What is the lightest 38 Special load?

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If modern 38 “Short Colt” is loaded with .357/.358” bullets, all well and good, but it’s not 38 Short Colt anymore. The 38SC used a heeled bullet at .361, which should not be used in a revolver chambered for 38 Special.
 
LRDGCO said:
If modern 38 “Short Colt” is loaded with .357/.358” bullets, all well and good, but it’s not 38 Short Colt anymore. The 38SC used a heeled bullet at .361, which should not be used in a revolver chambered for 38 Special.
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But as far as I know, no one currently loads 38 Short Colt with a heeled in bullet. All the 38 Short Colt currently on the market (Remington, Fiocchi, Magtech, Ten-X, and Ventura) is loaded with a typical 38/357 bullet.

It seems Buffalo Arms sell bullets and dies for those that want to load a heeled in bullet for a cap and ball conversion revolver but not as loaded ammunition. Unless someone else knows of another source all the modern commercial 38 Short Colt I have encountered is safe to shoot in a 38 Special or 357 Magnum.
 
silicosys4 said:
.38 special loads that are so weak they will regularly stick bullets in a 4" barrel are still loud enough to make your ears ring without hearing protection.

Chased my tail on that one for a while before I gave up
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Heck, even a 22 LR out of a revolver will make your ears hurt. No way you can load a 38 with less powder than that.
 
Did the OP state somewhere the intent was to shoot without any protection? Or did he ask for a reduced report, reduced 38spcl load?

I’ve found 4.0grn Bullseye under a 93grn Meister LRN to be incredibly mild with a very moderate report.
 
Jim Watson said:
Do you reload? If so, a lot of Bovine Persons are using 105-125 grain .38 bullets and the lightest powder charge that the shot timer will "hear."
Post 4 has one "recipe."
A couple of posse members here load a 125 gr cast bullet and 2.9 gr of Clays.

CAUTION: Use cast bullets for such light loads. It is quite possible to stick a jacketed bullet or just its jacket with these very light loads.

If not, see Post 6.
Also, Magtech has a very mild .38 Special Short. How that differs from .38 Short or Long Colt, I do not know.
https://magtechammunition.com/products/38-spl-short-125gr-lrn/
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I started my load workup for some 38 special at 2.5 grains of Clay's with a 125 grain MBC #17 Hi-Tek bullet crimped in the lube groove and the recoil was so low that I didn't even have fun shooting those. (Data from hogdon website / lube groove crimp just because)
 
bannockburn said:
First handloaded cartridge I made was a .38 Special 148 grain wadcutter over 2.8 grains of Bullseye. Made them for my Charter Arms Undercover. It was a nice round, pretty quiet, almost no felt recoil, and very accurate.
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I use this same exact load and cant imagine anything being must lighter than that or cheaper to load. I usually buy 2000 HBWC from Zero Bullets and load up 1000 and when almost gone load the other half. Not only light, I've found very few guns in my days that wouldn't shoot this load very accurately.
 
Orion, Why not make it easy on yourself? Just use factory, or light 38 Spcl. hand loads, using 148 grain wadcutters. You'll still need hearing protection, but they are very soft recoiling and a pleasure to put nice, cleanly cut, holes in paper with........ymmv
 
You can go with a 38 it is the less power of the 38 38Sp then the 357Mag it will be hard to find jest 38 so look for 38Sp sub sonic loads they will be what you are looking for GOOD LUCK
 
I may try to find modern 38 Short Colt bullets.

The only reason why I asked this is because I prefer less loud when shooting these days....yes I have hearing protection. I had an open top 1851 type pistol and was shooting some Perfecta 38 Special through it...and honestly, it seemed like it was nearly twice as loud as my 9mm rounds through a semi-auto. I am only wanting light loads for the next 1873 SAA I eventually get....to go with an eventual 1873 Lever rifle.

BTW,....I do not reload at this time. I may do so in the future.
 
I loaded some 38 SC today with 125 gr LRNFP over 1.5 gr Trail Boss, and shot them from my Model 19 w/4” barrel. It’s hard to imagine anything lighter that that. Hodgdon shows 490fps with a 135 gr bullet from 7.5” barrel. I didn’t chrono them, but my bullets were a little lighter, and out of a shorter barrel, so I’d say somewhere around 450-475 FPS.
 
25 or so years ago, when they had regular gunshows in Grayslake, Illinois, I bought several boxes of 38 Special loaded with 100 grain wadcutters loaded to the same velocity as 32 S&W Long 100 grain wadcutters. This meant they had the same felt recoil as a 32 Long, which is to say practically none. They were also wonderfully accurate from an S&W Model 15. (I probably had to adjust for elevation, but the groups were very tight.)

When the seller stopped showing up at Grayslake, I looked elsewhere for them, but no one had heard of such a load. Later, when I got on the Internet, I rummaged around there, but I found nothing again. I may have even asked here.

I think the seller had some kind of gimmick, like using zinc in his bullet alloy to keep the weight down while retaining similar dimensions to a lead 148 grain wadcutter, but it has been far too long for me to remember with any reliability. They did no harm to the guns I used them in, anyway.
 
Monac said:
25 or so years ago, when they had regular gunshows in Grayslake, Illinois, I bought several boxes of 38 Special loaded with 100 grain wadcutters loaded to the same velocity as 32 S&W Long 100 grain wadcutters. This meant they had the same felt recoil as a 32 Long, which is to say practically none. They were also wonderfully accurate from an S&W Model 15. (I probably had to adjust for elevation, but the groups were very tight.)

When the seller stopped showing up at Grayslake, I looked elsewhere for them, but no one had heard of such a load. Later, when I got on the Internet, I rummaged around there, but I found nothing again. I may have even asked here.

I think the seller had some kind of gimmick, like using zinc in his bullet alloy to keep the weight down while retaining similar dimensions to a lead 148 grain wadcutter, but it has been far too long for me to remember with any reliability. They did no harm to the guns I used them in, anyway.
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They have 100grain wadcutters here, but you’ll have to hand load them.
http://www.mattsbullets.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=65
 
If I can find 38 Special rounds that were just a bit less loud than my 9mm rounds, I would be happy with that.

I know there are many who have both 38 Special revolvers and 9mm pistols. I'm sure someone would know what 38 Special round would have less noise than 9mm. ANYTHING with less noise than a 9mm 115 gr cartridge would work!
 
That would be nearly anything but 110 gr +P.
For casual shooting, practice, training, competition, there is very little to beat the plain old 148 gr wadcutter and 158 gr roundnose.
 
From the net...

.22 LR Marlin 60 (Rifle) - 141 dB
.38 Short Colt - 150 dB
.38 Special Wadcutter - 150 dB
.22 LR Ruger MkIII - 157 dB
.223 AR-15 (Rifle) - 158 dB
.45 ACP 1911 - 159 dB
9mm Glock 17 - 164 dB
.38 Special (standard velocity) GP-100 - 164 dB

This is only a measure of sound intensity, and not of duration or frequency; which also contribute to the sound quality of loudness. As such, .22 LR, .38 SC, .38 WC, and 45 ACP are all quieter than 9mm.
 
I suppose I could get some 38 Special Wadcutter rounds for the revolvers then. Thanks!

But not sure why the Perfecta 38 Special rounds sounded SO much louder than 9mm. :-/
 
Mr_Flintstone said:
They have 100grain wadcutters here, but you’ll have to hand load them.
http://www.mattsbullets.com/index.php?main_page=index&cPath=65
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Holy cow, Mr_Flintstone, they have 75 grain wadcutters for 38 Special! I would not have thought that was practical. It's only 3-4 grains more than the standard 32 ACP bullet.

I am not the kind of person who should handload, though. I am too clumsy, careless, and easily distracted. I dislike buying NIB old guns, because I know I am going to mar them somehow.
 
I'm rather new to this, so take my reply for what it is. I've been making some 148gr double end wadcutters with 3.0 grains of titegroup and they are exceptionally light shooting and accurate. I haven't chrono'd them yet, so I don't know how fast they're scooting along...I just know they're a joy to shoot.
 
Englishmn said:
Primed case with a wax bullet.
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Speer also makes primer powered plastic shells and bullets, bullets if not striking very hard surface bullets can be reused, powerful enough to kill a squirrel at 7 yds. I used them in an urban area for yrs and had a freezer full of collared doves and a few squirrels. Accurate out to 10 yds, great for paper punching in the garage!!
 
The old gold standard centerfire bullseye 38 load was the 148 gr wadcutter on 2.7 gr Bullseye. Shot thousands of them in the early 70's through the 80's - mild, almost no recoil, and easily attenuated by ear plugs...
 
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