.38 Special minimal loads

[Orange Boy]

I'm wanting to move my wife up from .22 rimfire practice to a 38 special. I plan to use a 4" barrel S&W Model 66 with Hogue grips. We mostly punch paper indoors at 25-50 feet. I'm looking for advice on what amount of powder load (Bullseye) and what type bullet might be best. Crimp preferences with said load also would be helpful to me. My goal here is to work up a load that will be very light in the recoil and loudness department, but have accurate and trouble free ballistics at the short indoor distances we will be using them at. I want her to have a good introductory experience with the 38 Special and then later we can practice with stronger loads. I would appreciate any and all suggestions and advice. Thanks.
Bob

 

[evan price]

For light recoil and easy shooting and economy, nothing beats the 148-grain lead full wadcutter. The "classic" load is 2.7 grains Bullseye for the 148-grain wadcutter. Depending on the bullet you choose, some are seated flush with the case and roll crimped, some protrude slightly and crimp into a cannelure near the end.

Powder charge is minimal. Recoil is light. Accuracy is high.

Good luck to you and her.

 

[Walkalong]

A 125 Gr bullet and a light charge of Clays/W-231/Bullseye to push it in the 800ish range will shoot very well and have very light recoil. Lots of options in that range in the load books.

 

[LightningMan]

My cowboy action load is a pussycat to shoot, 125 gr. bullet over 3.2 grains of Trail Boss. You get about 650 fps out of a 5 1/2 barrel. LM

 

[Robert Wilson]

In my opinion Evan Price hit the nail on the head. 2.7 grains of Bullseye with a 148 HBWC cannot be beaten for an accurate, quiet, clean, no-recoil load. And your pound of powder will last forever!

For what it is worth, the Hornady swaged 148 HBWC is the best I have tried.

 

[NVMM]

I've gotta go along with Walkalong, A 125 Gr bullet and a light charge of Clays.
This load will give you the best bang for the buck!
Mrs. Orange Boy will be pleased.

 

[zxcvbob]

I loaded up some 125 grain truncated cone cast bullets with a light charge of Titegroup -- I think it was 3.0 grains. They were terribly inaccurate from my 4" S&W and I gave them to a friend with a 6". That extra barrel length made all the difference and they were very accurate for him. This is an even lighter load than most wadcutters.

I like 125 grain bullets with 4.0 grains of Red Dot, but that might be hotter than you want (so try 3.5, and then 3.2)

 

[Ateam-3]

For light recoil and easy shooting and economy, nothing beats the 148-grain lead full wadcutter. The "classic" load is 2.7 grains Bullseye for the 148-grain wadcutter. Depending on the bullet you choose, some are seated flush with the case and roll crimped, some protrude slightly and crimp into a cannelure near the end.

Powder charge is minimal. Recoil is light. Accuracy is high.

I agree 100%, could not have said it any better.

 

[TonyAngel]

Although I hate the load, I have to go with the Bullseye load with the 148gr wad cutter. I don't shoot it because it's boring, but for the stated purpose, it'll work. Recoil is about non existent and stupid accurate out of every .38 cal. wheel gun I've every shot it through.

I used to burn up a lot of that stuff with my kids because at the time (when they were younger) it was actually about the same cost as quality .22 and more accurate.

 

[sonier]

Herco is great for minimal charges, i can load very very mild 38s and i can load extreme power house 357 mag lead cast rounds.

 

[Joemyxplyx]

LightningMan said

My cowboy action load is a pussycat to shoot, 125 gr. bullet over 3.2 grains of Trail Boss. You get about 650 fps out of a 5 1/2 barrel.

My cowboy load is a 125 grain Missouri Bullet Cowboy #2 over 3.4 grains of Ramshot ZIP for roughly 700 fps out of a 4 5/8 barrel. A powder-puff load.

Plus ZIP is a ball powder so it meters like sand. I get no variance I can see out of a Lee ProAutoDisk and a Hornady LnL. It's not +- 0.1 grain; it's just always the same whenever I measure it.

I've been meaning to try Trail Boss sometime. How does it meter LightningMan?

 

[ArchAngelCD]

One of my two favorite .38 Special target loads is a 148gr DEWC over 3.2gr W231. It's accurate and produces very little felt recoil, especially in a 4" .357 Magnum K frame. You can use the same bullet over 3.0gr of Bullseye too.

If you would rather load a LSWC bullet my other favorite load is a 158gr LSWC over 4.0gr W231. Trail Boss is also hard to beat for light target loads. It was developed for Cowboy Action shooting and mimics Black Powder velocities and pressures without all the smoke, fouling and dirt. Trail Boss will fill or almost fill the .38 Special case so it's impossible to double charge when using Trail Boss.

Good luck finding a load that will work for you...

 

[wrangler5]

I went through this process for the wife of a friend last year, although she was starting with a 2" snubbie - so we REALLY wanted to start light. While accuracy is important, if you're shooting short range you probably won't notice the difference between the WC and a 125g round nose bullet that will be more convenient to drop into the cylinder.

I know that Bullseye/231/Titegroup will do nicely, but I was a LOT more comfortable using Trail Boss once I saw how well it filled up that huge (compared to 2.7g of Bullseye) 38 case. Easy to see you've got a charge in the case, and impossible to overdo - you can't get a double charge in, and even if you fill all the available space in the case you can't overcharge.

 

[Clark]

A round lead ball pushed by only a primer is a light load.

Adjust the power with seating depth.

 

[JoelSteinbach]

148 grain Hornady HBWC with 2.9 gr Titegroup, I dont load this flush but out to 1.3" length light crimp. Very accurate, very gentle load

 

[Orange Boy]

I've obtained some Ranier 148 Gr. DEWC copper washed bullets and plan to try the classic 2.7 gr. Bullseye. Ranier recommends lead reload data, so I think I'm OK there. I will most likely start with a taper crimp unless you all feel a slight roll crimp is best here.

My real question is seating depth. I'm thinking of seating like the photo, so just a hair of the bullet is peeking out of the case. Am I OK with this?

Thanks!

 

[JoelSteinbach]

you will find total length of 1.3, places the bullet closer to the forcing cone and will give you a more accurate round

 

[rcmodel]

I really has nothing to do with the forcing cone being closer.

In theory, seating a WC out of the case 1/8" or so places part of the bullet in the bullet diameter chamber throat, which should help align it better.

rc

 

[918v]

I load my 38 HBWC to 1.34" OAL. This OAL eliminates the skirt constriction caused by the increase in brass thickness further down the case.

 

[pete950]

With rainers you will find that 2.7 of bullsey works great, you cold work up to what I use 3.0 works great and is still a light load.

 

[Robert Wilson]

I would roll crimp over the top of the bullet. I understand the theory, but in practice the most accurate wadcutter loads I have seen have all been seated flush and roll crimped.

 

[Orange Boy]

Is the copper plating on Raniers a good thing or will it just trade lead fouling for copper?

 

[243winxb]

38 spec. cartridge-

The "classic" load is 2.7 grains Bullseye for the 148-grain wadcutter.

Great load. and a COL of 1.3" in a 357mag chamber will not hurt a thing.

copper plating

Not needed on a lite target load, plus i would guess copper is more co$tly then lead.

 

[Robert Wilson]

In my experience that bullet leaves a light copper wash in the bore. It does not harm accuracy, is easy to remove, and does no harm if left in the bore for long periods. Having said that, I am unaware of any advantages over lead so do not use them anymore myself.

 

[Walkalong]

I shoot a lot of plated bullets and have no fouling worth mentioning. Eventually it will need a bit of cleaning, just like jacketed. I do not clean pistol barrels very often. They don't need it, but that is a whole nother discussion with folks on both sides.