38 Special Loads......

4 gr universal with a 158gr works well. give it a nice roll crimp

Velocity on this load according to Hodgdon , which used a 7 inch barrel was 858 fps. On a 4" barrel you should around 800 fps. Too many other variables to get a better number. Primers, bullet seating and bullet hardness will all have an effect. I did check and Hornady agrees with me , but Lyman thinks it could be bit lower. Why don't you chronie some shots and get back to us with some more exact info.

I load a 158gr LSWC over 3.5grs W231; nice, easy shooting load running at about 750fps. That velocity is an estimate, as I don't have a chrony to measure them. I shoot them out of my SAA and my brother uses them in his old S&W Hand Ejector. No ill effects that we've noticed. We also load 15 grains of black powder under the same bullet for when we want to "cowboy things". Neither load would be too heavy for the old Colt in my opinion, though the black powder load will require cleaning immediately after firing lest the gun rust. How about some photos of this lovely Colt?

Mac

Awww. We don't mind talking about different load options here. Just don't ask about bear loads please. LOL.

45 long said:

Just realized I should have posted this in the reloading forum. Sorry !!

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I really like Universal for my handgun loads. I like it more than Unique. It burns cleaner.

For .38 Special 158 grain LRN I have found 4.2 grains to be a nice accurate load with all my .38 and .357 revolvers.

You can find load recipes on the Hodgdon website.
https://shop.hodgdon.com/reloading-data-center?rdc=true&type=53

Remember there are only two type of people with chronies: 1) People who haven't opened their chronie box and 2) People who have shot up their chronies. LOL
My wife made me buy my own after I shot up a chronie belonging to a friend. Yes, he is still a friend cause I replaced his old one with a new one that has all the new
bells and whistles on a it.

I too have shot my Chrony.
For 38 SPL, I prefer 140-145 gr bullet of TCFP shape.
The flat point acts like an LBT design, cone helps with penetration.
Also, IMHO, get the best balance of bullet weight and velocity at that ~140 weight.
A number of casters offer this weight, molds also - if you cast.
Currently, in my loading closet - have some coated ones from MKBC and some regular
Lubed from OTB (or what ever there name is now).
The OTB bullet tips the scale at 145 gr, probably is my preference.
6.0 gr Silhouette with Rem 1 1/2 primer in P+ case yields 920 fps from my M10.
This loading is consistent, effective and has been accurate in various firearms.
Shoots to sights in the M10, also pretty close in a 357 vaquero- great in 357 carbine.

45 long said:

My son went out to but a S&W .357 and came home with a Colt Official Police .38 Special. Go figure ! (He has a thing for older firearms). I'm going to be working up some loads for him & need some input.
The only powder I have to spare right now is Universal, pushing a 158gr LRN. I had read on a website that Colt claimed this revolver would handle 38/44 pressures. Just curious if anyone has experience with this particular Colt, and what would be considered safe upper pressures.
I'm not really looking to go for a hot load. The gun is a 1959 & I just want to keep it safe.......Thanx

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I have three OP revolvers and an Army Special in.38 -and one OP in .32-20 - two are 4-inch guns. I don’t use Universal, I use Unique - 4.5gr with a Speer or Hornady 158gr LSWC-HP @ 850-875fps, depending on which bullet and revolver. I am pretty sure the same weight of Universal will get you closer to 800-825 at normal pressures. 4.2 would be my recommended starting point and don’t go over 4.9. The Official Police is a very strong gun but it is also a very old gun and you don’t know it’s full history. Be careful.

Get a Lab-Radar chronograph, it sets up next to the shooter and uses Doppler radar to measure bullet velocity. So, unless you have a habit of shooting along the firing line rather than down range, you should be ok.

3.5 grains of Bullseye under just about any 158 grain bullet is a great accurate load.

Hal said:

3.5 grains of Bullseye under just about any 158 grain bullet is a great accurate load.

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It's also more than a little hot. With Bullseye and lead, back off to 3gr. and work up. According to Alliant, 3.5gr. is the MAX load with lead. Alliant doesn't list a jacketed load that heavy with Bullseye and neither does Lyman's.

45 long said:

Just realized I should have posted this in the reloading forum. Sorry !!

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I'm sure the mods will move it there once they discover it...or you could request they do so.

Back in the early 1970s when I started shooting handguns and reloading THE standard load for duplicating factory 38 Specials was 3.5g of Bullseye behind a 158g RNL bullet. This load produced 870 fps in a 6" barrel and a close to 850 fps in a 4". Now factory 158g RNL round shoot only 750 fps. 38 Specials have been wimped out so much these days it is embarrassing. To day's +P rounds are comparable to standard 38 Specials from back then.

Dave

Back in the early 1970s when I started shooting handguns and reloading THE standard load for duplicating factory 38 Specials was 3.5g of Bullseye behind a 158g RNL bullet. This load produced 870 fps in a 6" barrel and a close to 850 fps in a 4". Now factory 158g RNL round shoot only 750 fps. 38 Specials have been wimped out so much these days it is embarrassing. To day's +P rounds are comparable to standard 38 Specials from back then.

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That's what my crib sheet/notes for .38 special loading says. I also wrote 3.5 grains of Bullseye on the side of the box of 500 cast lead SWC bullets on the shelf behind me.

As Geodude points out above & Alliant posts on the recipe web site though, it is over max.

Years ago I ended up with 2 jugs (16#) of universal clays. Ended up burning it up in 38spl cases pushing the lyman 358311 158rn bullet and the lee 158gr (Derek45's bullet pictured above). The universal clays performed best with p+ loads accuracy wise along with cleaner burning.

I used 4.7gr of universal clays for both of those bullets, p+ loads.

45 long said:

The only powder I have to spare right now is Universal, pushing a 158gr LRN. I had read on a website that Colt claimed this revolver would handle 38/44 pressures.

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The 4.7gr load forrest is quoting is a max load but the Official Police model has a long history of digesting that load for duty carry without ill effects. Given the limited supplies and options specified by the OP, the best bet for SIL’s revolver is to back off 1/2 a grain and work up to what that revolver likes. They are plenty strong but why take shortcuts that could have bad consequences? Colts not making replacement parts for them.

I just ran a load for .38 Special using SAAMI pressure limits (17,000 psi) through my Quickload program. Here are the numbers. For SAAMI +P loads, the limit is 18,500 psi, according to Quickload.
Lyman's 358311 LRN bullet wt. of 158 grs. & seated for an overall cartridge length of 1.550".
Using a 4" barrel length I got the following data.

The relative burning rate of Universal lies somewhere between Unique and Herco according to the 49th Edition of Lyman's Handloading Handbook. HTH's Rod

4.0 gr of Hodgen Universal = 762 fps with a max chamber pressure of 13,000 psi
4.5 gr of Hodgen Universal = 822 fps with a max chamber pressure of 16,200 psi
4.7 gr of Hodgen Universal = 860 fps with a max chamber pressure of 17,600 psi
4.9 gr of Hodgen Universal = 887 fps with a max chamber pressure of 19,000 psi

This same manual (49th Edition of Lyman's Handloading Handbook) lists the following data for the same bullet & seating depth, using Unique.
A 4" bbl. gave 801 fps with 4.2 grains Unique and 11,400 psi & 905 fps with 4.7 gr & 15,900 psi.