.38 HBWC with Tin Star Part-2

[918v]

Since my last thread was such a great item of interest, I decided to load up some more. This time I went as high as 3.6grs of Tin Star under a Speer 148gr HBWC. The velocity ranged from 712 to 817 FPS from a 4" Python. The accuracy was worse than with either 2.9 or 3.2 grains which were 150-200 FPS less speedy. The brass did not stick. The primers looked normal. The best group of the day, .75" CTC at 15 yards, came from 3.1 grains of Bullseye primed by FC-100 which was used as a reference. My promising load of 2.9grs of TS with CCI primers did not live up to what I expected.

I do not recommend this powder for HBWC applications. Yes, it gives near 100% load density, but 100 FPS velocity swings and 2-3" accuracy at 15 yards are unacceptable.

 

[joneb]

he best group of the day, .75" CTC at 15 yards, came from 3.1 grains of Bullseye primed by FC-100

I tried IMR's Trail Boss in various amounts in .38spl with Speer HBWC's I was not impressed.
Not even W-231 could out do Bullseye for this bullet.
I wish Speer would bring back the plain base wadcutter :banghead: I would load those with 3.4gr of Be with excellent results.

 

[918v]

Bullseye is awesome. I tried TB as well, but could not get consistent accuracy. I was hoping TS was it but no such luck. I'll try IMR PB next. That powder is fairly bulky and meters like Bullseye. It burns clean too. Ken Waters had good luck with it.