38 special

[Luke Fay]

To the revo crew,

my name is Luke Fay and I am shooting Smith and Wesson 686 with a 6 inch barrel I have just started reloading and looking for some advice on a 38 special round that will make minor, I have some 125 grain JHP that I am trying to get above the 125 power factor.

[Bubber]

Luke,

Welcome, 125 jacketed bullets will have to be pushed to 1000 fps. Which makes them a little snappy. For a better "Felt Recoil" I would suggest a heavier bullet like the 160's I kept no data for the 125 but Hodgens has this link for reloadaing 38 special 125 reloading data I hope I did the link right and good luck. rdd

[Luke Fay]

Thanks,

So You think a heavery bullet moving a bit slower would be a better load for the 38 in IPSC some where in the 158 grain rang? Minor would be in the 800 fps range right?

[Bubber]

Luke,

In my opinnion and my opinnion only, The two things that are real important in shooting a revo in IPSC is accuracy and the reload. In a stock revo the heavier bullet is more of a push than a snap and seems to be a bit more accuarate. "At least groups better for me." With an open Revo (not recognised by USPSA except as just an OPEN gun) The lighter bullet will work well because of the ports stripping the muzzle flip quite a bit. But everyone has their own ideas on how to go about getting the best performance from their Revo. I would try the fast light bullet and the heavy slow bullet to see what suits you best. You are best judge for you.

[Luke Fay]

Bubber,

Again thank you for the post, an important note, there is alot of information out there some of it good some not so good, but it realy comes down to what works for you, and that is the one thing that takes the longest to find.

[Bones]

Hello Luke.

I can tell you that 4.3 gr TiteGroup under an 158 gr West Coast CPFP (1.450" OAL) will get you 810 fps out of a 4" revolver all day long. It is my IDPA load where the SSR PF is the same as IPSC minor, but out of a 4" gun.

[Luke Fay]

Bones,

Thank you for the information how much of a crimp are you putting on the case, I am using a Square Deal Dillon as my reloader.

[TMC]

I shoot a 627 for ICORE and use west coast 158's in starline long colt brass (there .10 shorter than special). I started using IMR 4756 last year and it works great. The load is 5.5 grns which makes for a 135pf out of my 6" 627. I was using Titegroup but after a few hundred rounds the gun was filthy, 4756 is so much cleaner I couldn't believe it. I haven't shot it for accuracy at 50 but at last years IRC all my 50yard shots on standarts were in the 10 ring. At 25 it will shoot less than 2", al least that's the best I can do.

I crimp just past straight so they will load easier.

I took a class from Jerry M and he said heavier bullets are better because they fall in the cylinder faster/better.

[Ron Ankeny]

Heavy bullet, round nose for loading, fast powder.

[sensei]

Heavy bullet, round nose for loading, fast powder.

Oh YES !!!!!! ......... 3 rules for the Real Wheelgunner

[Kingman]

I just loaded some stuff up for my dad for cowboy shooting, don't think it will make minor even. 122gr fp on top of 2.2 gr bullseyes the gun does not move, matter of fact I think my 22 kicks more.

And they say they don't game it

[Chews]

I have been shooting 38 Spec. in NRA Action Pistol for years and right now, I think I am one of the few still shooting a revolver in Action Pistol. I am waiting to see if the auto loader thing is just a passing fad.

Granted, the Action Pistol Power Factor is only 120, but a very accurate load out of my 686 Open gun is a 148BBWC over 3.7 grains of WST. This chronos out to 870 fps out of my gun.

Using 125 JHP's, I load 6.0 grains of WST for an average on 1061 FPS. Both of these loads are capable of sub 2" groups at 50 yards. Unfortunatley, it usually depends on the nut behind the trigger.

As with any loading data, please reduce the loads and work up slowly.

[Steve Moneypenny]

KAP bullets makes a 158 grain round nose that i've found to be very accurate, their 180 RN FP i think may work but need to get set up to load 38's again before i can fully test them.

[Luke Fay]

Ok, this is what I have found so far, using 5.o gr of Unique a (1.48 OAL) a rainier 158 gr RN bullet will give me about 820 fps average out of a Chrono with a 18 fps spread shot to shot. Now Rainier on there webb sight states a (1.43 OAL) for all there loads for 38, but when I build to that length it looks wrong, there are two questions 1) realisticaly how much of a spread from shot to shot should I be able to keep 2) for performance do I need to seat the bullet deeper. The lyman reloading manual and the powder company have longer oal, with 1.45 being some what of the middle ground, but I have no other sourse that specificaly adresses the RAN 158 RN bullet. does it even make that big of a difference.

[shred]

Moving this thread over to Reloading (38/9mm), leaving a link in Revolver