Please educate me about smoke

[cleanview]

As afore mentioned I am new to reloading. Mostly I ahve been testing different rounds and one of the things I notice is some smoke more than others. I am loading with hp 38 and loading 380 and 9mm. Below are some of the loads I have come up with

This morning was 380 95 gr LRN from missouri bullets, shooting out of a bersa 380 and the wifes pretty pink taurus tcp. OAL .968

2.6 gr Hp 38 shot just fine
2.3 gr hp 38 shot plenty soft
1.9 gr hp 38 failure to extract on both guns.

seems like i read somewhere that the softer the load the more smoke. Would that mean a hotter load will take away some of the smoke? dont know if I want to go hotter on this round or not.

Other loads I have worked up that seem to work are

380 95 gr fmj 2,6 gr hp 38 OAL .970 seems to shoot pretty good.
380 95 gr FMJ 2.9 gr hp38 OAL .970 Seemed normal
380 95 gr fmj 3.2 gr hp38 OAL .970 normal


9mm 124 LRN 4.0 hp 38 OAL 1.154 thought this could be lightned some

9mm 124 FMJ 4.0 hp38 OAL 1.154 seemed pretty good

9mm 147 lead flat top 3.2 hp 38 OAL 1.135 soft but pretty good
9mm 147 Lead flat top 3.6 hp38 OAL 1.135 Seemed pretty good
9mm 147 Lead flat top 4.2 hp 38 OAL 1.135 little hot

9mm 124 LRN 4.0 hp 38 soft but smoky

9mm 124 FMJ 4.6 Hp38 OAL 1.169 soft shooting
9mm 124 FMJ 4,3 hp38 OAL 1.169 lot softer

Any comments (good or bad) about the loads are much appreciated, and what exactly is it that makes the loads smoke so much?

 

[Fishslayer]

Lead bullets are going to smoke more than jacketed. It's lube and vaprized lead.

Most powders will smoke more loaded below a certain level. Smokeless powders usually need a certain pressure level for efficient combustion. Some powders smoke more than others regardless. "Smokeless" is a relative term.

If they're shooting well & you're not getting any over pressure signs I wouldn't worry about it too much.

At 1.9gr were you actually getting failure to extract or was the gun not cycling? Getting down to really low levels you'll want to be careful you haven't stuck a bullet in the bore and then fire another round after it. Bad things happen then.

 

[cleanview]

that would be bad things all right. not sure if I had the terms right or nought. but the bullet fired and then did not fully extract and had to be racked by hand then cleared. Same on both guns. I had a feeling that would be to light just one of many experiments as we learn along the way.

Thanks for the post.

 

[rfwobbly]

Lead bullets are going to smoke more than jacketed. It's lube and vaporized lead.

Even some jacketed have an exposed lead base. That's one reason I like plated bullets.

 

[1SOW]

9mm 124 FMJ 4,3 hp38 OAL 1.169 lot softer

9mm 124 FMJ 4.0 hp38 OAL 1.154 seemed pretty good

In my experience, HP38/231 with those light loads shot very dirty. The action would be covered in soot with just 30-50 rounds fired.

At 4.4 grs @ 1.125"-1.13" Win231 started to shoot cleaner and was more accurate, and 4.3 grs at 1.125" was a nice "soft-shooting" target load but still a little sooty.

IMHO: I would add powder and/or shorten my OALs a little for less smoke & soot. The accuracy will also improve, but with a little more muzzle flip. This was out of my pistol (4.72" bbl) using WIN/Precision Delta 124 FMJ bullets. Your pistol and bullets may differ.