Landric

I load 4.3 grains of Trail Boss with a Federal SP primer and a 200 grain Lyman 358430 cast RN. Gets about 675 fps, makes minor, and is very pleasant to shoot.

I have both the SDB and the Lee Classic Turret. The SDB is a lot faster, counting inspection time of completed rounds it takes about 20 minutes per 100 rounds at a leisurely pace. On the other hand, I find using the LCT a lot more enjoyable, probably mostly because I enjoy handloading as a hobby in and of its self and I like the one round at a time process. If speed is what you are interested in, the SDB is a great choice. I use mine when I need to load a bunch of rounds quickly.

I use my own cast Lyman 358430 200 grain RN, Federal SP, and 4.3 grains of Trail Boss. Gives me about 675 fps and is very soft shooting.

I'm loading 160 grain cast Lyman 358311 bullets in 9x19mm for use in my pistols. Its a nice, soft recoiling load that makes IDPA 125,000 PF. 3.4 grains of W231: Ave. 838 fps, 13.81 SD, 132404PF 4.2 grains of HS-6: Ave. 801 fps, 17.36 SD, 126584PF 4.5 grains of HS-6: Ave. 875 fps, 15.87 SD, 138355PF All the numbers were with a Beretta 92 Centurion 4 1/4" 9x19mm. I don't see any reason the same loads wouldn't work in a revolver, though they might have velocity loss due to the cylinder gap.

I have not had a revolver cut for moon clips yet, first I wanted to find a major load that was pleasant to shoot. With a 200 grain bullet one only has to get 825 FPS to make major. A 200 grain bullet at that velocity is not at all unpleasant to shoot. I was getting an average of 875 fps with both 6.9 grains of HS-6 and 9.5 grains of 2400 in .38 Special cases out of my 4" 681. The only disadvantage of the 200 grain bullets is that they are expensive and hard to locate. The solution is to cast one's own, which is the route I went, with a Lyman 358430 mold.

The 2400 had a little unburned powder, which is not unusual for 2400 at .38 Special pressures, but otherwise everything was pretty clean. I had zero leading, I spent a lot of time cleaning the 681 (mostly because it had been through two matches without a clean, and lots of load testing), but cleaning the bore took all of about three swipes through with patches and a pass with a bore mop. I've found both HS6 and Trail Boss to be very clean burning in the .38 Special, and Titegroup seems to be clean in everything, if one doesn't count the telltale burn marks on Titegroup fired brass.

The 21-4 is a fun gun to shoot but at 165+PF it will kick you into next week, well, it did me. DB I am using a load with .44 Russian brass and a 240 grain bullet that isn't too bad, it doesn't feel like any more recoil than a 165PF .45 ACP load anyway. I'm getting about 710fps average using Titegroup. It probably would have been easier to just get a 22-4, but I wanted to be able to shoot "real" .44 Special ammunition in addition to the lower power match ammunition.

No problem. I am going to try you 3 grains of Titegroup load out, hopefully this weekend. I'm really hoping to find what I am looking for using Trail Boss, as it fills out the case nicely and I have a bunch of it. I'm also hoping to make it out to your place for a match before too long. Charles, Did you get a chance to try the load . DB I did. I tried several actually, all using Federal SP Primers. Here is what I found (all fired from a 4" 681): 3.0 grains of Titegroup, Ave. 640fps 4.1 grains of Trail Boss, Ave. 625fps 4.5 grains of Trail Boss, Ave. 703fps 5.2 grains of HS-6, Ave. 622fps 5.6 grains of HS-6, Ave. 690fps I think I am going to land somewhere around 4.3 grains of Trail Boss since it fills the case nicely, and 4.5 put me a little higher than necessary. I have yet to test 4.3 though. As for major PF loads in .38 Special brass using the same Lyman 358430 200 grain, I tried these: 6.5 grains of HS-6, Ave. 765fps (not enough) 6.9 grains of HS-6, Ave. 875fps 9.5 grains of 2400, Ave. 876fps Neither of the successful major loads showed any signs of high pressure, and both were pretty pleasant to shoot.

No problem. I am going to try you 3 grains of Titegroup load out, hopefully this weekend. I'm really hoping to find what I am looking for using Trail Boss, as it fills out the case nicely and I have a bunch of it. I'm also hoping to make it out to your place for a match before too long.

I experienced a IL failure shooting a totally stock 22-4 1917 with factory 230 grain ball ammunition. I expect the lock failures are not that common, but they do happen.

I'm running a 681-3 in SSR and I have a 21-4 TR that I am planning on getting cut for moon clips for ESR.

I just recently got into casting, primarily so I could shoot 200 grain bullets in .38 Special without breaking the bank. I'm still working on finding the "right" 125 PF load for IDPA, but I'm making progress. I'm using the Lyman 358430 and I'm very happy with the bullet design. It looks kind of funny in .38 Special cases because it is so nose heavy, but it falls right into the cylinder. For those that don't want to cast, Western Bullet Co. has several designs in the 200 grain weight range. http://www.westernbullet.com/3535738caliber.html Oh, BTW, my cast bullets are dropping at 199-201 grains from the 358430 mold using wheel weight lead. The majority of them are right at 200.5 before lubing.