I can't offer any information or advice with lead or copper plated, but I'm sure there are others here that will, or already have been covering those options with you.
But I can help you with loading full house jacketed rounds, stuff that you'd be proud to call your own, and provide you with the confidence to trust your own reloads as much or even more than factory offerings.
Consider this. 50 rounds of the absolute most powerful, best rated self defense factory ammo is gonna set you back about $25-$30 for either 20 or 25 rounds, so were looking at $50-60 bucks for 50 rounds of the real deal factory magnums. This could be higher if going for some Gold Dots or Barnes.
Now consider that you can purchase a box of 100 Hornady XTP's for about $18, so .18 each.
The powder needed for a near max charge with H110 / 296 would cost about .058 per cartridge.
Add the CCI-550 at an average cost of ,035 per
And then the cost per piece of new Star line brass will progressively decrease each time you load it, it's a win win. Initially the cost per piece of brass will be around .18 each. Maybe less if you shop around, but I usually get it for about that.
So to tally it up, you could be shooting your own 100% reliable, custom tailored self defense / hunting reloads that would cost a mere $44 and some change, and that's only the first run. Next reloading will diminish the cost down to $35, Heck, 10 or 12 reloadings later and that same piece of brass is costing you less than a penny, rather than .18, thus reducing the cost of a box down to $14 or so.
And that cost can be reduced even more by purchasing jacketed bullets in bulk, and by buying once fired brass. I've been able to shot decent JHP's for about .010 each, which means I can shoot Full throttle jacketed magnum for about $9.50 per 50 round box.
Since you like 140 gr. bullets, which I fancy also, I recommend Hornady 140 gr. XTP's. One of the cool things about the XTP, besides the fact that they're a premium JHP at a reasonable cost, is they offer them with either a flat point , or hollow point.
I fired the hollow points into 16" of tightly wrapped with bailing wire saturated demin, submerged in water inside a box lined with a trash liner to make it water tight.
All of the projectiles exited the box and were recovered in soft fine silt. Expansion was around .530"
None of them experienced any jacket separation what so ever.
Weight retention was 99.9%, and I'm pretty sure there was some weight loss, though not discernible on my 5-10 beam scale. I also had excellent results with Gold Dots, but those were 158's, which you've already conveyed your dislike for them.
XTP - 140 gr. HP
Powder - H110 / 296 = 17.1 gr. - 19.0 gr.
Magnum primer required
Good full roll crimp
Now for 38 special I have another load that does the 38 spcl justice, and serving effectively as a self defense and hunting combination. The following data is +P rated and should only be fired in firearms rated for +P. As always, one should work up from the published minimum with all reloading endeavors.
I like using the 110 grain and the 125 gr. XTP's, but I've also been happy with the 140's and 158's. I get especially good velocity withe 110's, but the 125's are by no means disappointing.
+P 38 spcl data
Powder - Longshot 7.6 gr. There is no minimum to maximum table for Hodgdon's +P data, so I've always just used it as published.
Bullet - 110gr. XTP HP roll crimped
Primer- CCI-500 I've used a lot of CCI-550 magnum primers with this load, and all the others blow, and it honestly didn't produce a discernible difference as far as I could tell.
Velocity out of a Taurus 608 W/ 4" comp. barrel. Velocity was in the lower 1300's fps. I don't have my records in front of me, but I know that number is close anyway.
The 125 gr. XTP was slightly lower velocity, but no slouch as a consideration for a self defense round.
125 gr. XTP
Longshot - 7.0 grs. Again, not min / max table for +P loads
CCI-500 or 550 if out of 500's
Velocity out of 4" 608 was around the mid 1200's
The 140 gr. XTP
Longshot - 6.4 gr. I have my own worked up data for this bullet, can't share that here though.
CCI-500
Velocity wasn't as bad as I had expected. to which I was still respectively above 1100 fps, so I never feel under gunned with a cylinder full of those.
Then there's the oh so hated 158's. I actually really like these in the 38 spcl with +P data, and then some. When I'm carry 158's, I'm either carrying the 158 XTP, or 158 Gold Dots.
158 gr. XTP
Longshot - 5.5 gr. I have my own developed charge for this combination, can't share here though.
CCI-500
All of the 38 spcl loads were tested using the rolled up wet denim.
The jackets on the 110's started to pull away from the core, but weight retention confirmed that they didn't fragment at all. They didn't make it completely through the denim, but only lacked full penetration by only 3 or 4 inches, but they fulled expanded.
125's penetrated all the way through, but landed on top of the silt, so they were completely done. they did everything else fine, they completely expanded, no jacket separation except for one small piece of a pedal.
The 140's and 158's also fully penetrated, and fully expanded. Both embedded into the silt several inches. Weight retention was for all practical purposes 100%. No jacket separation what so ever, and all the pedals were nicely rolled down against the outside of the shank. I was immensely pleased with both of those bullets and make it a point to carry at least one speed loader or strip filled with either of those.
Velocity is a consistent 1050 out of the 4" 608. My own tailored load runs a bit higher though. This is a particular property of Longshot that keeps me stuck on it for +P work.
GS
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