Lowest recoil 38spl cartridge?

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ArchAngle is right.

Why not buy a 22 reovler and let her shoot all she wants for cheap? The recoil and cost of shooting will be so cheap that she will shoot 10 as much as she would with a small 38 SPL.

Not what you asked about, but its a thought.
 
Even without using it to familiarize new shooters, I still personally have an interest in finding a moderately priced, low recoil .38 round for practice sessions with my 642. I'm new to the J-frame thing, and a lighter round will honestly let me practice more and hurt less. Right now, I'm about done after 40 rounds of 158gr standard pressure .38's.

Is anybody clear on the difference between a pistol round and a cowboy round that's mentioned above? I think a 125gr .38 going at 750 fps would be a great practice load.
 
Since you don't reload this may not help but I reload .38s for my 642 using 125g Rainier plated bullets over 4.6g of Bullseye powder. It is accurate, hits to POA and recoil is minimal.
 
Since you don't reload this may not help but I reload .38s for my 642 using 125g Rainier plated bullets over 4.6g of Bullseye powder. It is accurate, hits to POA and recoil is minimal.
Boy, that sure sounds like a LOT of Bullseye to be a "minimal" recoil load. I don't have a reloading manual handy, but is it possible you meant a different powder or charge?

I load 2.7-2.8gr. of Bullseye with a 148gr. DEWC or HBWC for my S&W Model 14 and my Giles .38 Special M1911. It's a very accurate load, and a standard for bullseye target shooting.
 
The possible mistyped powder charges above is one of the main reasons that exchanging reloading recipes via the internet is not a good idea. It's too easy to enter the wrong data and cause someone to ruin a firearm and possibly injure or kill. This kind of information needs to be PM'd or written down in letter form and sent through snail-mail. Please don't be offended at my message, just trying to keep everyone safe.:)
 
I fail to see how writing something in letter form would be any safer that writing it in digital form. Heck, I type my letters, then print them.
I do think that anyone taking reloading recipes purely at the word of the provider via the net without checking to make sure they are safe is taking an unnecesarry risk (there are plenty of factory choices out there..if you don't know enough to know what's unsafe, don't reload... buy factory...) but i think that condemning the practice of exchanging ideas over the net such as reloading recipes is a bad idea...the entire reason we are all here today is to learn from eachother (i hope) :)
 
I guess we'll just have to agree to disagree. I did not mean to withhold information that could be helpful, just possible incorrect information that could get someone hurt. Just my opinion.
 
If you don't mind lead round nosed, the CCI Blazer LRN fells like a 22lr recoilwise. Dirty as all get out though.
 
Headless, to answer your question: Speer plastic cases can be reused over and over. They get a bit dirty but still work OK. It is even possible to reuse the plastic bullets if you're a bit careful about the backstop.

You can buy both cases and bullets from mailorder or online catalogues. I get mine from Midway. You will need primers also. Buy them at your local gun shop.

Both .38 and .44 caliber are available.
 
Winchester's X38SMRP, the 148gr super-x wadcutter is pretty easy load that is decent for defense too.
 
Boy, that sure sounds like a LOT of Bullseye to be a "minimal" recoil load. I don't have a reloading manual handy, but is it possible you meant a different powder or charge?
I guess recoil, as in most things in life, is all relative.
My Speer 13 Manual recommends 4.5 grains and DNR (Do Not Reduce) for .38 Special with 125g bullets. +P loads go up to 4.8 I believe. I tend to believe the Speer manual concerning DNR after making a few rounds below minimum for Unique and getting some squibs out of them.
No offense taken Brassman. The internet is great for a free flow of ideas and what works and what doesn't but I'd never consider using someones load recipe without first verifying it with at least one load manual.:)
 
I do the same Eagle. I have Speer 13, Lyman, Lee, and several IMR, Accurate, and other powder manufacturers' small manuals that I continually check. I must admit that I load light most of the time for expense sake, my wrists sake, and the weapons sake. Powder, hands and guns last longer that way. I have worked up light loads for all my weapons and try to stay close to the manuals for safety sake. Sticking one in the tube or going too high on pressure could ruin your whole day.
 
I must admit that I load light most of the time for expense sake, my wrists sake, and the weapons sake.
Virtually ALL of my reloading is for bullseye pistol practice and competition. As I'm fond of saying, the paper is dead. I don't need to kill it, just make a bunch of clean holes in it, as close to the center as possible.
 
I've had good luck with Magtech 158gr 38 spl loads. They seemed really light to me, but I was shooting out of a heavy-barreled 357, and had been shooting Gold Dots. Your mileage may vary.
 
My youngest one likes wadcutters and Winchester 130gr FMJ. Since I don't much care for having to remove lead from my revolver, we fire the WWB, which has a bit more pop--not much--than the wadcutters. The low cost of the Winchesters is another plus.
 

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My favorite so far: Atlanta Arms 125gr reloads from a local range. I shot 'em today with some other boxes I had, such as Remington 158gr FMJ's. The Atlanta Arms are noticeably lower in recoil, especially if shot mixed with others in the same cylinder. They're also $10 for a box of 50, so fairly economical as well.

It makes shooting ~100 rounds pretty easy when you're new to J-frames, IMO.
 
I have been buying Milwall .38 Spl 158gr SWC Cowboy reloads for about the last year at the Portland Expo gun show. Last I bought in Feb cost me around $70.00 for 500 rounds. Good for practice with mild recoil. Have also bought 148 LRN Cowboy reloads that were good too. Paid $5.95 for a box of 50. And some 357 158 SWC Cowboy for $6.95 a box of 50. By the time I shoot it all up I will have over 1500 empty cases to start reloading with.
 
Augulia 130g FMJ seems to have the least amount of recoil of any factory load I've shot, and Sellior and Belliot 148g wadcutters don't have that much recoil. Those are the only two loads I shot that had less recoil then WWB.
 
I disagree, just slightly. I'm in the process of teaching my wife to shoot a .38 spl. What I wish I could do, (and I may just do this) Is let her run a mag of .357 Sig through a friend's Glock 32, so when I throw the .38 back in her hands, I'll get a "Hey, this isn't so bad" no matter what loading it is. Just a thought. As for low recoil, my 158 LSWC over 4.2 gr of unique isn't very beefy at all (just smokes like a blackpowder, LOL) ZERO also offers a 148 gr LWC reloaded .38 that is very easy to shoot, and my local gunstore keeps them for about 7 bucks for a box of 50.

Justin
 
I find CCI Blazer aluminum cased ammo fires more softly than many of the others. I generally shoot one box of it and one box of brass cased ammo in each range session. The aluminum cased ammo never "sticks" in the cylinder but the brass occasionally will. I believe it's because the aluminum case cools down much faster than the brass.
 
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