WW 630 Mid 1980s.
This was listed as a 38 Special load in Speer Manuals from the period. Standard Primers and 146-158 grain lead bullets. I u sed it with the keith 358429 HP (430) with standard primers and believed the handbook about velocities in the mid 1000 fps range from 6" barrels. It was a great small game small varmint load that showed quite a bit of tissue disruption and full+frag expansion. WW discontinued the number because they found it difficult to maintain lot to lot consistency or just because it was Too Much Trouble. So, I've had this can rolling around in my closet for about 40 years. It passed the smell test so I loaded some 145 grain Tennessee Valley swcs over 10.2 grains This time in .357 cases ( I was shooting for 10 grains but decided that cavelling over .2 would be OCD)
Velocites from three ruger double actions showed low extreme spreads and gratifying velocity with the probability that the old 38 special-case loads were significantly higher and probably hard on the old standard frame revolvers. In the Olden Days , the people who wrote loading manuals place a lot of trust in Gun Writers and their magazine-published loads. They stopped doing that a couple of decades ago.
In any case, the current disorder could make digging out old cans of powder- sniff/sight testing for deterioration worthwhile for reloaders who still have primers and a source for bullets.
This was listed as a 38 Special load in Speer Manuals from the period. Standard Primers and 146-158 grain lead bullets. I u sed it with the keith 358429 HP (430) with standard primers and believed the handbook about velocities in the mid 1000 fps range from 6" barrels. It was a great small game small varmint load that showed quite a bit of tissue disruption and full+frag expansion. WW discontinued the number because they found it difficult to maintain lot to lot consistency or just because it was Too Much Trouble. So, I've had this can rolling around in my closet for about 40 years. It passed the smell test so I loaded some 145 grain Tennessee Valley swcs over 10.2 grains This time in .357 cases ( I was shooting for 10 grains but decided that cavelling over .2 would be OCD)
Velocites from three ruger double actions showed low extreme spreads and gratifying velocity with the probability that the old 38 special-case loads were significantly higher and probably hard on the old standard frame revolvers. In the Olden Days , the people who wrote loading manuals place a lot of trust in Gun Writers and their magazine-published loads. They stopped doing that a couple of decades ago.
In any case, the current disorder could make digging out old cans of powder- sniff/sight testing for deterioration worthwhile for reloaders who still have primers and a source for bullets.
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