Aliant Bullseye or Unique for .38spl Target Loads?

[Arch]

Guess the subject pretty much gets it all, but would one hold any advantage over the other?

Also does anyone know of any tried and true .38spl target loads, or some good starting loads? I am particuarly interested in what projectiles seem to work best from a 6'' K-frame.

Cheers.

 

[NVMM]

Arch, 2.7grs of Bullseye and a 148gr lwc.
Should make your K-frame a one hole shooter!
Save the Unique for +P loads.

 

[HSMITH]

Of the two I would pick Bullseye. I am still working on a 15 pound can I picked up a couple years ago. At 2.5-5 grains per round it takes a while to use a pound......

 

[fecmech]

Arch--My 6" K-38 is at it's very best with 4.2 of Bullseye and a 158 H&G rn ( a max standard pressure load in the Lyman cast bullet handbook). More of a "service " load as it clocks right at 900 fps but it will shoot smaller groups than wadcutters in my gun, which by the way is very accurate with wadcutters. It is hard to go wrong with Bullseye in a .38 spl(2.7-3.1 BE with 148 wc). Years ago I owned a Ransom rest and did a lot of work with the .38 in a number of guns, I never found anything that was any more accurate than Bullseye. Powders don't stay around 100 years for nothing !
:banghead:
Duh! Unique has been around about the same length of time!

 

[Quantrill]

Get the Bullseye. It is the best for target and has been for 100 years. Quantrill

 

[JoeHatley]

Model 14-4



The Clasic 2.7 grains Bullseye and a 148 grain HBWC

or

3.7 grains Bullseye and 158 grain SWC cast (my favorite)

Either one is alomst assured to be accurate in your K-38

Good Luck...

Joe

 

[LAH]

It's BULLSEYE all the way. With 148 WC, like the guys say, 2.7 grains. I use 3.5 and a RNFP for most my shooting. My K-38 was born 1951.

 

[P95Carry]

Bullseye here too - tho in my case the 2.7 grains pushes a cast 158 swc - very nice load for PPC thru my 686. In fact come to think on it - I use 2.8.

 

[Sunray]

Yep. Bullseye. 2.5 to 2.8 grains with a swaged 148HBWC(Hollow Based Wad Cutters). Cast 148's bevel based wad cutters will do.
Snicker. HSMITH, 15 pounds is 105,000 grains. At 2.5 grains of powder, that's 42,000 loads. If you shoot 50 rounds per day every day, you'll be out of powder in 840 days. 2.3 years. Time for another keg isn't it?

 

[Arch]

Wow, unanimous concensus!

I think I better go with the Bullseye then? 2.7gr topped with a 148gr WC seems popular.

Thanks heaps for the replys guys!

Also, does anyone know some good, soft, accurate target loads for the Semi-Wad Cutters?

P95Carry mentioned 2.8gr of bullseye behind a 158gr SWC. Any consensus on this one?

Cheers again guys.

 

[Sunray]

"...for the Semi-Wad Cutters..." Same weight? Same powder. For 158 grain SWC's, 2.0 to 3.5 grains of Bullseye. Cast bullets can't be driven very fast without a copper cup on the base, called a gas check, or some lead will be melted off and left in the barrel. Bad, but not terminal. Just requires more cleaning.
Other than a .45 with a 230 grain cast bullet target load(4.5 grains of Bullseye drives tacks in my Colt), there's really nothing better for just shooting for fun than a .38 target load. However, if you're going to reload, you need a good manual. I find the Lyman book is good as it gives more loads using more powders than any powder or bullet maker's book. Lyman has a manual specifically for handguns and for cast bullets too.

 

[Arch]

Sunray,
Thanks for that, I was looking for a good reloading manual that included the Alliant powders. At the moment I only have one from ADI, one from Hodingtons (came free with lee kit), and the sheet of paper that came with my dies. Only the sheet of paper has data for the Alliant powders.

Otherwise Alliant has a little online one...not very convenient though.

Cheers

 

[P95Carry]

Arch - the 2.8 with 158 might feel marginally more brisk but it is a pretty kind load. Point to remember BTW with full wadcutters - as they are seated deeper then the powder charge must not be excessive - I forget what others used for those but anyways - do consult the load data for yourself.

I only ever try and ''suggest'' a load, based on my useage - but prefer never to make it a total recommendation - sorta disclaimer!

 

[HSMITH]

Speer and Hornady make very nice swaged wadcutters that have been very accurate for me.

 

[landon74]

4.5 gr of Unique with 158 gr Lead SWC in .38 brass shoots pretty well from my 586.....