Which to try next?

[Mcfoto]

Hi all,

 

New hand loader and thanks to all who have responded to my questions so far. So I'm settling in a good rhythm loading .38 sp for my revolver. I was having an issue with light strikes which seem to be cured by hand-priming instead of using the arm on my single-stage press. Now that I'm confident I can make things go bang, I'd like to work on the other aspects of the load. Currently loading 160 gr RN Bayou at 1.50 OAL with 3.7 gr of HP-38. The issue is that I'm not getting as good groups as I do with Blazer Brass .38 sp, which was my ammo of choice before I started hand loading. 3.7 gr is the max charge listed by Hodgdon for 158 gr. bullets so I don't feel confident in upping the charge. When I did the step testing, the higher the charge, the better the groups.

 

So I'm considering changing something up. Powder? Clays gets good notices in the interwebs. Bullet? Maybe go down to 135 gr. and a higher charge?

 

I've already tried both roll crimping and taper crimping. Not much of a difference but a slight improvement on the taper. (Bayou recommends taper on their bullets).

 

Any pearls of wisdom appreciated.

 

*Attention Mods: I noticed I put this in .40 instead of 9 / .38. Please, move and my apologies.*

Edited August 1, 2018 by Mcfoto
noticed wrong forum

[MikeBurgess]

First thing that pops to mind is, On coated bullets without a cannelure you want to only remove the bell from the case and return it to straight damaging the coating with too much crimp is easy to do and can hurt accuracy and create leading issues. 

 

second you can try changing the OAL  and see if that makes a difference in your pistol.

 

 

 

 

[Mcfoto]

6 hours ago, MikeBurgess said:

First thing that pops to mind is, On coated bullets without a cannelure you want to only remove the bell from the case and return it to straight damaging the coating with too much crimp is easy to do and can hurt accuracy and create leading issues. 

 

second you can try changing the OAL  and see if that makes a difference in your pistol.

 

Thanks, Mike. I'm fairly confident I'm not over-crimping. I adjust the crimping die down until the round just plunks in the guage. With the taper die, I hardly see any crimping at all. Could I be over/under belling? Doing enough so that the bullet snaps in. Not to the cannelure. (bayou's have a cannelure)

Edited August 1, 2018 by Mcfoto

[promtcy]

There are may things that can affect accuracy. The results you get from each load you develop are because of the combinations. Change one thing and the results will be different. Some big, some small. In my personal experience the things that made the most difference in accuracy were in order, crimp, bullets, powder charge. Going to a different bullet can mean trying a different weight and also trying a different diameter. I load as long as I can and have not found loading shorter to improve accuracy. I've never loaded for a revolver though. You already understand the process of trying a different powder charge so no need to go over that. I have used HP-38 in various different bullet and caliber combinations and it always worked well for me. 

 

If it were me, I'd try a different bullet first. Good luck. 

[Mcfoto]

Thanks, guys. Thinking I figured it out. Was VERY careful with the crimping die.

[rustybayonet]

You don't  have to increase your charge for accuracy, unless you need to hit pf.

I have loaded powder puff rounds for cowboy shooting that were accurate as heck.