jfh
Member.
Some of you know that, for those of us carrying the lightweight revolvers, the Speer Gold Dot Short Barrel 135-grain 38+P PD round is a good one--about the max recoil one wants to deal with, highly accurate, and receiving good reviews for function.
The trouble is, of course, that the factory load costs about $1.00 per round. Further, unless you've been a real J-frame afficiando, to shoot it effectively in SD scenarios takes both acclimation and practice--lots of practice.
Speer, for a short while, had PDF files on the Internet for both the 38+P and the 357 Magnum with reloading recipes with that 135-gr bullet. They really hadn't done 2" testing, but they did give one a start on recipes that will provide decent expansion even at 38+P velocities.
I've spent the last three months working on load development with this bullet, and with a nominal lead bullet equivalent. 16 loads from four 38s/357s will go under the chrono in the near future--next week, I think. Meanwhile, I can honestly recomment their AA#5 workup:
7.0 gr. of AA#5 and the GDSB135 JHP Note that this is a max load; Speer says it is under 20,000 (or the OLD SAMMI spec for 38+P) It is included in the new (14th) Speer manual, the one that just came out.
This load feels virtually identical to the factory round, shoots a bit lower but functionally to the same POA--and will cost about 25 cents per round. My workup used Starline Brass, WSPs, and simply set the LOA to mid cannelure, with a firm crimp.
And, one can achieve 'identical' feel to the factory and the above load using a .358 140 Lead TC, available from Chey Cast, Mastercasterbullets.com, and some others--with 6.4 grains of AA#5 and the same primer and brass--and again with the LOA set to mid cannelure and a firm crimp. This round costs, at today's prices, about 12 cents per round. (Round pricing includes a 10-load amortization of new Starline brass at about $140.00/M)
Unless you are used to the lightweight J-frames, I'd recommend reducing the recipe about .5 grain and using that to get used to shooting the round. It will feel like a 'real' load, but it will minimize tearing up your trigger finger or the web between your forefinger and thumb if your hands are out of shape. Also check these adjusted loads against other published data, preferably from the powder manufacturer. None of these .5-gr. lower loads should be outside the 38 Special recipes on the low end, but you are responsible for your own decisions as to where to start.
If you do decide to use this recipe, you should use it only in modern j-frames capable of +P pressures, and back up at least 5% for a starting point. I built up the load in 0.1 gr. increments to get as close to the feel of the factory ammo as possible; my (Lee) reloading scale and measure can do that weight variation reliably. All rounds were loaded on a Lee updated turret with a 4-die setup. Finally, be sure to use 38+P brass, and I would recommend the same headstamp as well. These are close-to-max loads, and in some case max loads, and the leftover brass from those softball DEWC loads won't cut it.
FWIW, hundreds--actually, over 2000 rounds--have been fired of the various recipes out of my 640, and a several hundred out of my 340. The 640 (24 oz) is completely comfortable with these loads now; with the 340 (13.3 oz) I can get through one cylinder in a measured rapid-fire and reload and shoot another five without undue discomfort.
I'm now turning to producing the loads for the chrono tests--they'll be run through the 340, the 640, a 3" Model 65, and a 4" 686+.
Feel free to try this recipe--the bigger report will take some time. Any questions, ask away.
Jim H.
The trouble is, of course, that the factory load costs about $1.00 per round. Further, unless you've been a real J-frame afficiando, to shoot it effectively in SD scenarios takes both acclimation and practice--lots of practice.
Speer, for a short while, had PDF files on the Internet for both the 38+P and the 357 Magnum with reloading recipes with that 135-gr bullet. They really hadn't done 2" testing, but they did give one a start on recipes that will provide decent expansion even at 38+P velocities.
I've spent the last three months working on load development with this bullet, and with a nominal lead bullet equivalent. 16 loads from four 38s/357s will go under the chrono in the near future--next week, I think. Meanwhile, I can honestly recomment their AA#5 workup:
7.0 gr. of AA#5 and the GDSB135 JHP Note that this is a max load; Speer says it is under 20,000 (or the OLD SAMMI spec for 38+P) It is included in the new (14th) Speer manual, the one that just came out.
This load feels virtually identical to the factory round, shoots a bit lower but functionally to the same POA--and will cost about 25 cents per round. My workup used Starline Brass, WSPs, and simply set the LOA to mid cannelure, with a firm crimp.
And, one can achieve 'identical' feel to the factory and the above load using a .358 140 Lead TC, available from Chey Cast, Mastercasterbullets.com, and some others--with 6.4 grains of AA#5 and the same primer and brass--and again with the LOA set to mid cannelure and a firm crimp. This round costs, at today's prices, about 12 cents per round. (Round pricing includes a 10-load amortization of new Starline brass at about $140.00/M)
Unless you are used to the lightweight J-frames, I'd recommend reducing the recipe about .5 grain and using that to get used to shooting the round. It will feel like a 'real' load, but it will minimize tearing up your trigger finger or the web between your forefinger and thumb if your hands are out of shape. Also check these adjusted loads against other published data, preferably from the powder manufacturer. None of these .5-gr. lower loads should be outside the 38 Special recipes on the low end, but you are responsible for your own decisions as to where to start.
If you do decide to use this recipe, you should use it only in modern j-frames capable of +P pressures, and back up at least 5% for a starting point. I built up the load in 0.1 gr. increments to get as close to the feel of the factory ammo as possible; my (Lee) reloading scale and measure can do that weight variation reliably. All rounds were loaded on a Lee updated turret with a 4-die setup. Finally, be sure to use 38+P brass, and I would recommend the same headstamp as well. These are close-to-max loads, and in some case max loads, and the leftover brass from those softball DEWC loads won't cut it.
FWIW, hundreds--actually, over 2000 rounds--have been fired of the various recipes out of my 640, and a several hundred out of my 340. The 640 (24 oz) is completely comfortable with these loads now; with the 340 (13.3 oz) I can get through one cylinder in a measured rapid-fire and reload and shoot another five without undue discomfort.
I'm now turning to producing the loads for the chrono tests--they'll be run through the 340, the 640, a 3" Model 65, and a 4" 686+.
Feel free to try this recipe--the bigger report will take some time. Any questions, ask away.
Jim H.
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