Hupperware Posted July 6, 2016 Share Posted July 6, 2016 I recently purchased an open gun in .38 Super. Of course being Open I want to run Major PF. I can't seem to find any decent source for current "best practices" loads. I asked an Open shooter this weekend at a match, he said he was using VV 3N38, but the new hotness is CFE-P. I know that the equipment survey taken at Production Nationals had a 147gn pill over 3.2gns of TiteGroup for 41% of the competitors. Does anything like this comparison exist for Open shooters? If not, what's your favorite .38 Super Comp load? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
taco101 Posted July 6, 2016 Share Posted July 6, 2016 Several threads on this.... I like 7.6g of Autocomp over a 124g MGJHP. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dons Posted July 6, 2016 Share Posted July 6, 2016 I'm using 7.7 Autocomp with a Zero 121 in 38 Super. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadyscott999 Posted July 6, 2016 Share Posted July 6, 2016 124 over 10.2 3n38 is a nice load Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kneelingatlas Posted July 6, 2016 Share Posted July 6, 2016 115gr JHP over N105 or 3N38, CFE Pistol on the fast side for 38 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
EEH Posted July 6, 2016 Share Posted July 6, 2016 124 over 10.2 3n38 is a nice load[/quoteThat's one loud load ! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blairmckenzie1 Posted July 6, 2016 Share Posted July 6, 2016 Production loads and Open loads aren't comparable in any way. 38 super has been around for a long time. i wouldn't get caught up in the new "hotness". find a good load with a powder you can get more than a pound every 3 months and go with it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hupperware Posted July 7, 2016 Author Share Posted July 7, 2016 (edited) Production loads and Open loads aren't comparable in any way.They both use X amount of Y powder.They both have X grains of Y projectiles set at Z COL. Just trying to see the variables and favorites. Edited July 7, 2016 by Hupperware Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MrRick Posted July 7, 2016 Share Posted July 7, 2016 Here are some of the loads I have tested out of my STI DVC Open. CFE-P: Worked well but found it that it will not work the comp well. Haven't tried it with 115s. Also found it very dirty. BE-86: works the comp well but it is the most violent of the group. Haven't tried it with 115s. HS-6 work the comp very well and soft shooting. Equally as dirty as CFE-P. 3N37: works the comp well very clean powder and most accurate load out of my gun AA7: Very accurate, works the comp the best and the softer shooting of this bunch. I have only done testing with this powder (no more than 50 shots at a time) so Can't comment on dirty/clean of it. Once I run out of my HS-6 and 3n37 I will switch to AA7. The only powder that made major with published data was AA7. Keep in mind these are my loads. Go low and work you way up. 3N37.pdf BE-86.html CFE-P.html HS-6-1.pdf AA#7.pdf Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Bamboo Posted July 7, 2016 Share Posted July 7, 2016 Production (or Single Stack or 9mm limited) minor loads and open major loads are indeed very different animals. Use the experience here on BE. Lots of good loads for 38 super if you search a little. Basically, slower power and 115 or 124 grain bullets. Autocomp/CFEpistol are pretty much the same in my limited experience with these powders and are the fastest powders I'd use to make major in 38 super. They work fine and make major safely, but are not my favorites - but that is me. Slower powders like the 3N38/N350/N105 VV powders, AA7, SR4756, etc. are IMO much better and make better use of the extra case volume of the super in an open gun. If you have a specific powder you want to use you could post it and I'm sure folks would chime in with their experiences with that powder. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hi-Power Jack Posted July 7, 2016 Share Posted July 7, 2016 What powder do you currently own? Or, can find? What bullet(s) do you have? IMHO, it's giving up the one advantage of going .38 super over 9mm Major, to settle on either HS6 or WAC powder with a 124 gr bullet - I use those in my 9mm Major gun. If I were going to spring for the .38 Super, I'd be thinking along the lines of a lighter bullet and larger quantities (taking advantage of the additional space in the longer case) of slower powder (3n38, N105, etc). Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hupperware Posted July 7, 2016 Author Share Posted July 7, 2016 What powder do you currently own? Or, can find? What bullet(s) do you have? I've got mostly stuff for production/limited... Titegroup, N310 and CFE-P. I can find just about anything, which is why I'm up for a suggestion. Bullets is the same as powder, Berry's 124 and 180s (.40), and Xtreme 165s. I've seen Montana Gold and Zero mentioned quite a bit... locally I've been hearing a bunch about 124 heavy plates from Berry's or Xtreme. Sent from my iPad using Tapatalk Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Todd7446 Posted July 7, 2016 Share Posted July 7, 2016 Several threads on this.... I like 7.6g of Autocomp over a 124g MGJHP. I find this works great, too. Trubor barrel with 3 small barrel holes. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kneelingatlas Posted July 7, 2016 Share Posted July 7, 2016 IMHO, it's giving up the one advantage of going .38 super over 9mm Major, to settle on either HS6 or WAC powder with a 124 gr bullet - I use those in my 9mm Major gun. Yes Jack! Riddle me this: 7.7gr of WAC under a 124gr in a 38 super case or 7.7gr of WAC under a 115gr in a 9x19 case, which produces more gas to work the comp? Which shoots softer? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hi-Power Jack Posted July 7, 2016 Share Posted July 7, 2016 Kneeling, the 7.7 gr WAC is a nice load - I'm still using it in my 9mm Major TruBor. But, I would imagine that throwing 10 grains of a slower powder behind a 115 grain bullet would produce even more gas ... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Glk21C Posted July 7, 2016 Share Posted July 7, 2016 To the OP, do a search(s) here on be.com, you'll find enough info to fill a novel and get you almost where you need to be Good luck Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kneelingatlas Posted July 7, 2016 Share Posted July 7, 2016 Kneeling, the 7.7 gr WAC is a nice load - I'm still using it in my 9mm Major TruBor. But, I would imagine that throwing 10 grains of a slower powder behind a 115 grain bullet would produce even more gas ... I know that I load 9.3gr of SP2 under a 115gr in 9mm I've gone as much as 10.0 but that's past the usable range of the powder in that application and yields less velocity than 9.5 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Shadyscott999 Posted July 7, 2016 Share Posted July 7, 2016 124 over 10.2 3n38 is a nice load[/quoteThat's one loud load ! I like to call it the RO Buffer Zone load. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
blaster113 Posted July 10, 2016 Share Posted July 10, 2016 I don't play too much in open, but I have two SC loads; 9.0 grains of Silhouette under a 115gr jhp (around 170ish pf) 11.0 grains of N105 under a 115 gr jhp (169 or so pf) The N105 load is a compressed load, but is so soft shooting. feels like a minor 9mm load. With 121's I used to load 10.6-10.8 of N105. I love N105 but its expensive and only comes in 1lb bottles Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
BeerBaron Posted July 11, 2016 Share Posted July 11, 2016 The hotness for 38 super is basically 3n38 or n105 (some like n350 too but its a little faster than the other two). Then chose a 115 or 124/5 jhp or rn. Or split the difference and go 121gn (seem harder to find these days though). The vv powder is clean, consistent, well metering and just plain good. It's also expensive but I think it's worth it. Lately to conserve my vv stocks I've been using autocomp for practice. It's not bad. Very accurate. But the vv is better. Smells nice too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Open1215 Posted July 11, 2016 Share Posted July 11, 2016 I really like 3n38 and n105. Both work great. I also like AA-7 but it's not as clean. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Hupperware Posted July 20, 2016 Author Share Posted July 20, 2016 Here is what I went with: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
vscorsa Posted July 24, 2016 Share Posted July 24, 2016 Hi Guys, In terms of primers are people running Winchester/CCI Small Pistol primers or using the small rifle primers? I am looking for a new primer with the Federal Small Rifle very difficult to find. Thanks Dave Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lvipscshooter Posted July 24, 2016 Share Posted July 24, 2016 I run 7.3 grains of CFE under a Montana Gold 121 ifp projectile loaded to 1.225 OAL. Makes 173PF put of my EMG Customs open gun (Trubor barrel with 2 popple holes). Super nice shooting load! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mayassa Posted July 24, 2016 Share Posted July 24, 2016 bullet = Berrys 124 Grain HBRPN 1245 OAL 3N38 8.6 ish PF 169-170 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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