38 Special +P Bullseye 158 JFP

[nix4me]

I ended up with a bunch of Bullseye powder and I have 300 jacketed FP 158gr bullets. Normally I would use Unique but I want to use what I have. My reloading manual (Lee 2nd) does not list a Bullseye load for JFP. Both the Lee manual and the Alliant online data suggests a max load of 3.9gr of Bullseye for a lead SWC.

I'm shooting the 38's out of a 4inch Taurus 357 Magnum.

Where did all of the Jacketed 38 data go?

Should I just use 3.9gr and treat them like lead?

 

[gamestalker]

If you want +P rated loads, you need to look at a different powder. Hogdon has a +P range of loads on their site. I use the Longshot +P data they have posted, nice load, been using it for many years now.
GS

 

[zxcvbob]

Alliant's older load book says .38 Special +P is 3.7 grains of BE (max) for 160 grain JSP's. The performance looks pretty good too, and the peak pressure is only 17.1 kpsi.

 

[gamestalker]

Oops, I got busted trying to convert someone to Longshot. On a more serious note though, of any powder still readily available these days Longshot has not been in short supply. It seems the slower burners are not as popular, due to economics I bet?
GS

 

[Haxby]

You know better than to believe any data you find on the interweb without verifying it, but
Speer #10 shows 4.9.
Hornady Vol. II shows 5.1.

 

[joneb]

I have used Bullseye for a S&W 36 w/a 1.875" barrel at 3.6gr of Be with a 158 lwnpb the accuracy was quite good at 3.8gr the groups opened up. At 3.8gr of Be the velocity average was 725 fps.
For .357 mag from a 2.75" barrel using the lwnpb with cci 500 and 5.8gr of Be the average velocity was 981 fps, the SD was 9 and the ES was 19.3
Bullseye handles higher pressures quite well with lead or jacketed bullets, I get best results with Federal GM-100 primers.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

Fast powders will usually hit the pressure limits before they generate the velocities usually associated with a +P load. Either use that Bullseye for standard pressure .38 Special loads, .38 Special target loads or in your .45 Auto ammo if you load 45's.

For .38 Special +P loads I like HS-6, AA#5 and Longshot.