38 spcl poofers?

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I have been making a lot of 38 spcl light loads for short range (15 ft) point and shoot practice using sr4756 at 5.6 gr with a CCI550 primer.
Yesterday I had two rounds that didn't sound or feel right (pop instead of bang). I found one of the 125gr plated bullets on the ground, it went about 10 feet. I inspected the brass and saw no cracks, primer blowouts, or anything like that. I did notice the brass was kind of "thin" could it just be too many reloads? I weigh every fifth load and eyeball all the charged cases with a pen light before seating. Any ideas on why these two rounds out of 25 failed me?

Thanks,

UL
 
That sounds like no powder. I know you said you visually inspected each case before loading. Was there unspent powder left behind after the strange sounding shots?
 
Or a lighter load than normal. Going that low I have had bad luck with powders getting inconsistent. Working down a load for cas for a friend we used 231 and got down to 1.8 gr with small pistol standard primer and had to push a bullet out of his rifle. Crimp quality seems very important in this range as well. Too light and you get lower velocity, can't go too heavy from my experience. We went back to 2 gr and all is well again. We did try 1.8 gr with mag primers which seemed to help but not enough.
 
The CCI 550 is a magnum primer, it looks like sr4756 is not a magnum type powder. I believer the sr4756 is a faster burning powder for larger handguns. Is it possible the mix of a magnum primer and a fast burning powder caused an issue?

Another thought, is you didn't mention your crimp, is it possible you didn't crimp the bullets?
 
I did not see any unburnt powder. I taper crimped the rounds. I use the magnum primers because of the light load. My Lyman book listed 4.8 to 6.3 for the load but this IS a small amount of powder in a 38 case. Any thoughts on the brass being weak from too many reloads?

Thanks,

UL
 
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Need a little more info: What length of barrel and was the base of the bullet black?
If its a snub nose it could easily be a squib as a magnum primer could push it out.
I would not consider 4756 a "fast" powder compared to titegroup or Bullseye which is what I use for "poofers". Its actually a powder that you can get a lot of performance out of. I never have experimented with light loads with this powder.
 
S&W revolver with a 6" barrel. Bullseye would be the powder of my choice but found this old can of 4756 for $25.00.:)
The base was fairly clean but the tops were pretty black.
UL
 
SR4756 is VERY position sensitive in the .38 or .357 case and is not suitable for light loads. When testing it with 125 Gr plated bullets in one or the other (Don't remember which) I had a load that gave 900ish FPS powder back against the primer but stuck a bullet powder forward against the bullet.

Tilt the gun up each time before a shot and you'll be OK.
 
Wrong tool for the job

This is the problem with buying powder that is not meant for your needs. Somewhere there is a shooter with a can of fast powder trying to make magnum speeds.
The powder shortage is partially are own fault.
 
Walkalong is right on this one (as usual). 4756 is position sensitive and way written down in modern manuals. Since the original poster seems new to this powder, I don't want to confuse the issue, but 4756 works best at significantly higher powder levels and pressures. This would be in the 38/44 power level range.

4756 is a great powder in the 38/44 or 38 Super but then again, most of the loads are at least 85% of capacity and my favorites are right up there at near compressed loads.
 
If it went pop instead of bang it was a squib.

Inconsistent or poor ignition due to type of powder or case volume is still ignition that goes bang, maybe lower case bang but still more than pop.

The brass has nothing to do with the problem.

Using magnum primers with a light load doesn't accomplish anything. Magnum primers are for igniting certain powders that are hard to ignite.

Regular primers will put out a flame adequate to light most of the powder in the case, regardless of how little. Might be inefficient, or incomplete, but more than just a pop.

Squibs!

Like the guys said above, get a powder better suited to the task.
 
The one powder I have tried that gave better velocity powder forward was Solo 1250. Strange but useful powder. In .38 Super with a 125 Gr JHP 6.0 Grs gave an Avg 1160 FPS, 6.3 Grs gave an Avg 1160, and 6.5 Grs gave an Avg 1156. Like I said, weird stuff.

When I went to buy a big jug, I found it had been discontinued.
 
Solo will be missed. It was a great powder that I did not understand quick enough. Over and over folks told me it was great for the Super but I held back because it did not run the comps (or at least I presumed it would not given the charge weight). I only got a few pounds so I was just working up loads for it when it disappeared.

SIGH.

Too late to the dance again.

We should start a thread of unsung powders that were/are great that are going away or hard to find. It seems all we get is more ball stuff with high densities from the new stuff. I don't want ball powders (in general) and I try to avoid dense powders due to the high NG content and the high heat it puts in my guns.

Oh well back to the 38 special.

Remember, if all else fails, there is little in the 38 special that Unique cannot handle really nicely. Especially Lead bullets!
 
Try Titegroup.Hodgdon says it is not position sensitve. In my experience,squib loads make no noise at all. That is when I start looking for a bullet in the barrel and is my warning to stop and check things out.:banghead:
 
^^Agree^^
Berry's 125 gr. FN with 3.6 gr. of Titegroup makes a nice short range plinker. Coal @ 1.455". Titegroup takes up very little volume of the casing, but always goes bang for me.:)
 
Try Titegroup.Hodgdon says it is not position sensitve
Click to expand...
It was average in my testing. It does burn completely at low pressures/charge weights, but tends to stain the case, and is high nitro content. Bullseye is high nitro content as well, but I like it. Very versatile. If I could have only one, TG or BE, it would be a no brainer for me.

Lots of TG fans out there though.
 
Why so much shooting at 15 feet and with such a light load? You will just have to build your load up to SD pressures and then shoot more so you have the correct POA.

I use a Marksman spring pistol at 20 feet and shoot darts at a dartboard in my garage. Shooting bullets at 15 feet is just pissing away money.
 
I use Autocomp 6.0-6.2gr for .45acp shooting.

I now use Hodgdon Titegroup 4.2gr. It works just as accurate, alot cleaner and I get alot more rounds per pound of powder.

be safe
 
Like Walkalong, I found TG to leave a stain on my guns. Especially my big S&W N frames with the great bluing. It was very hard to remove and unacceptable so I stopped using it.

The powder is good, but the stain is nasty. If I shot stainless guns, I would not care, but pre-WWII N frame Smiths? No way.
 
Figured it out?

I was shooting at fifteen feet because I was practicing the "draw, point and shoot" self defense method. What I have read states to start at 10 feet and work your way back. It's actually easy to miss (especially when first starting this) a 9in paper plate from 15 feet when you are trying to draw, cock (or disengage the saftey if auto), and shoot in 3 seconds.
Now as for the "squibs".....I had read a thread on here about adding mineral spirits to your tumbling media. I should have read closer because I added two much. I noticed after tumbling those 38 cases that there was oily residue on the sides of the tumbler. I re-examined my squib cases and saw flakes on unburnt powder stuck in the bottom. I believe the powder in some of the cases was contaminated by this resdue. I went out yesterday and fired 50 rds of the same recipe in cases not cleaned in that media, no problem, and yes, the old media is out back in the desert:)

UL
 
Great news!

Keep up the good detective work. I don't put mineral spirits in my tumbler media so your experience is a new one on me. Thanks!
 
mineral spirits will evaporate rather quickly if you leave the media open to the air, which it sounds like you did in a permanent way.
 
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