yard shots are all on large rectangular plates. Its the 12 inch plates at 30-35 yards that are giving me some problems. Shooting a revolver double action is a whole new ball game for me after years of firing mostly single action. With the 140 grain load, I can still fire double action and as long as I don't rush, hitting the 12 inch plates isn't too hard. However with my 158 grain loads, I simply miss too many of the plates, even if I cock the revolver to fire single action. There was a recent post on one of the chat rooms about cast bullet loads (no gas checks) in rifle calibers. What I found interesting was that the best accuracy with all of the calibers typically happened in the 900-1250 range. After 1250 the accuracy went from 1-2 inch groups at 50 yards to 8-12 inch groups with just a small increase in velocity. Since the cast bullets used are probably the same alloy as used for pistol bullets, I was hoping accuracy in the pistols might also increase in the 900-1250 range. I have a Lyman manual, but would prefer to locate data specific to the 105s I purchased yesterday. I have the phone number for Meister, so maybe I will give them a call. Ia've been through all of my reload manuals, and no one seems to list either a 100-105 grain bullet. I was thinking about the same as you for 231. If accuracy doesn't develop, I could probably switch to 357 cases and run all my loads over a choronograph. If the accuracy isn't there by 1250, chances are it will never be.

March 7, 2006, 01:27 PM	#2
Leftoverdj Senior Member Join Date: October 15, 2004 Posts: 934	I played around a little with 100 grain .380 bullets in the .38 Special, leaving them as cast by lubing in a .359 sizer. I used 3.0 grains of 231, but you might want to drop back to 2.5. Pressure is not an issue here. You'll never get close to redline with any of the very fast pistol powders in those quantities with that bullet weight. Got 15 yard beer can accuracy with very low recoil and report. That oughta be plenty good for CAS, but nowhere near normal WC loads.

March 8, 2006, 03:29 PM	#4
Leftoverdj Senior Member Join Date: October 15, 2004 Posts: 934	The Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook shows a standard pressure load of a max of 5.7 grains of 231 under a 92 grain cast in .38 Special cases for a velocity of 1104 fps. The +P load goes to 6.0 grains. Under a hundred grain bullet, I'd be willing to load 5.5 grains and would expect to get about 1100 fps, and pressures in the +P range. I would not be expecting stellar accuracy, but might get reasonable accuracy. That's a light bullet for those plates, though. You might want to try bullets intended for the 9mm if you can get them sized .358. I have had TC bullets of about 135 grains shoot nearly as well as wadcutter match loads, and do so with low recoil and at 1000 fps.0