.38 Special for older S&W

So on Sunday, I'm planning on loading up some .38 with Unique and 158 grn LSWCs.
Data I have on hand is as follows:
Hornady 8th ed. 3.3 (650 fps, meh) to 4.2 grains.
Lyman 49th ed. 4 to 4.5 grains
Alliant's website 4.2 (rounding down, 10% reduction gives 4.23) to 4.7 grains

Was leaning towards the Lyman start load of 4 grains for some mostly informal plinking. Seems like a no-brainer, but I am loading for a Smith & Wesson from 1920.

The serial number puts it past the initial period of heat treatment, but I have been told that the process was refined in the '30s, and am wondering if this seems like a reasonable load.

I am sure I am worrying about nothing, but was hoping for some input from those with more experience.

Thanks for the input.

The powder puff 650fps load was less than interesting for me, and is for a specific Hornady bullet which I am not using.

There won't really be an environment for serious accuracy testing, so I figured this would be a nice lower/middle load that would be fun and perhaps even useful. I know this gun is not made of aluminum foil and glass, but don't want to over stress it. Again, I am probably being over cautious. Not necessarily a bad thing...

5 grains is WAY more than I would be comfortable with in this particular gun, though out of a more modern Smith or Ruger I am sure it brings grins.

Thanks again.

Yessir, I saw the thread about the loads for the 36. I was just concerned as to the age of the gun. I know that most folks say that .38 was dumbed down in the '70s, and I was probably okay. It has been suggested that I stick to lead bullets, and watch the pressure.

I will probably pick up a Lyman Cast Bullet Handbook, I only have the regular Lyman book (and the Hornady book of course) at the moment. But seeing as how I will be loading .38 spl and .45 Colt, it seems like it would be handy.

Like I said, I was just being overly cautious. I'll load up some with 4 grains for the camping trip, then work up a load properly when I have more controlled circumstances.

Thanks for taking the time to answer me, it is appreciated.

Lots of good info and advice here. Good to know that I shouldn't have problems with my planned load. Other powders will have to wait for the future, as all I have is Unique at the moment. Well that and 9 pounds of IMR 4895 (gonna run out of HXP M2 ball eventually), but I think I'm going to have a hard time finding .38 recipes for that.

Old Fuff said:

Do however be sure you don’t accidentally get a double charge.

Click to expand...

Big yes sir on that one. I am still new to the process, having loaded a handful of .45 Colt, lots of extra room in that big case. With all the horror stories of trying to meter Unique, I have been weighing every charge. Setting the drop low, weighing, and trickling up to the desired weight in the pan actually. Think I'll fashion some sort of dipper and see how that works.

At any rate I have been most cautious with the charging of the case. Never hurts to be reminded, though. Thanks to all.