Recommend me a powder for .38 Spl with 125gr HP.

[LivewireBlanco]

I have Unique and HP-38 and the bullet will be a 125 gr hollowpoint. The problem is position sensativity. I'm looking for something that isn't so position sensative. I tried 6.1 grains of Unique with a 110 gr HP bullet and it had almost a 300 fps difference between pointing the gun down and pointing the gun up before firing. This will be out of a J-frame. Suggestions?

 

[Steve C]

I use 6.0gr of Unique behind a 125gr Rem GS JHP and get an average of 1,058 fps from a 4" barrel. Never checked position velocity differences.

Never had consistent velocities with 110gr JHP's that I've tried in the .38 spl so I quit using that light a weight.

 

[me26245]

powder

I use Solo 1000 for my .38 special loads. Of the two powders you listed I'd use the Unique.

 

[armoredman]

AA#2

 

[leefan]

Titegroup is not postion sensitive. I have loaded 180 grain bullets in 38 spcl with it, but not yet 125 grain, as the bullets just arrived today. Will post when I work it out.

 

[nix4me]

Bullseye, HP-38, Unique are my favorites

 

[Walkalong]

Titegroup is not postion sensitive.

It's advertised that way, but in my testing it was pretty average.

 

[gamestalker]

My all time favorite for good stout jacketed 38 spcl. loads, isn't position sensitive, and isn't difficult to manage pressures with, is Longshot. I use Hogdon data, and have had no issues working up to +P data.

GS

 

[astocks2622]

not sure about position sensitivity, but my favorite light 38spl load uses about 4 gr of green dot.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

With 125gr JHP bullets I'm guessing you are looking for velocities usually associated with +P pressures. If that's true I would go with a slower powder than my usual W231. I have used AA#5, HS-6 and Longshot for those loads and all 3 have done a very good job with accuracy, velocity and the shoot very clean. I like AA#5 and Longshot best with jacketed bullets and HS-6 with lead bullets although HS-6 can deliver just as good results with jacketed bullets too. I like to play with a lot of different powders which has come in handy over the past year or more since powders are so difficult to find. Having similar loads that work well using 3 different powders comes in handy these days.

 

[Grump]

Where I'm at, the only powders I can recommend are anything you can actually FIND.

Haven't seen 231 or TiteGroup for more than a year.

 

[Dudedog]

Recobs has Longshot.
They say 14 buisness days to ship on thier web site but they shipped my order the next day after I placed it. (they have primers in stock as well)

I'm guessing you are looking for velocities usually associated with +P pressures. If that's true I would go with a faster powder than my usual W231. I have used AA#5, HS-6 and Longshot for

I think ArchAngelCD might have meant slower than 231. Very unlike him to slip up. (I Apologize if I am wrong)

 

[stu1ritter]

I've recently started loading Power Pistol for .38 Special, low, normal and +P velocities. On the chrono I've been seeing lower SD's with Power Pistol than any other powder I've loaded so far (231, Unique, Bullseye, N320 etc). Single digit SD's. I'm going to do some accuracy tests this morning at 25 yards to see how well they group with my Models 586 and 19.
Stu

 

[41 Mag]

I played around with some 110 and 125gr weight loads some 20years ago. I have since cleaned house several times and for what ever reason all my older data disappeared. I did however use the Sierra 110gr Blitz for raccoons that simply refused to leave my deer feeder motors alone. I had them loaded up toasty and they would usually not exit but would easily dispatch up to a 30 pound boar with one shot and not put holes in my feeders.

As for the 125's I loaded them with "Unique" or Blue Dot at the time. I know this simply because that was the only reason I had those two powders. I used the Remington bullets as I really found the scalloped lead and jacket to preform well and hold together good. They really put the smack down on a couple of coyotes and plenty of other critters. I shot all of mine out of a GP-100 though so I wasn't too overly concerned with the upper end pressures to a point. I did however stick to the Lyman manual load data.

(EDIT) - I had mentioned 2400 in the above post, but I got off my rear and pulled the manual down and it was Unique and Blue Dot with both the 110's and 125's.. Guess I had my wires crossed between 38's and 357's. Now for 357's, 2400 will surely get you where ya want to go along with lighting the way for you as well.

 

[ArchAngelCD]

Recobs has Longshot.
They say 14 business days to ship on their web site but they shipped my order the next day after I placed it. (they have primers in stock as well)

I think ArchAngelCD might have meant slower than 231. Very unlike him to slip up. (I Apologize if I am wrong)

No, you're not wrong! Thanks for catching my mistake in typing. I corrected my OP, thanks again...

 

[buck460XVR]

Never had consistent velocities with 110gr JHP's that I've tried in the .38 spl so I quit using that light a weight.

I also have not had the best of luck with 110gr bullets in .38. I too use 6 gr of Unique under a 125 JHP and have not found it to be inconsistant either in velocity or accuracy, regardless of powder position.