Home Forums Hunting & Shooting Hunter's Campfire Shot The Vintage Airweight Bodyguard S&W Model 38 No Dash

Made in the good old days, so has a pinned barrel and hammer mounted firing pin.



Man, not pleasant to shoot with the handloads I put together. It was the Speer Manual's recommended starting load for 148 grain target wadcutters (4.5 grains of Unique), so I figured they'd be, at least, not punishing, even in a tiny aluminum J-Frame .38. Banged me ups pretty good, though. Nothing like the factory target wadcutters I remember from years past. I got through fifty of them before quitting from the pain.

There was a guy at the range who also tried it, and agreed my load was punishing from such a light gun. He handed me five of his handloaded cowboy loads to shoot, and it was about a quarter the felt recoil. Almost like shooting a .22. He said it was only 3 grains of Unique under 125 grain cowboy bullets. I'll have to get some of those and load them up like that for this gun.

Here's my 7 yard group, off hand, using the Spear Manual's starter load (using Unique) for 148 grain target wadcutters. They make nice cookie cutter holes.



PS Any reason not to use the load this guy was using? Safety issues?

No reason not to I can see. A lighter bullet with less powder do tend to recoil less.....

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How light can I go on the 148 grain wadcutters without safety concerns? Many years ago, I used to shoot a lot of factory 148 grain wadcutters, and remember them being pussycats, recoil-wise.

They are under 2.3 grains of 231 .`

Very nice!

TRH, as far as I can tell 5.0 of Unique is close to a max load.
For comfort's sake, I'd drop back to 4.0 grains in an Airweight J frame.
The 5.0 gr load is not recommended for hollow-base wadcutters, BTW - 4.0 may even be pushing their limit.
I don't know what bullet you are using.

A quick look at Hornady data for their 148 gr HBWC, shows 2.4 gr Unique @ 570 fps, and a max of 3.5 gr @840 fps.
Both from a 4" barrel.
My Speer manual (#10) doesn't show any data for Unique with wadcutters.

Winchester 231?

Not hollow based. Same on both ends.

So, even though I'm not using hollow based wadcutters, I can drop down to 2.4 grains of Unique safely?

Looks good👍

Yep. Just checked my Hornady Manual, and it has the starting load at 2.4 grains of Unique. I wonder why the Speer Manual has the starting load so stout.

I see loads with DE wadcutters as low as 3.2 gr of Unique, and even down to 2.4 under the HBWC version.
I don't see why the 2.4 wouldn't work with DEWC's - but I'd sure be on the alert for a stuck bullet, for a little while.
Light, they would be!

Good posting; Hawkeye.

Guess Speer didn't want anyone sticking a wadcutter in their barrel with a marginally powered starting load. Thats my best guess.

WW 231 is what I use with my 38 Wadcutter loads, very clean burning stuff if you ever want to try something other than Unique.

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Thanks. If I go that low, I will watch for stuck bullets. I will probably go with 3 grains, though, just so that's less likely.

I'll likely shoot out the remainder of the Speer starting loads in a K-Frame.

Somehow I sold a stainless 38. I keep my eye open in gunshops, but only see the safety models.

You talking about the Model 60?

For a double ended WC deep seated, 3.5 of U is about right & used to be pretty popular. Bump to 3.7 for a button nose WC with a crimping groove. 4.5 is a bit stiff. Sounds like ithat load came out of an older Speer manual.

At least 4 styles of a 148 WC & each has a different bearing length or shank style. They each need to be treated differently as far as min. or max loads.

No cannelure on these (only lubrication grooves which came packed with lube), and they are identical both front and back. The Speer Manual was printed in 1979.

I had a new 38 airweight. It has the safety. That is the tipping point for me. I had a 360PD, in 357, it has the safety. That is masochistic shooting experience with full house 357s. I carry that on my hiking pants, so it gets carried everyday, but never gets to the range. I should knock the dust off with 38 specials. It is easy to carry at 11.5 ounces empty.

Yes

No cannelure on these (only lubrication grooves which came packed with lube), and they are identical both front and back. The Speer Manual was printed in 1979.[/quote

Then refer to first grain wt. ~3.5 grains. Not good to take internet load numbers, but 3.5 is spot on. The old manuals had some optimistic loads & Speer was actually referencing their 148 & not a DEWC. I.E, last sentence of my post.

I ran a box of a 100 rounds through the same gun a while ago and my hand felt like hamburger. I know use a golf glove.

Good idea. Haven't played golf in over a decade, but still have a few old golf gloves.

Try 2.7 grains of Bullseye and the wadcutters. Bunny fart load.

3.0 gn Bullseye with the Speer 148gn swaged lead wadcutter always worked for me.

You play golf left handed?

A 40+ year old reloading manual can be a good reference and have some educational, as well as entertainment value, but it would be wise to buy a modern manual or at the very least refer to online guides provided by the manufacturers.

This was my primary carry for 20+ years. Prob’ly a 38 dash something, firing pin on the hammer, can’t be bothered to dig it out of the safe just now.



Still would be my favorite carry piece, I came to treasure it so much it sits in the safe replaced by a more recent shrouded hammer (638) Airweight. Carry load was and is Remington 158gr LSWCHP +P AKA the “FBI load”.

It came with the Uncle Mike’s Boot Grip usual in the ‘90’s. The grip in the photo is the Uncle Mike Combat Grip that came with their .357 j -frames.

Still fits in a pocket but gives a consistent and postive grip when grabbed in urgent mode. I dunno how that 158grn Remington +P load I use compares to your handloads but surely the larger grip must help. I haven’t found recoil to be a problem.

Fact. Been using that load for over 40 years.