38spl, 158gr lead SWC, Lee dipper

[vaalpens]

When I started this thread I forgot to mention that a while ago I decided to switch to magnum primers for my 38spl loads. These cases were also primed with Federal 200 primers. With the primer shortage I bought some magnum primers, and since 38spl is more forgiving, it probably makes it a good cartridge for magnum primers.

This means I should probably stick to the lower and middle ranges, instead of the higher load range.

Since it is decision time, I think what I'll do is load half with .3cc HP38, and another half with .3cc W244. With the dippers it is easy to switch powers, so loading two powders should be seamless.

 

[vaalpens]

At the end I decide to load three different powders. I loaded 20 .3cc W244 loads, 15 700x .4cc loads, and 15 HP38 .3cc loads. I did not test them for accuracy since I had one target for all the loads I tested, but I did document 5 loads of each over the chrono.

All the loads were light since I was shooting them out of my SP101, but it seems the W244 had the better ES and SD numbers.

Following are the velocities I saw.

38spl, SP101, 3" Case: RP COL: 1.450" CAST, 158gr, LSWC, W244, .3cc, FED200 Average: 750 ES: 25 SD: 13.9 Force: 197 PF: 118 Velocities: 739, 763, 762, 738, Grouping @ N/A Test Date: 11/27/2023

38spl, SP101, 3" Case: RP COL: 1.450" CAST, 158gr, LSWC, 700X, .4cc, FED200 Average: 630 ES: 59 SD: 24.3 Force: 139 PF: 99 Velocities: 655, 620, 652, 630, 596 Grouping @ N/A Test Date: 11/27/2023

38spl, SP101, 3" Case: RP COL: 1.450" CAST, 158gr, LSWC, HP38, .3cc, FED200 Average: 569 ES: 108 SD: 45.1 Force: 114 PF: 89 Velocities: 544, 633, 600, 546, 525 Grouping @ N/A Test Date: 11/27/2023

 

[Charlie98]

Interesting. I would have thought your .3cc drop of HP-38 to be closer in velocity to the W244.

 

[vaalpens]

Interesting. I would have thought your .3cc drop of HP-38 to be closer in velocity to the W244.

I think they performed about as expected. Just using the high velocity and target velocity from the load data:
HP38 should be at the low end: High = 633, load data =782. Result = 81%
W244 should be middle to high: High = 763, load data = 900. Result = 84%
700X should be low end: High = 655, load data = 795. Result = 82%

I don't know how temperature sensitive these powders are, but it was cold. Probably 36 or lower.

 

[FROGO207]

Late to the party but I also find a load that works well and then make a custom scoop to use. For my 38 SPL ammo I use SRP and Promo for plinking rounds. A lot of the old manuals had Red Dot data for handguns. You use the Promo as an equal in charge weight to Red Dot but it is a finer grain that allows accurate scooping and lower cost as it is purchased in bulk.

 

[vaalpens]

Today I felt like doing something reloading, but did not want to spend a lot of time. Sometimes you just have a small window to get something done, everybody that is married will understand.

This is when I realized I did some testing to come up with a safe, decent 38spl load, just using a Lee dipper.

Well today, using my test results, I decided to load up a few W244 38spl loads, using the .3cc dipper. Since this was the first time that I actually implemented what I tested, I did weigh a few dipper scoops, and they all weighed 3.9gr.

I probably need to buy some more cast 158gr bullets, since this definitely put some additional fun back into reloading.