.38 Special Missouri Bullet JHP

[MissouriCrowinMass]

In December, I purchased a Ruger GP100 with a 6" barrel in stainless. Very nice pistol, really love it. I reload for .45 ACP, 9mm and .40 S&W + some rifles.

I purchased 500 Montana Gold 158-gr. JHP's and some Win 231. I don't want hot +P loads , just nice plinking and target loads. This is only my second revolver - I've been reading info on .38 Special Squib Fires in Revolvers and I'm paranoid. I have 3 Manuals and their info is hard to get a feel for in .38 Special.

Using .38 cases, I'm thinking 4.2 grains of Win 231 with a 158-gr. JHP out of a 6" Ruger GP100. Does anybody with experience reloading .38 Special have concerns about a Squib Fire with that recipe?

Thanks for the advice in advance!

 

[ReloaderFred]

First of all, you need to change the title to Montana Gold.......

The .38 Special is one of the easiest rounds to load, since there's no mystery with it, and ample loading data. Your load should get you roughly 750+ fps, so it should be fine.

Hope this helps.

Fred

 

[MissouriCrowinMass]

Fred, Thanks!

And yes, I meant Montana Gold JHP's.

 

[ka041a]

If your revolver is a .357magnum, you might want to consider loading the .357mag cases down to .38special loads in order to avoid getting carbon rings at the forward end of the chambers. I like the montana gold bullets quite a bit and one of my local gun shops sells them for about half of what some of the other brands cost, but I haven't been able to find any load data except for from my friends on the forums.

 

[MissouriCrowinMass]

Thanks, the thing with pick-up brass at my Club is that .357 Mag is scarce and .38 Special is common.

I shot the reloads today. I'm really pleased with the GP100 and the reload recipe. All shots from 50-feet. First, I tried American Eagle 158-gr. lead RN -very good from the bench. But the American Eagle 130 FMJ ammo was terrible from the bench as you can see. The reloads using 158-gr. JHP from Montana Gold and 4.2 grains of Win 231 were just EXCELLENT! The top two targets were freehand......I'm keeping my daytime job.

Got the GP 100 used. Put the Wolf Intermediate Springs in and stoned the sear. Verry good trigger, now. I got a Light Sight to replace the Ruger Factory Sight. I had to sand down the grips to make Speed Loaders work so I refinished them. Just need some good weather and some bowling pins, now.

 

[Randy1911]

Nice gun. I got the same exact gun for Christmas from my wife. I love it.

In my Speer #12 manual it recommends not to shoot 158 gr. jacketed bullets in 38 Spl. I have been doing it anyway with no problem. Just don't load anything light, or you run the chance of a bullet getting stuck in teh barrel.