How low can I go? (.38 Colt Short)

[Shivahasagun]

I'm going to stop using .38 Colt Short cases but still have about 300 new ones. I'm just going to load them, shoot then, and discard.

I was loading them to higher pressures using 160 gr bullets and 2.7 gr Titegroup seated long. But I want to load the remainder at .38 special pressures or less.

I have some nice, BNH 12 140 gr LFN .358 bullets from Missouri Bulllet Co. I ran some calculations through Quick Load and came up with 2.2 grs of Titegroup. I was wondering what a .17 cc dipper would give me so I tested that and if get all the Titegroup I can heap on it it measures 2.1 grs.

I also checked 700x and the .3 cc dipper gives 2.1 gr, too, coincidentally.

Will that be enough? I don't want any stuck bullets. My guns have 3 inch barrels.

 

[Blue68f100]

You should not have any problems at min load and your short barrel. Lead has less friction than jacketed so it will be faster than a jacketed round. Normally if your velocity is above 600-650 fps you will not sick a bullet in a handgun. I've done reverse load workup to see how low I could go. I've been a full 0.5 gr below start on 45acp. without sticking a bullet.