[SteelyNirvana]

I fired my first .38 and .357 reloads this afternoon. My .38 loads were 8.0gr of blue dot and my .357's were 13.0. I was using cheap 125gr Winchester JHP's. My guns were a 3 1/4" SP101 and a 4" S&W 66. When I fired the 38's from the ruger a few flakes of unburned powder (about 7-10) actually fell out of almsot every .38 cases when I ejected them. I had some with the Smith, but not as much. The .357's had about 4-5flakes of unburned powder fal out also, I did'nt try the .357's with my Smith because i was afraid they would be to hot for it.

Is this a normal characteristic of Blue dot? I can understand the .38's having unburned powder exp fired from the 3" Ruger but what about the .357's? I used standard winchester primers and applied a tight crimp from the Lee factory crimp die.

P.S. I had a fun time with the 13.0gr of Blue dot .357's today. Very loud, very fun. I think now I'm going to load some 14.2gr's over 125's that was suggested to me a while back.:evil:

[308sc]

maybe a heavier crimp? gives more time for the powder to burn?

[evan price]

A better point to ponder would perhaps be, is anyone NOT having unburnt powder with Blue Dot? It seems a common malady especially in shorter barrels.

[bullseye308]

This could easily be resolved with the use of a barrel stretcher. Set it for 8" and pull.

[rg1]

My best loads in .357mag with 125 grain bullets used 13.7 grains of Blue Dot with a standard primer. I agree that a heavy crimp helps. A friends Blue Dot loads in .38 Special gave erratic velocity with some 300fps slower than others. I believe Blue Dot is much too slow for .38 loads.

[easyrider6042004@yahoo.ca]

Ditto on unburned flakes with 158 grain LRN over 10 grains Blue Dot and 125 grain Rainier PHP (Plated Hollow Point) over 13.5 grains BD. Never bothered to count the flakes.

I never load higher than 13.5 grn BD/125 grain PHP for fear of flame-cutting top-straps.

[SlamFire1]

I tested Blue Dot in the 38 Spl. I tested the stuff in a S&W airweight and in a K frame with a 4” barrel. The stuff is simply awful. Lots of unburnt powder and very high extreme spreads. Compare the ES’s of Blue Dot to that of Bullseye, same day, same gun.

I have tested Blue Dot in 38 Spl, 357, 44 Spl, 45 LC. The powder is next to useless in all but the 357 with jacketed bullets. In the 357 with lead bullets, I got horrible leading. In all of the other calibers I got ES’s in the order of 250-400 fps, lots of unburnt powder, and unimpressive accuracy.

If you want one powder that will do well in both the 38 and the 357, try Unique. I think you would be better off using two powders; I like Bullseye for the 38 and 2400 for the 357.

4" S&W M10-5



125 L BBRNFP 4.0 grs Bullseye Mixed cases WSP
9-Apr-06 T = 59 °F
Ave Vel = 863.4
Std Dev = 30
ES = 70.78
High = 907.5
Low = 836.7
N = 6

Windage centered
accurate

125 L BBRNFP 6.5 grs Blue Dot Mixed cases WSP
9-Apr-06 T = 64 °F
Ave Vel = 734
Std Dev = 63.53
ES = 260
High = 829.6
Low = 569.5
N = 18

125 L BBRNFP 7.0 grs Blue Dot Mixed cases WSP

Ave Vel = 788.2
Std Dev = 63.3
ES = 241.3
High = 926.7
Low = 685.3
N = 12


125 L BBRNFP 7.5 grs Blue Dot Mixed cases WSP

Ave Vel = 867.3
Std Dev = 53.06
ES = 235.6
High = 959.7
Low = 724.1
N = 25
Elevation low
Windage
poor accuracy

125 L BBRNFP 8.0 grs Blue Dot Mixed cases WSP

Ave Vel = 990.2
Std Dev = 56.55
ES = 236.1
High = 1093
Low = 857.5
N = 25
very poor accuracy
loud at times

[shu]

Yeah, don't be using that BlueDot in 38spl. You'll be wanting a fast burner like Bullseye or something in the middle like Unique. SAAMI pressure limit for 38spl is a low 17,000 psi. You need something that gets up and burnt fast, or you're fer sure going to have unburned powder falling out.

Love that BlueDot in 357sig where it fills the case and helps the bullet setback problem. Also nice in 357mag. Slow burning powder will want a good crimp to hold the bullet back while the pressure builds to get good combustion. Nice in 357mag lever guns. (But still not as good as H110 for those concussion loads).

[Walkalong]

Yeah, don't be using that BlueDot in 38spl. Ditto. It is VERY position sensitive and does not do well in the .38 Spl.

[redneck2]

Some of the older powders (Unique and Blue Dot) do not do well unless pushed hard. I use Blue Dot in some 10mm loads and it performs very well. These are maxed out, screamer loads. No unburned powder that I've ever found.

The slower a smokeless powder is, the more retardant is used to slow the burning process. It takes heat and pressure to make it act as it should. If you don't build enough heat and pressure to overcome the slow burn rate, you get poor burn. That's what it's supposed to do.

[Snapping Twig]

Me and Blue Dot, we just don't get along.

I went through a lot of it and besides unburned powder, I had spikey loads and general erratic results. It's just plain scarey to me.

I moved to H110/W296 for magnums and W231/HP38 for medium stuff... Unique too.

Good luck with Blue Dot.

[Steve C]

I load .357 mag 125gr JHP's with 13.8grs of Blue Dot and use a CCI or Federal mag primer. The loads chrono at the standard full power factory ballistics of 1,450 fps from a 4" revolver. Never had any unburned powder with them.

I've tried Blue dot in .38's but the pressure is too low to get good burning and find it smokey and it leaves soot down the side of the fired case. Its been a long time since I've tried it but I got some powder "relics", ie. unconsumed powder flakes.

[depoloni]

I've had the same problems with Blue Dot, from 9mm on the "small" end to 44mag on the "big" end of the spectrum. From my learned and gathered experience it requires a hot/magnum primer and a tight crimp, as well as moderate-to-hot loads to burn completely.

In my 9mm I got full burn with Federal small pistol primers but not WSP. With the 357 and 44mags it was the same. I generally don't like it period... in the 9mm I prefer something much faster (duh) and in the 44 I generally like slower (296/110) or faster (unique/231/HS-6) for cast/reduced loads. Heard Blue Dot was picky and just didn't learn. Want a quarter pound? ;-)

[jibjab]

From a 4" Colt Trooper .357 mag. Blue Dot worked ok with 158gr and 180gr jacketed bullets, accuracy was better with standard primers, as for .38spl I never did find a good load. For .357 mag. with jacketed bullets I use AA#9 and I am much happier now, even through a 2.75" barrel #9 works very well. The remainder of my Blue Dot is being used in my .308 Win. for reduced loads and it works very well in that application.

[nhlivefree]

I always get unburnt powder when I use blue dot. I was wondering if magnum primes might help a bit?

[EddieCoyle]

I like Blue Dot for 158gr .357 Mag, .38 Super, and heavy 10mm bullets.

It's awful for .38 and .45 ACP.

[Jimfern]

I've had the same result shooting 38 spl out of my 2.75" ruger security six. I just figured it was due to the short barrel.

[EBRDude]

I had the same issue with Blue Dot loads, so I went to a hotter primer and the problem went away.