.38spl Loads/2" barrel

[dustoff]

Does anyone have a favorite load for the .38 snubby. I'm asking because I used some loads my brother had made up for his .357(6" barrel) and they all key-holed out of my gun at 50 feet(They shot nice out of his gun). I need to get a general idea of where to start, hopefully by finding out what has worked for others. I would like to use 125 gr. RNFP blated bullets but I am open to any suggestions. My use would be for target and plinking.

Thanks,
Dustoff

[CoastalNC]

I've been loading some light 38s lately. I'm loading 158 grain lswc bullets by Valiant ($18 for 500 at local range) over 3.1 grains of Hodgdon Titegroup. Titegroup is a fast powder and may work out great for that short barrel you mention. The Lee manual starts that load with 3.2 grains (if I recall correctly ). I've since loaded 100 rounds with 3.0 grains to try. I'm shooting out of longer barrels (4 inch S&W and a 6.5 inch Ruger) but, I don't see why they wouldn't work for you.

[The Real Wyatt]

If your gun isn't up to it, don't even consider it.

I use 3.8 grains of bullseye in a WSP primered Stariline case behind a 158 grain lswchp. Excellent in all respects. Accurate at 25 yards.

[HSMITH]

Plated bullets are a BEAR to load and shoot well out of a revolver with conventional approaches. Crimping them so that they don't pull under recoil typically throws any chance of accuracy right out the window.

In a snubby Smith I used a 9mm sizing die to size the top quarter inch of the case after full length sizing with a 38 die, then used the 9mm expander die and loaded them with a taper crimp set to JUST take the bell out of the case. This was the only way I could get enough case tension to prevent bullet pull without a roll crimp. I did not get them to shoot accurately out of 4 different 38's with a roll crimp applied. I tried both Ranier and Berry bullets, both were terrible unless I went through all the hassle of loading them as described.

NO more plated bullets in revolvers for me unless it is 45 acp or 40, no how no way. Even then I will avoid plated bullets unless that is the ONLY thing I can get.

[ckd]

Defense round: Speer Gold Dot 135gr HP short barrel and Corbon DPX 110gr. Practice rounds: Federal American Eagles. Not that there aren't others, just had good performance from these.

[jdmick]

NO more plated bullets in revolvers for me unless it is 45 acp or 40, no how no way. Even then I will avoid plated bullets unless that is the ONLY thing I can get.

Good to know. I ordered a Lee Deluxe die set for a couple of .38 snubbies I have but haven't ordered any bullets yet. I have some SJHP 125g already and will probably get some 158g jacketed bullets coming too instead of the plated based on what your saying.

[Unclenick]

Snubbies present some special problems. 3" of barrel length seems to be a kind of threashold below which many powders start having real trouble getting going if the pressure isn't adequate. Particularly a lubricated cast bullet, which slides out of the case easily and offers little backpressure when it enters the barrel, may not let the powder start or catch up before it exits the muzzle. People who chronograph light loads in snubbies often see wild velocity variations. In one thread on another forum an extreme spread of approximately 150 feet per second out of 600 fps was observed.

The only solution I know of for target loads is to go to an extremely fast powder like N310 or Tightwad. The charges you can use will be quite small, 2.1 grains of N310 under a wadcutter, for example, so peak velocity will be limited, but at least will be tolerably consistent because the peak pressure will be much higher. In fact, while a standard load of Bullseye won't finish burning before the bullet leaves, QuickLOAD shows this load of N310 will finish burning just before the bullet exits the case mouth.

That all said, you still need to check all the usual revolver stuff. In particular, if you have keyholing, slug the barrel and the cylinder chamber throats. Make sure the chamber throats are wider than the groove diameter of the barrel. Make sure there is no constriction to be felt in the barrel where it screws into the frame. In the case of cylinder throat problems, remove the cylinder and have it reamed. In the case of the barrel constriction, firelapping or hand lapping are the only ways I know of removing it. Lead bullets are very difficult to make work in an oversize bore.

[HSMITH]

jdmick, watch the Factory Crimp Die that comes with that 4 die set, if it is even so much as touching the case before it crimps something is wrong. Let me know if you have problems and we can work through them. I am a big fan and a user of Lee dies, but have some issues with the Factory Crimp Die.

[ConRich]

I load 158gr cast bullets over 3.5gr of Bullseye for my S&W mod 15 with 2" barrel. Very accurate in MY gun.

Rich

[FM12]

For HSMITH: do those bullets have crimping grooves?

[dustoff]

Thanks for all the input. I will give some of your suggestions a try just as soon as I get my setup from Midway. I have been reloading at my brothers house and my wife has finally agreed to let me get my own setup. It should be here next week.

Unclenick, I don't believe there is anything wrong with the gun I am using. I have fired factory loads and some jacketed reloads out of it with no problems. I will however look into the faster powder you suggested. I have since loaded some .38s with Clays Universal(not sure how much as I am at work right now) and 125gr RNFP plated bullets just becuase thats what I had on hand. My results where not much better than the loads I mentioned in the original post. I suspect a faster powder might help.

Has anyone else had experience with plated bullets? It was suggested to me on another thread that I give them a try in my 44 mag and I am now unsure of that after hearing from HSMITH.

[Unclenick]

ConRich,

I can believe that. It isn't such a light load as the standard 2.7 grains under a WC. Higher pressure makes for faster burning, so you are probably passing the pressure threshold for Bullseye with that load, and you are using a bullet on the heavy end.


Dustoff,

The barrel and cylinder issues I mentioned make much less difference with jacketed bullets than they do with cast or swaged bullets. This is because jacketed bullets spring back a bit after passing through a small constriction and are too tough to experience significant gas cutting from blow-by. They also are harder to push down the bore, so they offer the powder more resistance to build pressure against. The fast powder loads may bump your cast bullets up enough to overcome this and they may not. It depends on the gun.

I would still check the cylinder throats and bore? The cylinder throats should be at least 0.3580". If you have some cast bullets sized 0.358", you should be able to push them though the oiled cylinder throats by hand with a piece of dowel rod, even if they are slightly snug.

[HSMITH]

FM12, I have tried bullets both ways, IIRC the last time I tried they were 158's and did have a cannelure.

[cheygriz]

For snubbies, it's darn hard to beat a 148 full wadcutter over 2.8-3.2 of Bullseye. For a factory duplication load, use a 158 SWC over 3.2 of Bullseye.

[ziggy222]

best load i ever had was 148gr double ended wadcutter and a low to meddium load of w231.i could rippid fire my colt detective special into the bullsey every time.i also used red dot but it was too dirty.

[jdmick]

I got some 135g Gold Dots to duplicate Speer factory rounds as close as possible. Quickest powder I have now is 231, which I don't really like because it burns awful dirty in my experience so I'll probably go get some Bullseye unless there's something better for a snubby.

[ziggy222]

i'm thinking if w231 powder is dirty out of your gun,then you may not be crimping very firm.i used a low/medium load and my gun hardly needed cleaned off after firring several boxes.only thing i did'nt like is that with w231 you could double charge very easily without notice.it leaves alot of empty space in the case.