Speer #14 has separate sections for 38 Special and 38 Special +P. The 7.5g I quoted above was from the +P section. In the regular 38 section, it has 7.1 as a
max charge, and "DNR" as the minimum - meaning
do not reduce. That said, I would not go below 7.1g's - which is exactly the manual is telling its readers.
I can't actually recommend what you should do. But if it were me loading (and it will be some day - I just haven't gotten around to that particular load combination just yet), I would start at 7.5g's and work up from there.
All that said, the Speer manual is for Speer bullets. The manual should only be used as a general guideline if bullets other than Speer's are used. But I'd still start with the 7.5g's
