Your favorite 38 special powder?

[Radny97]

231 for me too


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[jetinteriorguy]

HP-38 or WW231 are what meet your criteria. They are both the same powder, just sold by different names.

[mikejonestkd]

231, Unique, and Bullseye are outstanding for 38 special.
I go light with 2.8 gr of bullseye and 125 lead TC or 158gr SCW.
I use 231 for all midrange and top end 38 special loads.

I'd use 231/ HP-38 if I had to choose only one powder.

[sawdustdad]

My target load for .38 spl is 2.8g 700x. Loaded thousands. Tens of thousands, actually. Well, about 30,000 a this point. Another choice is Clays, same load, same results, but haven't loaded nearly as many.

[Rifletom]

Clays is a very good powder for the .38 spl, but, there are easier powders to use. Unique is really hard to beat. If you want a load getting to +P, 5.0gr Unique under a 158 swc will generally make you smile. And I agree, the newer Unique is cleaner. Good powder.

[Carolina65]

I've never been able to substantiate the "fill the case" theory, other than the extreme example of gallery loads which are definitely less accurate; but here we are talking about 450 f/s. And if the theory had any merit, Bullseye shooters wouldn't just about all be shooting the nearly universally accepted 2.8-3.0 gr Bullseye which leaves a huge amount of unfilled volume in a 38 special case, even with flush seated HBWC's. Back when reloading components were scarce, I ran out of BE and needing to find something fairly quickly as it was in the middle of the Bullseye season, I tried Red Dot, Clays and HP-38 as recall. I didn't see any difference between any of them and with HBWC's went right back to rested groups (wish they were offhand ) of under an inch at 25 yards with my Model 14. I would think that any of the above would be fine for your light-medium loads. I can personally attest to the accuracy and appropriateness of slightly higher velocity loads because my revolver's twist requires me to be up in to medium loads (775-825 ft/sec) for best accuracy and all the above can do this. Though Unique is the quintessential powder for medium loads, I've never used it. Good shooting.

[Mike Irwin]

"Id like something that fills at least half the case both for position sensitivity and for course safe loading."

The only powders I can think of off hand that will do that will be Unique and Trail Boss. Red Dot might come close.

Unique is generally pretty dirty, and Trail Boss won't give you as much velocity as other powders.

That said, I don't think you really need to worry about powder position and case capacity with the .38 Special.

Even though you might have a very small powder charge, the .38 Special seems to be very resistant to the sort of issues you might see (and which I did see with .44 Special and WW 231) in a larger case.

[hounddawg]

WW 231 hands down.

I have tried a few others but 231 is "old reliable" for me. It has shot well in everything from the wife's 2" barrel purse gun to a target pistol with a 6" barrel

[Master Blaster]

Bullseye, and 231 are my .38 special favorites. Throw in trailboss for .38 special velocities in a .357 case with a soft lead bullet.

[Chainsaw.]

Welp, got a pound of HS-6 today. We'll give that a whirl at the rangr tomorrow and see how she does!

[Sure Shot Mc Gee]

What Mike Irwin said ^ Winchester 231

[reloader28]

231 and Bullseye got 90% of the votes on here and you chose HS-6?????

[Pilot]

Originally Posted by Chainsaw.

Welp, got a pound of HS-6 today. We'll give that a whirl at the rangr tomorrow and see how she does!

You will be pleased with HS-6 for warmer loads. I use HP-38/Win 231 for target loads. and HS-6 for the hotter stuff. Works great.

[nukeandjuke]

Chainsaw...I know exactly what you are talking about. I recommend 700x and trailboss.


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[m&p45acp10+1]

For case fill, and clean. Trail Boss is the one that will fill both. Otherwise most powders that will burn fast enough, and not going to give the case fill you are asking for without being dirty.

[Chainsaw.]

Again, not necessarily looking at case FILLING just simply more space than titegroup. Not sire the fill percentage in a 38 case with TG but as stated in a pregious post HS6 seems to be close to half filling the case with a 158. What I loaded today seems to replicate that. Gotta get out and shoot em soon.

[Average Joe]

w231 or BE86

[BBarn]

Originally Posted by briandg

Accurate 5 is very bulky, charge weights take up a lot of space, velocity figures are high, a very effective powder.

Actually, Accurate #5 is one of the highest density (least bulky) pistol powders. As a result, a comparable load of other popular medium speed powders like Unique, Universal, Power Pistol, and HS-6 will generally fill the case more than #5.

On the flip side, the higher density of #5 tends to be an advantage for smaller auto cartridges like the 9mm. This is especially true when loading with progressive equipment where a bulkier powders tend to get jarred out of the case s little more during press indexing.

[hdwhit]

Are you loading on a progressive press? Are you wanting to be able to throw your charge from a powder measure and not check-weigh it?

If so, Bullseye and HP-38 have worked well for me.

If you are interested in weighing the charge for every round, you can get some surprisingly good, consistent results using Hi-Skor 800-X, which is my hand's down favorite for loading 158 grain JHP bullets in 38 Special for use in an S&W model 36.

[Chainsaw.]

Thats a good question, for this particular loading, once developed Ill probably be loading on my progressive (still gotta buy a caliber change kit). So far with my single stage loadings I'm liking the throw of hs6 so far. HS6 is just like tite group which throws well in my progressive.

[ilmonster]

Another vote for HP-38/231. I use it for 9mm, .38 Spcl, .44 Spcl and .45 ACP. Meters well and shoots cleanly and accurately.

[Real Gun]

The max load of Trailboss is plenty of power for that cartridge and is rated at just over 800 fps. My Hodgdon data shows 4.2 gr for the 158 lead bullet, while I actually use the minimum load of 3.0 for Cowboy shooting with 125 gr lead and still have a rating of 750 fps. Any of these tall, narrow cases, 38 Special and the magnums, probably even 327 Fed Mag, can be loaded with Trailboss and shoot well.

I believe anytime Unique is indicated, BE-86 is worth a look too. I use SR4756 for its relatively high VMD, easier to spot powder charges in tall cases, but once my stash is gone, I will have to find something else, probably just go with Trailboss.

[David R]

You are going to laugh.

I bought an 8 lb jug of Promo when powder was hard to find.

I use it just like Bullseye, using load data from older lyman books for Red Dot which it is with out the red dots. It has the same WEIGHT charge as Red Dot, but the volume is different. For shotgun, a different bushing is needed than Red Dot.

I used most of the jug in the last few years loading 38, 45 and some Cast Rifle rounds.

I would usually use Bullseye for these loads and Unique for the hot ones (+P)

David

[9mmSkeeter]

When I loaded 38 I believe I settled on 700-X.

I like flake powders especially in large casings. I wouldn't recommend TiteGroup or Auto Comp or any of those powders you can easily fit triple/quad charges in. Just my safety preference, do what you want.

[jamaica]

AA#9